Saturday 7 July 2007

Raising the Past by Jeremy Robinson

The story begins ten thousand years ago, when a canny cavewoman is visited by strangers from another world. She accepts the object they give her, yet at the end of her life she fails to use it as they instructed. Next thing you know, her frozen remains are unwittingly discovered by a modern-day excavation team in search of the woolly mammoth. Tried and tested archaeologists are rocketed into a fight for their lives and ultimately for the whole planet.

Twists and turns of truly “mammoth” proportions follow. The action rarely eases, and new dangers heap up around every corner. The reader is fleeing along with the team, and learns the truth step by shocking step until finally the entirety of the deception is revealed. Nothing is as it seems to be. What if the idea of angels and demons really did come from opposing alien factions, warring for control of the Earth – one race said to be evil and another claiming to be good?

This is a good exercise in mind-expansion, for sure. It’s mainstream fiction, although you will also find spiritual aspects – chiefly the significance of free will in the value of human society. Vast quantities of blood and gore, fights to the death, and impossible chase scenes with larger-than-life alien species make this a nail-biting thriller from beginning to end – though not necessarily to be recommended for a weak constitution. It reminded me vaguely of Jurassic Park at times, in a different setting and with different monsters.

“Raising the Past” makes a terrific cross-over effort, in two directions at once. It’s ideal to draw an average reader into the science fiction scene, and may also serve as an effective introduction for someone unfamiliar with spiritual genres. It’s this mix that brings you to the unique conclusion, amazingly managing to leave the world unshattered at the end. I view it as a considerable bridge-building contribution and an enrichment to the genre scene.

Jeremy is currently running a viral campaign to make his next release a bestseller. Check out this vid:

1 comment:

chrisd said...

Don't know where you find the time!

I just finished Flashpoint. Will do a review and have got to get to the next book; it'll be an easy one though.

It's a young adult book interviewing the most current fantasy authors (like the late Lloyd Alexander).

Hope you're doing well.