Item: The Next Fithian
Rating: 4.00
Author: natpatreads

by Rick Barry

Was this a new life – or a death sentence?

When Rankin Johnson boards a flight to Israel, he expects an adventure in archeology. But the airplane comes under attack and explodes in midair. Rankin shouts, “God, I’m yours!” Instantly, he’s in some other place. An angel informs Rankin the Lord is pleased to accept his offer. He dubs Rankin “the next Fithian” — a messenger from God, not to Earth, but to planet Zemna in the alternate dimension. What happened to the previous Fithian? “He was killed,” the angel says before vanishing.

On Zemna, Rankin finds a perplexing, violent world. Futuristic technology mingles with primitive ways. Also, a bizarre symbol—the Intersection of All Things—has appeared on his left palm. It’s a tool to aid his mission, but how? Rankin is supposed to share a message with this planet. Instead, he becomes a slave. What he really wants is a trip back to Earth.

With the aid of a brother and sister who become his best friends, Rankin escapes. He hopes to fulfill his mission and return home as fast as possible. But now there’s a price on Rankin’s head. More than one Zemnan would rather kill him for the reward than hear what he has to say.

Rankin is a teenager who is suddenly tasked with a mission from God - to be his witness (Fithian) to a world not in our dimension. Throughout this book, we follow along with Rankin's journey as he struggles with his calling from God, a new world, and how is he to share the good news with a planet that is desperately struggling with this new distance from their creator.

When I started this book, I definitely struggled to get into it. I found the initial writing to be a little choppy and the premise a struggle to follow. I also found a few of the chapter breaks to be disorienting and hard to follow what was going on in the plot. About one-third of the way through I started to become invested in Rankin and his friends and how he would fulfil his mission on this world.

One of my favourite things in this book was its description on how things were for the world before their separation from the Creator. Being a music lover, the sections that talked about singing and worship were especially meaningful and beautiful to me.

This book was a solid 3.5 stars (I typically uprate a half rating if the half is not available) for me.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Book Triggers: Death and Violence. There is definitely a lot of description of death and violence within this book. It is never treated lightly and is almost always left me with a feeling of disgust, horror, and/or grief at the situation.

The Next Fithian (The Next Fithian, #1)

by Rick Barry

Reviewed by natpatreads on Dec 11, 2021

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