REFUGE OF DEATH

A KISS FOR A KISS

A University of Texas graduate student in archeology named Jerimiah Johnson is exploring a region along the cliffs of the Perdernales River near Spicewood, Texas. He was alone, finding markings from long ago in some of the caves on the hillside.

The ground began to shake, and he got caught up in an avalanche that came faster than God himself on a skateboard. One minute he was fine, and then, the limestone dust and rocks were on top of him at the bottom of the cliff along the side of the river. He loses consciousness. Then, Johnson awakens to find that Rip Van Winkle has nothing on him, as he has evidently slept for unknown millennia, awakening in a completely different world… another time and another place.

Humanity has evolved into a long-lived but rather sexless race, and the population is dwindling. The time Johnson discovers is one where the future rests not on the authority of the empowered but on the forgiveness of the abused and enslaved.

Nature plays an influential part in this futuristic world. The Song of Love harmonized from bronze globes is the creation's song. It is the sweet words of tender nurture, the sweet words that speak of belonging to the divine in body, spirit, and soul. Furthermore, the Song of Love comes to the heart through every flower and unfolded petal. It is as though they are the radio of the divine. And, once a year, there's the Festival of the Dream Flowers.

Johnson, our leading character in the novel, thought he had met the love of his life, but there were so many aspects of himself he needed to squash to become what she wanted.

There are parts of the book, especially regarding the subjects of motherhood and grief, that you will find very touching and emotional. In addition, you might find it interesting to study the psychology of Johnson's slow adjustment to the culture. He is also a more fleshed-out character than many of the other wooden mouthpieces recounting events in far-back history.