Review by Sapadu -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
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Sapadu
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Review by Sapadu -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
[Following is a volunteer review of "Heaven and Earth" by Arturo Riojas.]
1 out of 4 stars
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Heaven and Earth is a Sci-Fi, Political Thriller, Social Commentary by Arturo Riojas, about aliens with a vested interest in Earth, humans who are confronted with the information the aliens bring, and a secret plot that holds every life involved at risk. The aliens – among them Egroeg Drutsab, Sucram Suturb, and Nivla Kcalb – are Treretumian beings who know that Earth is a valuable outpost, scouted by their ancestors, several millennia ago (or several bak'tuns, as they measure time) but now, they have a more pressing issue in the form of an enemy known as the Muimdac. The humans – Olga Ramos, Cuauhtémoc Gavilán, Sam, and Doctor Billy Ruben Welch – are brought together at first by a conference in Houston, but later are forced to work together by the larger, more dangerous threat of an equally perilous threat.
That threat is cadmium poisoning. This book's entire raison d'être is to inform and persuade the audience in regards to the pervasiveness and dangers of cadmium poisoning in modern day America – and, potentially, the world. It makes no bones about it from page one – the very first thing the reader sees is a succession of forwards, disclaimers, and preludes, explaining that the whole point of the book is to raise awareness about the issue. In the event that the reader skips those author notes, the first chapter with the aliens even explicitly has them wondering how those poor, silly, under-evolved humans survive, when they poison themselves so willingly. All of this is then constantly reinforced throughout the book, with each chapter ending with a segments titled: Cadmium Poisoning Facts. Several times, characters will outright stop in the middle of a chapter and dump a bunch of science-babble, not unlike your well-meaning but socially awkward friend on social media who constantly filibusters about the various threats to your health, the environment, and everything. If that were it's only purpose, this book has certainly done it's job.
If the tone of this review so far seems bitter, there is a good reason for that – I wanted to like this book, when I chose to read it. Even upon finding that it was supposed to be an info-tainment or edu-tainment style of reading, I wanted it to do just that. However, as I got further and further in, I kept finding more and more problems with it that ultimately, made me regret that I spent the last few weeks with it. Where I had hoped I would enjoy this book, I began to pray that maybe the ending would do something to redeem it – after all, plenty wonderful stories need you to be patient and stick through until the end, which puts the rest into perspective. Sadly, this is not one of those cases, and I would rate this book 1 out of 4 stars, the reasons for which I will go into, below.
As you might have noticed from the above description of the book, there are plenty of superficial story-telling problems. Some grammar problems present themselves – the third chapter, rather inexplicably, starts in present progressive tense where the rest of the book is past tense, and then changes half-way through – but the bigger problem is with things such as dialogue, symbolism, and plot-building. For some awkwardness, take all of the names of the alien characters and their enemy and write them backwards – subtlety is NOT this author's strong suit. In other instances, the dialogue in this book, when not sticking strictly to the dry, informative lecture style for the non-fictional aspects, is wooden and stiff. To give an example without breaching the privacy of the book, Olga's first few lines include: “I said Powwow, not bow wow! What's wrong with you, you crazy Mexican?” I read all of the dialogue and was constantly shaking my head and wondering who the author talks to, who talks like this. In terms of plot, this was very tiring to sit through – the first entire half of the book does not see any interaction between the human characters and the aliens, and even after the “first contact” of the plot, it doesn't move anywhere until nearly the last few chapters. For example, there's a chapter in which two of the humans take a hot-air balloon in order to do some spying on a... well-known American secret location in Arizona. However, the reasons for why and where they go with it after the reconnaissance is murky and unclear – as though the author got his manuscripts mixed up with some first-drafts for an X-files fanfiction, and just decided to leave it in. Towards the end, a secret agent confronts two of the characters and they have a “stand-off” but absolutely nothing comes of it that's relevant to the characters, or even to the plot.
All of those problems, however, are just superficial. If those were the only flaws with the book, I might not be so critical – cheesy dialogue can have a charm to it, obvious symbolism and references can be a part of a work's identity, and even plot doesn't need to have a purpose, if you enjoy and like the characters. These characters had all the potential to be likeable and unique – from everyone's first appearances, the author clearly was putting in effort to make them more than just talking bricks to move the plot along. However, it falls through whenever the informative part comes in, and that's the ultimate sticking point. Whenever any characters attempt to explain the dangers of cadmium poisoning and how much there is in our world, and how ALL of us are at risk, every second of every day, it's abrupt and awkward, and I did not use the word “filibuster” earlier in jest – often, the characters have these rants in settings of a group, and end up lecturing the other people. As the book goes on, whenever the central issue of cadmium poisoning comes up, it overtakes the characters and ends up dominating their personalities – Olga, whom I really wanted to like, ends up becoming exactly like that annoying friend I know who is always concern-trolling about how there are chemicals and toxins in everything we eat; there is even a moment when someone says the phrase “Piece of cake” and I genuinely expected her to reply with something along the lines of “But you shouldn't eat cake – it has a lot of sugar, flour, and chocolate, which are all very high in cadmium content...” That is, unfortunately, the tone that this book ended up adopting, and it hadn't reached chapter ten by that point.
So, perhaps this book would have been better off if it had kept to the non-fiction portions – if it had dropped the story and characters, and instead gone as a strictly informative piece? Well, that didn't work quite as well, either. The first few chapters end strongly, with the bullet-pointed lists regaling us with important information about cadmium being concise and straightforward; such things as where cadmium is on the periodic table, how it gets into our food, and an equation for the mass balance of a contaminant. Then, chapter eight came – the second point in that section offers this gem: “If thinking is not in your job description, get a different job.” This is not a fact – this is the sort of advice offered in a Buzzfeed article, or a preppy health column editorial in a gossip rag like Cosmo or People Magazine. After I saw that, it occurred to me to go back and check, and I found that, even for the fairly credible sounding “facts” in previous chapters, NONE of them had sources or citations. Call it a pet peeve of mine, or a nitpick, but I don't think it terribly unreasonable that, if you want to include “factual” information in a story – especially if your story's purpose is to raise awareness and understanding about a topic – that you include sources and citations, and that they be credible. Any student writing a research paper is expected to include at least a bibliography and in-line citations – otherwise, their teachers give them a failing grade, if not a painful drag across the coals.
In the interest of showing that this book was clearly written by someone with skill, I will grant the book this concession – the descriptions in this book are very well crafted. For scene-setting, establishing shots, for showing how the characters move, what they look like, and where they are, the author knows what he's doing. Much of the descriptive prose is concise, and evocative, without being over-bearing or verging into a disgusting, overly-flowery layer of ham on top of the cheese dialogue – you feel like you're in a crowded conference hall, or in the middle of a dry and empty desert, or high above our insignificant ball of dirt in a spacecraft, whenever the descriptions are put in. This is a rarity in today's fiction – especially as Young Adult fiction gains prominence and we are treated to more and more authors who either tell us what we're seeing (not show us), or feel the need to explain every molecule of the scene and losing track of why we should care. The author might have been better served, even, making this book into a collection of poems, and trying to connect them with facts about cadmium – provided he could keep those facts scholarly, and back-up the claims with evidence.
I'm disappointed that I had such a negative reaction to this book – as I said before, I wanted to like it. Even if it had turned out to be not my usual preference, I still would have enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone – I've sought out fiction before, specifically for that reason, and found stories that I've enjoyed immensely because of it. But this book had too many elements that made it an unsatisfactory piece of fiction, an unprofessional source for important information, and the two extremes ultimately worked against each other, instead of blending and supporting each other to create an experience. I can't think who would enjoy it, since it has all the preaching of a Captain Planet episode with none of the “So Bad, It's Good” enjoyment, all the conspiracy-slinging of an X-files episode with none of the mythos or mystery, and any elements that would be valuable are overshadowed by incoherent plot, weak symbolism, and cosmetic distractions that could have been avoided so easily. Thus, I'm left with my rating, stated above as 1 out of 4, and hopes that Dr. Riojas is able to better refine his talents if he chooses to venture into writing again.
******
Heaven and Earth
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1 out of 4 stars
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Heaven and Earth is a Sci-Fi, Political Thriller, Social Commentary by Arturo Riojas, about aliens with a vested interest in Earth, humans who are confronted with the information the aliens bring, and a secret plot that holds every life involved at risk. The aliens – among them Egroeg Drutsab, Sucram Suturb, and Nivla Kcalb – are Treretumian beings who know that Earth is a valuable outpost, scouted by their ancestors, several millennia ago (or several bak'tuns, as they measure time) but now, they have a more pressing issue in the form of an enemy known as the Muimdac. The humans – Olga Ramos, Cuauhtémoc Gavilán, Sam, and Doctor Billy Ruben Welch – are brought together at first by a conference in Houston, but later are forced to work together by the larger, more dangerous threat of an equally perilous threat.
That threat is cadmium poisoning. This book's entire raison d'être is to inform and persuade the audience in regards to the pervasiveness and dangers of cadmium poisoning in modern day America – and, potentially, the world. It makes no bones about it from page one – the very first thing the reader sees is a succession of forwards, disclaimers, and preludes, explaining that the whole point of the book is to raise awareness about the issue. In the event that the reader skips those author notes, the first chapter with the aliens even explicitly has them wondering how those poor, silly, under-evolved humans survive, when they poison themselves so willingly. All of this is then constantly reinforced throughout the book, with each chapter ending with a segments titled: Cadmium Poisoning Facts. Several times, characters will outright stop in the middle of a chapter and dump a bunch of science-babble, not unlike your well-meaning but socially awkward friend on social media who constantly filibusters about the various threats to your health, the environment, and everything. If that were it's only purpose, this book has certainly done it's job.
If the tone of this review so far seems bitter, there is a good reason for that – I wanted to like this book, when I chose to read it. Even upon finding that it was supposed to be an info-tainment or edu-tainment style of reading, I wanted it to do just that. However, as I got further and further in, I kept finding more and more problems with it that ultimately, made me regret that I spent the last few weeks with it. Where I had hoped I would enjoy this book, I began to pray that maybe the ending would do something to redeem it – after all, plenty wonderful stories need you to be patient and stick through until the end, which puts the rest into perspective. Sadly, this is not one of those cases, and I would rate this book 1 out of 4 stars, the reasons for which I will go into, below.
As you might have noticed from the above description of the book, there are plenty of superficial story-telling problems. Some grammar problems present themselves – the third chapter, rather inexplicably, starts in present progressive tense where the rest of the book is past tense, and then changes half-way through – but the bigger problem is with things such as dialogue, symbolism, and plot-building. For some awkwardness, take all of the names of the alien characters and their enemy and write them backwards – subtlety is NOT this author's strong suit. In other instances, the dialogue in this book, when not sticking strictly to the dry, informative lecture style for the non-fictional aspects, is wooden and stiff. To give an example without breaching the privacy of the book, Olga's first few lines include: “I said Powwow, not bow wow! What's wrong with you, you crazy Mexican?” I read all of the dialogue and was constantly shaking my head and wondering who the author talks to, who talks like this. In terms of plot, this was very tiring to sit through – the first entire half of the book does not see any interaction between the human characters and the aliens, and even after the “first contact” of the plot, it doesn't move anywhere until nearly the last few chapters. For example, there's a chapter in which two of the humans take a hot-air balloon in order to do some spying on a... well-known American secret location in Arizona. However, the reasons for why and where they go with it after the reconnaissance is murky and unclear – as though the author got his manuscripts mixed up with some first-drafts for an X-files fanfiction, and just decided to leave it in. Towards the end, a secret agent confronts two of the characters and they have a “stand-off” but absolutely nothing comes of it that's relevant to the characters, or even to the plot.
All of those problems, however, are just superficial. If those were the only flaws with the book, I might not be so critical – cheesy dialogue can have a charm to it, obvious symbolism and references can be a part of a work's identity, and even plot doesn't need to have a purpose, if you enjoy and like the characters. These characters had all the potential to be likeable and unique – from everyone's first appearances, the author clearly was putting in effort to make them more than just talking bricks to move the plot along. However, it falls through whenever the informative part comes in, and that's the ultimate sticking point. Whenever any characters attempt to explain the dangers of cadmium poisoning and how much there is in our world, and how ALL of us are at risk, every second of every day, it's abrupt and awkward, and I did not use the word “filibuster” earlier in jest – often, the characters have these rants in settings of a group, and end up lecturing the other people. As the book goes on, whenever the central issue of cadmium poisoning comes up, it overtakes the characters and ends up dominating their personalities – Olga, whom I really wanted to like, ends up becoming exactly like that annoying friend I know who is always concern-trolling about how there are chemicals and toxins in everything we eat; there is even a moment when someone says the phrase “Piece of cake” and I genuinely expected her to reply with something along the lines of “But you shouldn't eat cake – it has a lot of sugar, flour, and chocolate, which are all very high in cadmium content...” That is, unfortunately, the tone that this book ended up adopting, and it hadn't reached chapter ten by that point.
So, perhaps this book would have been better off if it had kept to the non-fiction portions – if it had dropped the story and characters, and instead gone as a strictly informative piece? Well, that didn't work quite as well, either. The first few chapters end strongly, with the bullet-pointed lists regaling us with important information about cadmium being concise and straightforward; such things as where cadmium is on the periodic table, how it gets into our food, and an equation for the mass balance of a contaminant. Then, chapter eight came – the second point in that section offers this gem: “If thinking is not in your job description, get a different job.” This is not a fact – this is the sort of advice offered in a Buzzfeed article, or a preppy health column editorial in a gossip rag like Cosmo or People Magazine. After I saw that, it occurred to me to go back and check, and I found that, even for the fairly credible sounding “facts” in previous chapters, NONE of them had sources or citations. Call it a pet peeve of mine, or a nitpick, but I don't think it terribly unreasonable that, if you want to include “factual” information in a story – especially if your story's purpose is to raise awareness and understanding about a topic – that you include sources and citations, and that they be credible. Any student writing a research paper is expected to include at least a bibliography and in-line citations – otherwise, their teachers give them a failing grade, if not a painful drag across the coals.
In the interest of showing that this book was clearly written by someone with skill, I will grant the book this concession – the descriptions in this book are very well crafted. For scene-setting, establishing shots, for showing how the characters move, what they look like, and where they are, the author knows what he's doing. Much of the descriptive prose is concise, and evocative, without being over-bearing or verging into a disgusting, overly-flowery layer of ham on top of the cheese dialogue – you feel like you're in a crowded conference hall, or in the middle of a dry and empty desert, or high above our insignificant ball of dirt in a spacecraft, whenever the descriptions are put in. This is a rarity in today's fiction – especially as Young Adult fiction gains prominence and we are treated to more and more authors who either tell us what we're seeing (not show us), or feel the need to explain every molecule of the scene and losing track of why we should care. The author might have been better served, even, making this book into a collection of poems, and trying to connect them with facts about cadmium – provided he could keep those facts scholarly, and back-up the claims with evidence.
I'm disappointed that I had such a negative reaction to this book – as I said before, I wanted to like it. Even if it had turned out to be not my usual preference, I still would have enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone – I've sought out fiction before, specifically for that reason, and found stories that I've enjoyed immensely because of it. But this book had too many elements that made it an unsatisfactory piece of fiction, an unprofessional source for important information, and the two extremes ultimately worked against each other, instead of blending and supporting each other to create an experience. I can't think who would enjoy it, since it has all the preaching of a Captain Planet episode with none of the “So Bad, It's Good” enjoyment, all the conspiracy-slinging of an X-files episode with none of the mythos or mystery, and any elements that would be valuable are overshadowed by incoherent plot, weak symbolism, and cosmetic distractions that could have been avoided so easily. Thus, I'm left with my rating, stated above as 1 out of 4, and hopes that Dr. Riojas is able to better refine his talents if he chooses to venture into writing again.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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kdstrack
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Even if the reader doesn't enjoy this book, it is highly probably that they will learn something about cadmium! Thanks for your review.
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melissy370
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I have no clue what that poison is. I guess I am one if those stupid humans. 
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Sapadu
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...See, I don't even know if they would -- like I said, the "facts" included don't have any credible sources or evidence to support them. All you'd end up learning is what the author THINKS about cadmium, not necessarily any real facts about cadmium. But, that might be just me having a high bar for information.
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