Review by Crab_user -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas

[Crab_user]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas claims to be a Science Fiction Thriller highlighting the harmful impacts of Cadmium on the environment. It is presented to the reader as their salvation from the dangers of the heavy metal.

This book is a confused piece of propaganda masquerading as science fiction. While certainly pursuing his goal of informing the reader about the dangers of Cadmium, Riojas also endeavors to persuade his reader on several other important topics of interest to himself. The writing is somewhat trite, with characters simultaneously over-informed and uninformed in ways that are highly inconsistent. The writing is belittling to the intelligence of the reader and any “metaphor” Riojas is attempting to convey about sociopolitical conditions is heavy handed and offensive in its overtness.

The story is one about aliens trying to help Humanity save themselves from ecological disaster, like how the aliens themselves experienced disaster eons before. The humans they contact are well educated and involved in research for various government agencies. However, they are soon confronted with the fact that something strange is happening: The Government is acting strangely, and they are faced with mysterious visitors. Using their wits and their new friends, these scientists must uncover the truth about what is being hidden from the public.

While the plot of this book certainly seems intriguing, the writing soon destroys any anticipation the reader might have about seeing what happens to the main characters of the story. Riojas makes very confusing choices in his writing that destroy the rhythm of the story and seem to do nothing other than boost Riojas’ own ego. For example, two of the characters can speak Spanish. A fact that is continually hammered in by the two of them speaking, and occasionally thinking, in the language. In the middle of conversation, in a book written mostly in English. Every instance of this is followed by a translation, either in conversation or using a very distracting block of text in square brackets that utterly destroys the flow by forcing the reader to go over the same paragraph of text two times.
There are also several instances of extremely heavy handed allegories to modern social and political conditions, as interpreted by Riojas himself. That Riojas has a politically left leaning view, as well as certain racial opinions, is very clearly seen in his portrayal of the Aliens, known as “Treretumians,” whose names are entirely human names spelled backwards, with minor changes to improve the phonetics. This is all well and good with names like “Egroeg,” [George], or “Nivla,” [Alvin] with his brothers “Nimos and Erodoet,” [Simon and Teodore] but becomes annoying when the names of the alien tribes become pure racial allegories, and when the names of recent politicians are employed for villainous characters.

Overall, I rate this book as a 2 out of 4. While the information at the end of each chapter about cadmium can be informative, the story will not be enjoyable without an already established political viewpoint aligning with Riojas’.

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Heaven and Earth
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