Review: Of Prophecies and Superpowers; Christian Sci-Fi
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 12, 2013
"Sherdan's Prophecy" is a "Christian Sci-Fi" novel, that tells the story of an "end of the world" prophecy. Dr. Sherdan Harper, is hell-bent to implement the said prophecy. In doing so, he collects a large group of followers (or test subjects), and sets a private compound just outside of Bristol. Dr. John Hitchin, the originator of the prophecy, is responsible for giving regular humans "super-powers" with the help of a mysterious enzyme.A Christian Church, that have heard of the prophecy, send Anya, a young woman, to discover what the prophecy entails, on the reasoning that it is not wise "to make plans for the end of the world and not include Christians." Upon entering the compound, Anya is promptly captured, interrogated, and tortured. After a while, Sherdan takes mercy on her, and takes her into his home for a "house arrest," while trying to figure out what part the young woman plays in his prophecy.The God  works in mysterious ways indeed. Two main characters in this novel, Anya and Sherdan, when they meet, have really nothing in common to justify their involvement with each other. Most of their conversations could be summarized as such: Sherdan, "You'll do what I say," answered by Anya, "I'll do what God tells me to do." Later in the book the tone of conversations change, but the underlying message stays similar.In the very beginning of the book, Anya is a representation of a pure, unquestioning belief, while Sherdan is her pragmatic and forceful opposite. As the story progresses, we can see the more manipulative side in Anya, the rigidness of "control" she exercises over Sherdan, rewarding him for agreeing with her and not open to any negotiations. At the same time, Sherdan, at least when it comes to Anya, starts to bend and show more flexibility that we thought possible from the start, especially when he decides that he is going to keep her by his side, after another prophecy is made that involves Anya.While the two sort out their feelings and intentions, the plans of the small "scientific cult" are moving forward and the powers to be are not amused. Declaration of independence from the UK by Sherdan is met by force. The way the followers defend the compound with a technology that is based on their "super-powers" is pretty clever and entertaining.What really makes this book a "Religious Sci-Fi" is not the clash of belief structures of the main heroes, but the story progression that shows Anya developing some interesting powers of her own, the source of which Dr. Hitchin struggles to identify. Some of social issues are raised as well, juxtaposing the "old world," the newly created country of Utopia, and Anya's belief that, instead, the God is the answer.The ending leaves an opening for the sequel; hopefully the questions posed in this novel will be answered then. This book is a pretty strong contender in the field of "Christian Sci-Fi." If you are looking for a book in this particular genre, you've found one.Disclaimer: I've received the book for the purposes of a review.