Customer Reviews

Journey Into The Gateway Of Dimensions, Tayan Chronicles Book One

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

 

 

I typed in "Christian science fiction" into a search engine, and Josh Michael Burton's website popped up. I learned then of his novel "Journey into the Gateway of Dimensions." The novel is self-published from Xulon Press, and because of this there are some typos and stuff throughout the book that I found a little distracting. However, I did certainly find the book entertaining. Burton's writing at the beginning was a little cheesy, and that cheesiness didn't TOTALLY dissipate throughout the novel, but towards the middle and end of the book, the writing was a bit more fast-paced and written better, in my opinion. The same goes with the dialogue--it seemed to get better as the book progressed.

One other thing that was a bit confusing was trying to keep track of all of Icacia (the book's main setting) "tribes," or races. There's 12 of them, and although you get to kind of memorize them toward the middle of the book, at first I had to go back to the beginning and keep looking up which one was which.

The book certainly doesn't hold back as far as its religious messages, and I found that to be a good thing. It has messages of faith from several different viewpoints of several of the book's characters, and it really strengthened the plot.

In short, the writing really could have been better, but for a first effort, it certainly kept my interest, and the book's thorougly interesting, unique, and impressive plot (just read the synopsis that's on the back of the book above) certainly makes up for what is good, but not impressive writing. I do, however, look forward to reading future novels by Josh Michael Burton in his "taya chronicles." It's a great addition to the world of Christian science fiction.

This is probably the best piece of Christian Science Fiction I've ever read. It started off at a rather slow and mallow pace, but it didn't long for this story to explode into a flurry of action and excitement. The story is entertaining without being gruesumely violent and the message the book delievers is hopeful and a true inspiration without being "preachy" or baised. If you're looking for a work of Christian fiction that doesn't dissapoint, I suggest you give this book some serious consideration; trust me, you won't regret it!

This is a wonderful book! Very creative and entertaining. The different tribes are great. They kind of gave this book a "Lord of the Rings" feel, since they are all different and unique somehow like the peoples in the LOTR. Journey into the Gateway of Dimensions is exciting and well written. The characters are great...the Christian characters especially. And what an amazing tale! It is faith filled and glorifies Jesus.

This is one of the only Christian science fiction books out there, and it deserves a high rating just for being one. This is a great, thrilling book expressing Christian values with a wonderful sci-fi aspect at the same time. The chacter range is great, and the personalities are even better. I personally can't wait for the next book in the series! Whether you're into Christian or sci-fi themes, this book deserves to be read AT LEAST once. Try it, you'll like it!

This Christian science fiction book is not allegorical or part of the flood of "end times" fiction. The author writes science fiction that involves Christ, yet within the larger context of the fictional story. The whole scientific concept of this work stays within believable, yet imaginative parameters. It involves twelve tribes of altered humans, most originating with the Mayan civilization of Earth, who long ago made their way to the distant world of Icacia. The story revolves around the discovery of a scroll that leads to an ancient gateway and two groups that are seeking to reach the gateway first. It also involves the return of a once imprisoned, great evil that is loosed upon humanity again. I believe you will enjoy the characterization, plot, and depth of the sci-fi world.

From the back cover:
During a routine research mission to the Great Pomian Forest, a Khaetorian High Council science officer unwittingly releases an imprisoned evil creature. The beast resumes his quest to obliterate the governing body of Icacia and replace it with his demonic rule. Soon afterward, a hidden scroll is discovered which reveals the location of the fabled Gateway of Dimensions. When the scroll is stolen by a madman bent on gaining the Gateway's power, an eclectic group of scientist-explorers is drawn together in a race against time to stop the madman and prevent the evil beast from destroying the very existence of Icacia's many tribes.

Background for Journey Into The Gateway of Dimensions (taken from the now missing website):
Icacia is a planet in the Miayetsi Star System. It is orbited by a lifeless lesser moon, Epipteron, and a life-supporting greater moon, Quotor. All life forms on Icacia and Quotor were originally translocated from the Earth, referred to as Eden, some many centuries ago. The Hymnil tribe arrived on Icacia around three thousand years ago and formed a mighty, space-faring race. The Hymnil managed to nearly obliterate themselves in a Great Civil War mainly concerned with the control of an immense spiral collection of taya. Taya, if you are curious, are harmonic energy doorways which use "dark matter" as a faster-than-light conduit to connect two seperate points in space. The spiral collection of taya, the Gateway of Dimensions, could afford the opportunity to go almost anywhere from one central location. The Hymnil remnant which survived the war left Icacia and vowed to forever abandon any use or knowledge of the Gateway. One thousand years ago the members of eleven diverse tribes arrived on Icacia via a taya linked to Earth. The tribe's odd characteristics were the result of Mayan alchemist priest's genetic experiments to create slave labor classes to serve the powerful Mayan nobility. When the terrible Red Ashen Plague struck the Mayan Empire, the mutated tribesmen were the only individuals resistant due to their altered genetics. As the survivors fled the death and carnage of the Empire, they happened through the taya and ended up on Icacia. The tribes spread out across the continents and carved out a niche for themselves. Eventually, a thriving commerce, rudimentary government, and major technological advances occured. Abandoned Hymnil spacecraft were discovered, mastered, and used to create settlements on the greater moon, Quotor. The Khaetorian High Council was formed as a means of democratically governing the eleven tribes of Icacia. The Council soon formed a university to train, educate, and advance the general population it governed. It is in this context that the novel takes place.

This book is truly Christian science fiction and I recommend it to everyone. I can't wait for the next book in his Tayan Chronicles!

This book was an inspiration, the story well thought-out and the characters almost completely real. A christian science-fiction novel, a rare find, and a very good read, this book blends a great story, lots of action, and many different races/characters that it's fun to read, though confusing at times. The biggest achievement is the book's ability to keep you guessing and the constant need to know "what's gonna happen next?".

During a routine research mission to the Great Pomian Forest, a Khaetorian High Council science officer unwittingly releases an imprisoned evil creature who resumes his quest to obliterate the governing body of Icacia and replace it with his demonic rule. Soon afterward, a hidden scroll is discovered which reveals the locations of the fabled Gateway of Dimensions. When the scroll is stolen by a madman bent on gaining the Gateway's power, an eclectic group of scientist-explorers is drawn together in a race against time to stop the madman and prevent the evil beast from destroying the very existence of Icacia's many tribes.

"I believe the science fiction and fantasy genres are fields waiting to be seeded with the Gospel of Christ. I believe this book will help fill in the gap." Josh Michael Burton

It's a shame that the imaginative world envisioned by author Josh Michael Burton is not given a better treatment. Unfortunately, the writing in this story falls well short of ideal or even a high professional standard.

Although the book billed as science fiction, much of the science in this story falls firmly under the category of Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Most things are not explained except for characters to occasionally marvel at how "advanced" they are; while I don't need an in-depth spec sheet, things would feel more realistic if there were some attempts to give a good grounding to the world's technical level, aside from hanging occasional technical-sounding terms, such as "bimetallic" or "hytion" off of things. (I also find myself wondering about the premise of the world, where somehow Mayans have managed to genetically engineer eleven distinct human sub-races, and a moon with apparently Earth-comparable gravity orbits an Earthlike planet, for example.)

Where the writing really needed polish, however, was in the dialog. Much of the dialog sounded wooden and stilted, with characters picking strange and formal-sounding terms instead of more natural language. Many times, it felt like characters spoke not because they had something they wanted to say, but because the author had something he needed to relate to the audience, and so he picked the characters as the vehicle. As a result, conversations abound with odd artifacts such as specific dates, lengthy exposition, and awkward transitions, where once a character has imparted to the readers all the author wishes them to know, that character will abruptly change the subject, and whomever he's talking with will happily follow along. In a few instances, characters make long speeches with no one else around, detailing their plans, history, or belief systems (towards the end of the book, at least, these tend to end up more as 'He thought' rather than 'he said'). And even when there are not long speeches, characters have a tendency to spontaneously announce their thoughts and actions in a severely melodramatic fashion. As well, unfortunately, many of the characters have a tendency to be very didactic with their beliefs, to the point where even I--as someone who agreed with those beliefs!--felt uncomfortable having to sit through these lectures.

The author also has a tendency to tell, rather than show. Many times, it's explained directly what an individual is feeling, rather than the readers being drawn to understand how the character thinks and feels through their words and actions--or, if they do hear it through the words, it's because the character directly announces his feelings. Sometimes it feels as though this results in the author showing off the fact that he has a thesaurus, as many unnecessary synonyms find their way into the text, disrupting the flow.

Unfortunately, the book also lacks a good editing. A few terms are misspelled consistently throughout the book, and I noticed several typographical errors in addition to those, which disrupted an already shaky reading experience.

This is not to say that the book is entirely bad; the author has a creative imagination and a wild sense of adventure. It's just that the story, as unpolished as it is, could be a lot more enjoyable than it ultimately ends up. It feels somewhat like watching an ornate watch being worked on by a repairman whose hands tremble too much to allow him to really perform delicate work.