CLAYMONT, Del., Aug. 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- A novel published through Xlibris by a first-time author? Strikes 1 and 2. A story about the first human contact with intelligent aliens? Strike 3. Right?
Travelers Rest is not so easily set aside. Author Daniel Archangel takes the reader on a different journey despite the well-traveled premise, which is just a backdrop to society's unconscious self-examination. Pre-release reader-reviewers, not connected with either the author or publisher, have described the novel as "unique", "gripping" and "entirely plausible". Although Travelers Rest is set in the near future, the 300-page novel employs the rare epistolary narrative style. The story unfolds through a series of faux-historical documents, including the main character's journal entries and media coverage of events. The effect is both engrossing and realistic, leading one reviewer to write "this book makes the viewer feel that they are right there living it."
In 2014 Earth receives a transmission from space sent by the 'Travelers', as we name them, which is series of pulses with a repeating 1-8-1-8-6-8 pattern. The novel's lead character, sociology professor Philip Matheson, gains fame by inadvertently helping to decode the Travelers' message, which we then recognize as a distress signal. But Earth has problems of its own, as sea-level rise is threatening coastal communities around the globe. And humanity does not have the technology to assist the Travelers. When the Travelers share that valuable knowledge, our civilization faces difficult decisions. Do we develop that technology in time to help the Travelers, at a huge cost to us, or not? Will it make a difference in their ultimate fate?
Travelers Rest deftly avoids cliched conflicts -- the Travelers aren't invading nor trying to save humanity -- so that its themes can emerge subtly from the choices the reader must make with his or her fellow citizens. With a surprisingly emotional and uplifting ending, the novel breaks genre barriers and, as another citizen reviewer put it, "leaves you thinking about your own life and what you can do to make the world a better place."
Once in a while, a novel hits a home run even with two strikes against it.
Get a copy of this highly intriguing novel now! For more information, log on to www.Xlibris.com.
About the Author
Daniel Archangel was born in Missouri and raised near Binghamton in upstate New York, the same hometown as famed screen-writer Rod Serling ("Twilight Zone"). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1983. Archangel is forty-seven, lives in Pennsylvania and works in Delaware. He is currently writing his second novel, with the working title The Seventh Game.
Travelers Rest * by Daniel Archangel
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 325 pages; 978-1-4363-4835-5
Cloth Hardback; $29.99; 325 pages; 978-1-4363-4836-2
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7479. Tear sheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x.7876.
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