Eli's Historical Paradox

Eli's Historical Paradox

Bruce Von Stiers

What if the American Dream was not just a concept, but a real, viewable entity? That idea is at the core of a great new novel.

The title of the novel is Paradox Bound. It was written by Peter Clines, the author of the Ex Heroes series. Clines has also worked extensively in Hollywood, on such films as Wild Things 2 and the Mystery Woman film series.

This novel is part steampunk, part far out sci-fi and part philosophical journey.

The reader meets Eli Teague when he is eight years old. He sees a car on the side of the road. It is a strange looking thing, a mixture of vintage car stuff and strange looking things. Eli meets the driver of the car, Harry. The car is out of fuel. But it takes water as fuel, not gasoline. Eli gets water for Harry's car and then the car, and driver leave. But not before telling Eli something very cryptic.

Two more times Eli meets Harry. The second time Eli is a teenager and discovers Harry is actually a girl. Then the last time is when Eli is an adult. He works at a nearby town but stills lives in Sanders, where somehow nothing has been modernized.

This third time that Eli meets Harry, he learns that she is on a quest. That quest is to find the American Dream. Somehow, sometime in the 1960's, the American Dream had been stolen. And then lost. Harry and many other “searchers”, were trying to find it. It seems that the founding fathers had used mysticism to convert the American Dream from a mere concept into an actual, physical object. But all of the searchers are being pursued by the “faceless men” who want to stop them and return the American Dream to its rightful place.

I know. The plot line might seem kind of convoluted. But not really. I actually thought it was pretty cool. The idea that the American Dream is an actual physical construct is way out there, but indeed intriguing. And not only are Harry and others searching for it, they are actually travelling to different points in American history to try to find it. But they don't consider it time travel. They are history travelers. The searchers are competing against one another to try to find the American Dream, all the while trying to avoid being captured and / or killed by the faceless men. But what will any of them do with it if they actually find the American Dream?

I haven't read any of Cline's earlier work so I didn't quite know what to expect of his writing. I discovered that the book was a fairly easy read, with quite a few plot twists. There was some very interesting melding of facts, historical lore, sci-fi, mysticism and steampunk. I thought it was very cool that Cline brought forth a combustible engine for a car that ran on water and not gasoline.

I consider Paradox Bound to be a terrific novel. It has action and adventure, travel through history, philosophical dilemmas and some intriguing sci-fi and steampunk elements.

To learn more about Paradox Bound and its author, visit http://www.peterclines.com/

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