A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor [Paperback]

Robert G. Pielke (Author), A. R. Stone (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1936021234 | ISBN-13: 978-1936021239 | Edition: 2nd

It has taken centuries to recognize that all humans possess certain unalienable rights. There will come a time when we have to consider whether others deserve those rights as well. That time will come on July 3rd 1863.

When a stranger carrying a shiny,metalic valise steps aboard a train carrying Abraham Lincoln home from a 2 year stint in Congress, everyone stares, wondering about the stranger's odd clothing and strange footware with the word Nike emblazoned on them.

When the strange man shows up in Lincoln's office at the White house 14 years later, still wearing the same clothes, carrying the same valise and looking not a day older, the president and his staff know something is odd.

But when Edwin Blair opens his valise and projects a 3d image of the Earth on Lincoln's wall, then proceeds to tell a fanciful tale about time traveling aliens preparing to land at Gettysburg on July 3rd, they are sure they've met a lunatic.

Unfortunately for them, they're wrong.

A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor, is the first book in a new science fiction series that follows the adventures of Edwin Blair and the aliens knowns as Pests as they chase each other through all the centuries of Earth's past.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pielke draws in the reader with an intriguing opening section—in which a mysterious figure seeks out Abraham Lincoln in 1849 with a very unusual request—before this historical sci-fi novel goes off the rails. Edwin Blair encounters the future president on a train and pays him to agree to meet with him again in 14 years. In need of cash, Lincoln agrees, and in 1863, while in the White House dealing with the Civil War, Lincoln grants Blair an audience at a turning point in the conflict. Blair reveals himself as a visitor from the distant future, 2163, who needs the help of both the Union and Confederacy to save Earth from alien invaders known as the Pests. While the story will continue in at least one additional volume, Blair's indifference to how his intervention in a seminal event in U.S. history would change the future evidences a failure of imagination that will disappoint sci-fi fans. Civil War buffs will find better fictional depictions of the major figures elsewhere.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review

NOTE: Regarding PW's review and the comment about Blair's "indifference," the author is appreciative of the notice -- this indifference is quite intentional! As noted there will be two more novels in this trilogy - so keep reading! ;-).

SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW [7/5/11] "comprehensively well organized; every line and action focused. The real draw is the mystery and excitement. His writing is clean, precise, and perfectly well paced." READ IT AT sanfranciscobookreview.com/science-fiction-fantasy/a-new-birth-of-freedom-the-visitor

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Altered Dimensions; 2nd edition (August 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936021234
• ISBN-13: 978-1936021239
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ROBERT PIELKE, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, now lives in Claremont, California.

He earned a B.A. in History at the University of Maryland, an M. Div. in Systematic Theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, and a Ph. D. in Social Ethics from the Claremont Graduate School.

He taught on ground and online for countless years at George Mason University in Virginia, El Camino College in California and online for the University of Phoenix. As a professor, he published a variety of articles, including an analysis of political labeling ("Political Typology: A Suggested Clarification" - in Reason Papers), a phenomenological depiction of science fiction ("Star Wars vs. 2001: A Question of Identity" - in Extrapolation and elsewhere), an ethical appraisal of humanity's eventual encounter with extra-terrestrials ("Humans and Aliens: A Unique Relationship" in Mosaic) and an exploration of sex roles ("Are Androgyny and Sexuality Compatible" in Mary Vetterling-Braggin's "Femininity" "Masculinity" and "Androgyny" - A Modern Philosophical Discussion - Littlefield Adams & Co.).

Now happily retired from "the job," he is doing what he always wanted to do since he wrote his first novel at ten in elementary school. It was one paragraph, three pages long and, although he didn't know it at the time, it was alternate history. Since then, in addition to his academic writings in ethics, logic, and popular culture, he has published short stories in Hard Copies and Phoebe, a feature articles in Cinefex, film reviews for Video Update and both fiction and non-fiction books: an analysis of rock music, You Say You Want a Revolution: Rock Music in American Culture, a boring academic treatise, Critiquing Moral Arguments, a savagely satirical novel on America and its foibles, proclivities and propensities, Hitler the Cat Goes West, and an alternate history, science fiction novel, The Mission.

Most recently, he has updated and revised his book on rock music and it is being republished by McFarland & Co. as Rock Music in American Culture: The Sounds of Revolution. Alternate Dimensions Press has published A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor, the first book of an alternate history/time-travel/first-contact science-fiction trilogy. The second of the three, The Translator, is soon to be released.

He swims daily, skis occasionally, cooks as an avocation, watches innumerable movies, collects rock and roll concert films, is an avid devotee of Maryland crabs and maintains a rarely visited blog filled with his social and political ravings. His favorite film is the original Hairspray; his favorite song is "A Day in the Life;" his favorite pizza is from the original Ledo Restaurant in College Park, MD; and he is a firm believer in the efficacy of "sex, drugs and rock and roll." Somehow his family and friends put up with him.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A exciting historical, time travelling novel, February 26, 2011

By 

Travis L. Barrett "papa5" (vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor (Paperback)

I haven't read a science fiction book in years. I don't care for alternate history stories. I am definitely not someone who feels like they spent another life fighting the awful war between the states. I only start this review by saying that to emphasize the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Pielke's book features the arrival of a time-traveller from the future (historian, Edwin Blair) in the American Civil War on the eve of Gettysburg. He receives an audience with Abraham Lincoln only to struggle to convince him and his advisers that he really does come from the future. He is desperate to do so, as something else is about to arrive from the future. Unless Blair can successfully convince the two sides to work together the results will be apocalyptic.

The most fascinating aspect of this novel is the integration of real researched history which comes to life on the page. I prefer to learn about things through travel and adventure, and as I accompanied Blair in his discussions and walks about the streets of Washington and the fields of Gettysburg, I felt like I was learning about history first hand. The detail Pielke gives, without bogging down the plot, is astounding and convincing.

This novel needs to be optioned for a movie. Many times I thought this as I read, so dramatic were the descriptions of situation and character. The moments before, during and after the arrival of the aliens in this book are so intense I did not want to stop reading.

If you like science fiction, you will like this book. If you like alternate history, you will like this book. If you like stories about time travel, history, or the civil war, you will like this book. If you don't, you will still like this book

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The eternal paradox of time travel!, August 17, 2010

By 

Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor (Paperback)

Is it possible to change the past without altering or de-constructing the present and its relevant future beyond recognition?

Despite almost certain failure, Edwin Blair, an academic from the 22nd century studying 19th century American history, has been assigned the task of visiting the USA, war torn and haemorrhaging from the self-inflicted wounds it is suffering in the bloodiest conflict in its history, the American Civil War. A cataclysmic battle in earth's distant future with a space-faring civilization, from which humanity escaped alive by the narrowest of margins, has left behind the intelligence that the invaders will return to earth. They will be landing in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest conflict of the Civil War, on the morning of July 3, 1863. Against all odds, with the help of a skeptical President Lincoln, Blair must persuade the commander of the Union's forces, General Meade, and his confederate opponent, General Robert E Lee, to cease hostilities to deal with invaders from another planet - a threat that they could not even begin to conceptualize let alone combat.

A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM is a provocative blend of genres - speculative fiction, sci-fi and alternate history - that brilliantly uses the irony of slavery and prejudice in early America as a springboard to deal with considerably less obvious sociological issues that Pielke is convinced mankind will ultimately face - alien first contact and communication. Convinced that Noam Chomsky is mistaken when he suggests that we will be unable to communicate with entirely alien species and refusing to accept Stephen Hawking's much-publicized fears about the dire results of alien knowledge of our existence in the cosmos, Pielke addresses the ultimate question of how we will deal with the extension to an alien species of what we consider to be inalienable rights appropriate for humans and humanity.

Pielke's writing style is exceptionally warm, pastoral and easy-going yet utterly absorbing and fascinating. A wealth of period detail immerses the reader in the minutiae of life during a turbulent 19th century America, a time when it was questionable whether the word "United" would ever be attached to the word "States". Long time fans of classic sci-fi will joyfully reminisce about their favourite stories from the likes of HG Wells, Clifford D Simak or Isaac Asimov and sigh with gratitude at the realization that these writing giants' ability to combine unforgettable story-telling with thought-provoking social commentary is being brought to life again in Pielke's debut novel.

Reading A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM was much more than merely exciting. It was a rare privilege and I look forward with bated breath to the continuation of a planned trilogy. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Watching A Movie!, February 8, 2011

By 

Lynn McMonigal (Jackson, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor (Paperback)

My love of reading came from my mother. My love of history--and my tolerance for science fiction--came from my father. These passions--and that said tolerance!--collided for me when I read Robert G. Pielke's book A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor.

I LOVED this book! And that is unusual for me. OK, so it's not unusual that I would love a book. It is just unusual that I would love a book that doesn't have a romance in it. In fact, now that I think of it, I am not sure there were any female characters in the book. Not that it's a bad thing. This book was just about perfect, even without a woman's touch.

The problem that I am having is giving you a description of the plot without giving anything away. The best that I can do is say that the book revolves around a visitor from America's distant future trying to save humanity by traveling to 1860's Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

What I liked about the book was the attention to detail. Historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee are described just as history books portray them. And I don't just mean in their looks. Pielke brings the men to life with their mannerisms and personality quirks. It was done in such a way that it both men seemed very real. It was wonderful.

Another great thing about the book is that while reading it I didn't often feel like I was reading. It was more like watching a movie. I felt like I was transported to the scene, watching everything unfold as the story was told.

The one thing I didn't like was the ending. AARRUUGGHH!!! Talk about a cliff-hanger! It did set up for the next book in the series. I can hardly wait to have that book in my hands.



Thank you to Nicole at Tribute Books for allowing me to review this book.