Faith Awakened (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Isle of Man

Editorial Reviews

Review

Even a month after having read FAITH AWAKENED, I still find myself pondering the story. Grace has written a wonderful, unique story and I recommend it to any Christian reader who's looking for something out of the ordinary. --Karina Fabian, author of MAGIC, MENSA & MAYHEM, Editor of LEAPS OF FAITH and INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD

FAITH AWAKENED is unlike any other book I have ever read.... an intricately woven, well-written tale. Almost without realizing it, the reader is helplessly entangled in the undercurrents of the story...An excellent, touching, and spiritually enlightening read. Your own faith will be awakened as you share the experiences of Bridges' well-defined characters, and you will remember their story for years to come. --Delia Latham, author of ALMOST LIKE A SONG and GOLDENEYES

In FAITH AWAKENED, Grace Bridges has painted a frightening and thoughtful vision of the future. Christianity and science fiction meet and mesh in this original tale that had me speed reading...to discover if faith is rewarded. --Jeremy Robinson, bestselling author of THE DIDYMUS CONTINGENCY and ANTARKTOS RISING.

Just how badly would we wreck things if global society is governed as though humans were the highest power? Can technology apprehend the Divine? Bridges is a literary artist, who paints her dystopian future setting with a vibrant narrative-style brush. FAITH AWAKENED is a Biblical Sci-Fi classic, and I look forward to viewing more of Grace Bridges' futuristic works in my mind's eye. --Frank Creed, author of FLASHPOINT --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Have you ever wondered... if your life is designed? Coincidences, déjà vu, fate, God... what does it all mean? Have you ever wished you could go back and do things differently? Maybe you can. Maybe you did already. If you could design your own virtual world to live in, what would it look like? Is God a computer programmer? And can he take you to heaven... before you die?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430311118
• ISBN-13: 978-1430311119
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,002,385 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Premise, June 27, 2008

By	amy575 "amy575" (USA) - See all my reviews

Mariah lives in a dystopic world where a few overseers
run the planet and supply food, shelter, and weekends
off to the populace. Mariah longs for more, and finds
it when she is invited to a mysterious meeting to
worship the Awakener -- God.

A genetically engineered virus wipes out almost
everyone in her city -- her country -- her world. With
her friend Peter, also a follower of the Awakener, she
finds a few survivors. They eke out a simple yet not
unpleasant existence.

But then the virus reappears, and the survivors are no
longer immune. Mariah comes up with a desperate plan
to put all of them in suspended animation, dreaming in
a simulated world, where they might meet and live a
different life, again ...

Especially Mariah, now Faith, with her love Peter.

Grace Bridges' style is lyrical and graceful, and she
describes disturbing images intermingled with beauty.
Almost a fable, this story will remain with you long
after you read it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talk about being Awakened!, November 20, 2007

By	A.P. Fuchs "author of the zombie novel, BLOOD... - See all my reviews

If you had the chance to start over, would you take it? If you could program your entire life in a better world, would you do it? These questions are asked (and answered) in Faith Awakened, the new novel by Grace Bridges.

Enter Mariah, trapped in a life--and a world--filled with trouble. And not just any "trouble," but the Trouble, a series of events that has left the world near void of human life save for a small band of survivors. Struggling to put the pieces of a broken life back together is no easy challenge, but thanks to the company of a few close friends and the guidance of an ever-present Awakener, Mariah seems to pull through. That is, until, something even worse happens and she is left with no choice but retreat into a virtual reality program for several decades until it passes. Once inside, and without memory of her previous life, Mariah must discover what it truly means to live, to find purpose in life, and how to truly be awakened.

It's hard to imagine this is Bridge's first book. The way Faith Awakened is written makes you think she's been at this for a long time. The prose is detailed yet smooth, firm in approach yet comforting, well-articulated yet easy to read.

I've always been a fan of end-of-the-world type of stories and while reading this book I was often reminded of Stephen King's The Stand, where a super virus has taken out most of mankind. Bridges captures the loneliness of an empty world, one filled with dead streets and empty houses, with only pockets of life (human or otherwise) scattered here or there. She truly makes you feel for these characters and care about their every move.

Told as a dual narrative (one following Mariah and the other a girl named Faith), Bridges seamlessly blends two storylines with ease, ones where I wish they had gone on once each were finished. There are rumors she might start up a sequel.

This reviewer is hoping for it.

Recommended.

A.P. Fuchs

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fi for literary fiction readers, November 11, 2007

By	Caprice Hokstad "www.Latoph.com" (Escondido, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Plotwise, "Faith Awakened" is a lot like "The Stand" by Stephen King. Government-sponsored plague destroys nearly the whole population of the planet. A mere handful of survivors are left behind to start over. If you enjoyed "The Stand", the Mariah plotline of "Faith Awakened" will give you a similar experience, with a much happier ending.

But I am skipping to the end, and that's not the meat of the story. However, before going any further, I must confess I am woefully inadequate to discuss the meat of this story. "Faith Awakened" went over my head. It left me scratching my temple and wondering what it meant. This is a story for deep thinkers, the kind of people who read literary fiction, the kind of readers who actually understand and appreciate "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. Alas, I am not one of those people.

"Faith Awakened" is actually two stories, with two plotlines presented in tandem. One story doesn't start chronologically until after 95% of the other plotline is finished, so it is like a bunch of flashbacks. The narrative goes back and forth in a time warp. I am sure this parallel telling is somehow significant; it surely must be. If only I was the type of person who didn't need Cliff Notes in order to survive high school literature classes, perhaps I would have grasped the significance. But as I said, it went over my decidedly non-literary head.

In the first plot, Mariah is a young Christian woman (which their jargon calls "Awakened") who survives a global plague. When 99% of the population dies, those who survive are left to wonder if their resistance to the disease is permanent. There is a period of shock and mourning, understandable after such a catastrophe. Just as Mariah is beginning to recover from the shock and just as she falls in love and starts to think of marriage and starting life over, the tiny band of survivors discovers that the virus is mutating and they will all die unless they plug into hibernation machines. Mariah is the one who finds the machines and figures out how they work and then convinces everyone else they must utilize these machines or suffer the same fate as the rest of the population.

In the other plotline, we meet a small girl named Faith, who lives a rather uneventful childhood and then travels quite a bit later in life. Even with the continent-hopping (Ireland-Germany-Tonga), the Faith plotline was still somewhat dull, in my admittedly un-literary opinion. Faith and Mariah are connected, but I am getting close to giving away too much here.

The Mariah plotline was much more interesting, in my opinion, especially after the plague hit. Plenty of action and suspense there. And the stakes couldn't have been any higher: Will humanity survive? You'll have to read "Faith Awakened" to find out.