Yesterday, a dream came true. My latest novel, The Next Fithian, ceased to be just an idea and became a genuine book, both in paper and digital formats. Readers who had pre-ordered the ebook reported it popping onto their devices overnight. Others are already receiving paper copies in the mail. My main emotion? “Thank You, Lord!”
I’ve already shared elsewhere how, years ago, Focus on the Family originally contacted me to develop some sort of big, fantastic storyline for young adult readers. At the time, sure, it was a blast writing speculative short stories for Breakaway magazine. Now, it’s even more gratifying to hold an 80,000-word novel born from those seedling installments. Because I literally prayed as I wrote each chapter, it’s no stretch to say the finished book is an answer to prayer. Does that mean my new novel was divinely inspired? I wouldn’t go that far. But I do believe the Lord blessed my desire to pen an inspiring adventure with a God-centered worldview and a wholesome hero that both youth and adults can enjoy.
What’s the story like? For me, making a comparison is tough. One reviewer described it as a mix of C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy and Hunger Games. What I can say is the story employs my favorite literary technique of taking an ordinary person (a 17-year-old high school senior) and tossing him into an extraordinary situation (a strange, violent planet where he definitely doesn’t want to be). I like to imagine that, if Stan Lee of Marvel comics had wanted to create a Christian superhero, he might have dreamed up one like Rankin Fithian.
It’s too early to know how well Fithian will be received on Planet Earth. Still, I’m already hearing of parents, brothers, and sisters competing for time to read it. (Some are using the expression “page-turner” and say it’s tough to put down. How gratifying for an author!) Two adult readers have informed me they don’t normally like science fiction but are loving this faith-filled tale. I hope you will, too!
Care to check it out? Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3zvTyGB
Live long and prosper,
Rick Barry
