Customer Reviews

Beyond the River (Far Fields Series #1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this book from the first page. I was already expecting a mix of fiction with realism since I was aware that this was 'Christian' fiction--there would be the reality of the existence and work of Christ mixed in with fictional characters. What I wasn't prepared for was the way it was blended: in a mature style that was sort of lovely and sweet without playing shamefully on the emotions. At first I had to suspend my eschatology because I do not believe that humans will destroy the earth via the greenhouse effect; nor do I believe that our culture will move to this point without the intervention of the reign of Christ. But as I got into the wonderful characters and the polar opposites of their lifestyles I was hopelessly drawn in and my spirit was lifted. If you like sci-fi or even just good fiction, I heartily recommend this book and can't wait to find the sequel!

I read very little sci-fi but found this interesting from a Christain point of view. I had no trouble finding the 2nd book, The Remnant (published 1997)in our library, and am reading it now. I find it even more interesting than the 1st.

A woman travels outside the enclosed city into the "Far Fields" and discovers that freedom is more important than security. A great read, Book 1 of a series that has not seen book 2 yet (if ever). Bring on the series! Well worth the cover price.

My wife loves Christian fiction and reads a lot of Gilbert Morris's books. She hated this one.

I saw it laying around and was intrigued. I started reading it and could not put it down. This is the logical end of government power -- an all-controlling, all-dominating beast that will dictate even the peoples' spiritual life via its indoctrination. Nevertheless, there would be a small minority that would resist the control (in this case a bunch of Christians). The easiest thing to see about humanity's socialist experiments is that they are always oppresive and the human spirit is resilient enough to stand against it. The authors show how a crisis is used to produce government power, how that power is continued beyond the crisis, and that nothing like honesty would stand between the government and its power and no amount of brutality would be beyond the pale when its power is percieved to be threatened. It would indeed take a great amount of faith in something to stand against such a tyranny.

I have no problem with the religious views stated in this book, but I think many sci-fi fans and libertarians may. Could be why I cannot find a sequel in spite of the fact that it claims to be the first in a series. (Ten years is enough to have the whole series done.) It may be hard to sell this futuristic plot to Christians and this religious viewpoint to sci-fiers. Make no mistake, Morris and Funderburk take every opportunity to fit a Bible verse or evangelistic comment into the plot -- enough to turn you off if you are not sympathetic to such views.

I didn't expect much of a book which claimed to "carr[y] the New Age and
'politically correct' doctrine ... to its logical end" but this book passed all my
expectations, in illogical researched nonsense! The 'logical' end to the New Age
movement would be a totalitarian government, full of Satanic rituals an almost
mandatory drug use, that kills people for disagreeing? I mean come on! New
Agers don't even eat meat! (which this book conveniently forgets) Obviously the
two MEN who write this book know NOTHING about New Agers or Pagans or
Lesbians but what their minister told them!
The world in which Beyond the River takes place is one of many contradictions.
Though Starr, the main character claims that no record of Old Age flora or fauna
exists, she is not surprised to see squirrels, snakes, oak trees, or flowers and we
are not supposed to be surprised that she know what they are. She is surprised
by the river, and claims that there are few pictures of rivers left in the city, but
magically knows what a barge is.
The characters are cardboard, the romance is cheesy, there is no explanation of
why the New Agers don't just exile Christians but KILL them. When a goat just
appears for a Satanic sacrifice, no one is surprised (even though all animals are
dead).
I could go on all day about the mistakes and obvious lies in this book, but even I
can only rant so long about such a truly awful book.
I would recommend NOT buying this book, and if you all ready have, I would
recommend disposing of it like you would any other garbage.