The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber
Genna says: “If you are in the mood for a literary, metaphysical, sci-fi novel, this is for you. It’s been twelve years since author Michael Faber published his last book, so he had plenty of time to craft this novel, and it shows.–
Many times while reading this, I said out loud – ‘Wow, this is such a great book!’
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Peter is a married minster who is chosen for a mission with a corporation called USIC, located on another planet. Everyone has a job to do, and Peter’s is to teach the Bible to the inhabitants of the planet – aliens. Peter exchanges heartfelt messages with his wife, who is struggling through their separation and also because of the disasters happening on earth – tsunamis and food shortages. The landscape of Peter’s new world is very different from earth – a hot desert that rains often and produces a plant called whiteflower. Peter is shocked to find that the drinking water is green-colored and tastes like honeydew, the apartment he stays in has no lock on the door, and the pastor who came before him went missing in action. The book really is a great way of understanding pastoral work in action – Peter begins to build a church and teaches the aliens from the Bible, or what they refer to it as: ‘The Book of Strange New Things.’
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This book was so vivid and descriptive that it reminded me of several movies. It had the gentleness of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial combined with the gut-wrenching sadness of separation of space exploration that drives the new Interstellar movie.”
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3 Similar Reads
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Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Strange Bodies by Marcel Theroux
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