"The Traveler" by John Twelve Hawks

After I finished "The Traveler," a present day science-fiction/conspiracy theory, I almost deleted my email accounts, erased this blog, took down my facebook account, and changed my name...Yeah, it was that intense.

John Twelve Hawks' debut novel creates a world not so different from the one we know, perhaps even all too much the very world we live in. In his world, The Brethren are an ultrasecret society of men controlling the world through creation of fear, control of information, and constant surveillance, reading your emails, watching your every movement with ever present cameras, tracking your purchases with "Fresh Value" cards, following your car, and so on. Through control and security the promise stability and safety, an orderly society.

At opposition to them are the Travelers and their protectors, the Harlequin. Travelers are people who can transcend our dimension to visit others. When they return, they become spiritual leaders of a sort. Some we might know? Jesus, Buddha, St. Augustine, Chief Joseph, and so on. They are few and far between, but they stand for truth, independence, and freedom of thought, compassion and liberty. Do you see how the Brethren might have a problem with them?

In contrast to the spiritual and compassionate Travelers are the dispassionate and violent Harlequin. Doomed to serve from birth as the body guards to the Travelers, they are all that stands between the Travelers and the murderous conspiracies of the Brethren.

The Author: John Twelve Hawks

In keeping with his protagonists, the author lives "off the grid," and it is widely believed that "John Twelve Hawks" is the alter ego of someone else, which, of course, only adds to the mystique of this book. A best seller when it came out, the sequel was released around the same time as J.K. Rollings final installment in the Harry Potter series, and so has not had the same reknown. I have yet to read it, but will soon.



Thoughts:

The book examines the balance between security and privacy, as well as the dilemma and effects of violence on individuals, no matter the justification.

They style is succinct, and often I felt like I was reading a movie. The scenes cut quick and fast, moving almost like a script.

I recommend it for your reading, with the caveat that there is some violence. However, it is thought provoking and worth your time.