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Beyond the Event Horizon
Award winning mainstream author Scott McElhaney is now reintroducing his first award-winning novel of Christian Sci-fi (a tough genre in itself). This book was originally published under the pseudonym Scott Curtis and received rave reviews from both the scientific community as well as the religious community. This is a full-length novel that will take you on a journey through time and across the galaxy.
Skylar Rains has made a significant breakthrough regarding the future of time travel. Testing this theory however leaves him stranded 1100 years in the future with no hope of return. What he discovers is a frightening world devoid of all life. Now he must sift through the clues to learn what became of the world he once knew. Much to his surprise, he finds that these clues may lead him to another planet nearly 12 light years away.
Scott McElhaney is the 2008 winner of the Xulon Book Award for his first novel "Mommy's Choice." Now he is making all of his novels available to Kindle readers at the very accessible price of only 99 cents. His newest mainstream sci-fi series "The Mystic Saga" including Indentured, Legacy, Violation, Judgment, and Convergence have been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
Skylar Rains has made a significant breakthrough regarding the future of time travel. Testing this theory however leaves him stranded 1100 years in the future with no hope of return. What he discovers is a frightening world devoid of all life. Now he must sift through the clues to learn what became of the world he once knew. Much to his surprise, he finds that these clues may lead him to another planet nearly 12 light years away.
Scott McElhaney is the 2008 winner of the Xulon Book Award for his first novel "Mommy's Choice." Now he is making all of his novels available to Kindle readers at the very accessible price of only 99 cents. His newest mainstream sci-fi series "The Mystic Saga" including Indentured, Legacy, Violation, Judgment, and Convergence have been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
243 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 23, 2012
51 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Scott McElhaney
73 books63 followersScott's first novel, Mommy's Choice, was originally published in paperback under the pseudonym Scott Curtis. In under a year on the bookshelves, that novel won the National Christian Choice Book Award for romantic suspense. When Scott moved to a different publisher and started making his novels available to Kindle readers, he returned to his real name and reduced the prices to the absolute minimum allowed by Amazon.
Scott McElhaney currently resides in Ohio with his wife and two sons. He's a Desert Shield veteran of the US Navy, having served on the USS South Carolina CGN-37. Although his books didn't become available to Kindle readers until December 2011, over 250,000 digital copies have been purchased to date and he still maintains a position in the top 100 worldwide in the "Sci-fi Space Opera" category.
Scott McElhaney currently resides in Ohio with his wife and two sons. He's a Desert Shield veteran of the US Navy, having served on the USS South Carolina CGN-37. Although his books didn't become available to Kindle readers until December 2011, over 250,000 digital copies have been purchased to date and he still maintains a position in the top 100 worldwide in the "Sci-fi Space Opera" category.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 13, 2019
The starting premise for Beyond the Event Horizon is a good one although somewhat poorly justified by any sort of explanation of the underpinning science. Skylar Rains sends himself over 1000 years into the future and finds an Earth devoid of humans and sets out to track down what happened. All good so far. As he tries to find out what happened, he is somehow put in touch with an assumed supernatural event, I suspect we are to believe he is somehow peripherally caught up in the biblical rapture, the end of times as believed by some of the more nutty evangelistic Christians of North America. From here on the tone and credibility of the story started to dive.
The story suddenly leaves Skylar Rains as he pilots a 1000 year old starship heading to a distant star, and suddenly follows the lives of a starship full of children heading to the same distant solar system. The reader is left wondering what happened to Skylar Rains and trying to work out how the plot benefits from this new perspective. It transpires that the two plots are never reconciled and the only linkage to the two is the biblical connection and this hinted at rapture.
Then the story engages another sub plot of a previous colony on the distant planet before the other is fully explored, jumping around in time and then attempts to link a couple of the sub plots without success before adding in a bit more biblical mumbo jumbo to further confuse the reader.
To finish it off Skylar Rains resumes his journey only to be, in some unexplained fashion, transported back to the present day. Thoroughly unsatisfying in resolution of any of the sub plots or the primary plot involving the time jumping Rains. If this is an award winning novel, I'd really like to know what the award was.
The story suddenly leaves Skylar Rains as he pilots a 1000 year old starship heading to a distant star, and suddenly follows the lives of a starship full of children heading to the same distant solar system. The reader is left wondering what happened to Skylar Rains and trying to work out how the plot benefits from this new perspective. It transpires that the two plots are never reconciled and the only linkage to the two is the biblical connection and this hinted at rapture.
Then the story engages another sub plot of a previous colony on the distant planet before the other is fully explored, jumping around in time and then attempts to link a couple of the sub plots without success before adding in a bit more biblical mumbo jumbo to further confuse the reader.
To finish it off Skylar Rains resumes his journey only to be, in some unexplained fashion, transported back to the present day. Thoroughly unsatisfying in resolution of any of the sub plots or the primary plot involving the time jumping Rains. If this is an award winning novel, I'd really like to know what the award was.
August 28, 2012
Space opera, time travel, hi-tech, and young adult fiction all wrapped up in one. It's not marketed as young adult, but I think it could qualify as such based on some younger endearing characters and the fact that the language is clean. Thoroughly enjoyable though.
November 2, 2012
I borrowed this book from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library after reading the book description and a few of the reviews there. This is the first "Christian Sci-Fi" book I've read, and it proved to be an interesting genre. I'm so used to reading science fiction assuming the author's worldview is vastly different from my own, and I found myself mildly shocked every time Christianity was presented so overtly. Once I got used to the shock, I found it kind of refreshing to read something speculative from someone with similar religious leanings to my own (or, for that matter, with religious leanings at all).
The plot is a bit disjointed, with Parts 1 and 4 following the story of Skylar Rains as he travels into the future. The middle parts cover two back stories of a group of space travelers (Part 2) and a group of colonists on a distant planet (Part 3). Part 4 attempts to bring it all together, but I found myself having to flip back to previous sections to remind myself about characters and plot points that are quickly developed (and, honestly, quickly forgotten). The main character, Skylar, does experience some growth (and depth) during the course of the story, but most of the other characters are fairly shallow, with little growth, or even change, although I did enjoy the characters on the ship in Part 2. Often, it seemed like themes were presented didactically, often through dialogue, rather than developed through the characters and their actions.
Overall, this is a noble effort, combining Christianity with sci-fi elements like time travel and space travel. I especially like the author's and publisher's decision to price the book so attractively. I have no regrets about spending time reading Beyond the Event Horizon, and I am anxious to seek out other titles by the author.
The plot is a bit disjointed, with Parts 1 and 4 following the story of Skylar Rains as he travels into the future. The middle parts cover two back stories of a group of space travelers (Part 2) and a group of colonists on a distant planet (Part 3). Part 4 attempts to bring it all together, but I found myself having to flip back to previous sections to remind myself about characters and plot points that are quickly developed (and, honestly, quickly forgotten). The main character, Skylar, does experience some growth (and depth) during the course of the story, but most of the other characters are fairly shallow, with little growth, or even change, although I did enjoy the characters on the ship in Part 2. Often, it seemed like themes were presented didactically, often through dialogue, rather than developed through the characters and their actions.
Overall, this is a noble effort, combining Christianity with sci-fi elements like time travel and space travel. I especially like the author's and publisher's decision to price the book so attractively. I have no regrets about spending time reading Beyond the Event Horizon, and I am anxious to seek out other titles by the author.
August 28, 2012
Great sci-fi suspense story told in 3 distinct parts. The story begins in the near future with a man who hijacks a time machine and heads off into the future. A mistake leaves him stranded nearly a thousand years further than intended. What he discovers requires a lot of investigation and "archaeology" on his part. This is where the story breaks off and tells two other stories. They seem loosely related at first, but in the last 15% of the book, you will see how necessary these two stories are. Great book with beautiful characters.
August 28, 2012
Great science fiction at an awesome price. Found this gem for only 99 cents on Amazon.
August 28, 2012
Sci-fi at its best. I could imagine this as a movie someday. Well-written and hard to put down once you pick it up.
October 25, 2018
Beyond the Event Horizon is a pretty good story. Actually, I found it to be more like three stories.
The first part is fascinating. The time travel. The blurring of two realities in the future. The mysterious woman. The mysterious feast, and Skylar being kicked out of it. All very well written and pretty well enthralling.
Enter part two. A completely different cast of characters. None were overly interesting to me. It took a while to even convince myself to be interested in the story.
Part three begins to pull in the story of part two with a new story. So, yeah, three stories.
Part four pulls it all together, finally. We learn more about the mysterious woman from part one.
Along the way, we learn about the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. A solid Christian theme and very well integrated into the story.
For an award winning story, I did find more errors that should have been caught by an editor than I expected.
Overall, it is a pretty good story. I liked it, even though I had to make myself work for it.
The first part is fascinating. The time travel. The blurring of two realities in the future. The mysterious woman. The mysterious feast, and Skylar being kicked out of it. All very well written and pretty well enthralling.
Enter part two. A completely different cast of characters. None were overly interesting to me. It took a while to even convince myself to be interested in the story.
Part three begins to pull in the story of part two with a new story. So, yeah, three stories.
Part four pulls it all together, finally. We learn more about the mysterious woman from part one.
Along the way, we learn about the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. A solid Christian theme and very well integrated into the story.
For an award winning story, I did find more errors that should have been caught by an editor than I expected.
Overall, it is a pretty good story. I liked it, even though I had to make myself work for it.
November 30, 2019
This book felt extremely naive and simplistic. Psychology of characters didn't feel natural and their choices and motivation felt rushed. At other times the story dragged for me. Just recently I've read C.S. Lewis' The Space Trilogy which set my expectations for this genre much much higher.
I'm giving two stars for an honest try and applaudable aim of the author.
I'm giving two stars for an honest try and applaudable aim of the author.
September 13, 2020
Beyond the Event Horizon provides an interesting and believable sci-fi plot that keeps you turning the pages. Like any author, McElhaney writes through the lens of his worldview. His is unapologetically Christian, but not preachy. Definitely worth reading.
August 23, 2021
Sweet sci-fi story
Intertwined tale of time travel, adventure, friendship and love covering generations and told with a lovely Christian point of view.
Intertwined tale of time travel, adventure, friendship and love covering generations and told with a lovely Christian point of view.
October 17, 2021
disappointingly Christian oriented
December 28, 2021
Goofy
What a bore, it was too long even though I would up skimming through. I was hoping for better .
What a bore, it was too long even though I would up skimming through. I was hoping for better .
January 26, 2025
This might be the quickest DNF for me ever. The writing is clunky, like it’s written by a teenage boy writing his first book. Nice idea, bad execution.
May 2, 2014
I wanted to like this book and it started off well, that is to say that the premise the book started with, started well. But the style of writing reminded me of a story I wrote in school not long before I was a teenager, very simplistic, everything solved easily, everything falling into place and very little effort put into developing anything to do with the story, the characters, the background. This book needed one more thing, and that was an editor who could push the author into really developing his writing style. The storyline had so much potential, but was wasted. And was so implausible too. The main protaganist can apparently fly a starship from 1000 years in the future merely with the help of a computer, yet it took a crew of dozens to man the previous identical ship that undertook the voyage. The main protaganist can fly an orbital launcher. He can apparently write code that enables him to travel into the future, but he can't spot that he's sent himself to 3110 rather than 2110 - surely something so important you'd quadruple-check?!! And finally, the big plot hole - where did everyone go? There is a heavy lean on Christianity and the Bible in this book and this didn't bother the agnostic/atheist that I am one bit, but was I supposed to understand that when the 2 worlds turned to shit, everyone was beamed up into Jesus' Lamb Wedding Party thing? The protagonist discovered 2 worlds devoid of evidence of the dead (plus an orbital space station!) so what happened to them all?!!
To me, a book is like a big clear warm sea. A really good book will make me don scuba gear and dive deep and immerse myself in it, and I'll really enjoy being in a totally different world where nothing from "my" world interferes. This book was like being in a kids inflatable boat skimming the surface. On the plus side, there is a following wind and the book is that simple to read, you can whiz through it relatively quickly.
I may read another of the author's books, but based on this story alone I won't be making it a priority.
To me, a book is like a big clear warm sea. A really good book will make me don scuba gear and dive deep and immerse myself in it, and I'll really enjoy being in a totally different world where nothing from "my" world interferes. This book was like being in a kids inflatable boat skimming the surface. On the plus side, there is a following wind and the book is that simple to read, you can whiz through it relatively quickly.
I may read another of the author's books, but based on this story alone I won't be making it a priority.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2013
Well. Ultimately I would like to give this five stars, but there are a few reasons why not. First, it's riddled with typos and incorrect grammar. Not as bad as some I have seen, but still annoying. And for a free or 99 cent kindle book, it's fairly forgivable. But the author should have more proofreaders. And his use of "then" to create sequence was incorrect grammatically speaking, and the phrase "grabbed a hold of" was used ad nauseum. And his use of verb tense was sometimes off kilter. However, I must say that besides those things, and the fact that the third section bordered on completely uninteresting and some of the plot points were a little contrived (how convenient that Skylar forgot a device that important to his adventure), the book was overall a winner. I must say that the concept was extremely intriguing, the plot fairly well executed, and the message properly conveyed without being preachy. The way the author handled the science, the imaginative aspects of a world set in the 3000s, and the theology of it was quite impressive and interesting. His mild touch on molinism and his non-pushy handling of end times events was something I greatly appreciated. I was captured by the story and how things would unfold. I love sci fi and was impressed from that standpoint. And I love the theological themes from a standpoint most people don't consider. So, I applaud the author and recommend this book. Though be ready to cringe at some plot points and some really bad grammar.
April 2, 2013
I'm impressed with how this author handled a genre as tricky as Christian sci-fi. Seems like no matter what, you're going to let down one camp- either the Christians or the sci-fi fans, but McElhaney did pretty well on both accounts (although I did get a vibe of "religion is most attractive to the desperate").
The plot kept tumbling around in my mind days after I finished the book. The events that take place aboard the ship and on the colony are definitely the most interesting parts of this novel. Skylar's story was a bit weird and didn't seem to tie in well with the rest... I would rather have learned what happened to the colony than hear about him meeting his dream girl in the supermarket.
The plot kept tumbling around in my mind days after I finished the book. The events that take place aboard the ship and on the colony are definitely the most interesting parts of this novel. Skylar's story was a bit weird and didn't seem to tie in well with the rest... I would rather have learned what happened to the colony than hear about him meeting his dream girl in the supermarket.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2012
This was my first time reading so-called "Christian fiction". Based upon this experience, it will also be my last. There was a lot of promise in this story, but the author seemed more concerned with the religious message he tried to interject. There was no resolution of any of the major plot points. A complete waste of time. I am glad that this was a free book, because I would definitely want my money back had I paid for it.
October 13, 2016
Interesting, until it wasn't
I think this book started off strong. I knew it was written by a Christian author, but I figured that meant it wouldn't have any foul language or adult scenes, (which aren't all that common in sci-fi books anyway). I don't have any problem with Christian books, but I was taken by surprise when this one went full-on evangelical. I didn't hate it, but after a certain point, I just couldn't wait for it to be over.
I think this book started off strong. I knew it was written by a Christian author, but I figured that meant it wouldn't have any foul language or adult scenes, (which aren't all that common in sci-fi books anyway). I don't have any problem with Christian books, but I was taken by surprise when this one went full-on evangelical. I didn't hate it, but after a certain point, I just couldn't wait for it to be over.
May 18, 2016
Great book
Ever want to go on a vacation? This guy did too. His was to be trip to the future. Just 10 years or so. But he messed up and goes a thousand instead. I found this book interesting and a wonderful price
Ever want to go on a vacation? This guy did too. His was to be trip to the future. Just 10 years or so. But he messed up and goes a thousand instead. I found this book interesting and a wonderful price
September 30, 2012
Rather fascinating. Sci fi and the 2nd coming of Jesus.
January 28, 2013
Good book, hard to put down. Disappointing ending. :(
February 23, 2013
I enjoyed the read. This is a one-of-a-kind Christian SciFi novel that I can recommend. It is a little unusual in layout, but to read a clean story that is biblically-based is the greatest.
Want to read
October 10, 2013nothig
January 30, 2014
I loved this book! Couldn't put it down.
March 29, 2015
Different
This book made me think all the way through. It was strange all the way through. The ending was kind of slow and
This book made me think all the way through. It was strange all the way through. The ending was kind of slow and
February 1, 2016
Really enjoyable
A dystopian future,and one linked in with the Bible along with time travel and warp drive. A really enjoyable read
A dystopian future,and one linked in with the Bible along with time travel and warp drive. A really enjoyable read
August 13, 2016
Engaging read
Not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed the story. It kept my interest throughout and had a decent ending that tied things up neatly.
Not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed the story. It kept my interest throughout and had a decent ending that tied things up neatly.
September 28, 2016
Non stop to the end
I was doubtful about Christian science fiction but Scott McElhaney nailed it! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on more by by this author.
I was doubtful about Christian science fiction but Scott McElhaney nailed it! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on more by by this author.
July 29, 2017
Really interesting Sci-fi story. Thought provoking.
Read
May 5, 2018I don't really like overly religious stories and this became one of those and quickly dampened my interest in the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews