Review: Stunning Effort! Unputdownable!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 7, 2014
“Children of Na” by A.L.Burgess is a bookworm's delight. I was just fascinated by this book as it combines so many of my favorite genres – science fiction, history, adventure, war thriller – and does so, so seamlessly.More than anything, it's a story of human spirit, and it's a story of freedom, the human quest for freedom  and about the great lengths men can go to in their fight for freedom, even against impossible odds. And that is what our two heroes face in this book. Impossible odds.Yakob, a very young, brave, noble and incredibly smart Colonel in the Soviet Army is sought to be punished by his superiors for insubordination. He escapes certain execution, only to be captured by the Nazis. His is a battle to survive on a day-to-day basis, and to do so, he uses every wit at his disposal, and doesn't lose hope even once.Our second hero is Silas, a black slave born in 1831, in pre-Civil War American South. He is much more than he appears, and has unworldly intelligence. But he is still just a slave, and through his story we learn about the sheer brutality and cruelty of slavery, with the writer holding nothing back.What holds these multiple plots together is the science fiction about the far away Civilization of Na, one with infinite intelligence, which ultimately leads to its downfall.It's been a long time since I've  been so completely satisfied by a novel, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Kudos to the highly talented writer of this book, A.L.Burgess, for doing just a great job with it.