A thrilling ride from the first page…

Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline by Don Mardak is a thrilling ride from the first page.  This science fiction novel combines time travel, spiritual themes, a fascinating mix of characters and modern intrigue to create an ‘un-put-down-able’ novel.

We meet the CIA Director, Scott Cunningham, a former Navy SEAL, and his Assistant Lori Colbert, addressing a meeting after a terrible terrorists attacks.  We also meet husband and wife Kathy and Eric who are in Lhasa, Tibet, on a spiritual quest.  Through Eric's time travel, both worlds intersect.  Mardak's premise throughout the novel is that there "is a spiritual universe, and mankind has the ability to rise into a higher level of consciousness where all conflicts can be resolved peacefully without resorting to wars, or threatening a nuclear holocaust.”

Mardak's Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline is a science fiction novel, containing elements of time travel.  It is set in 'the Present' with a clear aim of trying to reconcile what is happening.  There is a definite sense of good and bad in the novel.  Mardak’s fascinating use of the scriptural characters of Paul and Silas to both examine Christianity, and to change the future, is an amazing read.  How Mardak structures the novel is particularly well done, so that the ending is both satisfying, works in a science fiction way, and races to the finish, all at once.

The novel examines the various tenets of a number of the main religions (Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism, and Judaism) using them as plot devices: e.g. Paul's Missionary Journey.  This exploration of religion is quite a wild ride, but worth it.

The first third of the novel introduces us to the characters: to the CIA, the issues related to Eric and Kathy, and to the Himalayan mystic Shimahn.  This first third also introduces broader geopolitical issues, as well as setting up the 'four dimensional world of space time'.  In the second section of the novel the actual time travel begins. We see its effects from Eric's point of view. He is an interested participant.  In this section Mardak makes good use of structure to make his point, but also to move the plot along.  The last third of the novel brings everything together: the time changes and the new ideas and perspectives.  There is an ending which is in some ways surreal, and which is beautifully realised.

One of the main themes of this book is religion.  It's a fascinating book because I believe many people see Religions as having "Truths" and this novel certainly plays with some of those.  Anyone who believes that the Bible is the written word of God will have a difficult time with this novel.  That said, it is far from Mr. Mardak's aim to make anyone annoyed about this.  I feel, quite the contrary.

The novel discuses time travel and how it can save the world.  What difference would it make to war?  Mardak also asks what kind of world are we creating?  How do we cause and prevent nuclear holocaust?  Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline is also about an attitude of helping and working together to create change.

The relationships that are explored in the novel illustrate personal growth and caring.  Kathy and Eric, Colbert and Cunningham, Paul and Silas are all studies in how we see, how we relate, and how we can change.  The focus in Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline is how this happens.

A minor quibble about the characters is the character of Kathy.  I didn't feel that she had very much to say for herself, and was a little too passive for my liking. Eric, however, is well written and his relationship with Kathy is nicely drawn.  The CIA group are depicted as a good bunch.  They sounded quite different to Eric and Kathy: they were exciting and gun-ho.  They were well drawn.

The scenes in the desert were particularly evocative and the relationships depicted there, though brief, remind the reader that some of the central ideas of the novel are relationship and awareness.  The different families in the desert remind the reader that families have many different shapes.  In terms of diversity and families there are a range of families: Lori Colbert is a divorced mother, Kathy and Eric have been married seven years and there are the families in the Sinai desert.  There is also the relationships between Shimahn and Eric and Kathy, and between Paul and Silas.  Mardak also emphasises diversity by depicting various religions and mixing those religions in unique ways.

This novel runs along at a fast, fast pace.  At times it fairly gallops.  It has fantastic ideas about time and space and makes the reader think.

Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline has a thoughtful purpose, but is highly readable and action packed.  Mardak's plot is well structured and he makes good use of characters.  From the first “gloomy Thursday in Langley…” (Ch. 1) I wanted to read on, to find out what was happening, what was going on.  The science fiction genre makes a twist with a spectacularly good ending.  I am happy to rate this novel as 4.5 out of five stars. 

http://goo.gl/QnimWA (Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline Book ed.)

http://goo.gl/iDrGMJ (Armageddon and the 4^th Timeline Kindle ed.)

http://goo.gl/EglbSd (Don Mardak Facebook Author Page)

http://goo.gl/UJW8Wt (Don Mardak Web Page)

Great Day In the Morning - some days are just too wonderful.

Checked mail this morning and there was a letter from All Things That Matter Press telling me they were starting editing on Of Chiefs and Giants. That is the second part of the A River That Is Congo duet. The two books take place in the same time frame. Actually Of Chiefs and Giants starts in 1879 and Of Rulers and Ruled starts in 1902. They both end in 1965 when the Congo gained independence. Like I said, some days are just too wonderful.

Of Rulers and Ruled takes place along the Congo River and describes the greed and cruelty of an exploitive colonial government.

Of Chiefs and Giants takes place in the Northeast corner of the Congo, about as far from the seat of government and commerce as you could get and chronicles the lives of a powerful chief’s two sons who were born on the same day but of different mothers. One son steals the chiefdom from the rightful ruler who then goes to the newly arrived missionaries thinking he can get them with their guns to help him take back what is rightfully his.

Here is the first few paragraphs from Of Chiefs and Giants.

A River That is Congo
OF CHIEFS AND GIANTS
By Paul J. Stam

1879
CHAPTER ONE

Ronzozo, first son of Chief Kimulu and chief-to-be, stood in the center of the front rank of warriors along the crest of the hill. The rising sun cast diagonal shadows to the slopes across the valley. Directly behind them, hidden in the ravine were five hundred more warriors. An equal number of warriors were hidden behind the hill at the other end of the ravine.

The first rank of the enemy crested the hill on the other side of the valley and the warriors started beating their shields in unison and shouting, Kufu. Kufu. Kufu. Kufu. Ronzozo watched with anxious uneasiness as rank upon rank came over the crest of the hill opposite, each rank joining the others, beating on their shields and shouting their threat. Their ranks, crowding in on each other, swelling until there were more than four times as many warriors on the opposite hill as there were on his side. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with secret confidence. Just as his father had predicted, Dumodo’s warriors would fight the old way, not holding anything in reserve. They were not practicing any cunning.

For half an hour the opposing forces stood at the tops of their respective hills chanting their threat of; Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill. Ronzozo stood shouting with the rest of them, looking back and forth from the enemy across from him and to his father standing up in his tepoi to his right. He felt safe now, the bodies of the warriors on each side of him touching his body. He could smell the oil they had rubbed on themselves and the smell of the enveloping palm oil gave him a feeling of safety in their closeness. If a spear were to come flying toward them it would hit someone else, but everyone was thinking the same thing.

Their common sense told them if a spear was coming right for them there would be no way to dodge it if they stayed pressed close together. Over and over again his father explained it to him, to the chiefs and to the warriors and yet he knew the impulse would be to stay bunched together. It was just this impulse on the part of the enemy that would be their defeat.

He saw his father raise his right hand, the Gangilo held above his head. His father point with his left hand toward the other side and the right arm came down. Ronzozo raised his spear over his head, gave a shout and they started running down the hill. Their movement was like a trigger releasing the enemy and the two opposing forces rushed toward each other toward the valley below.

Ronzozo and all his forces were halfway down the hill when he saw the reserves running up the other side to get in position to come against Dumodo's warriors on the flank and from behind. The reserves ran with stealth and bent low, with no shouting that would let the enemy know they were there. Halfway down the hill Ronzozo and those with him stopped. Those in the ranks behind turned when he stopped and started running back up the hill while those in the front rank spread out. Dumodo's warriors interpreted their action first as fear, and then as retreat, and some of them started running ahead wanting to be the first to have a kill.

This battle takes place 13 years before Ronzozo’s two sons are born.

Copyright © 2012 by Paul J. Stam
All rights reserved

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