by Jason Joyner | Aug 21, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
Today is the start of the current Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour, sponsored by my good friend Becky Miller. We’re working out of an exciting book, Firebird by Kathy Tyers. I was able to participate with this month’s tour thanks to winning a copy of the book from Mirathon. Thanks so much Mir!
There’s not a lot of Christian Sci-fi to my knowledge, but this effort makes up for it! Firebird is a trilogy, so I will talk about each book over the 3 days of the tour.
Firebird is also the name of the initial book in the series. We follow Lady Firebird Angelo, born in a royal family on the planet Netaia. Normally this would be a good thing, but not on a planet that encourages ritual suicide for excess nobility. Netaia has a tradition that only two heirs can live a full life, but other children are conceived just in case something happens. Since Firebird falls after older sisters Carradee and Phoena, she is trained in the royal Navy. She leads an attack on a neighboring planet, and if she can’t die in battle, she is expected to do away with herself to appease the “Powers”.
On the other side of the battle is Brennan Caldwell, a Federate officer who is a member of a mysterious race called Sentinals. His people are looked to for protection, but are also feared because of their unique abilities and tragic past. Caldwell swears himself to obedience to the Holy One, and works to prevent upheaval from the Shuhr, an off-shoot of his people that are interested in conquest and immortality.
Firebird and Caldwell are brought together in an explosive time, and their adventures hurl Firebird toward her destiny, one that she did not imagine was possible. Netaia and the Federation hang in the balance.
The opening book moves quickly to hook you into Firebird’s world. The details of Netaian society are dizzying in their complexity. I always admire sci-fi and fantasy writers because they have to create their own worlds, and Kathy Tyers deserves special notice for the work she puts forth here. She builds tension, characterization, and action neatly through the first half of the book, so that you are compelled to finish the book quickly. The inner tension is as exciting as the explosians and battles. The book does not disappoint in its ending.
Overall this book is an excellent read and a great introduction to this series. I read most of it over traveling in Germany, and I was always pressing for time in our journey to slip a little more reading in.
I encourage you to check out others on the tour below, as they will have different insights to share. Be sure to catch up with Fusion Fire tomorrow!
Rachel Marks
John J. Boyer
Valerie Comer
Bryan Davis
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Pamela James
Tina Kulesa
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Cheryl Russel
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
by Jason Joyner | Aug 15, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
A sign on the road leaving Idaho Falls, Idaho. Beware…
by Jason Joyner | Aug 15, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
A sign on the road leaving Idaho Falls, Idaho. Beware…
by Jason Joyner | Aug 14, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
It was back in June that I talked about having my contract terminated, having 3 months to finish out my current position.
Three months is up on September 7th.
I suppose that should cause some sort of panic response, with me rushing around trying to find a job, maybe jumping into the first thing that comes along. Well, so far that isn’t happening. The reason it isn’t happening is because the Lord speaks to His people today, just as He has before. And He is speaking unbelievable calm and peace into my life.
Oh, I get uptight at times, starting to wind myself up into a tizzy. But He continues to speak to me: Don’t strive. I am Your provider. I am your refuge.
Last week I even pulled a Gideon: Lord, I really need a lead or a word from You to help me keep going. He was gracious to give me a word, but only after He spoke about not striving, and I relaxed in Him again. When the encouragement came from a speaker at our church, I wasn’t “grasping” for it. I did go talk to the speaker so he’d have the opportunity to speak if so lead, but I didn’t go up begging for a word either.
This might come across as patting myself on the back, but it shouldn’t. I would be a wreck if it weren’t for the mighty grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To quote a song: He is my Rock, He is my Glory, He is the Lifter of my head. If anyone out there is discouraged, then run to Him. He is faithful in our time of need. (He happens to be faithful outside our time of need too, something we sometimes ignore, but that’s another post 😉 ).
So I don’t have a job yet. But I have peace, and right now I won’t trade that for anything.
by Jason Joyner | Aug 14, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
It was back in June that I talked about having my contract terminated, having 3 months to finish out my current position.
Three months is up on September 7th.
I suppose that should cause some sort of panic response, with me rushing around trying to find a job, maybe jumping into the first thing that comes along. Well, so far that isn’t happening. The reason it isn’t happening is because the Lord speaks to His people today, just as He has before. And He is speaking unbelievable calm and peace into my life.
Oh, I get uptight at times, starting to wind myself up into a tizzy. But He continues to speak to me: Don’t strive. I am Your provider. I am your refuge.
Last week I even pulled a Gideon: Lord, I really need a lead or a word from You to help me keep going. He was gracious to give me a word, but only after He spoke about not striving, and I relaxed in Him again. When the encouragement came from a speaker at our church, I wasn’t “grasping” for it. I did go talk to the speaker so he’d have the opportunity to speak if so lead, but I didn’t go up begging for a word either.
This might come across as patting myself on the back, but it shouldn’t. I would be a wreck if it weren’t for the mighty grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To quote a song: He is my Rock, He is my Glory, He is the Lifter of my head. If anyone out there is discouraged, then run to Him. He is faithful in our time of need. (He happens to be faithful outside our time of need too, something we sometimes ignore, but that’s another post 😉 ).
So I don’t have a job yet. But I have peace, and right now I won’t trade that for anything.
by Jason Joyner | Aug 10, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
An internet acquaintance of mine named Chris Well is celebrating his 40th birthday in a unique way: if you order his latest crime thriller Deliver Us from Evelyn now through August 14th, you will be thanked PERSONALLY in his next book, due next year. You are also entered to receive a treasure trove of goodies. See details here. Make sure you send your confirmation number to Chris at Birthday06@studiowell.com.
Wow! I made my order. Now get on, get over to Amazon! Hurry. And tell them Jason Joyner sent you! 😀
by Jason Joyner | Aug 10, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
An internet acquaintance of mine named Chris Well is celebrating his 40th birthday in a unique way: if you order his latest crime thriller Deliver Us from Evelyn now through August 14th, you will be thanked PERSONALLY in his next book, due next year. You are also entered to receive a treasure trove of goodies. See details here. Make sure you send your confirmation number to Chris at Birthday06@studiowell.com.
Wow! I made my order. Now get on, get over to Amazon! Hurry. And tell them Jason Joyner sent you! 😀
by Jason Joyner | Aug 10, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
In my description of this blog, I mention it being a blog about “life, faith, and writing”. Life is obvious, and I think the faith part is pretty clear as well. What about the writing part?
Well, I have had a couple book reviews and discussion of Christian fiction topics. There is a reason I am interested in this. I have a little secret to share. Come closer…
I want to be a writer.
*Shock*
Probably not. I think aspiring to be a writer is a very common thing. Seems like everyone had a novel in them. Now everyone wants to write a memoir – not because we’ve had all terribly interesting lives, but it is easier to make things up to make it absorbing (a la James Frey).
I know several of the people who stop by here are buddies from a site called faith*in*fiction, so they would realize this. In fact, it was all the people from f*i*f that were blogging that made me want to check this out.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, and have been told I’m a good writer often. However, I know that just having some compliments doesn’t make one a writer. I have been working on my craft slowly since I started this journey a couple of years ago. It has been an interesting story, I think at least. I hope now to hone my skills and use them to glorify God and further His kingdom, whether it be writing an engaging blog, having articles published, or even someday penning that novel.
I will share a little more about this journey presently. Until then, remember that God is good!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 10, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
In my description of this blog, I mention it being a blog about “life, faith, and writing”. Life is obvious, and I think the faith part is pretty clear as well. What about the writing part?
Well, I have had a couple book reviews and discussion of Christian fiction topics. There is a reason I am interested in this. I have a little secret to share. Come closer…
I want to be a writer.
*Shock*
Probably not. I think aspiring to be a writer is a very common thing. Seems like everyone had a novel in them. Now everyone wants to write a memoir – not because we’ve had all terribly interesting lives, but it is easier to make things up to make it absorbing (a la James Frey).
I know several of the people who stop by here are buddies from a site called faith*in*fiction, so they would realize this. In fact, it was all the people from f*i*f that were blogging that made me want to check this out.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, and have been told I’m a good writer often. However, I know that just having some compliments doesn’t make one a writer. I have been working on my craft slowly since I started this journey a couple of years ago. It has been an interesting story, I think at least. I hope now to hone my skills and use them to glorify God and further His kingdom, whether it be writing an engaging blog, having articles published, or even someday penning that novel.
I will share a little more about this journey presently. Until then, remember that God is good!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 5, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
I can’t believe it’s been 4 months since I started blogging. Time flies when you’re having fun, or when a ton is happening in your life, as it has since I started this enterprise!
It has been fun, and I had the privilege of being linked by the main Calling All Nations website, which really drove up my traffic and got me a lot of hits from Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Over these first few months I have been able to tinker and experiment with what I post here. A lot of what I’ve done was dealing with the Berlin event, which is understandable. I’m feeling now that I need to define this blog a little better, with a more focused mission. It is nice to have a little spot in the wide blogosphere to vent and express oneself, but I’d like this blog to have a little more about it as well.
I intend to define what this blog will be about over the next week or two. Now, I am interested in people’s feedback, so if you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear from you. Especially any of my German friends, if there is anything that you’d like to see to keep you coming here. My thoughts for this blog center around the Christian life as it relates to reaching the world. This comes in both the idea of classic missions, but also in using the arts to speak into culture, specifically writing.
Anyway, that’s what I’m pondering today. We’ll see how it plays out over the next couple of weeks.
