Review by Mitsuha -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
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Mitsuha
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- Latest Review: Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
Review by Mitsuha -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
[Following is a volunteer review of "Heaven and Earth" by Arturo Riojas.]
1 out of 4 stars
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Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas was a quite confusing novel.
The novel follows two main protagonists, Gavilan and Olga on their adventure to aid members of an alien race who come to visit them. The alien race, known as the Treretumians are considerably more advanced by the human race though have similar societal constructs. Egroeg, a Treretumian along with his friends, Olga and Gavilan attempt to return Treretumian casualties held in Area 51 to Treretum. Along the way the Treretumians reveal many secrets to Olga and Gavilan who are then entrusted with the advancement and safety of the human race despite the oppressive and secretive government.
I did not really enjoy the novel at all and the first problem was that I felt the characters were very mechanical with little development. The relationship between Olga and Gavilan felt extremely stiff and disingenuous I didn't see any real journey in their relationship, no trials, difficulties etc. and so I couldn't connect to them. The relationship didn't really add anything to the plot and their conversations seemed very unnatural. It would have been better if there was more "showing" of their relationship rather than "telling". Sentences along the lines of, Olga could see Gavilan was sad/stressed or Gavilan could sense Olga was worried just felt staged and boring.
I also disliked the constant interjection of the Cadmium poisoning facts. The number of pages used on this topic was a waste and just drew out the reading experience. Throughout the plot, there was the theme of the effects of Cadmium poisoning but the separate chapters on it broke up the story awkwardly and, to me, unnecessary. The book was marketed as fiction so at first, I thought the Cadmium poisoning "facts" were part of the overall plot but this was sadly not the case. It seemed as if two books had been thrown together and badly at that. I really don't understand what all the Cadmium facts were for, this was not marketed as a science book or non-fiction and it became especially confusing when links to websites started appearing in the prose.
I also felt there was no depth or grounding to the plot. The split narrative was not well done and so became confusing as there was no real link between some of the switches. The images that accompanied the book were unsightly and didn't add any value, at all. I also didn't like the use of the square, spiral symbols to separate points of view, though that is a small thing. The plot had no real aim. Why did the Treretrumians need the humans to return their dead if they were so advanced? They could effectively teleport and in the end, they didn't in any way use their human companions to achieve their goal. To me, it seems they could have just teleported in and out from the beginning. This just made the whole story seem even more meaningless.
Overall I thought this novel was a sorry attempt to tackle a social issue through an imaginative piece of writing. The structure of inserting chapters about Cadmium amongst the plot was sloppy and didn't work. Instead, the author should have done a purely creative piece about the effects of Cadmium.
I rate this novel a 1 out of 4 stars.
******
Heaven and Earth
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1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas was a quite confusing novel.
The novel follows two main protagonists, Gavilan and Olga on their adventure to aid members of an alien race who come to visit them. The alien race, known as the Treretumians are considerably more advanced by the human race though have similar societal constructs. Egroeg, a Treretumian along with his friends, Olga and Gavilan attempt to return Treretumian casualties held in Area 51 to Treretum. Along the way the Treretumians reveal many secrets to Olga and Gavilan who are then entrusted with the advancement and safety of the human race despite the oppressive and secretive government.
I did not really enjoy the novel at all and the first problem was that I felt the characters were very mechanical with little development. The relationship between Olga and Gavilan felt extremely stiff and disingenuous I didn't see any real journey in their relationship, no trials, difficulties etc. and so I couldn't connect to them. The relationship didn't really add anything to the plot and their conversations seemed very unnatural. It would have been better if there was more "showing" of their relationship rather than "telling". Sentences along the lines of, Olga could see Gavilan was sad/stressed or Gavilan could sense Olga was worried just felt staged and boring.
I also disliked the constant interjection of the Cadmium poisoning facts. The number of pages used on this topic was a waste and just drew out the reading experience. Throughout the plot, there was the theme of the effects of Cadmium poisoning but the separate chapters on it broke up the story awkwardly and, to me, unnecessary. The book was marketed as fiction so at first, I thought the Cadmium poisoning "facts" were part of the overall plot but this was sadly not the case. It seemed as if two books had been thrown together and badly at that. I really don't understand what all the Cadmium facts were for, this was not marketed as a science book or non-fiction and it became especially confusing when links to websites started appearing in the prose.
I also felt there was no depth or grounding to the plot. The split narrative was not well done and so became confusing as there was no real link between some of the switches. The images that accompanied the book were unsightly and didn't add any value, at all. I also didn't like the use of the square, spiral symbols to separate points of view, though that is a small thing. The plot had no real aim. Why did the Treretrumians need the humans to return their dead if they were so advanced? They could effectively teleport and in the end, they didn't in any way use their human companions to achieve their goal. To me, it seems they could have just teleported in and out from the beginning. This just made the whole story seem even more meaningless.
Overall I thought this novel was a sorry attempt to tackle a social issue through an imaginative piece of writing. The structure of inserting chapters about Cadmium amongst the plot was sloppy and didn't work. Instead, the author should have done a purely creative piece about the effects of Cadmium.
I rate this novel a 1 out of 4 stars.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Mitsuha's review? Post a comment saying so!
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