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show more 「若禱告是這麼重要，為甚麼又是那麼難作？」
若您曾問過這個問題，那麼您將發現您不是唯一發問的人。作者了解那種挫折感，他提出合乎聖經教導的方法，使您可以靠著聖靈的能力來禱告，把個人的掙扎帶到天父面前，讓您得自由；並且藉著禱告，聆聽天父的聲音，與天父建立親密的關係。

使徒保羅對提摩太曾提出如此的警告：「聖靈明說，在後來的時候，必有人離棄真道，聽從那引誘人的邪靈和鬼魔的道理。」（提前四1）尼爾．安德生指出這是現今全世界正在發生的事情。雖然許多基督徒縱然渴望明白並遵行神的旨意，但他們仍然會被一些假教師、假先知及假冒的「神的聲音」所欺騙，甚至會墮落，偏離信仰的真道。 在本書中，作者提醒這個世代的基督徒，一定要明白真理，以分辨種種假冒的「真理」或「屬靈」的引導，洞識撒但蠱惑人心的伎倆。

目錄：

1. 聆聽神的聲音
2. 藉禱告得自由
3. 禱告的進深
4. 在禱告中代求
5. 順著聖靈而活
6. 當天父沉默不語時
7. 與神親密 show less

I enjoy a lot of Anderson's earlier books very much, but some of his later ones (like Heinlein's) read to much like libertarian propaganda for my taste, and this is one of them. The SF background , as usual with Anderson, is well crafted and based on up to date speculation by genuine scientists of the time, which he carefully credits. It involves humans finding "gates" which connect to different solar systems, which were apparently left behind deliberately by an unknown race of vastly superior technology known as the Others. Humans have already used this to begin colonizing space. Meanwhile, an exploring ship has met another intelligent race, not the Others, called the Betans, who profess to be eager for friendly trade. When the story show more picks up, the ship is returning (with a Betan envoy) but finds its exciting news is being suppressed by elements in the government that want to focus on social justice instead of space. Then a heroic entrepreneur rides to the rescue... show less

Humanity discovers interstellar travel via mysterious alien-built gates, focusing on political conflict between Earth's restrictive government and expansionists on the colony planet Demeter, whose crew rescues the Emissary, a powerful alien, and embarks on a dangerous journey to find the aliens' home, seeking knowledge and facing political fallout, with themes of human destiny and challenging alien legacies.

This review was written for the “Go Review That Book!” Group – game thread found here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/40097

Although I read a fair amount of science fiction I have never really gotten into Poul Anderson, so I was not even really aware that I owned this book until Jensen_AKA_DL selected it for me to read/review.

Encouraged by the cover blurb - His big one! The long-awaited masterpiece by one of SF’s all-time greats! - I finished my current read and dove in…

The basic storyline starts out with the crew of the Emissary returning, earlier than they were expected, from space exploration via a “T-machine” – an artifact of the mysterious “Others.” They have encountered alien civilizations and expected a show more triumphant return only to be immediately embroiled in politico-military intrigue. Luckily, our free-swinging capitalist hero, Dan Broderson, had anticipated this turn of events. Surmising their return, Dan sets out on a rescue mission and the story is off – dodging authorities, out-thinking the bad guys, gunfights, consorting with aliens…and sex, lots and lots of SEX.

One of the socio-cultural speculative fiction themes woven into this novel is the concept of polyamory. However, Anderson doesn’t seem very comfortable with this notion. The in-novel discussion seems apologetic and defensive on one hand, and over-done and melodramatic on the other. You never get that impression (which Heinlein, for example, was able to convey) that the characters are comfortable with themselves, their sexuality, and the concept of polyamory.

Also on the social/cultural side: the impact of technologies linking computer capabilities to the human brain, on the personality and psychology on those humans, termed “holothetes”, which have been so trained since childhood. We learn about this through the character Joelle Ky, the holothete of the Emissary crew – apparently the transcendent experiences of the holothete yield a “wholly new order of perceiving and existing” which distances them from normal human interaction. Although, I have to say, it seems Joelle spends an inordinate amount of time reflecting on petty, purely human concerns for such a transcendant being.

I did spend some time as I was reading the book wondering what in the heck the title was referring to – a question that was not answered until quite late in the narrative.

Interspersed in between the action-adventure, space-opera chapters is a little Zen-like narrative consisting of short chapters which seem to trace the evolution of consciousness. I’m not sure how much, if anything, they add to the story. They did act as a kind of mental shift-change to cease the onrush of action and encourage a moment of reflection.

Published in the late 1970s this work now seems somewhat dated but overall a decent space-opera. A fairly quick read with a few mildly interesting concepts – 3 ½ stars. show less

學園傳道會經典好書《勝過黑暗》《擊開捆鎖》作者又一鉅作！

屬靈爭戰，始於心思意念的爭戰，而我們所確信的會決定我們成功的機率。

無論你是多年信徒還是初信，本書可以成為你的精兵訓練營手冊。在你躍入戰場，進行下一回合戰鬥之前，請先閱讀本策略指南，有助於你在與邪惡勢力的對抗中，居於優勢。

Muito aborrecido. Uma desilusão

La novela presenta una humanidad en pleno salto a las estrellas tras resurgir de una época de caos e incertidumbre en la que las estructuras sociales se han derrumbado estrepitosamente. Sin embargo, de los escombros ha salido una nueva humanidad renovada y con el brío suficiente como para acometer su expansión por la galaxia, expansión que se ve oportunamente facilitada gracias al descubrimiento de la máquina T, un artefacto que una misteriosa raza alienígena bautizada como los Otros ha dejado en el Sistema Solar y que permite el salto entre sistemas. Pero la máquina T no es una simple lanzadera o portal, es un nodo más de una vasta red que cubre el tiempo y el espacio, los Otros han dejado marcada una ruta que permite a la show more humanidad colonizar el planeta Démeter, pero la única pista sobre del destino del resto de las posibles ha sido que pueden ser el camino a un punto en el que no haya máquina T, y por lo tanto, posibilidad de volver. Tras muchos años de investigación, pruebas, errores y sondas robot perdidas, una nave alienígena cruza entre dos puntos de la máquinta T y, una nave tripulada, la Emissary, es enviada tras ella con la intención de averiguar quienes son sus constructores. La misión de la Emissary es un éxito, pero a su vuelta es secuestrada y ocultada. Un poderoso grupo de presión, argumentando que la humanidad debe desarrollarse por si misma, pero en realidad temiendo por su posición de privilegio, pretende aislarla de cualquier influencia externa y el contacto realizado por la tripulación de la Emissary es desastroso para sus intereses. Sin embargo, Dan Brodersen no piensa igual, y sí bien no tan cerca de los resortes del poder, si es lo bastante rico e influyente como para embarcarse en la Chinook, gemela de la Emissary, para descubrir los manejos de los malos. show less