The Second Coming PDF
Preview The Second Coming
At the end of this preachy near-future tale of a black messiah, the first of a new series, SF veteran Dalmas (_The Lizard War_) acknowledges that he drew his hero's teachings from Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's four "Michael books," the Bible and thinkers ranging from Jacques Barzun to Paramhansa Yogananda. A blend of Eastern and Western prophets, Ngunda Elija Aran can heal others and levitate himself while offering love, rebirth and redemption in a violent, economically depressed America, where at least race and gender appear no longer to be issues (the U.S. president is a black woman). Many fear that Aran's Millennium movement is merely another cult out to make money and converts, and much of the overwrought narrative concerns his enemies' efforts to assassinate him. Insisting he's not Christ reborn, Aran predicts the imminent arrival of a vague "Infinite Soul" to coincide with a natural disasterâ€"an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Fans of apocalyptic fiction who can overlook the often clumsy, plodding prose will be in heaven. The icky jacket art, depicting a black man caught in the cross-hairs of a gun sight against an American flag backdrop, says it all.
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In a chaotic and rapidly changing American landscape a decade or so hence, a former Olympic swimmer has been elected the first woman president, the country is mired in another Great Depression, and the Messiah is about to return in the form of mild-mannered New Age guru Ngunda Aran. While Aran travels the country with an entourage of disciples, his reputation as a media darling and a target of would-be assassins grows. Spontaneous healings and even mysterious auras follow in his wake, and Aran becomes more and more Jesus-like in ways both inspiring and ominous, for Aran is predicting not only his own martyrdom but also an imminent, catastrophic meteor strike that will be instrumental in elevating humanity to a new stage of social and spiritual evolution. Former paratrooper and research ecologist Dalmas delivers an odd mixture of social commentary, espionage tactics, and New Age philosophy. His yarn's religious overtones may disappoint hardcore sf fans, but others will be satisfied by its fast pace and apocalyptic action. Carl Hays
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