The Traveler
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Recommended By
TonyTT, neko, Gabe, BB, and Ennui.
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Avid.
Book Details
Written by John Twelve Hawks.
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($24.95)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
A world that exists in the shadows of our own.A conflict we will never see.
One woman stands between those determined to control history and those who will risk their lives for freedom.
Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The twenty-six-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins—a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.
Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have inherited their father’s gifts, have always protected themselves by living “off the Grid”—that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern society.
Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers. The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula—ruthless mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A colossal battle looms—one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time.
Moving from the back alleys of Prague to the heart of Los Angeles, from the high deserts of Arizona to a guarded research facility in New York, The Traveler explores a parallel world that exists alongside our own. John Twelve Hawks’s stunningly suspenseful debut is an international publishing sensation that marks the arrival of a major new talent.
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TonyTT thinks this book is Good.
The Traveler
By John Twelve Hawks
"Never judge a book by its cover" as the old saying goes but I do it all the time. At least I will use the cover to make that first critical decision about whether or not to pick up the book to read the synopsis on the back cover and leaf through the first few pages. That was how I found The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks.
This dystopian novel is about an alternative contemporary reality that includes both magic and fantasy. Struggling for control of the U.S. (and most of the rest of the world) are the Tabula, a secret organization that wants absolute control over the population using a variety of high-tech gadgets including surveillance cameras, centralized databases, RFID tags, and other spy gear (heat sensors, infrared cameras, X-rays, etc.).
Opposing the Tabula are two disjointed groups: individuals or small groups who have decided to live "off the grid" in various ways and the Harlequins. The Harlequins, in danger of becoming extinct, are a group of fighters sworn to defend the Travellers. A Traveller is a person who is able to break free from his body and travel through the barriers to the other realms.
This novel is filled with inventive characters that the reader can care about, cutting-edge technology that rings true and throw-back nebulous semi-religious orders engaged in a centuries-long battle for survival and dominance. The Harlequins, ninja-like swordsmen (and women), do battle with the mercenary Tabulas to fulfill spiritual obligations in the finest warrior tradition.
The author uses the alternative reality he defines in The Traveler to address several larger issues including the rapid increase in public surveillance and information gathering, the culture of fear, and free will.
Perhaps I was supposed to know it but I was quite surprised to find the following statement at the end of this novel – "Book One of the Fourth Realm". I did enjoy the story and will probably check out "Book Two" but I object to finding out only after reading the whole book that it is part of a series.
John Twelve Hawks turns out to be almost as mysterious as some of his characters. Both he and his American publisher have stated that they have never personally met and that Hawks communicates only via the Internet and an untraceable satellite phone. No photograph of the author has ever appeared and all biographical information about his background is based on two interviews and two articles published between 2005 and 2007. For more information you can check out his unique web site at www.johntwelvehawks.com.
If you are into contemporary SciFi and have a bent for a good conspiracy story with a lot of action check out this novel. I don’t think you’ll be sorry you did.