The Dawn of MAN [Paperback]

Elbert Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2001

A Clash of Galactic Civilizations, An Empire in Crisis and Defeat,A Desperate Plan for Survival,The Dawn of MAN The Reiign were an ancient race with a far-flung galactic empire when cavemen roamed the Earth. Their golden age spanned many millennia and brought their philosophy of peaceful co-existence and technological exchange to many sentient species in their spiral arm of the Milky Way. Their progress toward universal self-determination is shattered by an invading menace from the Magellanic Cloud. The clash of equally ancient but diametrically opposed cultures leave the Reiign, a race genetically cleansed of aggressive tendencies for many thousands of years, facing annihilation. Desperate situations breed desperate measures A militant group of scientists escaped to the last frontier of the galaxy. In a last ditch attempt to save ir culture devise a stratagem to defeat the invaders. Their plan, a 50,000 year geno-biological project, results in the creation of the perfect warrior-a biological construct bred for aggression and genetically optimized for war; a being sociologically conditioned to the shedding of blood on a mass scale, the ultimate killing machine...MAN!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elbert Lewis, Jr.Elbert was born in Logan, West Virginia in 1950. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati; majored in Civil Engineering. He retired in 1999 to pursue a second career as an artist and writer. He is a former Marine and served with the 3rd. Division in Viet Nam [1969-70]

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse; illustrated edition edition (June 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595185878
• ISBN-13: 978-0595185870
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,628,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting..., December 31, 2002

By 

Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dawn of MAN (Paperback)

The Dawn of Man is an interesting Sci-Fi novel by Elbert Lewis that combines modern day racial and social issues with those of a futuristic intergalactic threat. The novel opens with Olsen, an FBI field agent, assigned to investigate a brutal rape/murder of a young, African American girl in the Deep South. A White supremacy group is suspected in the murder and is eventually traced to a complicated assassination plot at the higher levels of the national government. During the course of questioning, Olsen discovers that his Viet Nam mentor, Logan, is alive and has publicly declared revenge on those who committed such a heinous crime. Logan, who appears to have not aged in 30 years, shares with Olsen an incredible tale of man's origins on Earth that goes against the established Christian creation beliefs. Logan reveals that man was created from an alien experiment called the Genetic Optimized Development (GOD) project in which the genetic composition of the Neanderthal (caveman) was altered to create the Mutation Accelerated Nemesis (MAN). MAN is made to become an ultimate fighting machine for The Reiign, a passive alien race. He also warns Olsen of an imminent alien invasion of The Reiign's enemies, The Hadarans (a feline-like race reminiscent of King's Sleepwalker characters), which is met with much doubt and cynicism by Olsen's superiors and America's leaders until what Logan predicted begins to come true.

The story progresses to include familiar themes of the poly-ethnic man as a supreme being, an implication of a second American Civil War, and the global uniting of humankind to overcome a common enemy. Lewis's Logan character is a refreshing and likeable hero; he is focused, smart, African American, and has a strong sense of justice. Lewis develops the remaining central characters fairly well while others are rather one-dimensional being introduced and dismissed rather quickly within the many subplots intertwined in the novel. Even with Lewis's assistance, this reader found it somewhat confusing to keep up with the number of acronyms used in describing the military/government agencies, military terms, and the contrived devices and utilities of Logan's alien technology. Besides a few editorial glitches, the novel is very suspenseful and moves well, at some points proved to be a great page-turner. This reader was a little disappointed in the ending (there were some loose ends), but understood it and is looking forward to the sequel.

Overall, Lewis does a good job at laying the foundation for a plausible, alternate universe that includes The Reiign, The Hadarans, a new order on Earth, and MAN's role in all of it. This book is recommended for true science fiction lovers.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Empire in Crisis !, February 4, 2003

By 

Mahogany Book Club "Mahogany Media Review" (Albany, N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dawn of MAN (Paperback)

A clash of Galactic Civilizations !
This is one of the best Scifi books i've read. This is so thought provoking it makes you wonder what if? The story was a fast read, I read it in two days. Great for discussions.

Dawn
Mahogany Book Club

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Characterization, July 30, 2003

By 

lori lang (Cincinnati, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dawn of MAN (Paperback)

Unbelievable story line that keeps you glued to the pages! Can truly relate to some of the characters personalities. A sci-fi lovers DREAM.