I knew from the start I needed to fasten my mental seat belt
when I began Homo Cosmiens: A new
beginning to the final ending, as David Millett blasted off bringing the
reader up to speed on the creation of the universe beginning from the Big Bang
in just the first few pages. Then in chapter
one, titled The Quaternary Period, Millett covers the many epochs of unique
characteristics of life adapting to changes in climate and geography. This
still moves quickly in his literal use of book-time, however slows us down from
warp speed to sub-light, like in Star
Trek when they shut down the antimatter drive and go to impulse power. Next he gets us ready to land on earth, in the
present day to begin the story of the discovery of a dot in the sky,
interestingly named C/2020 AS by astronomer Judith Morgan; as she must have had
20/20 vision to see this little thing heading towards us! The human “fight or flight” instinct dealing
with what was believed to be an asteroid threatening mankind’s annihilation turned
out to be a moot point. The “thing” fell
into a high earth orbit, released a series of lower orbit satellites, and began
communication to all people, in every language, on all topics, everywhere.
Earthlings simply called it “The Vessel” as it was a
mechanical device, a computerized probe if you will, which began a series of
electronic communications revealing – get this -- the unabridged cumulative knowledge
of the entire universe making it available to all of mankind. Roll over Rod Serling, as this Vessel didn’t
even want “To Serve Man” on a dinner plate, it offered only free advice and
asked nothing in return except immunity from censorship. There was no need for it to say, “Take me to
your leader,” because it already knew everything there was to know about the
leader, all leaders for that matter, it was omniscient. What does mankind do with so much information
available to everyone? That’s easy, with
destructive knowledge so available to radical extremist factions; we blow
ourselves up in no time at all.
So unfolded the storyline by David Millett; expertly embellished
with his extraordinary use of vocabulary, vernacular and vision. With a finesse gained from his proficiency as
a very technical person in real life, and possessing acumen of English due to
his British heritage, David Millett revealed a story unlike any I have read
before.
Charles Darwin is credited with the scientific theory of
natural selection, in his 1859 book On
the Origin of Species. David Millett
brings Darwin’s wisdom to the reader by beginning the chapters with one of his
quotes. One in particular I liked, “It is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to
change.” Adaptability is the characteristic of the humans that survive the nuclear
holocaust end of the planet, and frolic in the new beginning. Like turning an Etch-A-Sketch upside down and shaking it, David Millett once again
kicks in his warp drive and transports the reader some 10,000 years into the
future. All of society is different, expect everyone still speaks English and
wine has aged 10,000 years without turning to vinegar or even having the cork
dry out. Millett cleverly created
characters including an anthropological scientist along with his colleagues,
looking back to our current day with the wisdom of their history, our future,
known to them.
Homo Cosmiens: A new beginning to the final ending, allows David Millett to put his
fictional creativity using factual technological terms to the test of
credibility, fantasy and philosophy. Demonstrating how complex a person he is in real life, this book seems
to have been as much fun to write as it was to read. I feel David Millett unleashed his creativity
in a manner affording him a wide breath of topics within the scope of a futuristic
anthropological investigation. Although
at times I’d like to hear more about the details of the technologies envisioned,
he has certainly covered a broad array of issues including religion, abortion,
politics, human rights and the innate instinct of sentient life forms. This book is about as original a work as I
have experienced; a bit rough in places due to the fast time changes, yet a
classic of creativity that should grace the bookshelf of any Sci-Fi
enthusiast. You might say that David
Millett takes humanity out of the forest so that we can all see the trees.
Buy this book at Amazon.com
