Customer Reviews

Faith Awakened

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

In Chapter 1, the reader is introduced to Faith as a child. It appears that her life is idyllic, Faith Awakened is the tale of two women, both Irish, living in two very different worlds. Both begin their lives in Belfast or nearby Bangor. They both love the beach and the sea, and they are both Believers. Beyond that, their lives take far different turns, as do the circumstances in which they live. The narrative, all told in first person but from two different perspectives, spends a few chapters with Mariah, and then switches to Faith. Any person who has read a few novels knows that there must be a point where the two them intersect in some way, but the question is how and when. The answer comes as a surprise.

The story seems to start in the middle or near the end, as Mariah is obviously in a frantic race with time in a bleak future world. Hurriedly she is rounding up a group of people, putting them into cubicles and hooking them up to something that is painful for a moment. We know their lives are at stake. But why? Are they going into stasis or committing suicide, planning to meet "in Paradise on the other side?" This is the brief introduction.

yet something is constantly nagging at her. The nagging feeling is one of the things that kept me looking for some problem to show up eventually in her life. When the story switches back to Mariah, it goes to a time a while before the introduction, when she is a slave to the One World system that is running everything and every one. Basically, in order to get food, the people of the world had to agree to the terms of the powerful leaders, which virtually meant enslavement. One day, a mysterious stranger invites Mariah to a secret meeting of the followers of the Awakener, and her life changes completely. However, there are many twists and turns in both of their lives, more than I can even hint at in this review. I may be somewhat slow, but it took me a long time to suspect the connection between these two women who had such very different lives.

This was a very different type of novel, more like a romance novel on one hand, but very definitely science fiction with lots of technical/futuristic portions. It would appear that Ms. Bridges has done her homework. I love her descriptions of places, especially along the shore near Bangor and Belfast. Really, she does a masterful job of describing people and ideas as well as scenes. I was saddened when a couple of the characters died in other unexpected turn of events. Once I started reading, I honestly could not stop, reading far into the wee hours of the morning. For the most part, it was an easy read, although I became a little bogged down on the technical elements. This is a fresh narrative full of nuances, twists, and surprises. The projected audience is probably adult, but adolescents would be just as engrossed in it as I was. I believe most proponents of Speculative Christian fiction (romance, too) will enjoy Grace Bridges' first novel.

Faith Awakened is unlike any other book I have ever read.

Mariah is an Irish slave, living in a time referred to as the "Trouble." Greed and wickedness in high places has done away with freedom, both religious and natural. Only a few people cling to biblical principles and to God - whom they refer to as the Awakener, and Whom they serve in secret. They call themselves the Awakened. Governmental attempts to control the slaves ultimately destroy much more. Mariah and a handful of other slaves must find a way to survive after this devastation.

Faith enjoys all the privileges of freedom. From an early age, she suffers occasional bouts of temporary memory loss, frightening episodes which she learns to deal with and go on. Always, she seeks a special relationship with God. Not finding it, she fills her life with friends and other interests. Faith bounces from place to place, from interest to interest, eventually finding a few close friends and a satisfying experience with her Creator.

Two women who exist in different worlds. They lead completely adverse lives and, for the most part, have widely diverse interests. Yet they are deeply connected in a way that will shock not only the reader, but the two girls as well.

Faith Awakened is an intricately woven, well-written tale. Almost without realizing it, the reader is helplessly entangled in the undercurrents of the story, compelled to discover the link between Faith and Mariah. Once it is discovered, there remains the anticipation of the girls themselves discovering their connection, and wondering how and when it will happen. The next page? The next chapter? So the pages continue to turn, and the reader continues to be drawn in.

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.

An authoritarian government has enslaved Earth's population. A handful of powerful law-giving profiteers have abolished all taxes! Sounds good, until one learns that in exchange, one merely gets food and shelter. In engineering a perfect society, the tyrants won't allow any power higher than themselves. No one's allowed to judge earth's mortal judges, thus, religion may not be openly practised. The Awakened, or believers in the Awakener (God), must meet secretively. Against this backdrop of extreme Social Humanism, rumors of a slave rebellion ripple through the narrator's home town of Belfast, Ireland. This is the day for which everyone's longed. As the celebration begins, a bio-engineered plague is unleashed by the tyrants. Intended to merely kill millions, it spreads out of control and nearly wipes out the global population. Survivors don't know why they've survived. They seek empty streets for signs of human life, and for biological answers.

The tragic tale's told by Mariah, as she journals humanity's terrible fate, recording history in the event that there are future generations left to read her words. Bridges patiently intertwines the lives of two main characters, and one must patiently read-on to discover why Mariah and Faith are on a spiritual sojourn collision-course. Here is where the reviewer must make a confession: the "Faith" chapters were skimmed over quickly to get to the interesting story of Mariah. If the reader is a fan of cyber-punk and sci-fi, the preface of Faith Awakened provides enough information to act as a plot spoiler.

Many Christians believe there will be a tech-breakdown as the end-of-days approaches, and Biblical prophecy unfolds in space and time. Faith Awakened is set in such a world. Even before the plague, the tyrants replace cars with bicycles, and the rebellion is prepared to launch its own agricultural economy. Post-plague, unmanned infrastructures collapse, and rusting technology sits without sources of power.

The main idea Grace Bridges explores--in different ways--is man playing God. Just how badly would we wreck things if global society is governed as though humans were the highest power, the highest law-giver? Can technology apprehend the Divine? How do we wrap our fallen finite minds around the concept of heaven?

Biblical speculative fiction (sc-fi, fantasy, and spiritual thrillers), is the perfect genre with which to explore big ideas. Spec-fic allows for the most creative settings and characters with which to paint realistic social problems that have theological consequences. This reviewer would like to see Bridges continue to write and hone her sci-fi writing skills since she displays real talent.

Such a compelling story and vivid characters are woven together I could hardly put this book down. Science Fiction is usually not my thing but there is so much more to Faith Awakened including romance and adventure. Grace does not bog down in the details of the technology that is key to the plot yet she writes in such a way that a reader unfamiliar with the principles of cryogenics and virtual reality can feel as if they understand it to some degree. Being not much of a science buff but still into details I appreciate being able to read a story built around technology that is presented so that I don't end up feeling completely lost by terminology and ideas which are foreign to me.

Grace also integrates many concepts into her story that encourage a lifestyle very different from what today's society and the society of her futuristic world believe is not only permissible but also preferred. Although the story starts out by simply introducing us to the characters and their worlds it still somehow drew me in and moved quickly. I identify with both Faith and Mariah in different ways but also in some of their shared traits as well.

These characters are well developed and though the book is quite short, really more novella length than full novel, there are so many ideas and details packed into that short span that little is lacking from this story. One of the major themes in my opinion is the eternal question of where do we place our trust and who is in control in our lives? Are we running the show or trusting our Lord, the Awakener in this book, who is truly the one in control anyway? What consequences might we face later on if we choose to continue our insistence on being in charge and calling the shots? Grace approaches these and other nebulous questions related to faith in her book. The title Faith Awakened is perhaps a foreshadowing of some of the core issues addressed through the stories of Faith, Mariah and their friends.

This book was well worth the reading time and also worth rereading to dig deeper into some of the concepts and themes addressed through the story line. This is one book that is truly thought provoking as well as sparking some serious self examination and reflection on my thoughts and motives. This is definitely a shining debut for Grace Bridges.

The first chapter of the book immediately drew me into the story and held my attention. As Faith Awakened is a first novel I look forward to seeing Grace's writing style develop and gain a little more precision and polish.

This is a science fiction novel, however, the technical elements are minimal so readers of other genres might enjoy the tale, especially if they enjoy a first person look at someones life story.

In this novel Mariah and Faith each tell the stories of their lives in journal form. This form of storytelling is not my personal favorite, but the creative layout of the story kept my interest throughout the book.

Mariah is an ex-slave in a world gone mad. The world is our own, but in a time where all has changed. In Mariah's character we see God reach out and draw her to believe. While witnessing her blossoming faith we also observe the bitter steps of humanity toward its own destruction. In contrast to this destruction there remains life. This life is a gift from God, who in this novel is referred to as "The Awakener." Does "The Awakener" wish for Mariah to live? Will He reach into her life and provide a way?

We meet Faith as a child, safe and secure in her parents home in Ireland. Faith knows nothing of the terror of Mariah's world. She grows from childhood enfolded by faith in God and security. Still, she struggles with anger, depression and the direction of her life. Sometimes she feels trapped and other times she feels compelled by a hand not her own. Is God in her choices? Does He have a plan for her?

I enjoyed the contrast between Mariah and Faith and the insightful descriptions of how God is Master of all things and all created worlds. I found the description of depression and discouragement interesting when it was found in a "virtual" world. It is an intriguing exposition on how the human soul is prone to dissatisfaction in all things, even our own idea of "heaven on earth", unless God draws the focus to Himself. I appreciated seeing these themes played out in both Mariah and Faith's experiences as they stumbled along and found a God who had both a purpose and a plan in the midst of a unique life situation.

Overall I would refer to the story as thought-provoking and sober, even as it clearly portrays hope and the hand of God.

This "little" piece of end times literature explores not only possible technological, devastating world events, but the lives of believers going through this period. Even after the "masters" are destroyed there are greater things to fear. Grace Bridges has done in a very few number of pages, what many other authors have been unable to do in volumes of works of a similar type. If you are interested in end times, science fiction, parallel worlds or just plain fantasy, you must read this book. The only reason I did not give her a 5 star rating is because I can't give her a 4.75. This is her debut novel and I want to leave room for her to improve. Won't that be an amazing thing to read?

David Brollier - author of THE 3RD COVENANT

So it is about parallel universes. Not the first, but has a few interesting twists. Although some characters express a real faith and become part of "the Awakened," there are significant challenges and the associated suspense as various harsh realities are faced. The worst of these is a deadly virus which leaves very few survivors in the world. They struggle with the catastrophic consequences, trying to keep hope alive when the odds are small.
Characters are very credible in their responses to each other and the devastations which are the consequence of the virus outbreak. The "faithful" and the doubters try to forge bonds of cooperation to help each other grapple with enough technology to survive. As a reader I felt drawn into their hopes and their despair, wondering what would happen next. Although this is the first from a young author, and a short book (180pages), I had to think "Wow!" Sketches of people and places sing with some very deft touches of reality and romance. Hope for humanity is both redefined and practical.
Faith Awakened