The Storytellers' Collection : Tales of Far Away Places

Rating:
Summary: You won't want to miss this collection!
Review: Hello! I'm just one of the many authors who came together to create The StoryTeller's Collection, but I'm thrilled to recommend this book to you. The idea began with a group of Christian novelists who wanted to really make a difference, so we came up with this idea, contributed stories, and earmarked all the royalties for the JESUS film project. In this book you'll find stories by many of your favorite authors and a few gems by authors you may not have discovered. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Wow! Heart-tugging stories
Review: I am a librarian and I have an hour commute to and from work each day so I listen to a lot of audiobooks. This is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard. One of the stories about a Chinese Christian man and his family living under oppression really blew me away.
I was holding my breath as I waited to find out if the family would be shot for gathering to praise the Lord. It's a good thing that it is a rare tale, because I couldn't take that much suspense on a regular basis!

Rating:
Summary: Wow! Heart-tugging stories
Review: I am a librarian and I have an hour commute to and from work each day so I listen to a lot of audiobooks. This is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard. One of the stories about a Chinese Christian man and his family living under oppression really blew me away.
I was holding my breath as I waited to find out if the family would be shot for gathering to praise the Lord. It's a good thing that it is a rare tale, because I couldn't take that much suspense on a regular basis!

Rating:
Summary: Uneven but not unenjoyable.
Review: I've always loved short stories. And I've read enough short stories to know that writing a *good* short story is a tremendously difficult art. The writers of this collection may have proved themselves at writing novels, with successful Christian novelists such as Karen Kingsbury, Randy Alcorn, Angela Elwell Hunt, Terri Blackstock, Jerry B. Jenkins, Sigmund Brouwer and others all trying their hand at the shorter form of writing. These writers collectively are members of ChiLibris, an organization of Christian novelists, with all royalties going to the evangelistic efforts of the JESUS Film Project. The stories themselves have the theme of international settings and travel, and like the novels of these writers seek to focus our attention on eternal spiritual truths. Their ambitions and intentions may be noble, but that doesn't mean that they are guaranteed to write good short stories. Fortunately, they themselves are not very pretentious, as is evident from the introduction.

The collection of 29 stories as a package is rather so-so, with many rather "ordinary" stories that fail to stir emotion or the heart. But there are a few outstanding efforts that are certainly worth reading. Probably the three best stories in the collection are Randy Alcorn's "Is This The Day?" which although weighed down by excessive informative detail, is a thrilling story about persecution in China with a suspenseful climactic twist; Athol Dickson's "Hannah's Home", a stunning tale of the love of an adoptive mother with a breath-taking twist; and Robin Jones Gunn's "Innocent as Doves", which makes you appreciate the riches of having your own copy of the Bible with a realistic tale about Bible smuggling in East Europe in the days of communism. Not quite on the same level, but also relatively good are Terri Blackstock's "So Shine", a fascinating and gripping conversion story which looks at a Christian from the point of view of an unbeliever; Robert Elmer's "Maren's Flag", a story about two women's misunderstanding of each other; Angela Hunt's "The Farthest Countries" which runs the danger of being trite, but describes heaven and hell in terms of real estate; and Karen Kingsbury's "A Reason To Live", a story of God's special providence involving a baby girl in a Russian orphanage.

The rest of the stories in this collection, however, were nothing more than ordinary at best. I also encountered various theological difficulties, on numerous points where the theology of the authors clearly differed from my own, and this naturally also detracted from my enjoyment. Examples include views on grace, ecumenism, revelation, universalism, forgiveness, lotteries and angels. Is it worth it? Perhaps for the few outstanding stories, but aside from these if you miss this collection you don't miss much. Volume 2 in this series is a much better buy. -GODLY GADFLY

Rating:
Summary: Uneven but not unenjoyable.
Review: I've always loved short stories. And I've read enough short stories to know that writing a *good* short story is a tremendously difficult art. The writers of this collection may have proved themselves at writing novels, with successful Christian novelists such as Karen Kingsbury, Randy Alcorn, Angela Elwell Hunt, Terri Blackstock, Jerry B. Jenkins, Sigmund Brouwer and others all trying their hand at the shorter form of writing. These writers collectively are members of ChiLibris, an organization of Christian novelists, with all royalties going to the evangelistic efforts of the JESUS Film Project. The stories themselves have the theme of international settings and travel, and like the novels of these writers seek to focus our attention on eternal spiritual truths. Their ambitions and intentions may be noble, but that doesn't mean that they are guaranteed to write good short stories. Fortunately, they themselves are not very pretentious, as is evident from the introduction.

The collection of 29 stories as a package is rather so-so, with many rather "ordinary" stories that fail to stir emotion or the heart. But there are a few outstanding efforts that are certainly worth reading. Probably the three best stories in the collection are Randy Alcorn's "Is This The Day?" which although weighed down by excessive informative detail, is a thrilling story about persecution in China with a suspenseful climactic twist; Athol Dickson's "Hannah's Home", a stunning tale of the love of an adoptive mother with a breath-taking twist; and Robin Jones Gunn's "Innocent as Doves", which makes you appreciate the riches of having your own copy of the Bible with a realistic tale about Bible smuggling in East Europe in the days of communism. Not quite on the same level, but also relatively good are Terri Blackstock's "So Shine", a fascinating and gripping conversion story which looks at a Christian from the point of view of an unbeliever; Robert Elmer's "Maren's Flag", a story about two women's misunderstanding of each other; Angela Hunt's "The Farthest Countries" which runs the danger of being trite, but describes heaven and hell in terms of real estate; and Karen Kingsbury's "A Reason To Live", a story of God's special providence involving a baby girl in a Russian orphanage.

The rest of the stories in this collection, however, were nothing more than ordinary at best. I also encountered various theological difficulties, on numerous points where the theology of the authors clearly differed from my own, and this naturally also detracted from my enjoyment. Examples include views on grace, ecumenism, revelation, universalism, forgiveness, lotteries and angels. Is it worth it? Perhaps for the few outstanding stories, but aside from these if you miss this collection you don't miss much. Volume 2 in this series is a much better buy. -GODLY GADFLY

Rating:
Summary: Try it!
Review: There is something wondrous about a good short story. It can have all the emotional power of a novel in a fraction of the time. In fact, as a novelist, I look back and see that some of my greatest literary influences--Hemingway, Saroyan--were masters of the form. Sadly, there aren't many venues left for the short story. But here is a collection from some gifted writers who share a common theme. Try it! I think you'll find it a wonderful companion. I was pleased to try my hand at the short story, and proud to be included in this edition.

Rating:
Summary: A joy in the making
Review: Travel the world with us, won't you? How exciting it was for me to be involved in a project like Storytellers' and to know the proceeds go to such an Amazing organization as The Jesus Film. It's wonderful when authors know their writing skills are being used directly to bring others to the Lord. We hope you enjoy not only reading these stories, but knowing a portion of the money you spend is traveling all over the world to share the Good News of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Best are in this collection
Review: While I haven't read every story in the book, I've had a wonderful taste that has whetted my appetite to read it from cover to cover. I can't wait until it releases this summer so I can treat myself to stories by some of the best authors in the business.