Alright, I'm almost done with this book, but I'm going to go ahead and make a couple observations with the climax still ahead of me.
First...this book is getting very Heinlein-y. In Starship Troopers the story occasionally stops so that we can all sit in on a military history class along with Rico. It provides some interesting world-building, but then crosses that line into polemics. In this book, the more Mike's church/cult/school grows, the more it turns into characters having theological and philosophical conversations. Which is great, but moves away from the initial book that I got hooked on a few hundred pages ago.
The theology is oddly similar to Heinlein later Job, the idea that all religions might be simultaneously correct. However, in that book we're immersed in that from the beginning, in this there's the sudden introduction in Act 3 of Foster commenting on the action from up in heaven. It's not a bad addition to the book, but it was an odd skip. In fact, much of the book was an odd skip starting right around when Mike and Jill left Jobal's compound.
I'll be interested to see how it comes together, but it's not going to the top of my favorite reads list.
First...this book is getting very Heinlein-y. In Starship Troopers the story occasionally stops so that we can all sit in on a military history class along with Rico. It provides some interesting world-building, but then crosses that line into polemics. In this book, the more Mike's church/cult/school grows, the more it turns into characters having theological and philosophical conversations. Which is great, but moves away from the initial book that I got hooked on a few hundred pages ago.
The theology is oddly similar to Heinlein later Job, the idea that all religions might be simultaneously correct. However, in that book we're immersed in that from the beginning, in this there's the sudden introduction in Act 3 of Foster commenting on the action from up in heaven. It's not a bad addition to the book, but it was an odd skip. In fact, much of the book was an odd skip starting right around when Mike and Jill left Jobal's compound.
I'll be interested to see how it comes together, but it's not going to the top of my favorite reads list.