Leaps of Faith

by Karina Lumbert Fabian and Simon Morden

Leaps of Faith is an anthology of inspirational science fiction. The 15 short stories cover the entire spectrum of the genre, from time travel to space exploration; hard sci-fi to alien encounters.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934284106
• ISBN13: 9781934284100
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Writers Cafe Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful selection of quality science-fiction stories with Christian themes

In the secular publishing world, there are entire bookstore racks devoted to science fiction anthologies such as Year's Best SF, Universe, Tangents, and so on. In the harsh wasteland of Christian sci-fi, not so much. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only anthologies of science fiction short stories written from a Christian perspective (aside from the C.S. Lewis collection, Of Other Worlds) are the ones Robert and Karina Fabian have assembled: Infinite Space, Infinite God, and Leaps of Faith. Leaps of Faith is a collection of 14 short stories, from a wider faith perspective than the Catholic-focused Infinite Space, Infinite God. There's a good mix of adventure, drama, introspection, and humor, and I found most of the stories both entertaining and thought-provoking. They don't all end cheerily or with every theological conundrum neatly tied up in a bow. As Dr. Simon Morden says in his foreword to the anthology, "Good storytelling isn't safe." Reviewing all 14 stories individually would be way too tranquilizing, so I'll just hit the high points: "High Hopes for the Dead" by Alex Lobdell: The collection leads off with a poignant tale of pathfinders in the early days of interstellar travel, their mortality rate so high that the job amounts to a suicide mission. One character's simple act of faith transforms despair into hope for the entire community--then that individual's faith is put to the ultimate test. Faith and prejudice grapple in "Comprehending it Not," by Cherith Baldry. A priest must choose whether to solemnize the union of a man and an android, a biologically-manufactured woman. Can an artificially-created being have a soul, and if so, what are the implications for religion and society? Similar questions are posed in Susanne Marie Knight's "The Convert," but here the intended union is between a human and a very alien being. Vincent Malzahn's "Quantum Express" is a chilling little story that speculates on quantum teleportation technology and its implications for the human soul. I won't be stepping into that transporter booth, thank you very much. "Leap of Faith," the anthology's namesake, co-authored by the Fabians, is a story from their Rescue Sisters universe, in which an order of spacefaring nuns watches over travelers and workers in Earth orbit and beyond. In "Leap of Faith," a young Sister must overcome her fear to accomplish a rescue mission, and we discover that sometimes even miracles need a hand. Is human history written in stone? Time travel and its possible results are addressed humorously in "Moses Disposes," by Frank C. Gunderloy Jr., and more seriously in Karina Fabian's "Tampering With God's Time." Martyrdom is the theme of the last two stories. "Sometimes We Lie" is Barton Levinson's gripping tale of an alien convert to Christianity, a master spy who must run a lethal gauntlet for a chance to practice his new religion in peace. In "Lost Rythar," by Colleen Drippe, missionaries attempt to evangelize a lost human colony th

A Wonderful Sci-Fi Anthology

Leaps of Faith contains fourteen stories that delve into a fascinating variety of intriguing scientific concepts - all with a solid dose of faith included. I enjoyed reading about time travel (back to Christ's time!) and space exploration, break-through scientific discoveries and alien life forms. The wonderful question,"What if ..." resounds strongly in each and every one of these stories jump-starting the reader's own thoughts and opinions while at the same time introducing us to new and original ideas. None of these stories interferes with our faith - quite the opposite in fact. Each of these stories challenges the reader to step out of the narrow, comfortable box we automatically tend to put God and instead, open up our head and our hearts to the limitless expanse of time and space. I would encourage you to read Leaps of Faith whether you are a science fiction aficionado or not. Sometimes, it is quite delightful to venture out into areas that are new and original while at the same time enriching our faith. Doesn't that sound just about perfect?

Faith in the Future

Again and again I have marvelled at the creativity of the imaginations behind the far-flung worlds contained within these pages. Unlike many popular sci-fi shows, this book brings us a world in which faith not only survives into the future - it thrives and provides a foundation for the lives of the people you find in these pages. Topics covered include android rights, what happens to faith when God's existence is scientifically proven, another about science's utter failure to grasp God at all, the wonderful convolution of time travel attempts by an ancient seeker and a future Pope - in two different stories, mind you - the awful truth behind Trek-style matter transporters followed by a complementary tale of the only way to survive death. An alien convert wishes to marry a Catholic. And what if there were a planet of angels? High Hopes, a space survival tale, is astonishing for the ambiguity and hopefulness of its conclusion. And we celebrate the return of the nuns in space, familiar from Karina and Robert's other anthology "Infinite Space, Infinite God." But where ISIG was only Catholic stories, Leaps of Faith covers a broad spectrum of general Christian topics and includes characters from various denominations. Lots of surprises here. I've commented on some of the stories that lingered in my memory. There's far more to this book than I've been able to mention here. Do yourself a favour and let these unusual stories expand the horizons of your soul.

Christian Sci-Fi that Everyone Can Enjoy

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short sci-fi stories using Christian worldviews, themes and messages. The old "Typical christian book" genre is being stretched and it's boundaries are being expanded by authors and editors like Karina and Robert Fabian and the other authors in this book. I like that. I like seeing what is happening to the industry, the way Christian authors are writing "cross-over" books that overlap Christian with other genres, in this case science fiction. I am a Christian myself, and an author who chooses to write books that cannot be pigeonholed into the "for Christians only" category. Who wants to preach to the choir? The stories are all well written, it is good solid sci-fi from the get to the go. Well edited, attractively packaged, this book is a great read at a bargain price for all that you get. Buy it, no matter what your spiritual beliefs are. I'm not sure what one other reviewer was complaining about the book being heavily slanted towards Catholicism being the one and only true path. I'm a Maverick, non-religious, dogma-free, non-denominational spiritualist Christian with a background in Zen training and Taoist studies, and I didn't feel like I was being preached at or trying to be converted at all.

Wonderful collection

I'm very grateful to David Brollier for the high marks he gave my story in this collection. I just want to note, though, that I didn't see the Catholics-are-the-only-Christians theme. It's certainly not true for me, since I'm a Presbyterian!