Review by jabdart -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas

[jabdart]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Heaven and Earth" by Arturo Riojas.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Heaven and Earth is an adventure in the present with plenty of references to the past. Three stories come together and form a genuine future possibility. There is a couple, two co-workers, and a spaceship full of aliens who synergistically change each other's lives. The main characters are each uniquely described and wholly believable. There is humor and intrigue. While the narrative unfolds, the reader is also given facts about dangers in our environment at the end of each chapter.

The author explains this at the beginning of the book and suggests the reader skip the facts if they are not interested. Because the subject interested me, I read the facts at the end for the first 5 chapters. After that I skipped them because I was losing the storyline by reading them. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.

I noticed the author managed to insert some of the facts within the story and feel this was a better way to get the point across. I liked all the characters. The couple I found most interesting. Gavila'n was easy to visually imagine. And perhaps because of proximity I enjoyed Olga. She was a very contemporary female. I like to read books with strong female characters.

I found the decorative band separating the present and past within chapters annoying and distracting. Italics might have been a better choice. The section where 2 conversations were going on at once was clumsy visually, but I don’t have a better solution for that situation. The illustrations were sometimes interesting and helpful, and others seemed unnecessary. For example, I would rather imagine the aliens than to have a much over used typical alien illustration. However, I liked the drawing of the necklace and photograph of the hanger.

I liked the story. I even started scraping my carrots based on a suggestion in the fact section. My idea is to go back and read some of the effects to better understand the problems with cadmium. It is a topic I was completely unaware of and I consider myself conscious of health-related issues. Heaven and Earth captured my attention once I stopped reading cadmium poisoning facts. I was engaged and excited to find out what was going to happen next. I would read another story involving these characters. I appreciate books with a message that uplift. The title is the reason I chose the book and is perfect for the topic.

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Heaven and Earth
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