Böcker av Keith Allan Shields

The Great Journey is a novel in the tradition of both science fiction and spiritual fiction which seeks to inspirethe imagination and encourage readers to wrestle with concepts such as colonialism, grace and forgiveness, deconstruction, Terra Nullius, the Doctrine of Discovery, military conflict, peace, ethics, technology, thebrokenness of humanity, and faith in a higher power. Readers have appreciated the fact that the book can beread as either light-hearted science fiction or serious spiritual discussion. It will appeal to both young adultsand adults.It is the story of a ten-year-old boy named Opie, whose father works for NASA in the 1970s during theApollo program. Opie stumbles upon a workshop where he finds that he suddenly has the ability to build aspacecraft and then fly it to the Trappist-1 solar system. Once there, he is greeted by an intelligent race ofpeople that teach him about the nature of cultural interaction and their simple ways of life. Opie finds that hemust wrestle with how his culture and the people of this new world will interact and work peaceably togetherwithout the problems associated with previous culture clashes.Because of the time dilation involved in Opie's travels, life on Earth moves forward quickly and he mustcome to grips with these changes and how they affect his sense of identity. As life on Earth becomes moremilitaristic and chaotic, Opie and his new-found friends must race to save both Earth and the new world.Opie is a humble, fallen hero who struggles with his own mistakes and tendencies while seeking to be the bestversion of himself.

Ray did not expect his life to take the turns it did. He had always been a simple man who enjoyed modest pleasures and a few travel experiences. In fact, he thought he might have travelled more. But life just sort of happened and he never got around to the things he wanted to see. Now, on the biggest journey of his life, going places he could only imagine in his dreams, he is not sure he wants to be on this path. He is not sure how he got on this path or where it will take him next. Perhaps the biggest question is, “Who is in control?”