New Book Alert: The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz; Intriguing Premise About Virtues and Difficulties of Living Multiple Lives

 

New Book Alert: The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz; Intriguing Premise About Virtues and Difficulties of Living Multiple Lives

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: I feel a sense of deja vu as I say this:

Reincarnation is probably the #1 literary theme of this year or at least of this blog. 

On the plus side, I found a support group that Amelie Pimont's Eli and Sarah, Nikki Broadwell's Rosemary and Dylan Hughes, and Melissa Muldoon's Artemisia Gentileschi, Maddalena, and Matteo can join. 

D. Eric Maikranz's The Reincarnationist Papers is an intriguing premise about an organization that helps people who have full memories of their past lives. The book also presents both the virtues of living extra lives and many of the difficulties that such an existence could bring.

Evan Michaels is an outsider for many reasons. He has clear memory of his two previous lives and revealed them in ways that astounded and frightened his family. He left them feeling like an outcast and now spends his time in Southern California doing illegal activity, particularly professional arson to earn a living. While on the run after his latest assignment goes down, Evan is challenged by a mysterious young woman. Before  she attacks him, Evan threatens her that if she kills him, he will just come back, right before he pases out. When he comes to, the woman, Poppy ,and a man, Antonio, believe and understand his reincarnation recall. In fact, they invite him to join the Cognomina, a secret organization of people who remember their past lives. To join, Evan has to go through a series of trials called The Ascension in which he has to recall his former lives and prove to the 27 other members that he really lived them.

It's clear that Reincarnationist Papers is intended to be the start of a series and this book definitely fits that obligatory introductory need.  We are shown the new character that serves as our eyes and ears to this new world. We get the expositional history of the group that they join and the central ongoing conflicts between characters that carry over throughout the series. We even get introduced to potential love interests. It's all painted by numbers but in this case, it works.

What works is the originality of an organization created specifically for reincarnated souls. These characters retain the memories, experiences, pleasant memories, talents, and sometimes objects of their former lives. However, they also remember every fight and conflict leading to current prejudices and hatred, every traumatic situation that leads to phobias and obsessions in their current lives, and the circumstances towards their deaths. It can be difficult to live in the present when you are constantly overwhelmed by memories of the past.

The highlights of the novel are the looks into the character's former lives. Evan remembers two. His earliest life was of a Bulgarian man named Vasili Blagavich Arda who had been imprisoned during the Communist years. Vasili then lived in Istanbul for the final years of his life. Evan learns that his attraction to living in a large city like Los Angeles could be traced to Vasili's fascination with living in Istanbul. Evan's memories of reincarnation began when as a child, he was able to write and speak fluent Bulgarian.

Evan's other life was that of a young boy named Bobby with a mentally ill mother. While still a child, Bobby burned to death in a fire that he accidentally started. Bobby's death in a fire makes sense why Evan chooses to light fires as almost a way of conquering and controlling the element that once killed him.

Other members of the group share interesting stories Poppy remembers her time as a male Venetian glassworker who was killed by a female assassin and a  French nobleman who was wounded in a duel against a rival artisan. Another character, Samas, recalls his life in the 11th century. One of the oldest souls remembers living in the 1st century.

 Even the creation of the Cognomina is fascinating as two friends in Egypt decided that they would meet again in the next life. They recognized each other by pointing out objects that the other had. The group then spread to five members then 28. 

The members also explain to Evan why they are so secretive. In a world of largely Abrahamaic religions which do not believe in reincarnation, these memories would be too much for others to know. People would become frightened and attack group members. Even Eastern religions which espouse reincarnation don't quite "get it," they say. The next life has nothing to do with how one behaved in the previous life as a reward or punishment. They are just reborn and many of the experiences are carried over.

For history buffs , Maikranz even includes footnotes of real history to fit with this fanciful story of reincarnation. Evan's life as Vasili includes his time serving in the military under Captain Eumen Hoxa. Maikranz did a tremendous job creating this secret organization of reincarnated souls and their rituals and procedures.

While the organization is well thought out, the plot somewhat falters. This is especially evident towards the end when Evan is thrown into an action plot and is left in a cliffhanger situation. However, most of the work is a decent speculative look at reincarnation and how people can struggle and thrive remembering who they were before.