Brock and Alicia Rivers are exiles on Mars, having made a bargain to keep their son and lose their home.¹ After years in the wilderness of another planet, they are suddenly recalled to Earth and to an old dream. They are commissioned to go forth into space and carry the Gospel to scattered humanity. But a loved one’s murder dims the dream, and deeper intrigues threaten to shatter this entirely.

In Above the Circle of Earth, E. Stephen Burnett combines hard science fiction with profound religious themes. Technologies like spaceships, quantum travel, and Martian domes have advanced society into long-anticipated secularism and centralization. Extending to Mars and the moon, the new order of CAUSE is less a brave new world and more of a brave new solar system. Secular government forces dissenters to retreat into legal districts called preserves, such as for Islam and American evangelical Christianity.

This diversity fuels the story’s examination of the Great Commission as well as the sacrifices and relationships of Christians, with all their tangles of affection and disappointment. With dialectical themes, futuristic technology, and a secularized political system, Above the Circle of Earth follows the course of classical science fiction, yet fuses this tradition with Christian experience. Above the Circle of Earth offers strong appeal to thoughtful readers.

Best for: Adult fans of hard sci-fi and religious fiction, readers of apologetics.

Discern: Some violence includes sci-fi battles that result in injuries and a few deaths, light references to martial intimacy, Christians debate topics like missionary methods and hard choices for leaders, villains and side heroes proclaim unbiblical secular ideas or religious beliefs.