From Publishers Weekly
Chopra (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind) is a name-brand nonfiction author, having offered his message of spiritual healing in a variety of books and audios. Now he has teamed with Greenberg (cocreator of Tom Clancy's Power Plays series) to add adventure fiction to his output. The setting is the Syrian Desert, in the area of Baghdad and Damascus. Michael Aulden is an American surgeon, doing relief work among the war-torn local peoples. He has been drawn to this mission by his "questions, ideals, dilemmas." Among these are recurring religious visionsA"fevered revelations" that appear to him in dreamsAof Armageddon. When he discovers an Islamic prophet named Ishmael, he fears that ruin will soon be visited on earth. Aulden must reach within himself, test his own supernatural powers, to see if he, too, can affect fate. Corbett's zealous narrational style plays up the story's portentous leanings: action-adventure served up as a life lesson for the ages. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's mass market paperback. (Apr.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA-A sort of Pilgrim's Progress by way of The Celestine Prophecy, this allegory of a soul's education is the first of a series. Michael Aulden, an American doctor working to repair bodies ravaged by war in the Middle East, encounters Ishmail, a false prophet who emerges from the desert bringing both ecstatic visions and devastation in his wake. Michael is one of the few souls strong enough to see beyond Ishmail's illusions, and he undergoes a series of trials that challenge his assumptions about the nature of reality and lead eventually to a resolution of his inner conflicts. Along the way, he and readers learn much about Jewish, Christian, and Islamic history and the traditions underlying concepts such as Armageddon, the Messiah, the Kabbalah, love, evil, illusion, and free will. Michael's journey is a mystery (in both literary senses: a spiritual story, and a detective adventure) that does finally achieve a satisfactory resolution for metaphysically minded readers. Written with the narrative pace and snappy style of a popular thriller, the tale, though a bit overlong, is leavened with colorful, believable, and often humorous characters and events. Paradoxically, the light touch and realism are juxtaposed with hallucinatory episodes and unsettling (and sometimes confusing) plot twists. This book obviously is not for everybody, but it is very well done, and will appeal to teens exploring alternative spiritual paths, to those troubled by events in the Middle East, and to readers of contemporary fantasy.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
