Rating: 
Summary: Technically Sound, with A Major Conceptual Flaw
Review: (A FEW SPOILERS CONTAINED HEREIN!)My review is in part a response to the assertions of reviewer Robert Ryan Langer, who wrote: "The primary objective in telling a story is to entertain. Everything else is secondary, even teaching a lesson. When an author forgets this, a novel becomes at best a parable, and at worst a piece of propaganda." If Karen Hancock--and other Christian writers--set out to convey a spiritual message to their readers, I see no problem with this. When Langer asserts that the "primary objective in telling a story is to entertain," I simply ask: Who says? Who made up that rule? And if it's just a man-made rule, then why can't others disagree with it? An important teaching tool of Jesus' was parables: obviously his overriding concern was not to entertain, but to teach--yet undoubtedly his stories were *also* entertaining. In ARENA, one is left with no doubt that Hancock's objective was to make a point about how to live the Christian life. Her message is laudable: live by faith in God and His word, not by human wisdom. I appreciated the reminders she gave me on that theme--*and* I was entertained. Hancock has performed admirably in the technical areas of storytelling: plotting, wording, and (for the most part) characterizations; certainly for a first novel there's a lot here that is praiseworthy, and the book is worth buying. Langer writes, "One harrowing escape where Pierce and others lay mortally wounded ground to a halt while Callie took ten pages to find the entrance to a safe haven. Uneven pacing prevented the story from being wholly captivating." I had no problem with the pacing; but I had somewhat of a problem with what seemed to me to be repetitiveness: cross-country trek / refreshment and instruction in a "Safehaven" / cross-country trek / refreshment and instruction in a "Safehaven" / cross-country trek / refreshment and instruction in a "Safehaven" . . . . I have to take some exception with Pierce's (and also Callie's) sexuality. I'm not saying Hancock should necessarily have included sex scenes or even hinted at them, but she explicitly addresses the subject by portraying Pierce and Callie--in a literary context that never actually mentions God or a Higher Moral Standard--as people who won't have sex outside of marriage. Unless the characters are explicitly motivated by a Christian desire for purity, or by an unusual fear of unwanted pregnancies or STDs, or even just intimacy, I find it unrealistic that they would be virginal. It would have been better, in my opinion, to simply leave the subject unmentioned. (An additional note re. characters' sexuality: I didn't need to be reminded half a dozen times how busty Rowena is. I kept thinking, "Okay, I get the point(s) already!" :-) ) The lack of an explicitly theological context for both the plot and the characterizations leads to my response to another of Langer's comments: "Knowing that a god will save the hero in every emergency greatly reduces the dramatic tension; the hero is no longer truly in any mortal danger. In Arena, the question was not whether Callie would survive, but merely when she would ask Elhanu for help." He's half-right. It was made clear in ARENA that as long as characters didn't try to suicide their way out, if they died while traversing the Arena they would be returned to their lives on Earth. This lessened the tension of those scenes in which they were supposedly in physical danger; such danger was only superficial. That leaves spiritual development--which can itself make for an interesting story, and so that objective was legitimate on Hancock's part, but in my opinion her set-up lessened the forcefulness of this element as well. Langer is mistaken when he speaks of a "god" saving the heroes. It's true that the characters are instructed to trust in Elhanu. But the thing is, Elhanu isn't a god--he's an alien. The only real differences between him and the Earthlings are that he's not human, and his technology is highly advanced. There was no mistaking Hancock's attempt to fashion numerous analogues--Elhanu/God, manual/Bible, Aggillon/angels, Watchers/demons. The problem is that unless Elhanu is *literally* God--which in the story's own context, he is not--then he has absolutely *no moral right* to abduct people from Earth and force them to fight their way through his Arena for what amounts to merely his entertainment. He acted as if he was sovereign over their lives, but that is the province of God alone. This lack of justification in the story's set-up rendered likewise unjustified the portrayal of the Watchers as demons and the mutants as unspiritual or rebellious humans. They had every right to be upset with Elhanu, an arrogant alien acting *as if* he were the sovereign God. I always knew what Hancock was trying to get across, and I completely agreed with her message, but I was constantly distracted by the fact that it just didn't work in her plot set-up. Hancock would have done better to take one of two alternative paths: (i) create an entirely allegorical world in which Elhanu literally *is* the God of that world who has the right to control characters' lives, because He created them (Kathy Tyers has done something along these lines, and done it well, in her FIREBIRD trilogy); or, (ii) have aliens interact with humans in the universe *we know*, with a mention of God as sovereign, and perhaps Elhanu as an alien who *represents* God. That way, the characters could be in *actual* physical danger, and would also need to learn to trust God, and Elhanu could serve as an instructor rather than a Saviour.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining? Enlightening? Maybe Both!
Review: Allegory...hmm? Do I want to read for escape or read to be preached at in a roundabout manner? Thankfully, Karen Hancock's writing turns a well-conceived allegory into a very entertaining tale. Yes, she has some lessons about life tucked into the pages, but she rarely forgets that she's telling us a story. And a good one, at that. Her dialogue and characters are believable, and the landscape she paints vibrates with life and color...and danger. "Arena" follows Callie as she enlists for an experiment to earn a couple extra bucks. She thinks she'll be doing some sort of obstacle course. She has unsettling notions that it's much more than that, but by the time she wants to turn back, it's too late. She discovers herself thrust into a world similar to our own, but with disturbing differences. Creatures stalk and attack; nasty mites invade and bite; mutants torture and kill. The arena, she eventually realizes, is a test-tube of sorts of our own world, mirroring our spiritual and physical struggles. The story moves quickly and comes to life especially when Callie and her companion Pierce are thrust together. Both have weaknesses to wrestle, and both need each other to make it through the vast subworld. Along the way, they face friendship, fear, love, and temptation. Some reviewers have complained of graphic sex or violence, but they miss the spiritual reality of these depictions. Hancock never shrinks from telling it like it is, allowing her characters and circumstances to rise above simple allegory into real-life truths. My only complaints about the book rise from the points when allegory overpowers the story. Midway through, Hancock throws in a few pages of misplaced history for her arena. Her characters throughout the book do a masterful job of clarifying these ideas for us, and the interruption was just that: interrupting. Although I appreciated her savior motifs, I felt they grew cumbersome at times as well. Overall, "Arena" is an adventure and a love story, set in a world of sci-fi and fantasy. To top it off, it spices the mix with spiritual concepts that are nicely handled and only occasionally heavy-handed. This is a book well worth reading and an author definitely worth watching.
Rating: 
Summary: Deserving of the praise!
Review: Although I'm not a sci-fi reader, I thoroughly enjoyed Arena. I liked the allegory and didn't feel it was heavy handed at all. The book is well written and the characters fully fleshed out. But the main reason I liked this novel is because the emotions were realistically portrayed- the villians were evil, the desire between a man and a woman wasn't glossed over, and the violence was appropriate for the setting and the story. All in all I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author.
Rating:
Summary: Literature as a teaching tool
Review: Arena is a fascinating example of a balance of entertainment and education. As an educator, I thoroughly believe literature should be both. I was drawn immediately and intimately into the foreign world of the Arena as surely as I was taught lessons about God and his boundless love and our surefire rebellion. I haven't read a book in years that so adequately met both of these purposes. I cannot speak highly enough of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgetable
Review: Arena is an unforgettable ride into the marvelous and frighteningly symbolic realm of fantasy. For a first novel, like a uniquely exotic painting, Karen Hancock has proven she possess an ability to write with such clarity her words can vividly be seen. Her story telling is tightly composed of poetic prose and is abundantly littered with flamboyant images. Arena is jam packed full with originality, heart-pounding scenes and amazing characters.
For a chance to earn a few extra bucks, two friends, Callie and Meg, agree to take part in an experiment. What they don't realize is the experience will effect them for the rest of their lives. Alex is an employee in place to inform the women about the rules of the test. After separating the women, he provides them each with a knapsack and a survivor's manual (perhaps symbolic to the Bible). They are then suddenly transported from earth to another world.
The experiment is nothing like what the women and many, many others bargained for. A simple rule applies. Stay on the white road and keep moving. Subjects are safe on the white roads. Though the concept sounds easy enough, it immediately proves a much more difficult rule to follow. The weird world is filled with threatening creatures and dangerous mutants. And the arena is populated with seemingly hundreds of people who veered off the road and have spent endless years wandering, looking for some kind of salvation, or an exit.
Pierce is a man who has spent more than five years wandering. He has been captured and tortured by beasts. He is shaky and unconfident and one of the most unlikely leaders. However, it is believed by some it will be he who shall lead the chosen out of the Arena and back to their lives on earth. Pierce first saved Callie when she arrived. Through the time spent together, searching for a way home, the two have bonded more than either would have considered possible. Together, along with a handful of other believers, their seemingly impossible voyage only gets more and more impossible each day. Faith may be the only thing to save them and to deliver them safely out of the Arena.
Karen Hancock is a powerful storyteller. She knows how to be subtle. She knows how to build suspense and write white-knuckle action scenes. Arena is one of the best-drawn fantasy novels I have ever read. I am in eager anticipation for Hancock's next novel.
--Phillip Tomasso III, author of Johnny Blade & Third Ring
Rating:
Summary: Horse-Crazy-Wanna-Be-A-Cowgirl! E.B./ K. Montana
Review: Arena left me wishing that Karen Hancock had had a better editor. The story is strong and interesting until about half-way through the book when, inexplicably, she abandons her storyline and begins to explain in narrative fashion, word by painful word, the cosmology of the Arena universe (which, of course, was a not-too-thinly veiled allegory of the fall of Lucifer and the redemptive work of Christ). It was like finding the outline of her backstory accidentally stuck in the middle of the book. Arena would have been a far better novel if Hancock had shown the cosmology of the Arena universe by revealing it through the characters in the plot, rather than giving it to us in spoon-fed outline form. (Even so, some folks will not look kindly on the heavy-handedness of the Christian allegory.) Another problem with the book is the way the author deals with sex. Arena is a Christian romance fantasy (light sci-fi) novel. The romance parts are rather syrupy and unrealistic. And Hancock takes pains to point out (again by flat out telling us) that her protagonists are being abstinent in their sexual behavior with each other (pointing out how each is saving himself or herself for marriage). It would have been far better had she simply shown her characters behaving in a pure manner toward each other. Again, her misstep is in not letting plot points develop as the characters' relationships grow. Unfortunately, there is also a rather silly plot point about sex near the end of the novel that, while meant to be horrifying, was just goofy. With that said, Karen Hancock's really got a lot of potential to be a great story teller. The world she created in Arena was rich and interesting, familiar and strange. The novel could have been quite good, had it not been for the narrative pitfalls I've complained about. It makes me wish that Hancock had a secular editor looking at her work. I'll probably try another novel to see if she improves, but I would recommend checking out Arena from your local library instead of purchasing it.
Rating:
Summary: Arena-review
Review: Arena was a wonderfully written book. Most spiritual allegories that I read it seems that the author forgets that they are trying to tell a story too. Not so with this book. It kept me guessing until the end and the story of Christ was put seemlessly into the plot. The only thing I didn't like was that it ended too soon. Other than that it was perfect.
Rating:
Summary: great Christian science fiction allegory
Review: Callie Hayes earns a below living wage so when her friend Meg Riley needs moral support to be a guinea pig in a harmless psychology experiment, Callie reluctantly agrees. At the lab, Callie refuses to trek across a rat maze Arena. The prompter informs her that her only exit is by staying on the white road to the gate with her only help a field manual that is if you can understand its words for Meg is gone. In the Arena battle fatigued Pierce Andrews rescues Callie from some nasties. He tells her that he has wandered the Arena for five years with no salvation in sight. Callie and Pierce with a crew of misfits that think he is the Savior trek together praying they reach the salvation of the gate. Along the way they battle strange wild things like the evil Trogs. As hopes wanes, only the field manual gives them hope until they meet a seemingly pious benefactor, who brings them faith that with a Christian belief they can stay on the righteous path to the gate. ARENA is a great Christian science fiction allegory filled with detours, trials and tribulations, and twists that allows the reader to feel they are a member of the motley crew trying to gain salvation. The story line cleverly uses symbolism to represent Christian icons but does not hide from ugliness such as rape and other vividly vile descriptions of evil. The lead protagonists seem real especially as their feelings grow for one another. Even the Trogs seem genuine. Karen Hancock provides a powerful parable that will send the audience seeking other works such as her tremendous fantasy with a message THE LIGHT OF EIDON. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Allegorical Adventure, Alleluia!
Review: Callie Hayes is still at loose ends after graduating college, and doesn't have a serious relationship or any good prospects. Encouraged by her friend Meg she signs up as a volunteer for a "psychological experiment," and finds herself transported to a harsh alien world to carry out her assignment. Unfortunately she didn't pay much attention during the orientation and quickly finds herself lost, over-whelmed and in mortal danger. The story quickly progresses as Callie struggles to survive and somehow get back home. In the course of her struggles she faces the limits of her own intellect, learns how much of her own effort is futile, and begins to understand faith in a much deeper way. And learns how to maintain contact with, well, God. And meets Pierce who is at first arrogant and obnoxious, but... well, you'll just have to read it. It's quite exciting and it will keep you turning pages. Yes, it's an allegorical story about a Christian's spiritual journey; you can also read it as a plain old whiz-bang adventure story. It works either way. Author Karen Hancock makes it clear from the beginning that this is a Christian book dedicated to Jesus Christ. For the most part she handles her material deftly and without preaching, but there are times when the theology becomes just a bit heavy-handed. And there are times when she offers too much explanation for all the strange happenings, rather than just showing the reader. Sometimes there is too much blood and gore, too much danger, too many impossible situations, but--hey! I still kept on reading, and so will you. This is not a perfect book, but a good one and an uplifting one as well. I recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Allegorical Adventure, Alleluia!
Review: Callie Hayes is still at loose ends after graduating college, and doesn't have a serious relationship or any good prospects. Encouraged by her friend Meg she signs up as a volunteer for a "psychological experiment," and finds herself transported to a harsh alien world to carry out her assignment. Unfortunately she didn't pay much attention during the orientation and quickly finds herself lost, over-whelmed and in mortal danger. The story quickly progresses as Callie struggles to survive and somehow get back home. In the course of her struggles she faces the limits of her own intellect, learns how much of her own effort is futile, and begins to understand faith in a much deeper way. And learns how to maintain contact with, well, God. And meets Pierce who is at first arrogant and obnoxious, but... well, you'll just have to read it. It's quite exciting and it will keep you turning pages. Yes, it's an allegorical story about a Christian's spiritual journey; you can also read it as a plain old whiz-bang adventure story. It works either way. Author Karen Hancock makes it clear from the beginning that this is a Christian book dedicated to Jesus Christ. For the most part she handles her material deftly and without preaching, but there are times when the theology becomes just a bit heavy-handed. And there are times when she offers too much explanation for all the strange happenings, rather than just showing the reader. Sometimes there is too much blood and gore, too much danger, too many impossible situations, but--hey! I still kept on reading, and so will you. This is not a perfect book, but a good one and an uplifting one as well. I recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber
| 
