New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If all of Earth gets an email from God then we will know that we all screwed up big time.

That's the premise behind The Email From God by Neil Stevenson, a Science Fiction novel in which a small group of people from the future send an important email from God to the past to create a better world and beat the secret society determined to stop it.

Brother and sister, Fahim and Amina Graham both work at CERN in 2046 and have a very ambitious plan. In 2023, the entire world, I mean everybody in the entire world, received an email from God telling Earth that humanity messed up and caused mass environmental destruction, endless wars, socioeconomic collapse, hate crimes, and terrorist acts. However, there is time to turn it around before it's too late. So God sends a list of 23 Commandments to follow. The Commandments include ways of saving the environment, improving the economy, obtaining good mental and physical health, and ending violence and prejudice.

Oh and if anyone has trouble with that, then they get hit with a massive headache. Not fatal but just enough to let everyone know that the deity means business. 

That's all well and good. Everything begins to improve.  To make sure of this positive outcome, Fahim, Amina, and their respective husbands Mattheo and Dorje create Hindsight which contains uploads of the email, news articles about the email and subsequent events tied to it, and instructions on how to implement these plans. Then they will send these uploads on a nanochip through a wormhole into the past for Readers of God's email to create this new and better future.

Unfortunately, not everyone is excited about this prospect. The Illuminati is still around (because we can't have a good Science Fiction conspiracy novel without a certain infamous organization). They have a plan to destroy the email, kill God's message, in effect kill God, and create a dystopian society in which they will emerge as rulers.

What is particularly brilliant about this novel is its writing style. There have been other works written mostly or almost entirely in email or text form, e by Matt Beaumont, The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot, Love Virtually by Daniel Glattaur, ttyl by Lauren Myracle, When You Read This by Mary Adkins among others. This is not a new format but in this context, it particularly works.

The Talk to Text Style throughout this book exacerbates the characters' sense of urgency and immediacy. They have an important message to share and need to get it sent. They are aware that they are constantly being observed and monitored by Illuminati members (some of whom they work for) and have to make sure that their uploads and God's email are properly uploaded. We don't have time for setting description, interior monologues, and other literary tropes. These protagonists are in a rush.

There are some suspenseful moments throughout the book in which the style really helps. For example, in one chapter two characters text each other and then a third enters the chat. It becomes clear that this person is not friendly and at odds with their plans. The two protagonists instantly switch to typical office chat and small talk.

A few other chapters feature the main characters listening in on the Illuminati's plans and becoming sickened by them. It's a heart thumping moment which reveals what could be lost in their current and former lives if they should fail.

The different fonts and writing styles are jarring at first but allow us to realize who is who, even giving us insights into their characters. Amina's font is very soft and curvy, like someone who weighs out her words and considers what to write. She writes long elegant phrases and summaries letting the world know what she, Fahim, and the others are doing so they can be heard and understood. She only stops once in a while to drop a casual informal reprimand to her brother revealing their close, loving, and teasing nature. She is the one chosen to write about and deliver the message.

In contrast, Fahim's font is short, dark, and concise. It is filled with grammatical errors and lower case nouns like someone in a hurry who doesn't have the time or interest to correct his writing. He is also prone to swearing and speaking out of turn showing his pride, quickness to anger, and impatience. However, he also writes in scientific terms and theories revealing his genius in the fields of science and physics. He is the one chosen to create the Hindsight program and the nanochip.

Rather than be a pessimistic book about the future, The Email From God shows a chance of hope. We don't have to turn Earth into a dystopia out of Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, and Atwood. We have options and choices. Instead of creating the worst, we can make a clear plan to make the world better. 

New Book Alert: Cardinals by Ian Conner; Lesbian Vampires and God's Wife are Highlights of This Seductive Mesmerizing Dark Fantasy

 

New Book Alert: Cardinals by Ian Conner; Lesbian Vampires and God's Wife are Highlights of This Seductive Mesmerizing Dark Fantasy

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: "God's Wife is a Lesbian Vampire!" 

That sounds less like the plot of a good dark fantasy novel and more like one of those weird cheesy tabloid headlines that could be found in any supermarket in the 80's-90's. But actually that's what Cardinals by Ian Conner actually is. Uh not a cheesy tabloid headline but a compelling mesmerizing dark fantasy about a goddess cast out of Heaven and ready to seek vengeance on the deity who abandoned her and now insists that he is the only way to Salvation.

As he did with his previous novels, Dark Maiden and The Long Game (An Amy Radigan Mystery), Conner proves that no two Ian Conner novels are alike. He can jump from an eerie supernatural horror to a complex political thriller in no time at all. His latest, Cardinals, is a dark fantasy which takes some clever savage gut punches to religion. The only thing that these books have in common are that they all have LGBT characters, particularly lesbians, but even those characters vary in terms of personality and relationships. It's nicely refreshing when an author takes on various genres and writes them so well.

In Conner's book (and according to some theological scholars) God's wife's name is Asherah. She was an actual deity who was worshipped in Canaanite religion. She also appeared in Mesopotamian religion as Ishtar and Egyptian as Isis.

 In Cardinals, it is she and not Lucifer (as told in the Bible) who sparked the angelic rebellion and is cast out of Heaven. Yahweh is so threatened by her demands of equal status,  goal to be acknowledged as co-creator, and her dislike for the humanity that he created to worship him, that he orders her to not only be cast out but not to be referenced in the records that humans are transcribing. This explains therefore why she had scant reference in the Bible and why despite other myths and religions that feature a God and Goddess, the Abrahamaic religions are one of the few that have a solely male deity.

Asherah's story in Cardinals is similar to that of Lilith, Adam's reported first wife who was thrown out of Eden after she refused to take a subordinate position to Adam. Afterwards, Lilith was referred to as the mother of monsters and later metamorphosed in Hebrew myth and legend as a demon who takes the souls of men and children at night. Asherah's in this book story is also analogous to the many religions that began with a goddess as the creator of the universe in agrarian society only to have her fall in status in favor of the male gods. This archetypal story can be found in various myths such as the conflict between Gaia and Zeus in Greek mythology, the war between Tiamat and Marduk in Mesopotamian, and Isis' relinquishment of her duties to Horus, her son, in Egyptian. 

Similar to the female characters in many of these stories, particulary Lilith and Tiamat, Asherah is not only removed from Heaven and very existence is denied, but she becomes demonized. Once she arrives on Earth, she sports a pair of fangs and obtains an unquenchable thirst for blood. She uses her newfound abilities to attack Sharit, a woman who takes her in but becomes her first victim.

 Asherah is not alone however. Once they fell, her fellow angels transform into rubies. Later, Adam's son Seth and his son Enoch gather the rubies and create the Amulet of Cassiel which the prophet Elijah later uses to call the flaming chariot. The rubies are later separated so the Amulet could never be used again. Asherah resolves to get back the rubies, call the chariot, and return to Heaven to have more than a few words with God, even if it takes thousands of years. After all she has an abundance of time to get the job done.

Asherah is a fascinating character. She is seductive, alluring, manipulative, and hypnotic. She is a character that the Reader can't look away from. She is a cunning strategic planner, spending centuries creating a financial empire and entertaining herself with various lovers, mostly female.

She ends many of her encounters by biting other humans which probably is a lot of fun in later centuries. Some guy cuts her off in traffic? Just feed on him. She fights with someone over the latest dress at a sale? Just have Sangre ala Karen. Jehovah's Witnesses or MAGA fans won't leave her alone? Just eh-maybe not. Who wants to be stuck with them for Eternity?

 Asherah isn't likable, in that she often attacks and kills innocent people and cruelly uses others, particularly Amara, a girlfriend in the 21st century. However, her allure is unmistakable. She is one of those type of characters that is so memorable and so fascinating in her badness and single-minded pursuit that she steals every moment that she is in. You are drawn to her and almost, almost are rooting for her. So much so that the book is not quite the same when she isn't around and the plot shifts to the other characters.

However, the other characters are interesting as well, many of which are Asherah's former victims and are doing their best to thwart or aid in her attempts in putting back together the Amulet. There are: Lady Kellena Donnachaidh, a 14th noblewoman turned 21st century CEO who has a personal grudge against the former Mrs. Yahweh,  Suzette Allard, Kellena's loyal assistant and wife,  Yasmeen Obiad, Kellena's bodyguard and head of security who displays ruthless tactics to get the information that she needs,  Sharit Hagel, Asherah's first victim who is still around in the 21st cenury and seeking vengeance and Amara Korkolis, Asherah's current girlfriend who loves not wisely or well. 

Not to mention there various groups after Asherah such as:  The Cardinals , those who have been fed on by a vampire but not given vampire's blood in return (almost more like zombies), The Witches of Tenerife, a coven who are interested in not only Asherah but Amara as well, and the Roman Catholic Church particularly Cardinal DiScotti (the religious kind of Cardinal though she's a vampire too), the first female Cardinal and is on her way to becoming the first female Pope.

With all of these different characters and groups, sometimes it's hard to tell what are the character's real motives. Betrayal piles on top of betrayal and characters shift allegiances almost as fast as they change addresses. Sometimes it's a chore to go back and remember who is allied with whom and whether they are stopping or helping Asherah (or unintentionally helping her even when they think that they are stopping her). Sometimes the plot rubs away with itself.

There is also another flaw in the book. There is an earlier chapter that looks as though it will lead to something important but ends up having only a small impact in the final confrontation. If it had a larger importance and if the character featured in the chapter had actually become a part of the overall narrative, it may have made more sense to have it. Otherwise, it's just a baffling inclusion and seems to be only added to provoke and create controversy rather than exploring it to its fullest potential. 

Other than those flaws, Cardinals is a dark fantasy that like its lead character is impossible to ignore and hard to forget. In the vampire horror subgenre, it, and Asherah are goddesses among vampires.

New Book Alert: Melia in Foreverland by Thomas H. Milhorat, M.D.; Beautiful Spiritual Allegory About The Existence of God and The Meaning of Life and Death

New Book Alert: Melia in Foreverland by Thomas H. Milhorat, M.D.; Beautiful Spiritual Allegory About The Existence of God and The Meaning of Life and Death

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book with a three word title



Spoilers: Since I began this blog, every year I find a book that becomes a spiritual fantasy journey that asks a lot of questions, has a lot to say, and fills this Reader with wonder at the journey and themes. Probably since my first experience with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, I have always been looking for that kind of book. Quite often, I find it and it becomes one of my favorite books of that year.

In 2017, it was Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In 2018, it was a one-two punch of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and Clive Barker's Imajica. Last year, the book that captured my heart and soul the most was The Unseen Blossom by Zlaikha Y. Samadi and L'Mere Younossi.


This year, I am proud to say that I have found another book that can be added to that illustrious pantheon. That book is Melia in Foreverland, Thomas H. Milhorat's spiritual allegory which asks many of the ultimate philosophical questions such as "Is There a God?", "Why does evil exist?" and "What is humanity's purpose?" in a moving fantasy of a young woman questioning her own faith and reason for existence.


Melia is a typical 16-year-old farm girl from Orion, Kansas in the late 1940's. She believes in God, but has not really thought about it beyond a shallow sense of vague faith. She questions those beliefs when her cousin, Emma, announces in tears that her beloved dog, Fanny, was killed in a senseless accident. The loss causes Emma to consider what she calls "the second matter": She doubts the existence of God and wonders why the Supreme Being would allow death, randomness, and evil into the world.

Melia can't find answers within her own superficial faith. Her family as well suffered from the death of her baby brother. She hopes to find the answers to give Emma reassurance. She is well read, since her father, a physician, shared books of Virgil, Dante, Plato, Gallileo and many others with her. However, Melia is still left confused, downhearted, and unable to say anything beyond simple platitudes. She wants to find the right words to assuage Emma's grief and find answers to her own questions, but how?

One morning, Melia finds herself walking along a strange road that says "This Way to Land's End." She also finds a strange man with Mediterranean features and wearing artisan clothing. He is Publius Vergilius Mero, AKA Virgil, the Roman poet and philosopher who wrote works like "The Aenaed." Virgil is the first person that she encounters from the world, Foreverland (the place mortals call Heaven, Nirvana, The Elysian Fields, The Other World, and so on.). No, Melia's not dead, but she will go on a journey that will give her and Emma the answers that they need.

Like all travelers on their journey, Melia needs a guide. Virgil introduces Melia to her guide, Dante Alighieri de Firenze, author of The Divine Comedy. Since in his classic allegorical journey, Dante was guided through the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise by the virtuous Beatrice, Dante pays the favor forward by being the guide to a young woman, Melia.

Astride upon Pegasus, the noble flying horse from Greek mythology, Dante, Melia, and Melia's dachshund, Schnapsie travel to various stopping points in Foreverland that are in the stars. They encounter many well known scientists, astronomers, philosophers, artists, writers, and others who provide various answers to Melia's thought provoking questions.

The world building is beyond lovely. The travelers move beyond time and space to visit known stars in the Universe that are inhabited by various legendary characters. They include Polaris, the North Star, which serves as a grove and exterior classroom for Aristotle and Antares, where Charles Darwin shows Melia evolution in action.

Like many of the best of these types of books, the settings are almost dream-like and stretch the boundaries of imagination. After all in reality, no one could live on these stars. But that doesn't stop Milhorat from using his imagination to create whole societies of people, animals, and nature that lives and thrives on them (even if those lives are technically deceased).


The most striking of the settings is Sirius, a location of beautiful townhouses and canals and is the home of many artists, musicians, entertainers and such. Most of the Sirius residents even have to be incognito because where there are entertainers there are fans, even deceased ones.

One of the more delightful passages is when Melia has her portrait painted by Leonardo Da Vinci with Vivaldi playing in the background. Using his studies of the human body, imagination, and keen use of light, Da Vinci captures Melia as both a young and older woman in different stages of life. Melia also gets into a conversation with Rene Descartes and Euripides about human tragedy in the dramatics and in reality and how they affect and change us. This conversation shows the meaning that art and literature have in capturing moments that we can admire, stare in awe at their beauty and wonder, and study and learn from.


Another setting that has a personal link for Melia is Betelgeuse. Not because she's a Michael Keaton fan. Because Betelgeuse is her favorite star as it is used to guide farmers during harvest seasons the way sailors use Polaris during navigation. She realizes that she has a personal connection with the star, because her ancestors reside there. She meets family members like her great-great grandaunt, Pauline. Encountering her family helps Melia learn that she is one of a long link stretched through time. That link helps provide Melia with some much needed answers through her own life and future.


While the book takes a spiritual journey, it is not what one would call overly religious. It does not push one religion over another. In fact, Jesus Christ gets scant mention. There are characters, such as Virgil and Aristotle who were alive in pre-Abrhamaic times that have their own beliefs based on their background. Even people like Galileo Galilei and Charles Darwin, who made enemies of religious people with their scientific research, make appearances and speak about their work suggesting that science and spirit are simply two different languages that describe the workings of the universe. God, Himself,d not make a personal appearance and instead exists in all things, nature, animals, and in others who do goodness. Of course that the land is called Foreverland and not Heaven or Nirvana or a more conventional name with conventional means to reach it, suggests that they are simply different names, words, and followings for the same thing. That the Spirit can take any form it chooses and humans use their own terms for it.


One of the most thought provoking chapters is when Melia encounters "The Walking Dead" (not the show), the deceased that are headed in two directions. The dead include two children who were murdered in a violent crime who are headed down a path of white polished chalcedony. Their murderer then is led down a path of nuggeted coal down a dark tunnel. This encounter puts Melia in a conversation with Dante and Aristotle about the nature of good and evil. Aristotle measures evil in different levels from Involuntary Trespass (actions that are beyond one's control, for example a child or animal running in front of a car and getting hit when the driver doesn't see them) to Pure Evil (evil for evil's sake such as incest, sex crimes, hate crimes, genocide, premeditated murder, slavery, and genocide.) This description suggests that the terms good and evil have more forms and shades than many believe and are not always the same actions and meaning.


While this adventure is designed to help Emma, it also helps Melia. She is able to think beyond the simple platitudes and superficial faith that she spoke about but never understood earlier. Melia's trip to Foreverland opens her mind to greater thinking and deeper reasonings. She sees the universe as a fuller more elaborate place than she had before.


Melia in Foreverland is a book that begins with one question, but asks many and leaves the Reader to interpret their own answers. Most of all it surrounds these questions inside a beautiful dream world that will never be forgotten.