Review by Misphantom -- Heaven and Earth by Arturo Riojas
Posted: 10 May 2017, 06:08
[Following is a volunteer review of "Heaven and Earth" by Arturo Riojas.]
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Heaven and Earth is a sci-fi novel by Arturo Riojas written to open the minds of readers about cadmium- poisoning and how widespread and dangerous it could be to our health and environment. Arturo Riojas’ growing concern about the world’s ignorance of this became a foundation in writing this alien science fiction.
The book tells of two societies: humans of Earth and the extra-terrestrial Treretumians. For those in Earth, people are blinded by the government, who tries to cover up the existence of aliens, while their environment and health are being slowly poisoned. Meanwhile, the Treretumians are in the risk of extinction under an invasion of another species and lack of resources. Both races discover their similarities and try to overcome their struggles together.
The main human protagonists, Olga Ramos (a NASA research engineer with an awareness of cadmium-poisoning) and Cuauhtémoc Gavilán (a man of Native American descent who believes in the older beings called teachers), try to investigate peculiar events detected in space. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found Olga suspicious and had her under surveillance. They decide to work with Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) employees Sam and Dr. Billy Ruben Welch to uncover the government’s secrets.
In the interim, the Treretumian Nivla contacts and tries to befriend the group of humans in hopes that they could aid him in his personal quest and consult the lesser species about a solution for the Muimdac invasion. In return, he offers the humans a Treretumian alliance and a solution for their environmental, societal, and political problems.
Unlike most extra-terrestrial sci-fi stories that I have read, Heaven and Earth does not include alien invasions and open hostility. Instead, characters from both species peacefully interact and discuss their problems: problems that we experience today yet fail to recognize or act upon.
During these discussions, health-related topics such as the intake of heavy metals, proper diet, inorganic farming, low-key pollution, and the government's failure to provide the safety and needs of the people are consistently analyzed, with several scientific facts and statistics supporting them. Even the Muimdac invasion was a metaphor to what cadmium can do to our bodies. The book even includes appendices for each chapter to discuss more information.
Since I am unaware of cadmium poisoning present in so many food that I eat, I find Heaven and Earth very informative and helpful. It opened my mind about society and how most organizations hide important facts about our health from us. It also inspired me to change my diet and inform my family and friends about the danger in what we eat.
As for Arturo Riojas’ writing style, he often uses lengthy paragraphs, very specific and scientific descriptions, and explanations. Personally, I have no problems with these, but future readers may find reading them dull and tiring. However, I noticed that most of the chapters were just dialogues about heavy metal poisoning that sometimes I feel like I’m reading an essay instead of a sci-fi novel. This is one of the reasons why I find the book slow-paced and sidetracked.
On the other hand, one of the things that made this book special was that sentences in different languages are written as it is, then translated into English after. It is so different from other books where languages are automatically translated to English and the text just implies it was spoken in another language. Between dialogues, there were even comments in brackets that makes it easier to imagine what was going on (like [long pause]).
The lore was well-made and I liked how the author created a brand-new species, complete with anatomy, diversity, language, personality, society, and culture. Different pieces of Earth history and traditions were even merged with the Treretumian’s to make up a huge part of the lore.
As for the characters, they each had interesting personalities and traits, which made them diverse. But for me, the book lacked interactions between them; it needed more friendly banter, inner thoughts, emotions, and character growth. This is why I didn’t feel empathy and I didn’t “grow” on the characters.
Although slow and prolonged, the plot was interesting enough and even had some reveals and twists in the end. I did not notice any errors or grammatical mistakes.
In short, I rate Heaven and Earth 2 out of 4 stars. I did not give it 1 star because it really enlightened me about cadmium poisoning and the plot was interesting enough but it does not deserve 3 stars since it was more of an informative text and was too slow-paced. I recommend it to patient readers who enjoy scientific and health facts.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Misphantom's review? Post a comment saying so!
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Heaven and Earth is a sci-fi novel by Arturo Riojas written to open the minds of readers about cadmium- poisoning and how widespread and dangerous it could be to our health and environment. Arturo Riojas’ growing concern about the world’s ignorance of this became a foundation in writing this alien science fiction.
The book tells of two societies: humans of Earth and the extra-terrestrial Treretumians. For those in Earth, people are blinded by the government, who tries to cover up the existence of aliens, while their environment and health are being slowly poisoned. Meanwhile, the Treretumians are in the risk of extinction under an invasion of another species and lack of resources. Both races discover their similarities and try to overcome their struggles together.
The main human protagonists, Olga Ramos (a NASA research engineer with an awareness of cadmium-poisoning) and Cuauhtémoc Gavilán (a man of Native American descent who believes in the older beings called teachers), try to investigate peculiar events detected in space. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found Olga suspicious and had her under surveillance. They decide to work with Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) employees Sam and Dr. Billy Ruben Welch to uncover the government’s secrets.
In the interim, the Treretumian Nivla contacts and tries to befriend the group of humans in hopes that they could aid him in his personal quest and consult the lesser species about a solution for the Muimdac invasion. In return, he offers the humans a Treretumian alliance and a solution for their environmental, societal, and political problems.
Unlike most extra-terrestrial sci-fi stories that I have read, Heaven and Earth does not include alien invasions and open hostility. Instead, characters from both species peacefully interact and discuss their problems: problems that we experience today yet fail to recognize or act upon.
During these discussions, health-related topics such as the intake of heavy metals, proper diet, inorganic farming, low-key pollution, and the government's failure to provide the safety and needs of the people are consistently analyzed, with several scientific facts and statistics supporting them. Even the Muimdac invasion was a metaphor to what cadmium can do to our bodies. The book even includes appendices for each chapter to discuss more information.
Since I am unaware of cadmium poisoning present in so many food that I eat, I find Heaven and Earth very informative and helpful. It opened my mind about society and how most organizations hide important facts about our health from us. It also inspired me to change my diet and inform my family and friends about the danger in what we eat.
As for Arturo Riojas’ writing style, he often uses lengthy paragraphs, very specific and scientific descriptions, and explanations. Personally, I have no problems with these, but future readers may find reading them dull and tiring. However, I noticed that most of the chapters were just dialogues about heavy metal poisoning that sometimes I feel like I’m reading an essay instead of a sci-fi novel. This is one of the reasons why I find the book slow-paced and sidetracked.
On the other hand, one of the things that made this book special was that sentences in different languages are written as it is, then translated into English after. It is so different from other books where languages are automatically translated to English and the text just implies it was spoken in another language. Between dialogues, there were even comments in brackets that makes it easier to imagine what was going on (like [long pause]).
The lore was well-made and I liked how the author created a brand-new species, complete with anatomy, diversity, language, personality, society, and culture. Different pieces of Earth history and traditions were even merged with the Treretumian’s to make up a huge part of the lore.
As for the characters, they each had interesting personalities and traits, which made them diverse. But for me, the book lacked interactions between them; it needed more friendly banter, inner thoughts, emotions, and character growth. This is why I didn’t feel empathy and I didn’t “grow” on the characters.
Although slow and prolonged, the plot was interesting enough and even had some reveals and twists in the end. I did not notice any errors or grammatical mistakes.
In short, I rate Heaven and Earth 2 out of 4 stars. I did not give it 1 star because it really enlightened me about cadmium poisoning and the plot was interesting enough but it does not deserve 3 stars since it was more of an informative text and was too slow-paced. I recommend it to patient readers who enjoy scientific and health facts.
******
Heaven and Earth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Misphantom's review? Post a comment saying so!