Dawn

On a world where at least one of its six suns always stands in the sky, a young scribe has calculated that soon darkness will cover the planet as the paler sun covers another. On this world, the suns are worshipped as Gods and the priesthood holds the people in their power and has become corrupted. When Isak attempts to convince the priesthood of the impending time of darkness, they don’t believe him and later try to hunt him down to stop his prediction from becoming common knowledge. But, there are some people who would like to use this information to start a revolution against the priests. They hide and protect Isak and help him to proclaim his ‘prophecy’ to all who will hear. Isak is caught up in intrigue and power games. He is heralded as a prophet, but will his prophecy come true and will he survive to see it? What will happen to the world when the darkness descends?

This is certainly an interesting story. The author has used this plot to bring out some philosophical questions about beliefs and given some possible answers. The reader will certainly smile, as Mr. McLaughlin’s world deals with some things that we have had to deal with in our own history, like, is the world flat? How far away are the sun, moon and stars? Can one really predict the movements of the planets? A brave young man, Isak believes he can do this after studying the records that have been kept of the movement of the ‘gods’. And as some in our history, Isak has to face the wrath of the church and possible execution. This was a fast and easy read that this reviewer enjoyed very much. With the many parallels, the reader can relate and get into the story very easily. This reviewer feels that lovers of science fiction will certainly get a kick out of this story and wishes Mr. McLaughlin good sales.

November 2006