Uranus, by Ben Bova

Uranus is the first in Ben Bova's promised Outer Planets trilogy.  This one starts with a promising and compelling basis.  A preacher and a billionaire have teamed up to create a space habitat orbiting Uranus.  Aptly called Haven, it is a "haven for Earth's poor, disenfranchised, forgotten men and women," a last resort for people who need a second chance.  Residents come from the lower classes and are screened for criminal tendencies, in hopes that, freed from the earth's economic struggles and stratification, they can thrive with a fresh start in space.

After a life on the streets, depending on prostitution and manipulation to survive, Raven Marchesi feels lucky to have a place on Haven.  Trying to start over and escape her past, yet using the street smarts acquired over many years, she quickly gains a spot in the inner circles of Haven's administration.  Kyle Umber, the preacher, has good intentions, but he has allowed Evan Waxman, the billionaire who largely funded Haven, to run the place in unsavory ways.

Uranus is a decently fun, melodramatic story, with a strong female central character, a couple of sleazy male characters, and a few others to feed the story.  For such a prolific writer, I was surprised by the simplicity of the plot and the predictability of the characters.  The subplot of scientific research on the history of Uranus and evidence of extraterrestrial life doesn't get the attention it should.  I would rather have seen this part of the story developed.  This is a decent book, but if you read it expecting a great story from a seasoned sci-fi writer, just prepare yourself for disappointment.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

New Way to Be Human, by Charlie Peacock

I remember Charlie Peacock as one of the most thoughtful and creative Christian musicians in the 1980s and 1990s.  He jumps into practical theology, expanding his song writing to book writing in New Way to Be Human: A Provocative Look at What It Means to Follow Jesus.  

Like the artist he is, Peacock takes Christian discipleship and projects it through a lens that will help you see your faith a bit differently.  As student-followers of Jesus, Christians take part in God's Story.  The Christian life is a story, and should be evident in the life of a Christian.  I don't want people to wonder whether or not I am a Christian.  As Peacock writes, "If people want to know why you head in one direction and not another, tell them who you're following. . . . I want people to ask, 'What's the deal with him?'  Answer: 'Him?  Oh he's with Jesus.'" (93, 95)

One of the more challenging sections addressed the question of work.  As a clock puncher in a secular job, it's hard for me to maintain a focus on my work as Christian service.  Peacock leans hard against working a basic job for a paycheck.  "Neither the need for money nor the need for goods and services defines work for the man or woman following in the new way. . . . Can it really be that our work is to do good and that's all?  Yes. . . . Honestly, this is just too good to be true for most followers, and so in matters of work and money, we think and behave as practical atheists." (171)  I have to say he's right.  As much as I say I rely on God's provision for my life, I'm really relying on my work ethic and skills, not on God (although I can attribute those things to God).  Honestly, I have known very few, if any, Christians who really model what he writes here.  Most of us are practical atheists on this score.

Equally challenging but more attainable was Peacock's perspective on marriage.  Marriage should be a "world-changing art of God."  He calls Christians to view marriage as a joyful, passionate partnership.  There are so many ways we get distracted in our marriages--and the rest of life--that detract from and distract from God's Story.  "When we build lives or marriages of our own design, structure church of our own design, and allow some other story than God's to control life, we accept something short of the agenda of God." (191)  

New Way to Be Human is worth picking up, worth reading again, and worth reading with a group of believers.  New believers can establish lifestyle foundations for living their faith, and with his unique perspective, even seasoned believers will enjoy a new way of looking at established elements of Christian discipleship.

Wake Up America, by Eric Bolling

Eric Bolling published Wake Up America: The Nine Virtues That Made Our Nation Great--and Why We Need Them More Than Ever in June of 2016, when Hilary Clinton's victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election was all but assured.  In the opening pages of the book, he speculates about what Hilary's inauguration would look like.  The cast of characters and their policy positions and records, the speculation of what her cabinet would have looked like, the judges she would have appointed, the type of government that she would have overseen, reminds conservative Americans how grateful we are that Trump won in 2016.  

Writing in the months leading up to that election, Bolling sets his sights beyond a single presidential election, but lays out virtues that are crucial and fundamental for government--and life.  Bolling definitely leans right and Republican, as the virtues (which I've listed below with his descriptions) are sure to indicate.  No matter the party, the office, the politician, these virtues are worthy of emulation and can set a standard to aim for.  Whether the current president holds these virtues or not is open to debate (a debate that will certainly expose partisan rifts!), but there's little question that, all things considered, conservatives exhibit these virtues to a greater degree than liberals.  Politicians, as well as the everyday man on the street, can become better citizens and better people by reflecting on these virtues in their own lives.

Grit: "the power to try, fail, and rebuild in a nation of endless possibilities"

Profit: "a system that rewards people for ingenuity, greed, and competition against others"

Manliness: "the rugged pioneer spirit that allowed men and women with guts and guns to carve a great nation out of the wilderness"

Thrift: "the classic middle American value of living within your means and avoiding debt"

Individuality: "the ability to think and speak and believe whatever you like"

Dominion: "the notion that nature is under the control of humanity and not the other way around"

Merit: "the idea that people should succeed based on their own skills and talents, not due to the entitlements from a nanny state and that effort and good choices should be rewarded"

Pride: "love of country and an abiding belief in America's special place among the nations of the world"

Providence: "the belief in a role for faith in our own lives and in the life of our nation, from a simple ball game to America's destiny, because there are things bigger than self or state"

Make Russia Great Again, by Christopher Buckley

Christopher Buckley established himself as one of our funniest political satirists with his earlier novels like Thank You for Smoking and The White House Mess.  Buckley has been taking a break from contemporary political satire and for some reason decided that today's political climate wasn't absurd enough in reality, so he has written Make Russia Great Again.  

Late in President his first term, Trump appoints his long-time employee Herb Nutterman as White House Chief of Staff.  Herb has been a reliable, loyal employee at Trump's hotels and clubs, and brings his hospitality instincts to politics and international affairs.  Things start to get messy when Herb learns that a US-created rogue AI has interfered with Russia's presidential election, pushing a Communist Party candidate that had been way behind in the polls into a runoff with Putin.  Meanwhile, a Russian oligarch has videos of Trump having sex with all the contestants at the Moscow Miss Universe competition and has certain demands he is asking of Trump.  Herb, needless to say, is in way over his head.

While there are some funny scenes among the absurd scenarios Buckley writes, the whole novel has the feel of laziness.  Buckley takes Trump's worst stereotypes, the administration's most ridiculous characteristics, and the left's most over-the-top accusations, to create this alternative history of the Trump presidency.  It's too dull to be vicious, and too silly to make any meaningful point.  It's like a Hilary Clinton delusion in which the Steele "pee tape" turned out to be real and Trump is actually in Putin's back pocket.  Maybe Trump haters will love it, I don't know.  I have a feeling the author's father would dismiss Make Russia Great Again as a silly waste of time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Prisoner, by Carlos J. Cortes

In the not-so-distant future, there has been a revolution in prisons.  Rather than warehousing criminals in cages, hibernation facilities warehouse criminals in tanks.  Carlos J. Cortes's novel The Prisoner hits the ground running with a gutsy prison break from one of these facilities.  A team of rescuers gets themselves convicted and checked in, fully immersed in a hibernation tank, then with inside help get themselves and their target out of there.  Russo has been in hibernation for years, falsely imprisoned by a political rival.  

Most of the first half of the book is the escape itself, through the labyrinthine sewers of Washington, D.C.  This is the most memorable part of the book.  Not only do they experience the utterly disgusting reality of human waste--not only organic waste, but all the diapers, tampons, condoms, hair, fat, and other things that go down our drains and we flush down our toilets--they encounter a whole civilization of people who inhabit long-forgotten underground spaces.  It is gross and fascinating.  

Once they manage to get out above the ground, they still have to navigate the disgusting flow of corruption, personal vendettas, political maneuvering, and financial misdeeds that are still the hallmark of Washington.  Their mission: to expose the abuse of the hibernation prison system, which unlawfully detains people like Russo and others for a fee.  The abuse is so deeply engrained in D.C. culture that opposition, official and unofficial, greets them at every turn.

The Prisoner goes from a gripping and fascinating start, to a confusing and convoluted chunk, to a clever and satisfying conclusion.  It did leave me with one thought: I hope hibernation prisons do not become a reality, and if they do, keep me far, far away.

Win Bigly, by Scott Adams

In the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, cartoonist Scott Adams experienced a sort of transformation.  With decades of cartoon brilliance, best-selling business books, an active speaking schedule, and other successful business ventures, Adams built a loyal blog following.  When he started making predictions in his blog that Donald Trump was going to win the presidency, his notoriety--and blog traffic--blew up.  When it turned out he was right, his new-found role as political guru was solidified.

In Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter, Adams recounts this transformation and the blow-by-blow account of his blog posts and observations.  Adams has suffered professionally as a result of being labeled as a Trump apologist, but his task throughout the campaign and in this book is to observe and explain, not defend and prop up.  On point after point, Adams explains why Trump was successful, why Hilary's campaign floundered, and how Trump overcame the setbacks that should have busted his electability.

As hinted in the subtitle, Trump ultimately is a better persuader.  Viewing the election through the Persuasion Filter--examining his words, actions, and strategies as the use of persuasion--it becomes clear, in retrospect, that Hilary never had a chance.  Adams makes it clear that he's not a partisan, and that he, in fact, holds many views in opposition to Trump's.  So the criticism of Adams as a Trump cultist is completely inaccurate.  But in terms of accuracy, few have nailed Trump's campaign and governance the way Adams has.

White Christian Privilege, by Khyati Y. Joshi

Over this 4th of July weekend, amid the patriotism and what fireworks were allowed to be shot (OK, not many allowed, but plenty illegally shot), the media was sure full of a lot of anti-American, anti-patriotic chatter.  Racism, white privilege, inequality, etc., etc., as if we didn't live in the freest, most prosperous, most religiously diverse nation in the world.  White privilege has become a buzz phrase for the left, and Khyati Y. Joshi, a college professor and writer, is happy to be a part of the merry bandwagon.  In White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America, Joshi joins the mainstream left in decrying white privilege, specifically white Christian privilege.  She "debunks the fallacy of American religious freedom and offers ways to acknowledge the harder truth of White Christian supremacy, in hopes of helping to create a society with institutions and cultural practices in which all can more equitably coexist."

In her mind, the alleged neutrality of the United States government and the courts toward religion is skewed heavily in favor of Christian faith and practice.  She gives examples demonstrating that Christian practices are easily accepted, while non-Christian practices are either banned or are won in hard-fought court struggles.  "The collective message of the Court's free exercise cases is that a burden on Christian practice offense the Constitution, while a burden on non-Christian practice does not." 

My thought throughout the book was that the United States was founded by Christians who created the foundations of the nation so that its people would be free to practice their faith.  As a result, there is more religious variety and freedom of worship and practice in the U.S. than any other nation in history.  It is because of the faith of the founders that Hindus, Muslims, and other world religions can flourish here.  She states that Christianity "permeates all facets of our society and our laws."  Amen.  If another world religion permeated our laws and society, religious freedom would be a dim hope--just look at how Christians are treated in Muslim countries, China, and even India.

On a side note, when a leftist author hates Trump, it's expected.  But please, at least get your facts straight.  She repeats the lie that "the president referred to 'very fine people on both sides,' signal[ing] the president's support of White nationalists."  This lie has been debunked repeatedly.  In the speech to which she refers, President Trump clearly condemned white nationalists.  The "both sides" remark referred to people for and against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.  Do your research and don't swallow the slander of the media.  Further, she is critical of Trump's "Muslim Ban."  Another lie; this was an effort to prevent travel from countries where he thought there was an increased threat of terrorism.  This did not include every majority Muslim country.  Hate Trump all you want, but in an academic work, I would expect a higher level of reflection and fact-checking.

It's undeniable that Christianity is woven inextricably into the foundations and fabric our our nation.  To deny it or reduce it would not only show anti-Christian bias, but would erode the very freedoms and religious diversity that sprang from the Christian faith of the founders.  As a Christian, I was deeply convicted by the message and theme of the book.  The Christian church in American has failed to retain and expand the vibrancy and evangelistic fervor of the Great Awakenings, and has, as a result, seen the practices of the Christian faith decline in recent decades.  For the sake of the gospel, the church needs to wake up; our nation still needs Jesus.  For the sake of the nation, the church needs to wake up; the more the influence of Christianity fades from the scene, the less freedom we all will have.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!