Review by curiousme43 -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
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curiousme43
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- Latest Review: Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
Review by curiousme43 -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
[Following is a volunteer review of "Heaven and Earth" by Arturo Riojas.]
2 out of 4 stars
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This is a review for Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas which I have rated 2 out of 4 stars. It is actually a good story, thought provoking and fact filled. Yet it also suffers from what I would call speed bumps. This work is basically two and a half books all rolled into one. The "first" book is the story which I was looking for, which I will get to shortly. The "second" book is inter-spaced within the first, portions of it to be found at the end of each chapter. The "half" book is to be found within the Facts sections themselves and takes on the form of a manifesto. These Fact sections are the speed bumps that I refer to.The placement of these sections detract from the story, and slow me (the reader) down to a point where I put the book down, time after time. It was a difficult book to chew through because these Facts, although interesting, have a tendency to repeat themselves, not just from the story-line but also from Fact section to Fact section. Tedious at best. As the story progresses, these facts take on a manifesto attitude difficult to ignore, and even get rather preachy. It is as if he made the story up just to get his opinions into your face. His goal would have been better served had he bundled up all his Facts into a pamphlet to be inserted into the back of the book jacket. He could have even put them into an appendix, where he did put his apparent fan-club correspondence. But that is just my opinion.
The story is far ranging in scope and history. Set in the present day U S A ,it describes the problems of our times, politically and physically, that our species is presented with in our developing world. By introducing long-living aliens into the picture, he is able to encompass our environmental development and problems along with certain historical issues still "unsolved" and managed to capture the imagination of what can still becoming for us, and "them". He also has a few twists in store should you get near the end of the work.
I noticed that the story is somewhat slow to get going in the first half of the book, and the action speeds up to a point where he almost runs out of space by packing in too much action in the last few chapters, bringing in the wrap-up to an unsatisfying conclusion.
The people he runs around the landscape are well described and personable. The places are actually identifiable to such an extent where you could not only find them on a map, but travel them yourself, should you care to take a road trip through the southwest. At the risk of repeating myself, this is a good story-line. You are not sure just who the hero is, or are. And the bad guys may very well be us, or not. There are certain resemblances between humans are our alien visitors in behaviors and actions, which blur the lines between us. And being a work of science fiction, we are asked to stretch our understanding of some of the laws of physics, as when they travel through wrinkles of space and time. All in all, it is an entertaining story.
For those who embark on this written journey, the main issue you will be confronted with may be summed up in one word, cadmium. Get used to it. Thank you, and good luck.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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This is a review for Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas which I have rated 2 out of 4 stars. It is actually a good story, thought provoking and fact filled. Yet it also suffers from what I would call speed bumps. This work is basically two and a half books all rolled into one. The "first" book is the story which I was looking for, which I will get to shortly. The "second" book is inter-spaced within the first, portions of it to be found at the end of each chapter. The "half" book is to be found within the Facts sections themselves and takes on the form of a manifesto. These Fact sections are the speed bumps that I refer to.The placement of these sections detract from the story, and slow me (the reader) down to a point where I put the book down, time after time. It was a difficult book to chew through because these Facts, although interesting, have a tendency to repeat themselves, not just from the story-line but also from Fact section to Fact section. Tedious at best. As the story progresses, these facts take on a manifesto attitude difficult to ignore, and even get rather preachy. It is as if he made the story up just to get his opinions into your face. His goal would have been better served had he bundled up all his Facts into a pamphlet to be inserted into the back of the book jacket. He could have even put them into an appendix, where he did put his apparent fan-club correspondence. But that is just my opinion.
The story is far ranging in scope and history. Set in the present day U S A ,it describes the problems of our times, politically and physically, that our species is presented with in our developing world. By introducing long-living aliens into the picture, he is able to encompass our environmental development and problems along with certain historical issues still "unsolved" and managed to capture the imagination of what can still becoming for us, and "them". He also has a few twists in store should you get near the end of the work.
I noticed that the story is somewhat slow to get going in the first half of the book, and the action speeds up to a point where he almost runs out of space by packing in too much action in the last few chapters, bringing in the wrap-up to an unsatisfying conclusion.
The people he runs around the landscape are well described and personable. The places are actually identifiable to such an extent where you could not only find them on a map, but travel them yourself, should you care to take a road trip through the southwest. At the risk of repeating myself, this is a good story-line. You are not sure just who the hero is, or are. And the bad guys may very well be us, or not. There are certain resemblances between humans are our alien visitors in behaviors and actions, which blur the lines between us. And being a work of science fiction, we are asked to stretch our understanding of some of the laws of physics, as when they travel through wrinkles of space and time. All in all, it is an entertaining story.
For those who embark on this written journey, the main issue you will be confronted with may be summed up in one word, cadmium. Get used to it. Thank you, and good luck.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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