Jon Saboe, The Days of Peleg (2007)
Outskirts Press, Inc.
619 pages (trade paperback)
$19.95
Earth: The Final Frontier. This is the voyage of the Great Discovery Vessel Urbat, its twelve-year mission to seek out new civilizations and new trade, to boldly go ….
Peleg, earnest and stalwart, and his good friend Serug, impetuous but loyal, live nearly a century after the Great Awakening. The two of them decide to volunteer to serve aboard an exploratory ship seeking to find out what happened to the human race following the diaspora that resulted from the Awakening.
From birth, Peleg has been taught that Knowledge is the final goal of existence; serving as Chief Cartographer aboard the Urbat seems to be an ideal means of achieving that goal for him. But Peleg could never anticipate what would happen to him, not just physically but also spiritually, on this voyage of discovery.
For the civilization he leaves behind—a secularized world of confidence shading into arrogance—would undergo a radical change in his absence; and his own mind would expand into areas of knowledge he never could have acquired if he had stayed home.
Certainly Peleg and his friends don’t lack for adventure. During their twelve-year voyage, they or the ones they leave behind would experience, among many other things …
… polytheism …
The argument was that, although Viracocha devoured the moon every month, the moon was resurrected anew, thereby demonstrating its superior vitality. Also, Mamaquilla regulated the months and tides, and although the Sun was essential, Mamaquilla was the most miraculous and ingenious of the gods made by Virachocha.
… "high technology" …
He told of the days hundreds of millennia ago when the gods formed ancient men who were little more than dumb brutes. He told of the arrival of the Anunnaki—inhabitants of Nibiru—in their ships from the stars powered by gold dust, who uplifted humanity and gave them longevity, wisdom, and the sciences of metallurgy, chemistry, and mathematics. They had endowed humanity with the mysteries of astronomy, space, and time.
… understatement …
"I do believe we have been selected for live burial."
… political treachery …
As he stepped down from the stage, people pressed forward to touch his hand, or convey their adorations with words or a brief intense look. A man in a fashionable hood approached and pushed through to stand next to him. A knife flashed. Those standing near screamed as a cloud of blood sprayed over them.
… acrophobia …
He had never been more terrified. He would almost have preferred to drown in the pyramid’s water clock. Heights were one thing. Floating suspended in a gondola attached to a ship or the ground was another. But removing all ties to the earth and allowing the winds to carry you as far (and as high) as they wished was beyond all comprehension.
… spiritual insight …
"Only when you have received the Zeh-ra into your Volition can you discern how empty and void you were before He entered. One must also be cautious since the Nephilim will also attempt to enter your Spirit and control you. However, since it wasn’t designed for them, their forceful nature and your accompanying physical discomfort expose them quickly."
… and more understatement …
"You may have noticed, Peleg, that our city has changed somewhat since you were last here."
Along with all that, you’ll learn why OOPARTS are necessary to a proper grasp of history—AND your Sumerian vocabulary will increase by several hundred percent, guaranteed.
Author Jon Saboe has created a webpage to accompany The Days of Peleg. He tells me you can go there before reading the book without encountering spoilers.
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—Mike Gray