MARI, Why I Needed to Return from the Future
by Winfried Sedhoff
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Pub Date 16 Jun 2019 | Archive Date 1 Nov 2019
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Description
What if you discovered your greatest potential for self-realization and happiness was tied to a woman living over a hundred years before you were born?
Earth, 2184 AD. Ben Ecclestone is an advanced arbitrator, trained to keep the peace and to assist others in fulfilling their most heartfelt desires. Offered the opportunity to be Earth’s new ambassador in an enlightened and distant world, Ben embarks on his first interworld mission.
Disaster strikes and his ship crashes through time and space to Brisbane, 2020 AD. Stranded in a city of skyscrapers, digitally-connected loneliness, and rampant dissatisfaction, Ben doesn’t expect to meet a woman like Mari. She is young, vibrant and passionate—with a mysterious past. He is a confirmed celibate. Together they discover a depth of connection and intrigue beyond his wildest imaginings
Abducted back to his own era by the History Rescue Unit, Ben grasps one desperate chance to persuade another arbitrator to permit the fulfilment of his dreams. But his return to the past could unravel the time thread and threaten the lives and wellbeing of billions.
What is the secret of Mari’s true identity and origin? And will Ben bow to the greater good or reclaim a love beyond compare?
Advance Praise
This emotionally rich and expertly constructed sci-fi novel will please aficionados of general fiction as well as science fiction…
The family physician and counselor Dr. Winfried Sedhoff makes his foray into the world of science fiction with this engrossing, page-turning book. The late twenty-second century Ambassador and Arbitrator Benjamin Ecclestone returns to the present Brisbane (2020) in Australia after his space ship, Noretian Craft, explodes due to malfunctioning. Unable to return immediately, Ben decides to explore the city and meets lovely Mariana Jenkins there. The duo feel a strong pull and fall in love, making Ben unwilling to return to his far-future home. But the authorities in the futuristic human colony are wary of Ben’s stay in the past, fearing he might jeopardize the future by alternating the past. But that’s just the beginning of problems for the couple who has no intention to stay away from each other. Sedhoff writes with the flair of a veteran author, skillfully merging elements of science fiction into a tender love story and a dash of philosophical insights. As the story moves forward, Sedhoff’s simple narrative and the accessible prose style successfully delivers the tension of the situation he has set up in his protagonists’ lives. Ben’s re-entry into the social life is delightfully constructed as he is introduced to the hassles of the year 2020. Sedhoff describes the setting and background in a simple, impressive details combining his scientific know-how with his thirst for the metaphysical. By setting his novel both in the present and a bright, optimistic far-future with its offer of ultimate, hopeful transcendence for humanity, Sedhoff spins a clever scenario which is as positive as it is original. The characterization, even the ancillary characters, are thoroughly constructed and Sedhoff’s acute understanding of the human nature (with his experience working as counselor) not only gives his characters a depth but also a steady, alluring quality to their persona. Ben and Mari, the main protagonists are nicely sketched and highly realistic. While the reader can glimpse echo of insights from Sedhoff’s earlier work (non-fiction: The Friendship Key to Lasting Peace, United Communities, Stronger Relationships, Equality, and a Better Job), their inclusion makes for an essential part of the theme of the book. The philosophical insights nowhere come out as forced in the narrative and offer a thought-provoking quality to the narrative. The shocking revelation toward the ending paves the path for the second book. A Fascinating read!
- The Prairies Book Review
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9780994609120 |
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Featured Reviews
Paul D, Reviewer
Time travel and temporal paradoxes are trending in today’s speculative fiction works. This story fits nicely into that realm, but the narrative sets its own unique path. The real themes of this book include the importance and power of introspection, relationships and love. The author has an agenda and points to make. Essentially, self knowledge will teach us the importance of community, but even beyond such a revelation is the realization that love exerts a power over us that will not be denied. Also, there’s another truth, destiny will have its way.
In the not too distant future time travel is discovered. Fortunately, or perhaps because the universe deems that only a species that has reached a certain critical level of awareness, humanity knows that with this knowledge comes equivalent responsibility.
Benjamin has reached the level of time travel ambassador with years of training behind him. He is sent on a mission to the past, mostly to observe and try to understand events. But his placement is botched because of an accident among those who were to deliver him. He has to be placed somewhere while things are straightened out and he can be extracted. Don’t tamper, don’t get involved, avoid creating any temporal ‘waves.’ Just keep a very low profile.
But destiny will not be denied. At a restaurant he meets a waitress, Mari, who will cause havoc with Ben’s intensions and create more like a tsunami in the temporal fabric. It’s a case of Love versus Universal Order.
From this point Mari becomes an integral part of the story and her life turns out to be somewhat more involved and complex than even Ben’s.
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