The Siege of Dome

I’m convinced that it’s next to impossible to write decent patently Christian fantasy (and by extension, Christian science fiction) in a post-Narnia world. It’s not that Narnia was a literary masterpiece, but rather, that it basically covered all the aspects of patently Christian speculative fiction.

Namely, the battle between Good and Evil, and how Good always triumphs, even when all hope seems lost.

It’s not that all patently Christian speculative fiction is bad, it’s just boring. It rehashes the same general plot, over and over again, such that once you’re introduced to the characters, you know who the God figure is, who the Satan figure is, who the Jesus figure is, who the Antichrist figure is, and who the Pilgrim figure show more is. It all gets pretty archetypical pretty quickly.

The Siege of Dome is no exception. It is the sequel to Lawhead’s prior work of science fantasy called The Search for Fierra, in which a company sends some people to a distant planet (and through space and time), where they’re stuck smack in the middle of two civilizations: The Fierri and the denizens of Dome. The Fierri are a Utopian civilization, free of negative thought, like Smurfs, only without blue skin, and a more even male-to-female ratio. Dome is their Gargamel, a civilization that is pure, unequivocal evil, ruled by a vicious Supreme Director who seeks power and glory, and his right-hand man, an amoral, or quite possible immoral, sadistic assassin.

This group of aliens from Earth disrupt both societies, which comes to fruition in this second volume. Orion Treet, whose name is as ridiculous as it comes, is the central character, and he is trying to prevent a catastrophic event involving atomic bombs from happening all over Fierra. Meanwhile the Fierri are having a smurf-tacular time smurfing it up in their own smurfish way, while the Supreme Director of Dome goes about assassinating everybody who doesn’t agree with him.

The premise of the book is twofold: the ultimate struggle of Good vs. Evil, and people coming to know and trust the God figure, who is, essentially, the same God IRL. And, if you couldn’t see it from the first page: Good wins and everybody loves God in the end.

If Marshall McLuhan was correct in saying that the medium is the message, then this spells disaster for patently Christian speculative fiction; however, if we assume that this might not apply, then, by all means, consider this an impassioned plea for some good patently Christian speculative fiction, stuff that doesn’t make me feel like I’m reading ruminations on rehashed ideas. Please? show less