FF’s Star Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
What really is the truth when it comes to the archaic question of what is the origin of man? Is it as they say in the history books or is there something that happened in the history of man that we do not know about? These are some of the questions that Thomas Zman asks in this brain expatiating science fiction novel called Before it Began, the first book in The Neuphobes Series. In his introduction and pertaining to an anomalous finding and peculiarity such as the Stonehenge structure, the author writes: “I feel further study of such, immixed with a good amount of speculation, would no doubt give rise to a more intriguing account as to Earth’s Ancient History.”
A supremely advanced civilization known as Phoebians have no choice but to leave their home planet Phoebius. They must travel the stars and seek out new worlds to live in. A group of Phoebians known as the Followers have been left behind to perish along with the planet. Omegan, a medium, was left behind on the planet too. It was not his end, however. Omegan has chosen to bind his soul with that of an Elder called Remsis. And so, around 33,000 B.C., the Phoebians arrive on Earth to find a primitive human race as the planet’s dominant species. The Nephilim, a species the Phoebians originally created for labor means, threaten what the Phoebians initially set out to do. Omegan chronicles everything that happens on Earth since the arrival of their kind.
Zman starts readers off with a powerful image of immense Mother Ships overshadowing the horizon of the planet Phoebius in its final hours. Those that end up on the ships include almost the entire Phoebian population who have been selected because of their individual abilities. A group of Phoebians known as the Followers are, along with the medium Omegan, left behind to succumb to the Super Nova of Qua, a Red Giant. The author gives readers an excellent understanding of why it is that not all Phoebians were allowed to escape the fate of Phoebius. The Followers worshiped the Almighty while their Phoebian kin chose to believe in their own technological savvy rather than in a high power.
Even before their arrival on Earth, readers learn a lot about the Phoebian species. What I found most interesting was the manner in which their offspring were born. When a Phoebian child is born, it is not one child, but actually two. At a certain point during their growth, the Phoebian babe “cleaves”. Cleaving being a process in which the Phoebian babe splits to become two separate individuals that is described by the author as being slightly painful and a means for population control. These beings also lack many of the emotions that humans and the Nephilim that have come along with the Phoebians are privy to. They also talk telepathically, although Omegan, being a medium and all, is somewhat of an anomaly among his people who talks through his mouth.
Upon the arrival of the Phoebians on Earth, readers can certainly experience as much awe and enjoyment through the eyes of the Phoebians as they see our wonderful blue planet for the first time. “We vectored across the planet’s southern regions until the blue yielded a jagged coastline, and then an expansive plain.” For primitive human beings, one can only imagine what must go through their minds as they gaze upon these beings for the first time. “Mountain beings”, is what they are called at first. Initially, no attempt is made to subjugate the human species.
The blessing of having Omegan’s soul bonded with his makes Remsis, or rather Remsis III, different in many ways. The most notable of which would be his new proclivity to communicate with his mouth. Remsis’s part in this novel is short, however, as Omegan becomes a being in this book that constantly binds with different Phoebians. Especially after the twelve remaining Elders go into the Ethereal Abode, the Phoebian version of heaven. Thus, the narrative of this book is more of a record of events jumping forth and back through many years as great cities with advanced technologies are built in an ancient world.
Zman greatly explores the effect scientific advancements have on a species’ belief and willingness to worship the divine. The main question that the author seeks to answer is that of what the result might be if humans were pushed towards something that they weren’t ready for. “Damascus offered bandages and medicine, instructing the women on how they were to be applied, remedying injuries that would otherwise have been grave.”
Through Ragalion, His Supremacy and the Ancient Leader of the Phoebians on the Earth, we see envy and pride in full swing. Ragalion wants his world to be better than that of another Phoebian world leader, but he’s bound only for a rude awakening. Stardom, meanwhile, is advanced human working on behalf of every single human being throughout all the cosmos. He is what I believe the author uses to illustrate what all humans can become someday.
A type of computer called the Encyphilatron concludes that the dominant species of Earth are to be called humans. I find it hard to believe that even an advanced alien computer could be responsible for the word “humans”. If so, than I must add that the author could’ve made this more believable by stating along with the naming of our species that humans exist on other planets too, but also that the origin of the term “humans” should be elaborated upon, better answering the question of where the word came from.
Thomas Zman makes readers see clearly what happens when the solely scientific minded try to answer things that cannot be answered. The Phoebians on Earth have shed their need for God completely, yet when they themselves try to play God they are bound to be disappointed down the line. A fictitious tour of wonder that shatters and transcends our thinking of time, space, man, and God’s plan!
Kindle Edition: |
| Publisher: Self-Published Date Published: October 10, 2018 Genre: Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy Pages: 231 |
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Frank Frisson 