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 4th 1863.

REVIEW

Review

To have met Abraham Lincoln would have been, no doubt, a memorable experience for anyone. But if someone was to say to you, “I’ll be meeting Lincoln in 14 years from now,” it would be absurd, right? What if that person convinces you of the meeting, scheduled in the future yet involving a person of the past, is a reality and every word true? You would come to the conclusion the person must possess some form of time traveling capability. Hence “time traveling” becomes your conclusion, your belief, and of your own free will in choosing this only possible logical explanation. (That person never said he is a time traveler, did he?) This is the skillful bases of an unforgettable story, A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor, by the exquisitely talented author Robert G. Pielke.

Dr. Pielke loves history as revealed by his credentials studying the past. Furthermore, residing in the heart of Civil War battlegrounds, he accumulated a wealth of minutia about the history of the Union and Confederacy. His “Systematic” studies in Christianity can be superimposed onto other systems, such as war, plus his Ph.D. in Social Ethics states volumes of his understanding of people’s values and behavior. Add his love of science fiction, and you have a brilliant, out-of-the-box thinker, an author of immense capability to write penetrating thoughts, original and novel by all accounts.

The story begins with a train ride, when a passenger engages a conversation with a back-woods country lawyer, a politician a bit in debt, a humble man with a mind sharp and discerning. The man is Abe Lincoln. I have found this “lead” as one of the finest works of literary foreshadowing into a storyline of a creative journey of epic proportions. His writing is a flavorful mix of Rod Serling with Frank Herbert, a bit of H. G. Wells and a touch of Gene Roddenberry, plus some Carl Sagan, yet all uniquely Robert G. Pielke. The Visitor creates a showcase in which Pielke ostentatiously demonstrates his knowledge of the events and history circa 1863 and creates a “period piece of many eras” all at once. Meaning the past, the present and the future; combining the “three time frames'” into what can be described as a “Present situation of past events that occur in the future.”

All of this food for thought is topped with “Save the Earth” desperation – and I don’t mean anything Al Gore might preach to audiences, but wish to avoid telling in this review as not to distract from the surprise foundation of the multi-dimensional sub-plot. A book for historians, sci-fi enthusiasts, adventure story fans and people of all ages, A New Birth of Freedom: The Visitor will resonate in your thoughts long after the book is finished and you think to yourself, "WOW."

Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
www.pacificbookreview.com

EXCERPT

SECTION ONE

The Visitation


(March 20, 1849)

The passengers boarding the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad coaches struggled to drag their luggage through the narrow passageways, puffing clouds of white breath in the chilly air. Screams of excitement came from a gaggle of children chasing one another around the piles of luggage.


The chill in Washington City was unexpected, since it was, in fact, the exact day of the vernal equinox. Winter was supposed to be finished, yet it lingered. Edwin Blair, however, anticipated the chill. Having done the research, he gave it little notice.


Aside from surveying the antics of the overly rambunctious children, Blair also carefully observed a tall, gangly man with unruly black hair who looked to be about his age signaling for help. No sooner had the man arched his brow, accompanied by a sweeping gesture toward several well-worn bags, than the two non-company men scattered about the platform leapt into action. How am I going to refer to them? Blair wondered, trying not to panic. I’m not going to use the slavers’ term! ‘African-American’ won’t work. His heart was racing. He tried to reorient his thinking so he could more easily adjust his speech patterns to the time. There was that 1844 newspaper article about a “colored” man stopping the runaway carriage of President Tyler, and eventually the War Department’s going to create the Bureau of Colored Troops. He shook his head in resignation. “Colored’s” going to have to do.


Edwin Blair, sporting a newly grown blonde, well-trimmed beard, and carrying nothing but a shiny metallic valise that he held closely by his right side, boarded several moments after the tall traveler, catching the eye of virtually everyone he passed. The perfectly polished surface of the valise seemed more like mirrored glass than metal, and his black leather jacket flapped opened in the cool breeze, revealing a black cable-knit pullover sweater. This, together with his dark blue denim trousers, his shoes made of indeterminate material, and his gleaming valise, were the source of near universal curiosity. Several of the young children skipping along beside him pointed to him and laughed. Their parents offered barely-hushed admonitions, “Behave yourselves! You know you mustn’t stare at strangers. It simply is not polite.” Yet they, to a person, failed to follow their own advice.


Blair held nothing in his left hand, yet he clenched it so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, his teeth clenched every bit as tightly as his hand. No one mentioned the word “LEVI’S” burnt into a small leather patch on the back of his trousers, but several men did wonder out loud about the word “NIKE” on the side of his black and white shoes.