Clifford Simak

When I first heard of Simak in the early 1980s, I was not aware that he was a Nebula Grandmaster Award Winner. I didn't know his novel Way Station had won a Hugo Award or that City, another novel, had won the International Fantasy Award. All of these things took place before I was aware of such goings-on. City had been written in the 1950s. Many of Simak's stories deal with spiritual themes.

On the recommendation of a college classmate, I bought Special Deliverance, one of Simak's last novels, at the local Wal Mart, and I was hooked. In Special Deliverance, a professor from our own earth is transported to a forested world with lost cities and exotic dangers. He finds himself in the company of a group of people from a variety of alternate earths. There's a woman from a world where the United States is still a British colony, a robot left to care for the survivors of a burned out and abandoned earth of the future, a parson not far removed from the Salem Witch Trials, a general from a militaristic world where wars are fought by deadly machines, and a peace loving artist from the Third Renaissance. Like the traveler in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Simak's travelers encounter a variety of deadly temptations--all of them metaphorical. One is destroyed by the lust for power, another by life-draining pleasures, another by a mindless euphoria, and another by rumbling chaos. The travelers encounter a "ghetto" of people from a variety of times and places who have given up on getting home. Only a few make it through to discover the reason behind it all. Special Deliverance is out of print now, but is still available from Amazon.

Tachyon Press recently released a collection of classic Simak short stories in a volume entitled Over the River and Through the Woods. Read it and find out why Simak has been called the pastoralist of science fiction.

Ray Bradbury

When I was in the fourth grade, one of my friends discovered 'S' is for Space, a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories, in the school library, and enthusiastically told all of us about it. I checked the book out the following week and have been a Bradbury fan ever since. In 1992, I found that Bradbury had published a book about writing. It was called Zen and the Art of Writing, but it was less about Buddhism that about Bradbury's own experiences as a writer. I enjoyed the book so much that I wrote Bradbury a letter thanking him for the influence he'd had on my life as a writer. A couple of months later, he wrote me back, and I was thrilled. Less than two years after that, Bradbury spoke at Centenary College in Shreveport. Some friends and I drove up there that night, and I was able to meet him face to face. When I finally published my first novel, I sent him a copy with some words of thanks. Again, I received an encouraging letter that I will treasure. I think the thing I like the best about Bradbury's writing is the sheer creative joy that he infuses into his work. He writes because it's a thing of joy to him. It's like strapping yourself to a rocket and shooting yourself off into space. Forget about writing because it makes money or is socially significant. If it isn't exhilirating to you, go do something else. Don't ever develop that sense of snobbery that separates you from old loves like Martians, autumn carnivals, and dinosaurs. That's not growing up. It's growing boring--and it's death on visions and dreams and possibly even on that childlike faith that allows one to move mountains.

David Brin

The Postman is one of my favorite science fiction novels. It is one of a very small handful of books that I have read cover to cover twice, and I enjoyed it immensely both times. Kevin Costner's screen interpretation of the novel preserved some of its nobler elements, but cut out many of the parts that gave the novel its special kind of magic.

The villains in the novel are a group of "augments"--supersoldiers artificially enhanced to fight in a war that went bad and ultimately transformed into a band of murdering marauders. General Powhatan, the Squire of Sugarloaf Mountain, is one of the most memorable characters in the book even though he only appears twice. Powhatan is a haunted and reluctant hero who ultimately does the right thing after others hound him into following his conscience. There's also a colony of people built around the preservation of an all-knowing super computer that directs their lives. None of these elements made it into the film. Some, who prefer graphic realism to science fiction, probably think the film is better for it. I'm not one of those people.

Mary Doria Russell

In 1992, five hundred years after Columbus' discovery of the new world, many judged the explorer rather harshly for his lack of social sensitivity in dealing with the native peoples of the new land he had discovered. To Mary Doria Russell, it seemed unfair that a fifteenth century man should be judged by twentieth century standards. What would happen in the twenty-first century if a group of well-meaning and socially conscious earth people encountered a "violent" and "backwards" species on another world? Would we do any better? Probably not.

The Sparrow tells the story of Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest, who is the only survivor of an expedition to Rakhat, the first planet other that Earth found to have intelligent life. Believing himself to be led by God, Sandoz and seven others journey to that other world with high hopes and noble intentions. The mission, along with Sandoz' faith, goes crashing down in failure, and the haunted priest if left to wonder whether he misunderstood God, if God played a cruel joke on him, or if God even exists at all. Russell's is a sensitive and sympathetic portrayal of the struggles that all people of faith must endure when God does not protect them from the bitter tragedies of life. Russell was raised in the Roman Catholic church, spent several years as a happy agnostic, and is now Jewish. Even though she is no longer Catholic, Russell portrays the priests in her narrative as noble men with sincere motives and not as fools or hypocrites. I appreciate that.

The Sparrow is a heart-wrenching story with likable and believable characters. Some of the scenes (i.e. the rape scene in the harem) may be a bit graphic for some readers and are not at all suited for younger readers, but the book as a whole is a worthwhile read. Children of God, the sequel, is equally compelling.

James BeauSeigneur

At a writers' conference in Colorado, I bought a tape of a seminar about new opportunities for authors. Jan Dennis, the speaker, had worked with a number of successful writers during his time as an editor. One of them was a man named James BeauSeigneur who had started out by self publishing his own series of novels and selling them on Amazon. The series had sold so well on Amazon that Warner Books, a major publisher, had finally offered the author a contract. BeauSeigneur's series, The Christ Clone Trilogy, told the tale of a scientist who had used DNA found on the Shroud of Turin to clone a Jesus Christ lookalike. The clone ultimately took control of the United Nations and became the AntiChrist. When I decided to self publish my own work, I got Jim's telephone number from Jan Dennis, the speaker, and called him. I also visited his website and read about the time he had spent working for the government. The picture of him sitting in the oval office with President Reagan and then-Vice President George Bush was an attention-getter. This man had obviously lived an interesting life. I was sure his experiences in politics, in military service, and in covert government operations would give his apocalyptic tale of conspiracies and political maneuvering a realism lacking in similar tales.

BeauSeigneur, in our phone visits over the next few months, gave me valuable advice. R.R. Donnelley, the printer he directed me to, offers both excellent and economical service. His advice in choosing between Amazon's marketing programs has also been helpful. I wish him every success as he continues to market his series. Visit Jim's website at www.selectivehouse.com.

Robert Don Hughes

In the early nineties I went with a group of friends to Louisville, Kentucky. Several of them were considering entering Southern Seminary to study theology, music, and other ministry-related fields. I had considered seminary myself, but didn't really feel the call to work at a church or serve as an evangelist. I went on the trip anyway and decided to check out the seminary's communications department. The head of that department, at that time, was Dr. Robert Don Hughes. In addition to his academic career and his work in missions, I found out that Hughes was also the author several fantasy novels that had been published by Del Ray books. His Pelmen the Powershaper series had begun in 1979 with a novel called The Prophet of Lamath. Following this he had published The Wizard in Waiting and The Power and the Prophet. In addition to this, he had also started another series, the Wizard and Dragon series, with a book called The Forging of the Dragon.

I saw Hughes again a short time later when I entered one of my own unpublished novels, The Sign of the Sword, into the Louisiana Writers' Competition, and won first prize. Hughes was one of the judges and was a speaker at the conference. His review of my book was both helpful and encouraging. I have, more or less, stayed in touch with Hughes since that time and have bought his books The Fallen and The Eternity Gene, both published by Broadman and Holman. These books, unlike the earlier ones, were published especially for a Christian audience. His values and beliefs are evident in his mainstream works as well. They're just a bit more subtle. (It's similar to the way Tolkein's Roman Catholic beliefs form the moral backbone of the Lord of the Rings series.)

Karen Hancock

Ms. Hancock is one of the new bright lights in Christian science fiction. Her novel Arena tells the story of a young woman who volunteers for a science experiment and finds herself trapped, like a rat in a maze, in a bizarre alien experiment. She soon realizes she has not only left the building where she volunteered for the experiment, but has left the planet as well! Wandering from the main road, she encounters a band of mutants, is rescued by a reluctant hero--another human who has been trapped in the experiment for four years. Together they and a rag-tag band of travelers struggle to piece together the secret of the maze and free themselves from the hostile world in which they have found themselves imprisoned and return home. The novel is an exploration of faith and a reminder that life in this world is not the final destination but a divine experiment. One can hardly read it without thinking of the Star Trek episode Arena, of Baum's The Wizard of Oz, and--in my case--Clifford Simak's Special Deliverance. Hancock--following in the footsteps of Baum, Simak, and the writers of Star Trek--not to mention Homer, Chaucer, and Bunyan--each bring their own unique perspectives and metaphors to the story of humankind's search for meaning, truth, and home. Visit her website at kmhancock.com.

Kathy Tyers

Ms. Tyers' name will be familiar to Star Wars fans as well as to fans of Christian science fiction. She has written several Star Wars novels for the mainstream market in addition to her work for the Christian market. Firebird is the first of a series about a young woman from an unfeeling aristocracy who finds herself swept up in the cosmic designs of a Creator she was not even raised to believe in. Phoena is a "wastling," the third child in a royal family whose religious law only allows the two eldest children to survive to adulthood. Younger children are viewed as "extras," replacements who are kept around to replace older siblings who are killed. Once the older siblings have produced heirs, the younger ones are obligated to commit ritual suicide. Phoena chooses to die in battle, but is unlucky enough to survive. She is captured by enemies from another planetary system who, ironically, place more value on her life than her own family did. She slowly grows to love Brennan, a handsome telepath whose family line will, according to ancient prophecies, one day give birth to a heavenly Messiah. A musician, Ms. Tyers cleverly uses musical terms (poco a poco, andante', etc.) as chapter titles to match the mood of the given chapter. Visit her website at kathytyers.com.

From Firebird:

In this whorl of imagined star systems, God created not Earth but different worlds.

One world's people lived by false doctrine and death. Light-years away, faithful exiles awaited the Messiah of all creation.

On a third world, they met.

John B. Olson and Randall Ingermanson

Who better to write science fiction than two scientists? Olson is a has a doctorate in biochemistry, and Ingermanson is a computational physicist. Their two novels, Oxygen and its sequel, The Fifth Man, tell the story of humanity's first journey to the planet Mars. Reminiscent of The Red Planet, this is one of the most realistic depictions of the journey. The problems encountered by the crew are all too believable. The astronauts' equipment problems call forth memories of Apollo 13, but the Mars astronauts in the story are months from Earth, while Apollo 13 was only days away. The novels are stories of suspense, love, and faith.

They also bring up a valid and relevant question: Is it possible to be an honest scientist and a sincere follower of Christ? What do you do when your discoveries lead to conclusions that conflict with the doctrines of your faith? The discovery, in this case, is the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Real life geologists face the same issue with the Flood and paleontologists with the discovery of man's supposed ancestors. This is a very timely book.

I also enjoyed the Robert Zubrin quote in the front:

To summarize in Star Trek terminology, what a piloted Mars mission needs are two Scottys and two Spocks. No Kirks, Sulus, or McCoys are needed, and more importantly, neigher are the berths and rations to accommodate them. We can do the mission with a crew of four.

James Byron Huggins

A guy at a bookstore in Glorieta, New Mexico recommended Byron Huggins' novel The Reckoning to me. I opened the book, read the first page, and bought the book purely on the strength of the author's writing style. The writing of some authors has a poetic quality. It is heavy with imagery and metaphor, and it has a rhythm that pulls the reader along. Huggins' novels have that quality. After I read The Reckoning, I found another of Huggins' books at a bookstore in Little Rock. This novel, entitled Leviathan, was about a dragon that had been brought to life in modern times by a team of genetic researchers who could no longer control it. Thor, an enormous priest who lives alone in an empty lighthouse, battles the creature to the death in scenes that are an odd blend of vivid realism and Norse mythology.

Comic book fans would love Huggins' works. I hesitate to say that because I know some people haven't read comics recently and still think they're written for a juvenile audience. If you liked the way the movie Unbreakable took the superhero concept and made it believable, you'll love Leviathan.

Sigmund Brouwer

Brouwer is one of the most prolific new authors in Christian genre fiction. He has written two young adult science fiction series, Cyberquest and The Mars Diaries, a novel about genetic engineering called Double Helix, a Bible-era novel called The Weeping Chamber, and some westerns. Brouwer is married to Cindy Morgan, the Christian recording artist, and divides his time between living in Nashville and Red Deer, Alberta in his native Canada. Brouwer has an interest in the relationship between faith and science that is expressed in some of his books.

So far, my favorite Brouwer novels are his Nick Barrett books. These books are set in Charleston, South Carolina and filled with colorful and interesting characters. Brouwer paints a vivid picture of the Charleston aristocracy with its antebellum mansions and hidden corruption. Out of the Shadows, the first novel, tells the story of Barrett's return to Charleston. The Lies of the Saints is about a series of murders connected with a scandal at a military academy. The stories are a delight to read and difficult to put down. I would be interested in learning the story behind these delightful novels.

Al Bohl

In 1991, the Shreveport Times published an article about a man in Bossier City who wrote and illustrated heroic tales. Zaanan, a science fiction series with a Christian basis, was being published by Barbour Publishing as a series of big little books. I was a student at Louisiana Tech University at the time. Two of my friends, knowing of my own love for science fiction and comic book illustration, cut out the article and brought it to me. I short time later I called Al and arranged to drop by his home studio for a visit. We've been friends ever since. When Al started the Ark-La-Tex Cartoonists' Society in Shreveport in 1993, I was one of the charter members. In 1995, Pelican Press published The Guide to Cartooning, a comprehensive overview of still and animation cartooning and--more important to me--a collection of my friend's insights into illustration art. Al continues to labor away on a number of projects. I always look forward to seeing what he's working on.

DC COMICS: The Legion Creative Team

Before the X-Men, there was the Legion...

The Legion of Superheroes has always been one of my favorite comics. Blame them for the large number of Intrepid Force characters and the novel's futuristic setting. My love for the Legion is due, in large part, to the work of writers Jim Shooter and Cary Bates and the art of Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, and Curt Swan. My love relationship with the Legion started in 1974 when some of my elementary school classmates discovered the group and began introducing the characters into our playground games. I saw the Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes 100-Page Super Spectacular at a convenience store, talked Mom into buying it for me, and fell in love. Dave Cockrum, famous for rebooting the X-Men in 1975, had just redesigned a number of the team's costumes and had given the Legion's 30th century universe a wealth of detail that made me feel like I could walk into the scenes. Mike Grell, the artist who followed Cockrum's brief but history-making tenure, upheld the high standard of quality that Cockrum had set. Grell took the title over right after I started reading it. DC comics started producing hard bound volumes of the Legion's adventures several years ago, but they have just now arrived at the point I started reading the title. The last story in Volume 10 was in the first Legion book I ever purchased. Purchasing that volume and reading some of the Cockrum-drawn stories I missed the first time around took my back to the third grade and those playground games. It was pure magic. I think I appreciated the art more as an adult than I did as a child. Volumes 11 and 12 were also fun to read. I recommend them all to those old timers who remember the comics of the seventies and to the new generation who never saw Cockrum's Legion.

Mike Jones

I met Mike at Louisiana Tech University when he was working on a Master of Fine Arts degree in graphic design. Though his talents as a graphic designer could have been used in a variety of ways, Mike's primary interest was in the writing and illustration of comic books. Mike's master's thesis (more interesting, I confess, than my doctoral dissertation) contained a paper on comic book illustration and an actual sixteen-page comic called The Locust. Mike had also designed a clever Star Trek parody called Star Quack in which the original Star Trek cast was replaced with a crew of talking ducks. Captain Quack too Captain Kirk's place in command of the crew. Mr Spock, the green-blooded Vulcan science officer, was replaced by Mr. Squawk, a green-headed mallard. Dr. McCoy was replaced, naturally enough, by Dr. DeCoy. The puns and one-liners that always characterized Mike's unique sense of humor translated perfectly into the comic. Mike teaches graphic design at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas now. Even with the demands of his job and a growing family, Mike is still producing his cartoon creations. Visit his (impressive) website at www.starquack.com.