bainespal says:

With a more fantastic setting and a simpler plot than the first book in The Dark Trench Saga, The Superlative Stream goes bravely where I’ve never seen an explicitly evangelical novel go before. Unlike A Star Curiously Singing, it could be classified as a space opera (among other subgenres), evoking some of the wonder-lust and sense of scale. The darker dystopian feel from the previous book is downplayed here but is present in flashbacks and perhaps reinforced by theme.
 
As one of the stereotypical ex-Evangelical (or reluctantly Evangelical) millennials, I was wary of the recurring conversion theme. When the big conversion moment finally came, a fairly standard use of the typical “chair metaphor” for faith did start my inner artificiality alarm ringing. However, even that moment ended up working for me as a story beat, for several reasons. The conversion scene itself was written with the same exceptional skill found throughout, and it contained a strong character beat with an outstanding oracle-archetype. More importantly, the Christianity was presented with metaphors that seem more competent and more honest (in a literary sense) than Evangelical pragmatism.

My favorite dialog moment was actually in the conversion scene, demonstrating the trilogy’s recurring metaphor for the Christian incarnation:

“So the lies I’ve been told,” I say. “What are they?”
“I’ll instead give you truth,” he says. “God does stoop. And angels do fall.”
 
Nietz, Kerry (2010-03-31). The Superlative Stream (DarkTrench Saga) (Kindle Locations 4994-4996). Marcher Lord Press. Kindle Edition. 

There’s a interconnected tapestry composed of both theme and imagery. God stooping, angels falling — all tied into a theme about free will that I find vastly more interesting and uplifting than the conversion theme. The thematic elements are rooted in the backdrop of Islamic culture. The sideplot is brave enough and nuanced enough to cast a good Muslim in a sacrificial Christ-figure role. Islam isn’t the problem — the stifling of the truth beneath human authoritarianism is, and one of the stifled truths is that of the Christian scriptures. The Bible is treated as supernatural in its own right, a theme that anchors the book’s identity as evangelical fiction.
 
The characters are individually well portrayed, but I disliked some aspects of the gradually developing romance between Sandfly and HardCandy. There’s too much stereotypical eyelash batting and stuttering and the like.
 
I don’t think The Superlative Stream is perfect. For one, I think it could have explored the good and the bad ramifications of fundamentalism a little more. There were awkward moments for me. But the vision is glorious and portrayed with masterful skill. It’s an improvement from A Star Curiously Singing, which was excellent already. This book encourages me about the depth and honesty of both Christian fiction and Evangelicalism.