Alpha and Omega, by Harry Turtledove (Del Rey)
Harry Turtledove has
written a lot of books. Really, a lot.
Alternate history, pure science fiction, whimsical fantasy, humor, historical
fiction, and more. I haven’t come across a single one that wasn’t a fast, smooth
read with plenty of action and a ton of nifty ideas. Every once in a while,
though, he so completely nails a story, concept and prose and thematic
resonances, that it stays with me and I find myself blabbing about it like a
fangirl to all my friends. The Guns of
the South (time-traveling racists arm the Confederacy with automatic
weapons) was one such. Also Ruled
Brittanica (the Spanish Armada prevails and William Shakespeare writes
insurrectionist plays) and In the
Presence of Mind Enemies (Jews survive in the shadow of victorious Nazi
Germany). Now I can add Alpha and Omega
to that list.
The elevator pitch
for this book might run, “Indiana Jones
in 21st Century Israel, complete with American evangelicals, ultra
Orthodox Jewish settlers, Muslim terrorists, and journalists on the lookout for
a good story, with an occasional miracle.” But it’s much more. It begins in a
perfectly ordinary thriller-ish way with a dirty bomb detonated in Tel Aviv and
team of Israeli archaeologists (Jewish and Arab, with a nonobservant Jewish
American and a dewy-eyed Christian student thrown in for good measure) excavate
under the Temple Mount and find (of course, Indiana Jones style) the Ark of the
Covenant . . . floating inches above the floor. And the skeptical journalist
who unwisely lays hands on it is summarily carbonized.
What to make of this
miracle?
Everyone with an ax to grind about the fate of the Middle East has an opinion, and Turtledove
minces no words in depicting the sincerity, fervor, and insanity of the
different viewpoints. Muslims, Jews, and Christians are all convinced the End
Times are nigh and that their version of who wins and who loses is the correct
one. The only thing they can agree on is that the Ark floats “because God wants
it to.”
It would be all too
easy for a story such as this to devolve into proselytizing, taking sides,
playing religious favorites, or turning the various proponents into
caricatures. Turtledove avoids all these pitfalls, forging ahead at
pager-turner speed while subtly weaving in threads that reflect not only our
human prejudices but also our shared human experiences. To say that the ending
transcends the current political polemic is an understatement.
Go out and buy this
book, and then use it as the context for discussing the difficult issues of
today with people you don’t agree with . . . yet.
The usual
disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to praise
it. Although chocolates and fine imported tea are always welcome.
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