Dusk Before the Dawn, is definitely a novel that embraces the concept of global change. A layered tale set near the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization in El Petén, Guatamala, it takes the best kind of James Bond “world ends at the hands of mad scientist” plot, and then weaves through it elements of enlightenment and environmentalism. As a result it is an action driven story, mellowed with intent and contemplation as the more enlightened protagonists work to make the best of a bad situation.
Professional Reviews
The Bleeping Herald
The Mayan Long Count calendar ends in 2012 when the winter solstice sun crosses the galactic equator of the Milky Way. Modern interpretations of the Vedic Yuga doctrine place the end of the descending Kali Yuga in 2012. Michel de Nostredame, the great seer of the French Renaissance, predicted great changes around this time.
Dusk Before the Dawn, is definitely a novel that embraces the concept of global change. A layered tale set near the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization in El Petén, Guatamala, it takes the best kind of James Bond “world ends at the hands of mad scientist” plot, and then weaves through it elements of enlightenment and environmentalism. As a result it is an action driven story, mellowed with intent and contemplation as the more enlightened protagonists work to make the best of a bad situation.
Or is it a bad situation? Yes, “nanotechnology run amok in the wrong hands” is the means of the world-ending, but the question quickly arises, “Is this really about the world ending? Or is it about the world beginning?” Unlike James Bond, where the characters are clearly the goods guys versus the bad guys, Ketchersid populates his novel, for the most part, with people of good intent (with one definite exception). Life is a complex place with infinite variables, and so is the human mind and heart. Free will is the issue here, for good or for ill. Until humanity reaches an enlightened state, who can judge the difference?
A fast, enjoyable and thought provoking read, Dusk Before the Dawn has been chosen by the first round of judges in ForeWord’s Book of the Year Awards.
Paul Levinson , past president of the Science Fiction Writers Association, author of The Plot to Save Socrates
One of the best novels I’ve come across this year - I liked it so much, I added it to my best first science fiction novels list here on Amazon. A really fine mix of ancient culture, modern-future nanotech, written by a sure hand. Ketchersid offers just the right mix of science and myth, packed into a fast-paced story with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Highly recommended, especially for fans of what I think of as anthropological science fiction.
Dr. Phil Rhyne of Multiverse Reviews
There has been much debating, much watching, and much meditating at the El Templo del Gran Jaguar in the Tikal complex in Guatemala. Even those holding vigil are uncertain of what will come, but come it will.In North America and around the world, human life changes in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, but there are few left to hear what may be mankind’s last trumpet. Those few who do remain seem to have something special about them or, in the case of those artificially maintained, there is often something base about them.Who will save the world? Will it be a pure technologist, a scientist who is learning that all is not what we would have it be, or a group of people who think that mind does matter? More important, can they save the world and is it worth “saving” in its pre-event version?In Dusk Before the Dawn, author Larry Ketchersid does not ask us to suspend our imagination; he asks us to expand it and provides us the technical and historical backgrounds to begin doing so. Many novels have asked us to look at what would Earth do if humans gave the planet a break. Larry Ketchersid’s may be the most successful attempt since the hippies-era classic Ecotopia, although it is certainly not covering the topic in the same manner as the older book. No…this is fresh ground.Technology is a tool and like all tools requires the end-user to possess knowledge, skills, and (as the technology advances) wisdom. In the end, it is just a tool, unless it becomes sentient (not an issue in this book).
If tools don’t shape the world by themselves, then what does? Possibly, it is the human mind working through pure thought and meditation and, most assuredly, it is shaped by tools and human hubris working directly. Ketchersid asks us to look at the potential of the former and to question the continued viability of the latter.
For those of you with the time and interests to delve into the world(s) of quantum reality and mediation, it is certainly worth the effort. But don’t feel it mandatory, because Ketchersid will take you to an alternative future in Dusk Before the Dawn where you can learn and question. You’ll find it a thought provoking trip.
Dusk Before the Dawn gets a four (4) spaceship rating. You’ll find the “bad” people are often not totally bad, just ethically and morally challenged (ah…political correctness is a wonderful thing…NOT) and the good people have enough Jesuit in them that they can live with “the means justifying the ends”–this begs the question why is one wrong and the other right and is just another reason to get this book and start reading. I hope Dusk Before the Dawn won’t be Larry Ketchersid’s last novel…he needs to get more of us thinking.
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