SHINE A LIGHT TODAY. AKA: SALT
The Christian & Faith-Based go-to media review series that spotlights faith-driven books, films, and podcasts worth your time.
Brand of Light
Brand of Light is the first book of Ronie Kendig’s Christian space opera epic series The Droseran Saga. On a low-tech planet, a prophecy is formed that will shape the fate of the space-faring civilizations around it. Kidnapping, regicide, forbidden technology, corruption in the military, conspiracies in the nobility, ancient prophecies, and illegal human experimentation are all wrapped up in this first foray into Kendig’s richly woven tetrology. With a subtle, well-placed thread of Christianity running through the story, Kendig throws the reader into a world of treachery, danger, and romance without coming across as preachy.
The High Crusade
The High Crusade is a tongue-in-cheek chivalric space opera by renown science fiction writer Poul Anderson. In this book, the conquering Wersgorix aliens arrive in fourteenth century England with the intention of scaring the locals into submission. Unable to anticipate the ferocity of the local English baron, Sir Roger de Tourneville and the fervent faith of the Englishmen under his leadership, the aliens are overpowered. With the captured alien ship, Sir Roger packs up the entire town of Ansby with the intention of assisting King Edward III in the Hundred Years’ War, not knowing that journey will take a detour of a few hundred lightyears.
That Hideous Strength
The final entry into C.S. Lewis’ The Space Trilogy is an author-described “fairytale for adults”. That Hideous Strength is part Arthurian legend, part dystopic nightmare, part study on the intricacies or both human nature and spiritual warfare, pulling no punches on any of these topics.
Perelandra
The sequel to C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet and second installment of his space trilogy, Perelandra, is a blunt, breathtaking, and intricately crafted allegory on the temptation of sin and retelling of the Biblical story of Eden.
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet is the first installment of C.S. Lewis’ space epic The Ransom Trilogy. In this 1938 novel, a philologist named Elwin Ransom is kidnapped by two scientists, Devine and Weston, and taken to the planet of Malacandra to be handed over to the natives. Through a twisting and turning adventure across this alien world, Ransom confronts new species of sentients, strange ethereal beings, and perils of all kinds, including hunger and cold. Through this, Ransom discovers the cosmos is not what he thought it would be and that it is, in fact, teeming with life and sentient creatures beyond his imagination.
Nova
Chuck Black’s first book of the Starlore Legacy series, Nova, is a fighter-pilot space opera for middle-grade to YA students. Crafted in the vein of Dune and Star Wars on the foundation of Biblical retellings, Nova promises great adventure and political intrigue, all wrapped up in a star-spanning, coming-of-age tale.