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THE THERAPIST PSYCHOLOGIST BOOK STORE
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Arena By Karen Hancock ( Bethany House )
Release Date: 2002-05-01
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $12.99
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Book Description
A Journey She Did Not Choose Will Change Her Life Forever Transported surreptitiously to a terrifying alien world, with limited resources and only a few cryptic words to guide her, Callie Hayes finds herself engulfed in a perilous battle for freedom—and her very life. She must unravel the mysteries that shroud her only route of escape, or risk succumbing to the deadly deception of the Arena. First-time author Karen Hancock is about to lead you on a mesmerizing journey through the treacherous terrain of an alien world. Yet for all its "other-worldliness," this powerful science-fiction allegory will capture your imagination with its timelessness and aching familiarity.
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 Arena Review
The book starts off with Callie and Meg headed to an experiment to earn some money. The experiment turned out to be controlled by aliens and they were sent to an alien planet. Their challenge was to find their way home. The top alien, Elhanu, helped them on this journey. Callie meets up with other humans and they work together to find there way out.
This book is an allegory on the Christian walk. Elhanu represents God, while the link represents the Holy Spirit. It had some cool action in it and it's interesting to read. This book is full of surprises; I never knew what was next.
Luke Yonge
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 A Christian allegory based on very specific doctrine ( cclio333 )
I picked up this book because it is Sci-Fi Christian allegory, and I really enjoyed the first part of the book. I might get to like the second part if I made myself keep going, but I'm about 10 pages in and I don't think I'll go any further. The allegory they use to tell the story of Christianity conflicts with my beliefs. Not that I only read books that I agree with, but it takes a lot longer because you have to think more about the points that are being made. I just got a huge reading assignment so I'll have to stop this book for now and give it another try later. This is also not to say that if I disagree with a book then it is a bad book. But I am going to list the specific things I disagree with here so that people can get an idea in advance as to how much this book will conflict with their own philosophies. (I'm not giving away any storylines, though.)
The specific arguments that I disagree with are: (1) Arena says that Satan's fall came before the creation of man, because Satan was jealous of God's power and too arrogant. I've always believed that Satan's fall came after the creation of humans, because Satan thought God was demeaning himself by having a relationship with obviously inferior and non-angelic beings. (2) Arena says that the unpleasant and dangerous things in the world come from Satan's forces. I believe that these things either are created accidentally by people or are created by God as things that we don't understand the use of yet or as challenges to overcome. By giving Satan the power of "creation", Arena elevates him to a second god, and we start moving into Zoroastrianism or something. (3) The sudden emphasis on God's army getting really good at shooting guns and rappelling down ravines is giving me a bad feeling. (4) According to Arena, when people accept God in their lives, it transforms them somehow, and now they can understand the Bible better and hear God's will when they pray. I know a lot of people really fervently believe this, but neither myself nor many other Christians I know have ever had this happen.
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Arena - a review by author Deborah Cullins Smith ( startnover )
The ad said that they offer "evaluation of and instruction in the decision-making process". Meg Riley loves to answer ads like these for easy money. Fifty dollars to answer questionnaires and run an obstacle course seems like easy money. Callie Hayes has suffered other such "adventures" with Meg, but this time the girls have bitten off more than they realize.
As Callie's questions are met with highly unsatisfactory responses, she attempts to back out of the experiment only to find herself locked in the room with a strange young man who sadly refuses to allow her to leave. He tries to give her the rest of the instructions, like the importance of staying on the white road for safety reasons, and the significance of the field manual, which will guide her through the "Arena". But Callie turns a deaf ear, furious at the prospect of being forced to participate against her wishes.
Suddenly she finds herself dumped unceremoniously into a desert wasteland of an alien world with only the field manual and a backpack full of strange objects. Almost immediately, she encounters vicious crab-like animals, plants with snake-like stinging appendages - and humanoid aliens with gray skin and dark, malevolent eyes!
She also meets a bearded stranger named Pierce, who has also been a victim of this experimental abduction. There is a large group, she soon learns, and fear explodes into panic when she finds that Pierce has been an inhabitant of the Arena for five years!
Can they find a way through this deadly maze? Can they decipher the field manual before the dangers of this alien world destroy their lives? And will Callie ever find Meg in this terrible place? This is a tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Ms. Hancock has crafted a wondrously futuristic version of Pilgrim's Progress. Callie's journey challenges her fears and shows her that there IS a Power higher than herself Who loves her, guides her, and changes her life in ways she could never have dreamed possible.
Arena is a completely mesmerizing tale of faith, hope, and unconditional love. Will you recognize God when He appears on this alien world? Or will you be deceived by the many distractions in the Arena?
Definitely one of the best books on my shelves! Though this book was first published a few years ago, this was a tremendous find. Well done, Ms. Hancock!
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 A Disappointing Read
The rave reviews for this book encouraged me to read what I expected would be an excellent example of science fiction with a christian bent. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
One of my main complaints with this book is that many parts seemed thrown together with numerous plotholes and elements seemingly thrown in at random. There were a couple points where the book seemed like it was going to end, and then managed to start up again in what was almost an entirely new story. Other elements of the plot make no sense, such as the warring nation-states that spring out of nowhere, or the simplicity of overcoming the first challenge and how so few people are able to figure it out.
Another aspect I disliked about the book was the allegory part. It was overdone and painfully obvious. In my opinion, an allegory should be something done subtly, not glaringly obvious, to the point where you say "OK, OK... I get that this guy is Jesus. Move on already."
I felt as though this book was Christian first, poor science fiction second. It had its moments where it was interesting and fun to read, but those moments were separated by long stretches of predictable and drawn out sequences with various plotholes thrown in.
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 On a Planet Near You ( koontah )
I lived 13 months in four days. That's how long it took me to read the story. I almost could not put it down. Karen's storytelling craft is worth the investment. She took great care to remain accurate to Bible doctrine and just as much care in her characters-both the good and the not-so-loving. Her characters were well-rounded with good and bad points, with strengths and failures. I lived through the arena with Callie and sympathized with her acrophobia. I was proud of her when she finally learned to overcome her fear. while there's not a great deal of science fiction in her story, her main focus-the journey-really made the book a good read. Can't wait to get my hands on her other material!
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Addiction
