I loved this book. The bishop of Mars has to take his regular trip to Rome to check in with the pope. This is a normal thing in the Catholic Church and I liked seeing it applied to the future when we've got colonies in outer space.
As the bishop makes his way through the vagaries of travel to Earth, he sees the wondrous things people have built, he meets people living under different political systems that dominate each society, and we see his inner growth. When he got to Earth, he had no idea what to expect and neither did I. What happened and the result was a surprise.
This book was a solid science fiction book anchored in Catholic teachings. Somehow it did it without being heavy-handed or preachy — at least to my eyes. It had moments that showed the author's real love of science fiction. The bishop's epiphany when he walked on the surface brought tears to my eyes, his difficulties adjusting showed Cy Kellet's ability to realistically consider the differences between growing up in space versus on Earth, and the bishop's ability to truly appreciate the positive about different cultures' accomplishments was evidence of his open mindedness.
Highly recommended.
Agree, I reviewed it when it originally came out. At the Catholic Answers convention this weekend I told Cy that I was one of the few people on earth that had read both of his book.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we are three (including Scott)
Delete[raising hand wildly] I've also read both of them. And I liked them a lot.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few, the proud, the Cy Kellett readers!
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