Arena

by Karen Hancock

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Plagued by fear and disillusionment, young Callie Hayes volunteers for a psychology experiment that promises to turn her life around. Unnerved by the mounting evasiveness of the research workers, however, she soon changes her mind and asks to be released from the project. To her horror, the workers refuse, dropping her instead into a terrifying alien world amidst an ongoing battle between good and evil. With limited resources and only a few cryptic words to guide her, she embarks on a journey that will change her life forever. Will she decipher the plans the Benefactor has established for her escape, or will she succumb to the deception of the Arena? (c) Book cover, Arena

Wow! This being the first science fiction book I've ever read (never mind Christian Science Fiction!) and discovering that I enjoyed it, has left me in a state of shock! This is the first published book by Karen Hancock and I imagine it is going to set the Christian Publishing market on fire! It is intelligent, complex, meaningful, action-packed and keeps the pulse racing! As I glance at the book now, I see that I have a lot of slips of paper sticking out of it, marking passages that I found interesting or questioned.

This book has the marks of a good allegory (as defined by my husband) which means that the story was able to stand on its own apart from the allegory and the allegory never imploded or contradicted itself. The story was consistent; the allegory was good in that it never became obvious until near the end. The allegory did not over power the story, nor did the story overpower the allegory. Good allegory makes you think about life and leads to self-examination, which this book does. The story is a very interesting allegory of the Christian salvation experience and then the Christian walk from infancy to maturity. I was intrigued by the different "beings" that played central roles in the book as well as the different characters as I struggled to figure out who was supposed to be who in the allegorical rendition of the Christian experience. It was absolutely fascinating and was in no way simple or juvenile like other Christian allegorical stories like C. S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

It is full of adventure, evil presences, fights between good and evil, alien or "other world" beings, magical fire walls that heal and give extraordinary strength, war torn villages, false leaders, temples, holographs, laser guns, and magical vests and helmets. What more could you ask for in a good science fiction novel? Bravo, Karen Hancock! A terrifically well-done novel!

However, there were two weaknesses that troubled me. The first was that the language was quite strongly new age-like in the word choices. For example, each of the following words connotes "new age" philosophy to me when I first hear them: "channel" (pg. 198), "channeling," "enlightened ones" (pg. 198), "gates of change" (pg. 198), "inner realm" (pg. 200 et al), "outer realm" (pg. 199 et al), "the guide" (pg. 187 et al), "the link" (pg. 198 et al), "witnesses" (pg. 197 et al), "fire curtains" (pg. 199 et al), "watcher" (pg. 227 et al), "portal" (pg. 350 et al), "energy shield" (pg. 351 et al) etc. Upon first glance, I was tempted to think this was a "new age" book and to drop it. However, as I read on I began to think that they weren't used in a new age sense of the term. Each were allegorical meanings for Christian experiences. My husband (a science fiction fan) did not see any of these words in a "new age" manner and they caused no problem for him. A difference in experience causes a difference in meaning from one reader to the next, I guess. With that said, it isn't a big issue once I'm done the book, but each word did "grate" against me as I was reading it and influence my experience of the book.

The second problem I had with the book is much more important, and perhaps, damaging to the overall story. This is one point my husband and I actually agreed upon too! The first part of the book is told slowly and patiently while the last part of the book seems to appear rushed. Near the end I caught myself thinking, "Are laser fights and running over and around bolders the only sorts of action there is in this story?" I felt like the book was peppered with the same type of fighting scenes repeatedly. At one point on page 324 the narrator describes the other trials they encountered and I thought it was a shame that the author didn't include descriptions of these events instead of just saying they happened. They would have most certainly provided more variation to the action and would have been most interesting to the story! ("They had sneaked through cities disguised as soldiers, smuggled themselves past checkpoints in the secret compartments of traders' carts, and once even pulled off a direct confrontation." (pg. 324, Arena)) Perhaps the author was over a word count limit or had only "x" amount of space to tell the story and had to get through it to the end. One can only speculate on that though. I do believe the story would have been that more effective with the description of the varied events described in the above quote and the omission detracts from the overall story.

There is no shortness of graphic violence or fighting scenes in this book either. Is that a bad thing? Look at the Bible itself - it is full of evil and violence. It definitely requires a warning for the squeamish or weak of heart though! Check out Karen Hancock's web site to see what she says about the question "Should Christian books contain graphic violence?"

On the positive side, this amazing story has many strengths. It is full of heart stopping action. The descriptions of the setting are so vivid you can picture the places in your mind The characters are complex and creatively developed so that you feel you "know" them or at least understand their natures by the end. The names for the aliens, the leaders, the science fiction weapons are all very unusual and creative. I am dying to know where the names originated and if they have an origin in Hebrew, Roman, or Greek languages. Each name appears carefully chosen to evoke just the right feeling from the reader ("Elhanu," "Tohvani," "Aggillon," "Prince Cephelus," "Trogs," "Mandor," "Zelhosian" etc.)

This book went above and beyond my expectations as a Christian Science Fiction novel. Even though science fiction is not my favourite genre, I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this book to any Christian friend and especially to those who enjoy science fiction already. It would also be an awesome book to give to a non-christian friend who enjoys science fiction or adventure books. It is most definitely not preachy or overdone in the allegorical telling of the story. If you want to read something refreshing, intelligent, and fascinating go pick up this book today!!