Customer Reviews

The Superlative Stream

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nietz has made a bold sequel to his runaway hit, "A Star Curiously Singing" with his newest release, "The Superlative Stream". It features the same sharp and edgy writing that places you immediately into the story and won't let go.

This time the story ventures into the exploration of a mysterious planet found orbiting the star Betelgeuse. But the story also dips into the past, filling in interesting details of the main characters, Sandfly and his companion Hardcandy.

Some of the flashback scenes are quite heart wrenching, but open a new dimension for the story and also sets the stage for an inevitable continuation of the saga that I for one cannot wait for.

Another homerun by Nietz.

Last year's "A Star Curiously Singing" was a masterpiece of imagination, characterization, and sci-fi mixed with deeper themes. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this sequel.

"The Superlative Stream" opens with a clever device to remind us of what has gone before and set the scene for the coming story. Once again, we find ourselves with SandFly and his companion HardCandy. They are debuggers, humans with prescribed jobs and scant shows of emotion--a romantic tension that is maintained with great skill. SandFly and HardCandy are heading to explore the strange information streaming from Betelgeuse, but this plan is disrupted by the appearance of an unknown planet. Soon, they find themselves hurtling toward the planet's surface, unsure if they will find friendly or hostile life. On this journey, Nietz weaves in strong backstory, particularly for HardCandy. He also uses some fun lingo--such as "freehead," "rails," and "burroughs and bradbury"--and peeks at possible technological advances.

Although well-known Christian author, C.S. Lewis, showed the potential of this genre with his acclaimed Space Trilogy, decades have passed with few others carrying that torch. Madeleine L'Engle explored mathematical and spiritual ideas in her Time Quartet, yet many Christians seem to think it anti-biblical to consider the possibilities of other planetary life. (The thinking is that the Bible would've told us if there were other lifeforms, which seems to me as egocentric and narrow-minded as those who believe America is the center of biblical prophecy.) Nietz combines the creativity and deep-thinking of these two pioneers and produces a series that stands proudly on its own. Lewis and L'Engle!

This is a futuristic world that feels believable, imaginative, yet somehow familiar. There are some biblical ideas threaded into the story, but never intrusively. While I would've liked more reasoning for three of the alien lifeforms having names from the book of Genesis (I kept waiting for some big reveal), I suspect that will be explained further in another book. I do sense more mysteries waiting to be explored.

Nietz, through his main characters, touches on the emotional disconnect that many people feel, and probes questions about our purpose as a species, as well as the futures of religion and faith. Thanks to writers willing to think outside the box, this genre is gaining new readers, Christian and otherwise. The search for truth is universal, and "The Superlative Stream" takes that search to the universe's edges, to the very places where the map ends.

The Superlative Stream by Kerry Nietz is the second in the Darktrench Saga, Sandfly and Hard Candy have travelled with the ship Dark Trench to Betelguese in search of the source of the superlative stream that has change Sandfly in ways that he doesn't completely understand.

When they arrive, they find a planet that shouldn't be there and get a brief clip from a stream that is very like the one they are searching for. Against all reason the planet looks to be similar to Earth and inhabited. Sandfly and Hard Candy end up on the planet and meet people that Sand calls Betels and Hard Candy wonders if they are Jinn. Here is a civilization that is so far ahead of Earth that it is hard to imagine, but the question remains, is this really the source of the superlative stream.

Kerry uses this second book to introduce us in much greater detail to Hard Candy. We learn why she is a debugger and what that might mean to Sandfly. We also see Sandfly's growth as he struggles to understand something that he has only had the briefest glimpses of.

This book is a fitting follow up to A Star Curiously Singing which introduces the dystopian world. The nature of the world that Sandfly and Hard Candy inhabited is given even more shape in The Superlative Stream and we are given hints at what is to come in the concluding book.

As in all Marcher Lord Press books, there is a Christian element to this story, but it is never allowed to get in the way of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read.

The Superlative Stream takes us into deep space on board the DarkTrench. Sandfly has heard A Star Curiously Singing and must now find out why. All his stops are gone and he is almost like a freehead. What is a freehead? It is anyone able to think without being shocked by an implant. While Sandfly still has his teardrop chip connecting him to his version of the internet, the stops that once kept him on a tight leash no longer function.

After escaping a world of Imam and slavery, he journeys across the solar system with fellow debugger HardCandy and the ship's computer, trying to find the source of the song. He has become a truth seeker. You and I both know there is only one real truth. Everything else is subjective and changing.
But Sandfly has lived a life full of lies as a slave. This truth thing...without stops...is something scary. He begins to feel the weight of choice and the responsibility of that gift. Just like any other with freewill, Sandfly stumbles along the way.

Do not fear. God stoops to where we are.

What held me captivated in The Superlative Stream? HardCandy's story. Kerry shows by way of Sandfly getting a feed of her memories. Genius manipulation of writing rules. I slip inside her mind and my heart stayed with HardCandy throughout the book.
HardCandy is the only female debugger and the question begs to be asked...WHY? Well, we find out. I am not one to ruin a book so you will have to read and see.
All and all, I am left feeling satisfied with the direction Sandfly and HardCandy are going. Many would say the things that brought them to where they are have been random coincidence. That the universe is a crazy conglomeration of happenstance. Sandfly knows better now. He sees the pattern of beautiful weaved into the everyday.
HardCandy sees also. She sees that her life has value beyond a slave or a woman. Enough value that many have thrown themselves into harm's way to save it. That is where the blur goes away and everything becomes clear for my gal. The stops are removed and she is free.
I have only a few excellent quotes that stuck firm in my head but they are worth the extra attention.

1."In fact, ever since a bot started quoting forbidden and thought-to-be-corrupted scripture at me I've been living where the map ends."
Please note the cleverness in the quotes. :)

2."God streams Full Impact, freehead."
Full Impact- All sensory included.


Anvil Rating: 5

I recently read Kerry Nietz's first novel, A Star Curiously Singing, loved it, and was delighted to see that the adventures of Sandfly continue in a sequel, The Superlative Stream. In ASCS, we meet Sandfly, a debugger who is sent to investigate the self-destruction of a robot on the space ship DarkTrench. In the course of the investigation, he discovers a possible cause: curious singing from a distant star. TSS picks up where ASCS leaves off. Sandfly and his fellow debugger HardCandy take DarkTrench to search for the source of the singing, the superlative stream.

Nietz clearly matured as a writer with TSS. As good as ASCS is, TSS adds a higher level of depth and complexity to his engaging style. Utilizing flashbacks to their lives on Earth, we get to know Sandfly and HardCandy better and see how circumstances have brought them together. We also gain insight into the Muslim culture of their world. Nietz will not win friends in the Muslim community, as he takes certain elements of Sharia law to their logical, painful conclusions.

A subplot in both books deal with Sandfly's implant. As a result of his encounter with the superlative stream, his stops are removed, so, if he wishes to, he can sin with impunity. For the first time in his adult life, he experiences free will unencumbered by the programmed controls of the implant (and this right at the time time he embarks on an interstellar voyage, alone, with a beautiful woman!). Given the Islamic theology of good works, he struggles with the realization that his good works can never tip the scale in his favor; his sinful nature will continually pull him toward 50.1% bad works.

Sandfly's understanding will no doubt continue to develop as he gets to know the source of the stream, whom he knows now only as "(A~A)3." (That's A not A cubed, A being the shorthand for Allah, who is not named in the novel.) Nietz skillfully weaves basic, thoughtful ideas like this throughout the story without preaching or distracting from the overall plot.

Much of the story takes place on a planet in the Betelguese system. There the humans encounter a whole new civilization, technically far ahead of human civilization. This part of the story will feel very familiar to any reader of sci-fi or viewer of sci-fi movies and TV shows: an idyllic, communal society, where there is no evident material need, where everyone seems happy, yet everyone sort of looks and dresses alike. Nietz kept me going for quite a while, trying to decide if this were some sort of angelic community, or if there were something more ominous under the surface. I'll leave that discovery to you when you read it. . . .

Nietz shows his skill as a bona fide sci-fi writer with his use of hard science as a driver in the story combined with plenty of realistic scientific and technological speculation. Combining that with his use of hard theology, exploring theological questions from a refreshing outside perspective, he gives us a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read. And here's the good news: the Dark Trench saga will continue! An e-mail from Nietz confirmed that he has completed book 3. It's in the hands of the publisher now, so we should see it in the coming months. Keep an eye out at Marcher Lord Press for the release.

I am not a lover of science. It confuses me and makes me feel like an idiot, at times. That said, I do love science fiction - even those moments that have my eyes glazing over and me wondering, again, why it is that I get sucked into these types of stories.

Kerry Nietz is one of those reasons. With The Superlative Stream (and his previous book in the DarkTrench Saga, A Star Curiously Singing), Nietz takes a hold of my imagination and begins to manipulate it, creating some of the most incredible images and fantastic thoughts, thoughts that move me to tears when I am reminded of the beauty of my faith.

For a long time I've bemoaned "Christian Literature" and its tendency to preach and browbeat its readers with "wholesome" (see: mundane) stories that have the protagonist living a life of sin, repenting and then living a life that miraculously has gotten amazing! The DarkTrench Saga is not that type of literature. It reminds me of a mixture of Isaac Asimov's masterpieces mixed in with the dystopia world that a runaway faith and technology can cause (much like Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale).

Nietz has gotten a lot of flack for using a religion that is very powerful in our world right now - and the flack he's been getting has been primarily from his own faith. It's important to understand before reading these books, that these are works of fiction, that they are intended to show what could be in another time, another place, another universe - which is what science fiction is all about.

Most of all though, Kerry Nietz has provided the me, a believer, with something I'm eternally grateful to him for - a book that doesn't insult my intelligence, that glorifies God in a subtle, but intensely beautiful way, and tells a story that has me begging for more.

I have a hard time calling this just a book. It is a masterful tale, woven with a different thread, and in colors mixed in a very unique way. It brings you in with its use of the present tense and futuristic dialogue. It is not just a book, but an enthralling, up-against-your-nose story. Despite the characters' absence from Earth, Nietz still shows the wrongs of Islamic society through their memories. It also shows the delusion of those living with no purpose but pleasure. Nietz continues to astound me. I say "5 stars" with no hesitation.

Once started, this book is hard to put down. 'The Superlative Stream' by Kerry Nietz (a sequel his first work: 'A Star Curiously Singing') was even better. Mr Nietz reputation as an up and coming writer is growing with this skilled and entertaining effort . Can't wait to read his next book!

I have been looking forward to reading this ever since I finished "A Star Couriously Singing" and was not disappointed. Great followup! I especially enjoyed gaining more insight into HardCandy's life and background. HardCandy and Sandfly are great characters - ones you can identify with even though they live in time far from now. Their Adam and Eve moments were very interesting... As before, I am anxiously awaiting the next book! Thanks, Kerry!!

OK, so I'm no expert on Sci-fi. I haven't read a sci-fi book since Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles in high school, which was 30 years ago. I loved it and read it every year for several years.
Then SandFly showed up in A Star Curiously Singing. In my estimation, both this and its prequel (A Star Curiously Singing) are in no way inferior to such sci-fi classics.
Dive into these books, and you'll find yourself in a fabulously teched-out new world that's frighteningly like our own.
I read this and A Star Curiously Singing on the deck of a cruise ship, lost track of time, and got a nasty sunburn. It was so worth it!