To have met Abraham Lincoln would have been, no doubt, a
memorable experience for anyone. But if
someone was to say to you, “I’ll be meeting Lincoln in 14 years from now,” it
would be absurd, right? What if that
person convinces you of the meeting, scheduled in the future yet involving a
person of the past, is a reality and every word true? You would come to the conclusion the person
must possess some form of time traveling capability. Hence “time traveling” becomes your
conclusion, your belief, and of your own free will in choosing this only
possible logical explanation. (That
person never said he is a time traveler, did he?) This is the skillful bases of an
unforgettable story, A New Birth of
Freedom: The Visitor, by the exquisitely talented author Robert G.
Pielke.
Dr. Pielke loves history as revealed by his credentials
studying the past. Furthermore, residing
in the heart of Civil War battlegrounds, he accumulated a wealth of minutia about
the history of the Union and Confederacy. His “Systematic” studies in Christianity can be superimposed onto other
systems, such as war, plus his Ph.D. in Social Ethics states volumes of his
understanding of people’s values and behavior. Add his love of science fiction, and you have a brilliant,
out-of-the-box thinker, an author of immense capability to write penetrating
thoughts, original and novel by all accounts.
The story begins with a train ride, when a passenger engages
a conversation with a back-woods country lawyer, a politician a bit in debt, a
humble man with a mind sharp and discerning. The man is Abe Lincoln. I have
found this “lead” as one of the finest works of literary foreshadowing into a
storyline of a creative journey of epic proportions. His writing is a flavorful mix of Rod Serling
with Frank Herbert, a bit of H. G. Wells and a touch of Gene Roddenberry, plus
some Carl Sagan, yet all uniquely Robert G. Pielke. The
Visitor creates a showcase in which Pielke ostentatiously demonstrates his
knowledge of the events and history circa 1863 and creates a “period piece of
many eras” all at once. Meaning the past,
the present and the future; combining the “three time frames'” into what can be
described as a “Present situation of past events that occur in the future.”
All of this food for thought is topped with “Save the Earth”
desperation – and I don’t mean anything Al Gore might preach to audiences, but
wish to avoid telling in this review as not to distract from the surprise foundation
of the multi-dimensional sub-plot. A book
for historians, sci-fi enthusiasts, adventure story fans and people of all
ages, A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor
will resonate in your thoughts long after the book is finished and you think to
yourself, “Wow.”
Buy this book at Amazon.com
