What if every Truth you had ever been told was really a mosaic of falsehoods? What if every religious institution that preached salvation was actually an agent of oppression?
In “Waking God”, Andrew, a young, controversial professor of Comparative Religions is having strange dreams. He has spent his life studying and challenging conventional religious thought and is on the verge of formulating a unified theory that will help to explain the origin and variety of the world’s religions. The dreams bring messages that he finds difficult to interpret, but he thinks they may hold the key to finding the answers he seeks, and so he listens.
Meanwhile, Mara, born in mystery, stolen from her hospital room, and raised in various parts of the world, has been ushered through her childhood by a mysterious but caring father-figure, who has been the only constant in her tumultuous upbringing. Now a young woman on her own, Mara is living and working in Boston, and is unaware that her destiny, the purpose for which she was placed on this earth is about to take her away to a different part of the globe, once again.
As Andrew and Mara pursue their separate courses, their paths briefly converge at a séance. Andrew senses that he shares a special connection with Mara and during the ritual he has another dream that seems to confirm this, but when he awakens, she is gone. What he doesn’t know is that she has been taken.
Then the pope is assassinated.
As the world sinks into chaos and religious turmoil, Andrew receives a summons to Rome. There he meets the mysterious Mantrella, who claims standing as a supernatural being, a fallen angel, Lucifer no less. Mantrella schools Andrew in a new form of knowledge, one that places the seemingly contradictory problems with religion and existence in a startling new context. Even the skeptical Andrew finds it difficult to shake years of dogmatic thought. His waffle between belief and unbelief is made more difficult when Andrew is captured by Mantrella’s nemesis, the archangel Michael.
As the two supernatural beings vie for control over Andrew and Mara the prospect of a war in the heavenly realms builds, the outcome of which will decide the fate of all humanity.
Epic in scope, “Waking God” is a fast paced supernatural thriller that blazes across mystical locations and panoramic scenery. There is action and intrigue, yes, but there is also a challenge to the reader in this book. “Waking God” introduces a new way of interpreting reality. The book provides an alternative contextual understanding for mythical creatures like werewolves, vampires, angels and demons, as well as taking on the weighty issue of the nature and existence of God.
The slower first half gives way to a quick second with the conclusion flung out before you’ve had a chance to learn enough about the main characters. But then, it’s only the first book in a trilogy. Andrew is more fully developed and believable, while Mara remains a mystery, cloaked in a mist of naiveté and unexplained motivations. She has almost no will of her own; she never takes control of her own destiny until the very end at which point you are left to question, why now?
The prose, at times quite good, has a tendency to stumble into wordiness, and corny dialog.But the plot, pacing and challenging content gives this story enough legs to prevent the book from completely falling.
“Waking God” has many good qualities that make it worth reading; you can expect a good story surrounded by an interesting philosophical paradigm that ventures into supernatural action and adventure. And this book also reminds us that there are other ways of looking at the world, and that perhaps we should take a moment and consider the alternatives.
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