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A New Beginning
President Pummel has plans to implement a system to replace currency in its entirety: “Money is nothing but a way to distribute power. The Credit Chip would render money obsolete. Debt forgotten, felonies erased… past mistakes wiped clean. With the Credit Chip, a new beginning is truly possible!” But, what’s the cost?
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Published October 5, 2017
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April 23, 2019
A deep, challenging, fresh take within the end times fiction genre...
I made the mistake of thinking that A New Beginning was a book about the end times. But I now see that’s like saying To Kill a Mockingbird is about a court case.
Yes, Harper Lee chooses a court case as part of the backdrop for her story; however, readers who pick up her book expecting Twelve Angry Men or John Grisham will likely miss the true value of her work. Similarly, Nate Allen does choose the Biblical end times as the backdrop for A New Beginning; however, readers who pick up his book expecting Left Behind will likely miss the true value of his work: that is, it is a rich portrayal of the transformative power of grief.
But in the process, Allen breaks a lot of the unwritten rules of Christian end times fiction.
For one, the main characters already recognize the events of their world as the end times unfolding. In fact, within the first three paragraphs, our unbelieving protagonist, Ken Cardiff, is already drawing the connections between what he sees in the world and the words of the Bible. And yet, despite this blatant signal flare to the reader that, "This book is NOT primarily the events going on around the characters but rather the events going on within the characters", it’s easy to take our collective Tim LaHaye baggage with us anyway.
So without the narrative crutch of the end times to propel the story forward, Allen settles in to tackle the true content of the book: grief.
And it is here that Nate Allen is so obviously at home. Nate Allen writes about grief like Harper Lee writes about the South - with unmistakable familiarity and deep understanding... and a piercing reverence for its transformative power on its residents.
In New Beginning, each character grapples with loss in a different way. For some, intense loss is the end of hope, the end of trying. For others, that same loss is a springboard to a new, empowered life. For one character, grief is the force that proves God’s presence; for another, it proves God’s absence. Allen is able to tell these competing narratives side-by-side, with the same empathy and concern for each. In the context of his story, no character’s response to grief is irrational or extreme.
A New Beginning is an honest, gritty, dark, bleak, hopeful, inspiring, challenging, portrayal of a series of real human beings tossed into the end of the world, emotions reeling. This book doesn't present the Christian faith as a fail-safe, "I have hope (and thus a smile) all the time" life change. Instead, it explores the loss of faith in trauma, the Book of Job way that God rarely provides "context" for suffering, and the real implications of an imperfect, human faith community trying to survive literal hell on earth.
And that's not for everyone.
But if you struggle with the cut-and-dry approach to suffering in much of Christian fiction, the way all suffering stories seem to end the same way, then A New Beginning may provide a breath of fresh air. (I'm looking at you, fans of Frank E. Peretti, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Jars of Clay, etc.)
As someone who was expecting end times fiction, I marveled at Allen’s take on the mark of the beast and the charismatic Antichrist. I'm looking forward to digging into the rest of this series. New Beginning is packed with Allen’s customary plot twists and turns, but it keeps his characters front and center. One part The Shack, one part Station Eleven— all against the backdrop of Biblical end times.
So if you’re ready for a probing, introspective portrayal of the transformative power of grief, hop aboard and appreciate A New Beginning for its depth. But first do yourself a favor, and actively “leave behind” your end times fiction baggage.
I made the mistake of thinking that A New Beginning was a book about the end times. But I now see that’s like saying To Kill a Mockingbird is about a court case.
Yes, Harper Lee chooses a court case as part of the backdrop for her story; however, readers who pick up her book expecting Twelve Angry Men or John Grisham will likely miss the true value of her work. Similarly, Nate Allen does choose the Biblical end times as the backdrop for A New Beginning; however, readers who pick up his book expecting Left Behind will likely miss the true value of his work: that is, it is a rich portrayal of the transformative power of grief.
But in the process, Allen breaks a lot of the unwritten rules of Christian end times fiction.
For one, the main characters already recognize the events of their world as the end times unfolding. In fact, within the first three paragraphs, our unbelieving protagonist, Ken Cardiff, is already drawing the connections between what he sees in the world and the words of the Bible. And yet, despite this blatant signal flare to the reader that, "This book is NOT primarily the events going on around the characters but rather the events going on within the characters", it’s easy to take our collective Tim LaHaye baggage with us anyway.
So without the narrative crutch of the end times to propel the story forward, Allen settles in to tackle the true content of the book: grief.
And it is here that Nate Allen is so obviously at home. Nate Allen writes about grief like Harper Lee writes about the South - with unmistakable familiarity and deep understanding... and a piercing reverence for its transformative power on its residents.
In New Beginning, each character grapples with loss in a different way. For some, intense loss is the end of hope, the end of trying. For others, that same loss is a springboard to a new, empowered life. For one character, grief is the force that proves God’s presence; for another, it proves God’s absence. Allen is able to tell these competing narratives side-by-side, with the same empathy and concern for each. In the context of his story, no character’s response to grief is irrational or extreme.
A New Beginning is an honest, gritty, dark, bleak, hopeful, inspiring, challenging, portrayal of a series of real human beings tossed into the end of the world, emotions reeling. This book doesn't present the Christian faith as a fail-safe, "I have hope (and thus a smile) all the time" life change. Instead, it explores the loss of faith in trauma, the Book of Job way that God rarely provides "context" for suffering, and the real implications of an imperfect, human faith community trying to survive literal hell on earth.
And that's not for everyone.
But if you struggle with the cut-and-dry approach to suffering in much of Christian fiction, the way all suffering stories seem to end the same way, then A New Beginning may provide a breath of fresh air. (I'm looking at you, fans of Frank E. Peretti, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Jars of Clay, etc.)
As someone who was expecting end times fiction, I marveled at Allen’s take on the mark of the beast and the charismatic Antichrist. I'm looking forward to digging into the rest of this series. New Beginning is packed with Allen’s customary plot twists and turns, but it keeps his characters front and center. One part The Shack, one part Station Eleven— all against the backdrop of Biblical end times.
So if you’re ready for a probing, introspective portrayal of the transformative power of grief, hop aboard and appreciate A New Beginning for its depth. But first do yourself a favor, and actively “leave behind” your end times fiction baggage.
June 8, 2019
A New Beginning by Nate Allen is the first book in The Faceless Future series. It is a Christian novel set in 2022 and concerning the End Times.
Life is a spiritual battle. Whoever is not for Jesus is against Him. The forces of darkness long to take over the souls of all people. The darkness tries to smother the light. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus to keep the light burning within. “Jesus was in her every moment of every day.”
There are various spiritual gifts including that of prophecy. God speaks through dreams to reveal His truth.
We must be careful about the voices that we listen to. We must quieten the voices of the enemy. “Hoping someday the voices would quiet.” We need to actually choose whose voice to listen to. We need the life affirming voice of God in our ears.
The Bible talks of the mark of the beast in Revelation. Some people think this is like bar codes. This theme is explored in the trilogy as the President of the United States tries to phase out currency in favour of tattooed bar codes on wrists. Disaster is looming.
There are many Biblical truths to be found within the pages of the novel. I will leave you with a powerful quote:
“Jesus… shines brightest in tragedy.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Life is a spiritual battle. Whoever is not for Jesus is against Him. The forces of darkness long to take over the souls of all people. The darkness tries to smother the light. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus to keep the light burning within. “Jesus was in her every moment of every day.”
There are various spiritual gifts including that of prophecy. God speaks through dreams to reveal His truth.
We must be careful about the voices that we listen to. We must quieten the voices of the enemy. “Hoping someday the voices would quiet.” We need to actually choose whose voice to listen to. We need the life affirming voice of God in our ears.
The Bible talks of the mark of the beast in Revelation. Some people think this is like bar codes. This theme is explored in the trilogy as the President of the United States tries to phase out currency in favour of tattooed bar codes on wrists. Disaster is looming.
There are many Biblical truths to be found within the pages of the novel. I will leave you with a powerful quote:
“Jesus… shines brightest in tragedy.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
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