Arena
by: Karen Hancock
I picked up Arena at a Christian discount store one day for 6 dollars, intrigued by the sci-fi looking cover. Searching always for good Christian sci-fi, fantasy, or allegory of that nature, I flipped it over and read the back cover, hoping it would be interesting. Not only did the summary sound interesting, but there was a positive review from Kathy Tyers, author of the Firebird Trilogy, which I had read some time ago and remembered liking quite well, so I bought the book.
And couldn't put it down. A very, very well done book: interesting, thought-provoking, action, emotion, tension, danger, and just the right amount of fantastic elements to make me devour it. To top it all off, I think the allegory is very good. Nowhere did it seem pushed or contrived; it fit the story perfectly, and some things I only got after a second reading.
I would recommend this book to any late teen/adult. I wouldn't recommend it to children or early teens, because of violence and mature sexual themes. Don't get the wrong idea about that, though. There's nothing 'bad', 'gross', or otherwise unnatural, etc. It's just for a mature audience. I'd rate the book, were it a movie, a high pg-13 to R. In all, if you're interested in this genre (and I'm kind of thinking you are, since you've read this far), I'd at least try to get it through a library, or used on Amazon or something. Although paying full price 11 or 12 dollars would not be a waste of money, in my opinion.
One last thing I'm intersted in, is whether guys would like this book or not. The author is a woman, the main character is a woman, and I am a woman; so my view may apply more to other female readers. If you are a guy and have read the book, could you email me and let me know what you thought? Thanks.
Summary