Review by jonathan600 -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas

[jonathan600]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Almost 90% of the foods we eat in this generation are the main key factor contributing to our early death. I didn't know this until I read the book heaven and earth which is a captivating story written by Arturo Riojas, a licensed engineer from the state of Texas holding four engineering degrees(two chemical engineering and two civil engineering with specialiazation in Environmental engineering). He uses this fictional story to explain, using characters from two different planets, from earth which are called earthlings and from Treretum(which can be said to be heaven) which are called Treretumians, to show the problems that cadmium poisoning has posed to planet earth.The book has 21 chapters in total. At the end of each chapter, Riojas writes notes about cadmium poisoning facts. The phosphate fertilizers we apply on the soil contains cadmium. Cadmium circulates in the food chain when plants grown on this soils are feed on. Cadmium, according to Riojas, causes most of the dangerous diseases in our planet earth. Cancer and diabetes are among the long list of these diseases. More information about this cadmium poisoning facts are found in the cadmium poisoning facts sections of the book.

The story starts with Treretumians, who come to collect data about earthlings on earth and finally write a report that could be presented back in their home planet, Treretum. Nilva, who is one of this Treretumians, accompanies them but he is on a different mission from what the authorities back in Treretum had ordered. His main aim is to recover the remains of his brother and other Treretumians who had severed in a spacecraft crash on a earlier mission on earth which was intended in assisting the earthlings with the advancement of their civilization.

Nilva appers to two earthlings, Olga and Gavila'n, in manner which frigntens them. Gavila'n and Olga are on their way from an area called Area 51 where they were capturing photos to assist Olga in her interstellar surveillance project. Olga asks Gavila'n whether there exists life in other planets. "Yes", an answer comes from a person sited on one of the sits behind them. When they departured from Area 51, they were only the two of them in the car, so they wondered who the person could be and how he had entered into their car. Nilva later answeres this questions by introducing himself to them and telling them how he and the other Treretumians use wrinkles and fabric to travel.Nilva was suspecting that the remains of his own were at Area 51. So he requested Olga and Galvila'n to give him information about Area 51.

Some of the earthlings had found the destructive effects that cadmium poisoning had posed to the inhibitats of the planet earth. One of this earthlings is Dr.Welch. Dr.Welch initiated a project regarding cadmium poisoning. It could be tough for his project to be succesfull. The government knew that products containing cadmium where being distributed in the market but the level of corruption in the country and specifically in the government made it to turn a blind eye to this fact. So, how could this earthling make his project a success? It is amazing how the creatures from this two differed planets assisted each other. Nilva uses the photographs captured by Olga at Area 51 to know the specific place where the remains of his own were and retrieves them successfully. This area is Hangar 18, which is found in Area 51. The photograph shown the remains of the spacecraft in that area. Nilva assisted the earthlings by giving them an atnafele, (a small spherical container,the size of a man's fist). The atnafele contained a map of where seeds were planted by previous Treretumians expeditions, along with description and desired outcomes of earth's development. With the atnafele, they could have the tools to conquer the environment and hence conquer diseases stemming from environmental contamination.

What I loved much about this book is that it is very informative. The cadmium poisoning facts sections at the end of each chapter not only gave me a brake from the story but also informed me about cadmium poisoning facts which I had no idea about. The contrast that Riojas uses also ambressed me.While the Treretumians are living thousands of years before dying, earthlings have a life expectancy of far below hundred years. I also did not spell any grammatical errors. I really LOVED LOVED LOVED this book.The much dialogue than actions however did not impress me. This made me feel bored at some instances.I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it was professionally written and I found it interesting to read. I highly recomend it to anyone who wishes to know why life expectancy in the recent generations is far much low compared to that of the past generations.

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Heaven and Earth
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[maggiechap]

Oh, I'm so digging the concept of this book. What a great way to make learning fun! I am definitely adding it to my to-read list. Great job on the review, thanks for your hard work.

[timd]

The book was certainly interesting but many of the references made to/about the US government are what are called conspiracy theories and are widely debated and controversial. The cadmium poisoning of food theory is interesting but also I would appreciate to hear what other scientists and food technologists have to say about this, but it is certainly thought provoking. In another context, not SF, this book would certainly be worth some attention but the SF is largely outdated and not really supported by modern findings of science. If the Rigellians were really also using radio signals to communicate then SETI would have picked them up long ago and the idea of aliens actually visiting the earth over centuries is interesting but not supported by any serious scientific analysis or research. An example of this is the fact that we know exactly how the pyramids were really built, it is described in detail in a recently deciphered Egyptian papyrus, and also other Roman and Greek writings, and supported by modern engineers. References to this and other ancient marvels can be found on sites such as "Ancient Origins." The cadmium food poisoning, which is the authors main concern, could have been made far more realistic if other conspiracy theories were not used as a background to the story.
I agree that the story was written in an engaging manner, however I became bored with the cadmium issue, especially when it was also referred to as a main subject of conversation between the aliens. Possibly though, this might have been important to them as we were being made ready to become a major source of food supply for them in the future, a fact revealed towards the end of the book!
I will certainly follow up the idea of cadmium poisoning our foods and I would be interested to know whether this is the case in other countries as well as the USA. In my review, I stated that it appears from the ending that there may be a sequel, which I would read with interest but not as science fiction!