Review by JMS77 -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas

[JMS77]

[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

The author states the purpose of Heaven and Earth at the very beginning. The book is basically a call to readers to become informed and spread the word about cadmium poisoning in our food supply. It is wrapped in a thin and at times muddled science fiction construct. Space aliens have been here before and have come again to check up on us and maybe help us. One alien comes with a hidden agenda to retrieve his brother’s body from Area 51 in the USA and interacts with earthlings. Scientists, good and bad agents, good and bad aliens interact. There is detailed information on cadmium at the end of each chapter. The last 43 pages are forum interactions and deal with cadmium.

There is not much that kept me turning the pages. The most interesting part of the story for me was the Muimdac enemy that is attacking the Teretumians. They are very hard to detect microscopic beings that take over the enemy, organ by organ, until it is too late. It is easy to make the connection to similar attacks on earth by cancer cells. However we never meet the Muimdac as actual characters. The story comes complete with a car chase, evil federal agents, romance, and a cute dog.

When I start a book I always finish reading it. This book was a challenge to complete. In Chapter 14 Gavilan murmurs “I feel like I’m in a class at a Teretumian med school.” I felt that way several times in the book. The rule of good writing to “show” not “tell” loses its way many times in this story. Lengthy scientific explanations on various subjects made my eyes glaze over and did nothing to move the story along. There is too much time having the characters explain what just happened to them over again to other characters.

The book is very much in need of a good editor and proof reader. Many times there is a loss of focus, with the author dipping into long harangues on war, poverty, Shoshone Indians, star formation and various health issues. Stories within stories and vague references to TV and movies such as the Borg and Bullitt can leave the reader befuddled.

I have rated the book as 2 out of 4 stars instead of 1 because there may be some readers that love conspiracy theories and are curious to know more about cadmium. The book will certainly take you there. If you are looking for an exciting science fiction page turner this is not the book for you.

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Heaven and Earth
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