Review by Aldonsa -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas

[Aldonsa]

[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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The book Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas is dedicated to a very serious and global problem – influence of heavy metals, especially cadmium, on a human organism and well-being. The scientific and the fantasy sides of this narrative are distinctively divided from each other. From the one side information about cadmium is given: materials and food products containing cadmium are pointed out; an effect of this element on a human health is described in details; causes of increasing risk of a cadmium poisoning are stated. There are many examples sustaining a theory that cadmium is the main cause of cancer diseases and Alzheimer dementia. Recommendations and advises about low-cadmium diet are given.

From the other side there is a science-fiction plot of a popular kind: influence of an advanced alien race on the human evolution and the progress in science and technology. Treretum is the name of a planet of the Sirius system (the nearest star from the Sun) from where in the year dot alien visitors arrived to the Earth looking for a habitable planet. Treretumians have superhuman knowledge and capabilities; they live in a spiritual society. However, this highly-developed society has problems both external (an invasion of enemies) and internal (a hard-line dictatorship). When aliens landed on the Earth they discovered not only acceptable climate and natural resources, but something like an intelligent life (that were ancestors of the Maya). So Treretumians instead of colonization of the planet began sharing knowledge with Earthlings. Of course that were alien visitors who had built Pyramids in Mexico and Egypt (this fact is so widely used in literature and popular-science films that possibly it will be in the history schoolbooks soon enough). The next two Treretumian expeditions to the Earth were unsuccessful. In Heaven and Earth adventures of the third expedition are described: the contact of both races, coming to understanding, discovering common problems and goals.

I rate Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas 2 out of 4 stars. The importance of the described problems is doubtless. People must take responsibility for their health. They need information about dangerous substances contained in food products and water. People must rethink their pattern of life. They must give up on unhealthy habits that are taken from the previous generations in most cases.

I don’t like the way of representing this important information. I understand the author’s idea that bare scientific facts from chemistry, biology and medicine can be enliven with a fantasy plot. A reader understands and accepts information about cadmium better against the background of an alien-story. Maybe this idea is not bad but, in my opinion, it has failed in the book.

I found the fantasy part rather dull. The narrative is muddled and difficult for reading. Any possible interest is destroyed with a regular mention of a painful death by cadmium overdosing. It was very hard for me to read this book.

As for the scientific part, I think it would be much better without fiction about aliens. In my opinion bare facts, plain theoretical statements and proofs, as well as comparison analysis of chemical elements in food products and their influence on human health would draw up a significant scientific research. Upon reading the book I searched through Internet for scientific materials about cadmium out of curiosity. I found many papers in different journals on that subject. Almost all of these papers are plain and meaningful without any fiction. People do not take seriously information about danger of cadmium poisoning because most of them doubt the existence of alien teachers in the Earth history.

However, I would recommend readers to look through appendixes of this book. A lot of useful information can be found there.

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Heaven and Earth
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Like Aldonsa's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Jaime Lync]

Wow. I am both interested and not interested in the book after reading your review (nicely done by the way). Thanks.

[Aldonsa]

Heaven and Earth is a very complex book. There is a lot of important information about cadmium influence on health. I took it seriously because it corresponds with other papers and books on this subject I've read.
But there are too many duplications and cadmium-horrors. I've managed read all book out of stubbornness only!

[Rosemary Okoko]

This book sounds like it's too scientific which will make it a difficult read for me. I will therefore not read this one. Thank you for your nice and honest review.

[Aldonsa]

This book sounds like it's too scientific which will make it a difficult read for me. I will therefore not read this one. Thank you for your nice and honest review.

If this book was only scientific, it would be much more interesting and cognitive. The problem is that the fiction part of the book hinders the scientific part and vise versa.

[Jeconiaomolo]

I have carefully read this book and to me I found this book such and amazing book. Thumbs up for Dr. Arturo Riojas. It addresses serious health issues that that impact on our lives negatively. It is even beyond doubt because in the appendices, comments, questions and answers you will find doctors also supporting this work with few contradictions. This is a good read that anybody should take time to read. It involves fantasy and very interesting aliens stories and very admirable characters. I really love this book.

[Aldonsa]

I have carefully read this book and to me I found this book such and amazing book. Thumbs up for Dr. Arturo Riojas. It addresses serious health issues that that impact on our lives negatively. It is even beyond doubt because in the appendices, comments, questions and answers you will find doctors also supporting this work with few contradictions. This is a good read that anybody should take time to read. It involves fantasy and very interesting aliens stories and very admirable characters. I really love this book.

The importance of problems discussed in the book is doubtless. Anyone who cares about health must know about a danger of a cadmium poisoning. There are many articles and essays on that subject.

Thanks for a comment.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I also found the fictional story to be dull, the characters were flat, I even disliked Olga Ramos (Miss Perfect) but I did learn quite a lot from this book, it holds a lot of useful information.

[Aldonsa]

I also found the fictional story to be dull, the characters were flat, I even disliked Olga Ramos (Miss Perfect) but I did learn quite a lot from this book, it holds a lot of useful information.

I disliked Olga Ramos as well.
I’m a bit of scientist, so I know perfectly well what scientific women are really like.