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Summer Snow

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Rebeccasreads highly recommends SUMMER SNOW as a lively adventure story about love in a time of war. It's also, mainly, a deeply religious & spiritual tale describing transcendental meditation, the history of Sufism & insights into who we are, what we're doing & where we're going.

In this time of post-9/11, US Special Forces doing battle with al-Qaeda in faraway places, come now to Kyrgyzstan where Cholpon is a farmer of honeydew melons. She's also a lifelong member of an ashram with both Vedic & Muslim traditions, which bought an abandoned Soviet collective farm in a valley high in the mountains.

Now the leader of the ashram tells Cholpon of a vision -- that she is to take a load of produce into Bishkek, the distant market town, sell it, bank the earnings... & await her destiny there.

Meanwhile, Jeff Madsen, no longer a youngster in Vietnam, awakens to gunfire. Trying to get a grip on reality, he knows the sound of battle yet can't place himself nor the woman beside him. Finally remembering he's now in the State Department administering foreign aid he watches a raid on the Kyrgyz Air Force Base across the street.

Old warrior that he is, he knows what he's seeing: a unit of intruders blasting the gates, rushing into the base & then returning with something heavy on a pallet which they load into their truck. Old warrior that he is, he gets out into the shadowed street, takes up the weapon of a fallen guard & shoots at the leaving truck, hitting the driver. The vehicle slows & intruders pour from the back. As Base guards arrive to do battle, one of the intruders lobs a grenade & Jeff dives for cover.

Punctured by shrapnel, he staggers back to the apartment where his lover refuses to let him in. As he stumbles along the hallway, heading out, another door opens & another woman asks him if he's hurt.

Cholpon's destiny has arrived.

With equal skill William T. Hathaway, in his debut novel, writes about war zones & battles & meditation & eternity.

No country on earth is exempt from ruthless power mongers who buy and sell violence and destruction on a daily basis. Humankind is overwhelmed with chaos. This story of an American warrior in love with a Sufi woman is a standout, thanks to William Hathaway's exceptional writing style.

The harm we do others always comes back to us. No one understands that cosmic law better than Jeff Madsen. Madsen is a Vietnam era veteran still haunted by his experiences there. His position as U.S. State Department Foreign Aid officer in Kyrgyzstan is playing politics and little else. His marriage is in shambles. His job is a balancing act, placating the Russian and Kyrgyz military while trying not to offend Muslim potentates. When terrorists steal a weapon of mass destruction, Jeff's warrior instincts resurface.

Cholpon is a Sufi sister in her mid thirties. She lives in a remote mountainous area of Kyrgyzstan and has survived

communism and Muslim mullahs who despise the Sufis. For fifteen years she's learned to harness transcendental meditation and astral channeling to strengthen her chakras. Cholpon meets her karma head on in the person of Jeff Madsen, who shows up on her doorstep bleeding from a terrorist attack nearby. She soon becomes a loving spark of life to a heart Jeff thought was dead.

Learning the Sufi way of harmony and peace transforms the warrior. He understands such peaceful unterventions may be the only chance Earth has of surviving endless war. When Cholpon and her gentle sisters locate the stolen atomic warhead, Jeff fears for their survival. Will the Sufi's peaceful interventions or man's warring nature save millions from destruction?

This touching love story is also a modern day adventure thriller that blends Sufi mystics, militant terrorists, metaphysical mysteries, and double dealing men of every nationality in surprising ways. This is a true picture of the world we live in as it is, and as it could be if lasting love

and peace were possible.

Combining a story of the military with Sufi mysticism, William T. Hathaway manages to conquer the two topics in a cohesive work of fiction in his novel `Summer Snow.'

A Vietnam veteran, Jeff Madsen, finds himself in the midst of the war on terrorism in Kyrgyzstan, where he meets a Sufi mystic, Cholpon, who is trying to achieve peace through the collective consciousness under the tutelage of her shayka or spiritual teacher, Djamila.

In `Summer Snow' Hathaway explores how everything is connected. When shown against a backdrop of political conflict and the possibility of a nuclear bomb being set off, it shows the futility of war since the universe is inside of us just as we are in it. Therefore, an attempt to destroy it is an attempt to destroy ourselves. All it accomplishes is setting us further from our goal of enlightenment and true inner glory. The physical things are maimed, but the spiritual energy lives on.

While Jeff attempts to escape from his violent past through alcoholism, Cholpon struggles with a far more distant past - a past life in which it appears she and Jeff were unable to fulfill their desires. As they come together in this life during this violent and tumultuous time, their love reawakens and they find themselves immersed in circumstances far out of the realm of their every day lives.

In contrast to Djamila and Cholpon's world, where they are one with the universe, there is Jeff's world where he is constantly fighting battles he can never win.

In the midst of this story, when taken into the context of the world we now live in, there is a political message against the leaders of the world who use violence as a means to solve the problems of their nations. Hathaway is clearly advocating peace. The vision he presents in `Summer Snow' offers an alternative in dealing with perceived enemies.

This vision is a beautiful one, offering the possibility that meditation can change the consciousness of those who continue the warfare. Take a pause and think about what this could mean for our world. Unfortunately, as Djamila says in the book, "we are too few, too late. So now Kali must have her dance." The goddess of destruction takes over and those who live through it must deal with what is left afterwards.

`Summer Snow' is a compelling read, offering a unique perspective on war and peace. It blends suspense, passion and spirituality in a thriller that not only gets your heart racing, but also challenges your mind and spirit to be aware of their place in the universe as "little cells of the great body of God, each with a job to do."

Summer Snow is a remarkable novel -- at once shockingly violent and dramatic, yet at the same time filled with the transcendent. A quiet mysticism plays a major role in the action and in the life of one of the main characters. It's hard to imagine a writer deftly combining these elements, but William Hathaway has done so.

At the same time, the novel is a real page-turner. Hathaway knows plot. Yet to my mind, the most extraordinary skill of this writer is his sense of setting. In his earlier Vietnam novel (A World of Hurt), and now in this one set in Kyrgyzstan, he knows how to evoke a milieu. Even such mundane details as riding a city bus -- Hathaway lets you experience it, and in the process you develop a sense for the people, the culture, the poverty, the post-Soviet mindset, and the innate and ancient culture of the Kyrgyz people.

Also worthy of note is the lyricism of the writing. You not only get vivid detail regarding the country, but get it in the most satisfying and graceful language.

Hathaway lived in Kyrgyzstan following the dissolution of the Soviet empire. In addition to everything else, the novel gives you an authentic flavor of the place and of the motley people who comprise a Kyrgyz metropolis: Russians, Kyrgyz, state department officials, aid workers, American special forces, Sufis, fundamentalist Muslems -- and terrorists. All figure into the plot.

A great read!

The author is a master of language. Whatever scene I was reading, I wanted to stay with it and savor it longer before moving on to the next. Summer Snow is one of those books I wanted to keep reading -- but it ended before I was ready to leave it.

Summer Snow reads on several levels all at once. Very much point and counterpoint. There is the story itself, the romance and the war, and this particular man and woman and the interplay of their diverse cultures and their relationship to the world they both live in. And, all the while, there is the bigger universal picture, and the representation of the power of silence in contrast to the surface turbulence of war.

When I finished the book, I felt a sense of peace and a quiet energy, and ever since, I find my thoughts going back to the characters in this novel.

Make your next book longer, William!

Ex-Special Forces and Vietnam veteran, Jeff Madsen, is back in the firing line, but this time working with USAID in the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan. When a bomb disappears, it is clear it has been taken possibly by terrorists, but who? It could be Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, what's left of Saddam's Amn al-Has, Iran, the Chechens or even the Russian mafia. With the help of US troops stationed in the country, Jeff has the arduous job of tracking the bomb down, and with a ten million dollar reward, the search is on.

However, this story is more than just a military adventure, and this is what makes it special and so suitable for alternative-read. It truly is a 'lively and spirited alternative read', as stated in our tagline.

Step in the love interest, Cholpon, a honeydew melon farmer and a mystic Sufi. Cholpon lives with a group of nuns lead by the wise visionary Djamila. While conducting a meditation session, Choplon is told that she is needed in a place called Bishkek to fulfil her dharma;

Djamila bowed to her. "Allah-aum." She took Cholpon's hand. Although the Shayka's face was mostly unlined, her hands were wizened and wrinkled. Their touch, though, gave Cholpon a surge of energy that flooded her brain with light and her heart with calm. Just being in Djamila's presence, or even looking at her picture, had a powerful affect, but her touch was concentrated Shakti force. "Something else was in the vision," Djamila continued, "something about a man."

The adventure unfolds as Jeff meets Cholpon, and the patterns of their destiny begin to form. Despite the fact that their backgrounds couldn't be further apart, they discover a mutual attraction for each other and soon a beautiful relationship develops. Unfortunately, Jeff has a lot of healing to do and with the help of Cholpon, and the wise words of Djamila, he learns to treat his old pains through meditation and prayer. Physically and emotionally scarred, Jeff has to face up to the horrors of Vietnam because he believes his own mistakes cost the life of his best friend and team sergeant. In addition, new battles emerge, as he copes with his wife, Valerie's, request for divorce and the guilt of 'still being married' and finding himself falling in love with another woman.

As an anti-war activist, Hathaway is a member of Veteran Call to Conscience, an organisation that encourages soldiers to refuse to kill. He is also involved with a group of European peace workers who have established a sanctuary network sheltering US soldiers who refuse to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. His involvement with these parties is evident in his book, which carries a universal message of love, hope and peace that really shines through and shows his ability to explore what would happen if everlasting happiness and peace were to be found.

Reviewed October 06

Sassy

Summer Snow is a fiction by William T.Hathaway, a US war veteran and now a peace activist. The story takes place in Kyrgyzstan, which has borders with several other countries including Afghanistan, China and Tajikistan etc. A nuclear bomb is stolen and it is suspected that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations could be after it for inflicting extensive damage on US property and life. A group of Sufi women try to bring the story to a peaceful end through Transcendental Meditation, popularised by Maharshi Mahesh Yogi.

The story is told in an interesting way. The book is special in the sense that there is no hero. Jeff Madsen, the American veteran, who is dragged into the mess, is not the typical hero. The heroes if any are Djamila the Sufi Master and Cholpon, her main disciple.

The novel is a good blend of war, religion and philosophy. Djamila integrates Sufi Islam and the TM of Hinduism. The peace which radiates from an advanced meditator is not fiction and can be experienced even today in some of the Ashrams (Hermitages) of India. Though in the story, Djamila fails to resolve the theft of the nuke peacefully (because the meditation is below the critical threshold and the sudden entrance of Al-Qaeda throws the process out of gear), the author succeeds in interesting the reader sufficiently to try out the meditation techniques described as instruments of peace.

The love scene between Jeff and Cholpon is described rather too vividly but it serves the purpose of highlighting the importance of sex as a breaker of the ego barrier albeit very briefly. The author rightly conveys the permanence of meditation for breadking the barriers of one's ego.

The ending is tragic yet not contrived. The story is well told and holds the attention of the reader. I enjoyed reading the book as a physicist and also as a student of spirituality. Though I don't practise the meditation techniques described in the novel, I know that they are real and potent. I recommend the book to all the readers who are interested in peace at personal, national and international levels.

Note: Though I am spiritually inclined, I am not a Yogi or Sanyasi (Monk). And you too need not be one to enjoy the book. I also apologise to the other authors and publicists for taking up this book ahead of their books, since this was the second of the two books which were at hand when I was hospitalised and did not have access to the previously received books. Now also, I am not yet sufficiently strong to take the several serious non-fiction books and so will finsih some more novels and easily read non-fiction, which are pending. Thanks for understanding.

William T. Hathaway's Summer Snow

by Milo Clark

Book Review

Hathaway, William T.: Summer Snow, Avatar Publications, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, 2005, ISBN 0-9738442-3-X (paperback) - E-book (pdf): ISBN 0-9738442-4-8, Microsoft Reader: ISBN 0-97388442-5-6.

(Swans - March 27, 2006) Summer Snow is a relatively simple novel crafted around universal themes: cross-cultural love, first loyalties, governmental duplicities, contemporary lists of nasties, and a chase in search of an errant nuke.

William T. Hathaway* is a very interesting man, too. Tested as a special operations warrior in Vietnam and Panama, he is now a strong anti-war activist. Daniela brightens his dark and dank German apartment. He wrote Summer Snow during a year-and-a-half in the country that forms his stage.

That stage is Kyrgyzstan, a central Asian relic of the defunct Soviet Union. History is very deep out there. Mountains and crags and roadless wilds dominate the landscape. The Silk Road that once connected Europe to the silks and spices of Asia passes through. For most of modern history, little of note to outsiders happened there.

Its strategic siting, however, presently commands a degree of attention from those so minded. It is centrally located in the great swath from Balkans to Bering Strait that undergirds Mother Russia. The Great Game has long been played across its fields.

Kyrgyzstan is on top of Afghanistan and provides funnels in and out of that troubled conglomerate of tribal allegiances so recently unknown to most Americans. The only bridge into northern Afghanistan leaves from Kyrgyz soil.

The Soviets had a number of missile silos in Kyrgyzstan. It is one leftover warhead that provides focus for Summer Snow's chase.

Add in one complexity to differentiate Summer Snow. The heroine, Cholpon, imbued with requisite dark-haired, dark-eyed exotic central Asian beauty is also a devotee of Djamila, an older woman and Shakya, head of an all woman order. Djamila has fashioned a fusion of Islamic Sufism, Hindu mysticism, and Transcendental Meditation (TM). Djamila knows how to save the world. Her women are both devoted and industrious.

Cholpon is, however, also a very modern woman with a bra that hooks in front. Needless to say, her bra holds myriad promises of delights most attractive to the American protagonist, Jeff. He is a battle-worn veteran of special operations, Vietnam and such, now retired somewhat. As a rather standard, densely-headed American, a bit on the "ugly" side, he needs some convincing that Djamila's version of TM will lead those who stole the nuke to give it back and go away quietly.

Government officials from Kyrgyz functionaries to American diplomats and military, including Jeff most of the time, are insensitive, undistinguished, and unaware of the games being played until, naturally, almost too late. The carnage is an undertaker's dream.

In the course of the novel, Jeff manages nearly to get killed several times. He is much cut up, battered, punctured, and shot in various non-lethal places of his battle-worn body. With amazing resilience, Jeff soldiers on through thick and thin, snow and ice, always tempting overwhelming odds.

There are interludes with Cholpon, naturally.

For those, such as myself, fascinated with Central Asia and its spiritual disciplines, Summer Snow is a compendium. The mix of Sufi, Hindu, and TM ideas takes some suspension of credulity at the start but then flows relatively seamlessly to the denouement.

Whether Jeff or Djamila wins Cholpon, whether TM or Delta Force returns the nuke to safe hands, whether Jeff gets "it" are questions better left to the reading of Summer Snow.

Happy days!

* Some of Hathaway's commentaries may also be found through SWANS.COM.

· · · · · ·

Hathaway, William T.: Summer Snow, Avatar Publications, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, 2005, ISBN 0-9738442-3-X (paperback) - E-book (pdf): ISBN 0-9738442-4-8, Microsoft Reader: ISBN 0-97388442-5-6.