Miguel Traveler: The Man from Texas – by Daniel McFatter. ISBN 978-1-5323-6614-7. Published by Brave Mission Publishing, 2016. The reviewer received the author’s book as an e-book in pdf format.
Review by Chris Phillips
Miguel wakes up floating in a solution and being hugged and cared for by “Mom.” Many things happen around him and suddenly he comes out of a large tank of liquid into the arms of Alice, the Woman in Black. This is the surprise start.
The story is told from Miguel’s perspective, at all times. It is unusual for a first-person book to attract the interest of most readers, but this is one of the few that is very well written. There are 3 sections, each of which is preceded by a poem that nevertheless becomes important to the story. Almost from the beginning there is action, excitement, and so many seemingly mundane encounters, but it really isn’t.
“Man is in himself the Great Work, a puzzle that must be opened, explored and finally solved.” This quote is almost an integral part of a good in-depth analysis of the book. This is a book that requires some thought after reading it due to the depth it presents.
Miguel changes the perspective of the dystopian future where “The man diminished” to the time of his life before in the early 2000s, Part 2, “Once Upon a Time on Farm Road 216.” Much has changed in the long run (undefined but suggested as 250 years into the future of Miguel’s life when he disappeared in 2012). And Miguel must discover it, face it and find his own place. It is not until the last moment that the plot climaxes in the sense that Miguel’s purpose in life is found and completed.
Although Miguel is the main character and the narrator at all times, there are many people who enter the narrative. Most of them fit well into today’s current events, especially those of the previous life, yet there are so many new types of creatures, people, and other entities in the future that sometimes it leads to confusion that gradually leads to more of a understanding of what Miguel thinks of himself and other humans. The First Life is a collection of memories that he slowly recalls at first, but becomes vividly clear and integral to the plot and Michael’s self-discovery in the future world.
With simulators, enhanced humans, sick humans, and entities that appear human but have abilities far beyond normal human abilities, the book covers a lot of ground and also reveals, very gradually, that humans are at the core of the situation, problems and the solutions. .
The characters are developed enough for each other’s purpose in the story. The plot is inexorable and yet very reasonable looking back through the book. It is well developed and carried out with a certain delicacy. The writing is usually coherent and apparently Miguel’s memory is very detailed with how the first life and those situations are transmitted. There are some difficult dialect-based passages and some in Spanish, however these can also be discerned with a little thought.
This book can be recommended to any reader. There is some adult language, adult situations that do not involve sex, and a lot of extreme violence. Those would be the precautions for younger readers. Those who like post-apocalyptic tales will enjoy this. Those who like psychological and sociologically based drama will definitely enjoy this.
Highly recommended
5 stars.
