Struggling with an unhappy marriage and dissatisfaction with his career, John Altern is further depressed by the escalating conflicts around the globe and the ever-present threat of a nuclear holocaust. And then it happens. His world is blown to smithereens. By an accident of fate, he is at the exact center of the blast where the temperature is instantly reversed and he is quick-frozen and entombed in ice.
Somehow he is revived in the Seventh Millennium now populated by the mutant Species Human. Though welcomed as an oddity, the historically known destructive psychological genes of the Homo Sapiens raises the spectre of a potentially virulent contagious disease. Could he adapt like a rational human being or must he be destroyed to protect the integrity of this new society?
How John Altern reacts to this new world, which first offers him permissiveness and love and then threatens to deny it all, mirrors our own conflicts and inconsistencies. This story is really about you and me, our hopes, our loves, our dreams, our fears, and how we manage to survive in the face of personal and universal frustrations and disappointments.
Readers' Comments
"You have a wonderful voice, and I believe your biggest strength is your ability to delve into the interpersonal relationships with such intricacies. It's beautiful language without being purple-prose....This is really an intellectual and heady story....I get extremely excited when stories rummage heavily through philosophy, such as yours does." Heath Michaels, Screenwriter
"I love the evolution of how the Seventh Millennium actually functions; the political philosophy and John's insightful counterpoint questions....To badly paraphrase a quote, 'Always leave 'em wanting more'. Well, that's how I felt when the book ended. I had become so invested in the people, the places, and the politics that I was not ready to let go." John MacQueen, Reader
"I have finished reading your novel. Wonderful! Fantastic! Not only is it filled with great insight, but it is such a great read, very well written....Wow! The depth of your analysis of humanity was truly awe inspiring. And the tenderness of your description of the love between John and Vinya was moving....I particularly enjoyed the many allusions to contemporary society, some subtle, and others so explicit and apparent....It is a book that bears reading by many." David A. Nash, Professor
About the author: Jay Wolfe Friedman is a writer, dental consultant, consumer & public health advocate residing in Los Angeles, California.
