The Civilization Loop

The Civilization Loop is a science fiction novel published by Publish America. The novel is about the perils of time travel and the ability of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles. The story encompasses a miriad of mythical tales, such as Atlantis, Stonehenge, the Mayan Calendar, the death of the dinosaurs, the origins of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Giza, the Roswell Incident, crop circles, Area 51 and of course the fabled end date of 2012 A.D.

Written from a perspective that incenuates that the events of the story have already occurred, there is a sense of urgency in the book that fate is sneaking up on humanity right before our eyes. The story deals with arrogance, egocentricism, obsession, betrayal, and the uncanny nack humanity has for getting itself into trouble. The story also plays heavily onto the God-complex, either with an actual character or thoughts about God's purpose in our world. The story is not a christian story, but does make it clear that the protagonist has a belief in Jesus Christ. The antagonist has only a belief in himself, going by the estranged name Willis October.

The story itself does not lend to the ideal belief of time travel as well. It does not even focus that much on how time travel is possible, only that time travel IS possible. The story shows you the difficulties of initiating a time displacement with the in your face destruction of the first time travel experiment in 1977, at the hands of the protagonist's father Dr. Ben Peterson. The story further goes on to show that the protagonist, Dr. Robert Irwin Peterson, also finds difficulties and hardships in making time travel a reality. He is, however, able to make people see his point of view on the subject and is elected to head a research team at Area 51 to be the first humans to ever travel through time successfully.

Accordingly, like a wolf in sheeps clothing, the antagonist is established as being at Area 51 when the breakthrough moment occurs. His presence is short lived when he is removed due to his insubordinate nature. Upon his dismissal this rogue character is given a device by a much more malicious character and told to read a message that has been left behind by "the black masked man." Upon reading this message, the antagonist Willis October begins his own journey through time with a much more user friendly device than that of Dr. Robert Peterson. With this device he is truly able to interact with the past in such a way that he actually becomes part of history, intersecting with the birth of Christ, the Dark Ages, the destruction of New Orleans by Katrina, the World Trade Center attacks, and even Jack the ripper.

Ultimately, Dr. Peterson and October reconnect in the present day of 2011 A.D. where October is causing great despair for the now well established scientist and his team. Consequently, because October is there or not, an event known as a paradox occurs that causes the world wide destruction of the Earth on May 5, 2012 A.D. This date is no secret to anyone by the third chapter with the "black masked man" revealing it to Dr. Peterson directly. From that point, the scientist's main struggle is believing that this event will even occur. Upon realizing that the event will occur now, the only means of saving humanity becomes a fly by the seat of your pants trip to the past to settle an island in the mid Atlantic that does not exist in our present day.

Not only must this team out run time and the paradox, but the antagonist October himself. He does not make their job easy, frequently altering things with is much more sophisticated time device. Finally, however, the team does arrive in the past to the uncharted island. It is a lush and hospitable place that leads to the possibility that the island might be the famed, mythical island of Atlantis. From there, the story propels you through the unknown possibilities of the past, suggesting that people from our time might have been the founders of the civilization we live in today.

The only question becomes whether or not the time team can actually stop a paradox that is already in motion. Can they prevent the character of October from forcing his sick and twisted will upon them? Will changing anything in the past cause a further, much larger paradox? And where is God in all of this? These questions are only a few presented without divulging too much of the story line. The author took the pain staking task of trying to present an arguable, if not plausible possibility of how civilization was formed in the first place. The characters are much more down to Earth. They are real and interact with each other in ways that put you in mind of Saturday morning serials. The character of October has a vague, uniqueness about him. You might even find yourself more curious about his life than that of the actual protagonist. The love story between Bobby and Kelly at times is slow to come out, but in the end it shows the true nature of a loving relationship and how a couple stands by one another in the face of unspeakable odds.

God's role in this is more of an observer than interacting. God is even depicted as saying that human's must help themselves. God is only able to intervene when human's decide to listen to him, which is preached day in and day out in most churches around the world. The characters frequently debate, even to themselves, as to what God truly is and his role in time travel. Suffice it to say, in the end, God always comes out on top.

New myths are born, giving more relevance and mysticism to Stonehenge. Atlantis becomes more an homage than an actual super advanced civilization. Secrets are hidden in locations across the globe with reference to the impending doom of 2012. Hiding messages beneath the Sphinx, as Edgar Cayce suggests, are mentioned. But perhaps more is there than we realize? The story takes prophecies and intertwines them into a believable format that might have you coming away thinking, wow why hasn't anyone else ever thought of that? Indeed the debate will be on.

The author takes liberties with his own history by incorporating such things as his own hometown, his college alma mater, even the college fight song at one point. The author wrote about what he knows and understands and presents a story that will make you stop and think even if it is only for a second.

The Civilization Loop takes you on a journey like no other, through some of the great mysteries of our time. At the same time it produces a sound mystery of its own, wrapping every character around a web that seems inescapable until the last few pages of the story. In the end, the story provides a poigant message for our time with the saying "...we stand before God alone." Because sooner or later we might all find ourselves count in a loop that is out of control.

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