Synopsis
Stefan, an advanced seventh-grader, shouldn’t have to decide the fate of his mother’s unborn child or prevent his adolescent anger from incinerating people. Unknowingly born a fairy, loving fantasy, magic, and art — and betrothed at birth to his mentor Tova2 — aliens force a metamorphosis and the two must travel to the distant planet, Sophista, or die. Tova2 must keep Stefan sane as he becomes the secret king of contemporary Earth — or the Saeshell Book of Time will destroy everyone. In part one, the fifth-grade son of a Mayan astronomer, Tyco, and Ty, the third-grade son of a British Prime Ministerial aid, must learn from their Tibetan-American teacher to use their powerful talents ethically. Otherwise, Tova2 will kill them. This Collector's Edition contains 22 full color interior illustrations plus color text and other color effects.
From the Author
The Saeshell Book of Time is a four part serial saga that blends science fiction, contemporary fantasy, and political thriller with a bit of horror. It is not a traditional fantasy but similar to a fantasy where fae magic is really a high form of science humans don't quite understand. This introductory novel is very detailed in explaining the history of how this came to be and sets up an extensive, very detailed world for the remaining three novels of the serial to use. It is not light reading and would not be a good choice for your first science fiction experience. So why read it?
Because it will expand your mind into the possibilities of what could be in the realm of reality...
Dare to dream of a world where your essence is the start of an adventure--your very core serves those around you and those around you appreciate and love who you truly are. Visualize technology derived from your life itself--technology which forms itself to serve your needs--technology that does not shape your mind but is shaped by it. Add to that a computer which watches over you with parental-like concern and can materialize into existence any form you can visualize. Your imagination is the tour guide of your mind. You are imagining a world seventy-three light years away. You are imagining Sophista. It's because you are a Child of Sophista.
The Saeshell Book of Time is indeed a live book. Much of the human mind is a giant pattern matching neural net. When it cannot find a pattern for a new situation it has encountered, it must build a net that matches the pattern of the new data. Frequently, there is not enough data to create the pattern. Rather than freezing like a panicked squirrel, it uses a unique device to prevent this--it uses "imagination" to fabricate data and finish the pattern.
The Saeshell Book of Time is unique in that it exploits this aspect of the human mind; by refusing to complete a pattern essential to the story it forces the reader to complete it themselves. It is a function the human mind must perform compulsively. Quite simply, the book is alive because it is made from you--made from your own mind. By each reader completing the pattern, each reader creates a unique experience for themselves. What each reader thinks and says about the book is a reflection of who they are. I deliberately implemented this structure in the book to force my target gifted teen audience to argue about the book and what it means or what its philosophical implications are. Every reader comes away with a different concept of the book created by differing mental prejudices they brought with them.
One of the mischievous pranks I played in the book was to obscure what was science fiction and science fact. Many times, what appears to be science fiction is actually science fact. A good fantasy keeps you guessing so that you are forced to imagine the whole serial as reality. In that vein, Tova, one of the main characters of the book, is the actual composition of a number of real people. Some of these high school students have made major discoveries in genetics and bioscience.
The school in the book is based on the slight extension of an existing school, the advanced mathematics program used in the book a small extension of symbolic manipulation programs currently used in mathematics, the basis for the advanced life form's mind based on an extension of a paper from Cambridge Neuroscience... There are many people today, hidden from the public eye, with breathtaking talents and intense emotional sensitivities. Like the Children of Sophista in the novel, they feel that they would not be well received by the public.
Leap into the world of The Saeshell Book of Time---learn how it feels to be an advanced mind with an evolved physical form, in the not too distant future, living among the humans and the political intrigue of the present day world.
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