Customer Reviews

Dusk Before the Dawn

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dusk Before the Dawn (2006) is the first novel in the Enlightenment Cycle. According to Mayan predictions, the current 3,000 year cycle will end with a cataclysmic incident. Julius, a Mayan villager who has been educated in the United States, has gathered a group of fellow villagers to meditate on the top of El Templo del Gran Jaguar while awaiting the coming event.

In this novel, Professor Gerald Tooney has come to believe that the world is facing mass extinctions under the current polities; too many people and not enough sense. He releases a breed of nanomedical devices that cause sleepiness and then coma in the victims. These devices infect people around the world, causing countless deaths to persons in cars, planes and other vehicles. If untreated, the survivors will eventually die.

Joseph Davis is the father of two girls. On a trip to the beach, the youngest falls asleep in the water, but Joseph pulls her to safety. As they speed toward the hospital where Joseph works, the other girl falls asleep and then his wife. Joseph becomes very sleepy, but still rushes into the emergency room and cries out for help.

Janet Grayson, PhD, is a topline researcher in nanomedical devices. She awakes in a strange hospital and later learns from Gerald Tooney that she has been unconscious for months. Tooney needs her help to solve a problem with the nutritive nanos, which have recently been losing effectiveness.

Master Yang is an instructor in Taijiquan. As part his instruction, Master Yang also teaches meditation and the use of Qi, a spiritual force within the body that is often thought of as energy by Westerners. Unlike his latest students, Joseph and Janet, Master Yang is capable of detecting and flushing the nanomeds in his system before they can cause sleepiness.

Julius and his student Carlos have come to the city where Tooney is operating to guide the effects of this manmade disaster. Julius has achieved enlightenment -- i.e., the capability of imposing his will on the world -- and one of the effects of the nanomeds is the lowering of barriers between such enlightened persons. They are able to perceive each other from a distance. A major part of his agenda is to reestablish contact with other such enlightened persons throughout the world.

This novel is about the coming of a millennium, albeit from a different perspective. In several respects, it is similar to The Second Coming by John Dalmas; e.g., it draws on Buddhist and other religious principles. Yet this work more closely resembles the spiritual aspects of Asian martial arts than these religious dogmas per se. Qi (also known as ki or chi) is integral to most such disciplines, although often misinterpreted by Westerners.

This novel also resembles the backstory of The Shadow radio play and movie; the ancient powers may return to the enlightened. This work is only the first novel in the Enlightenment Cycle. There is more to come!

This is the author's first novel and an excellent work. However, it occasionally shows; some passages are a bit awkward, probably because the writer knew what he meant even if the reader doesn't quite get it on the first reading. Yet such passages are infrequent and should disappear with more practice. Overall, this novel was very hard to put aside when other duties arose (like sleeping).

Highly recommended for The Second Coming fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of martial arts, ancient powers and exotic cultures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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.

Dusk Before the Dawn combines the ancient with the ultra-modern in describing an apocalyptic-like event that is far outside the norm of doom and gloom prophecy. Put aside any ideas involving a whimper or a bang, for in this story men, women, and children all over the world simply begin to fall asleep - not according to any kind of divine will, but rather via the free will of a brilliant scientist. Convinced that mankind is on the verge of irrevocably destroying the natural habitat of the earth, Dr. Gerard Tooney, an expert in nano-medicine, decided to act before it was too late. Having discovered a way to achieve self-replication in nanobots, he unleashed his microscopic minions on an unsuspecting world, thereby freeing nature to reestablish its natural balance in the absence of human destruction.

Of course, millions died in the aftermath (such as those driving or flying at the time of the Big Sleep), but Tooney believes he had no choice but to act as he did. There's no question that the Earth has been revitalized from the temporary elimination of humanity's dangerous influence, yet Tooney now has reason for concern. The feeder bots he developed are failing, which puts in jeopardy the lives of all individuals currently in stasis. Tooney has gone so far as to "resume" select individuals to help him, including Dr. Janet Grayson, a former colleague (and expert on nanobot replication) he basically kidnapped after usurping some of her own private research - not the kind of thing that encourages cooperation and trust.

Meanwhile, scattered individuals and pockets of people watch and wait, unaffected by Tooney's nanobots - some of whom had prior knowledge of the current crisis. What has happened to the world is simply the fulfillment of ancient prophecies of such enlightened cultures as the ancient Mayans. One such group, led by the enigmatic, cigar-smoking Julius, has prepared for this moment in time, monitoring Tooney's work and even manufacturing their own version of the anti-bots used to "resume" select individuals. With their links to other enlightened groups around the world (both technologically and - increasingly - spiritually), they are prepared to reshape the brave new world to come. Getting to that point is the hard part, especially with the wild card of a megalomaniacal associate determined to use Tooney's anti-bots for his own immense gain.

Larry Ketchersid has written a very impressive first novel, one with a distinct vision and a creative approach to apocalyptical theorizing. The way of enlightenment plays just as important a role as the cutting-edge science that invigorates the story. Various sub-plots among a cast of personable characters are incorporated seamlessly into the overall narrative. The book pays tribute to the remarkable accomplishments of past cultures while introducing esoteric ideas of spiritual enlightenment and martial arts philosophy in a wonderfully engaging manner. You won't find many novels that so effectively compare and contrast quantum mechanics with the concept of Qi. With Dusk Before the Dawn being the first book in Ketchersid's Enlightenment Cycle, much more along these religious/spiritual lines are doubtless to come, and this reader certainly looks forward to the second installment in the series.

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.


4 out of 5 spaceships

Reviewer: Dr. Phil Rhyne for Multiverse Reviews

The theme of this book is not usually one I'd 'go for' when selecting a book off the shelf, but after reading just a few pages, I was interested and found the book to be quite enjoyable. Based on the main themes of the book (nanotechnology, Armageddon type of event, etc) I thought the book would be a little far-fetched, but it was actually a very good read, and the storyline was played out quite well. Definitely two thumbs up! (or 5 stars in this case...)

I was real impressed with the book and enjoyed the story. I know quite a bit more about nano-technology than I did before reading the book and believe that the readers would benefit from some links to further information on the subject.

I just finished reading Larry's new book "Dusk Before the Dawn". It was a creative story line, and a wonderful mix of high technology and ancient wisdom. The premise and motivation of the characters added to the mix to create energy and depth to the plot. Larry artfully builds the story and moves the reader in surprising ways along the journey.

Larry takes us into the near future building on current leading edge ideas an places it in juxtaposition with ancient ideas and teachings. And to keep it going, adds environment concerns as an underpinning for the actions of some of the characters.

The writing makes you think about the action. It was hard to put the book down.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to more work by this author.

This book would make an excellent movie.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did.

This is rip-snortin' science fiction with sexy redheads, mad scientists, kindly Zen masters and brainy heroes. Underlying it all is Enlightenment--that aesthetic force that might overcome all evil, if only everyone would get with the program. In Dusk Before Dawn, Larry Ketchersid puts forth the idea that the technological innovations of the future might be able to cure humankind's ills if it were not for the greedy bastards who, unfortunately, tend to turn good things into bad. Or is it really them? Maybe not. From Guatemala to Hawaii, a gaggle of heroes and scoundrels tries to figure out what happened and what, or who, to do about it. The objective--to save humanity. A great first novel. So when do we get the sequel?

I found Dusk Before Dawn very entertaining. It is a great escape from reality. The book weaves a tale of a scientist gone mad who takes the problem of the over-population of the earth into his own hands. Along the way, the reader gets an inside glimpse of two worlds that are rarely discussed in such books--nano-technolgy and ancient civilizations. The mad scientist uses nano-technology to put the human population to sleep while the earth regenerates. This is a very timely topic as the subject of global warming and over-population is "heating up" around the world. In addition, the author gives the reader a great inside look at ancient civilizations who have seemingly been made obsolete by modern times but whose cultures are very important in a changed world. I encourage everyone to read this book!

Larry Ketchersid and I swapped novels (Napoleon's Pyramids is mine) for mutual comment and I thoroughly enjoyed his debut effort. This is a novel with a big idea - if our planet is truly threatened by human population growth and technology, what is the ultimate solution - and what is the morality of that solution? At what point does the idealism of a genius become insanity? And is there a need for a change in human consciousness, and can this truly be achieved? This is a lot to bite off, and the author has constructed a very fast-paced story that covers a lot of ground within an apocalyptic scenario. It is a novel of ideas more than character, and I suspect Ketchersid's skill in deepening his characters and developing his descriptive skills will grow as he continues with this science fiction series. Recommended to those with interest in the conflict between science and technology, in nanotechnology, in the Mayan calendar, and in meditation and altered states of consciousness. Its themes reminded me of books such as Childhood's End, Jurassic Park, and Canticle for Leibowitz. It will be interesting to see where the author takes his saga.