Author: William T.Hathaway
Publisher: Avatar Publications
ISBN: 0-9738442-3-X

The following review was contributed by:  S.V. SWAMY:  CLICK TO VIEW S.V. Swamy's Reviews

 Summer Snow is a fiction by William T.Hathaway, a US war veteran and now a peace
activist. The story takes place in Kyrgyzstan, which has borders with several
other countries including Afghanistan, China and..... A nuclear bomb is stolen
and it is suspected that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations could be
after it for inflicting extensive damage on US property and life. A group of
Sufi women try to bring the story to a peaceful end through Transcendental
Meditation, popularised by Maharshi Mahesh Yogi.

The story is told in an interesting way. The book is special in the sense that
there is no hero. Jeff Madsen, the American veteran, who is dragged into the
mess, is not the typical hero. The heroes if any are Djamila and Cholpon, the
Sufi Master and her main Chela (disciple).

The novel is a good blend of war, religion and philosophy. Djamila integrates
Sufi Islam and the TM of Hinduism. The peace which radiates from an advanced
meditator is not fiction and can be experienced even today in some of the
Ashrams (Hermitages) of India. Though in the story, Djamila fails to resolve the
theft of the nuke peacefully (because the meditation is below the critical
threshold and the sudden entrance of Al-Qaeda throws the process out of gear),
the author succeeds in interesting the reader sufficiently to try out the
meditation techniques described as instruments of peace.

The love scene between Jeff and Cholpon is described rather too vividly but it
serves the purpose of highlighting the importance of sex as a breaker of the ego
barrier albeit very briefly. The ending is tragic yet not contrived. I felt that
the burying of the nuke is a too simplistic solution and a Master like Djamila
should know that modern science has enough gadgets to locate even deeply buried
nuclear weapons. She should have handed it over to her Government. Otherwise,
the story is well told and holds the attention of the reader.

I enjoyed reading the book as a physicist and also as a student of spirituality.
Though I don't practise the meditation techniques described in the novel, I know
that they are real and potent. I recommend the book to all the readers who are
interested in peace at personal, national and international levels.

Note: Though I am spiritually inclined, I am not a Yogi or Sanyasi (Monk). And
you too need not be one to enjoy the book. I also apologise to the other authors
and publicists for taking up this book ahead of their books, since this was the
second of the two books which were at hand when I was hospitalised and did not
have access to the previously received books. Now also, I am not yet
sufficiently strong to take the several serious non-fiction books and so will
finsih some more novels which are pending. Thanks for understanding.