The Hab Theory is about a journalist who is called upon to interview a strange man who has shot the president with a rubber bullet, doing no real harm, but calling attention to himself. It turns out he has a warning for mankind, but no one would listen ... until now. Carefully examining the evidence the old man has amassed, our journalist begins an adventure that culminates in a conference of scientists from all over the world to study the possibility that the earth is about to undergo a change that spells doom for most of the human race.

The book draws on the ideas of Hugh Auchincloss Brown and Charles Hapgood on the geology of the earth. Both men did serious work that shows the earth's poles may have shifted in the past, and that it would happen again. This book takes that idea and fictionalizes what could be a real scenario. The Hab Theory has a long list of testimonials from readers at amazon.com, many of whom have read the book over and over. This is the very book I fished from my neighbor's trash a few years ago and found fascinating reading.

Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller

Canticle for Leibowitz is a vision from the future, when the earth has been devastated by a nuclear war and a lonely enclave of monks are trying to make sense of their own past and preserve what they can. Little is left of the once-high civilization except some ruins that no one understands. The book covers a long time span, with the monks and their obscure beliefs about "Saint Leibowitz" the constant that holds the book together.

Much as we seek our past today, this future culture rising from our ashes seeks its lost heritage. Written in 1959, this classic story has the world reverting back to Latin -- the language of the Catholic Church (at least it was when this book was written). As a product of Catholic schools and an avid student of Latin, I loved this novel. But whatever your background, you can appreciate both the haunting vision and the well-crafted writing of this classic. Books don't stay in print this long unless they have something important to say and say it well.

The Handmaid's Tale is frightening look at a society gone amok, trying to remake itself after environmental devastation. It doesn't matter when it happened, just that it began when a group of conservative, religious people got control of the government of a small country, called the Republic of Gilead, which was carved out of the former United States. The leaders made some new laws, making it illegal for women to work, and declaring marriages illegal if one party was previously divorced. The woman we follow through this tale has her marriage disolved and her child taken from her, and she is given the "job" of being a handmaid to a wealthy and priveleged man known to her only as The Commander.

She lives in his house with his wife and she has sex with him to try to have a baby for him since his wife (it is assumed the fault is with the wife) cannot bear him children. The justification is the Bible, with its passages about men taking their wife's handmaid to produce children when the wife was barren. But the sex is hardly any fun -- it is done in a ritualisitc manner with the wife present. And the handmaid, who of course the wife despises, has no freedom of movement. She leaves the home only with permission and only to shop. She is allowed to live with The Commander only because of her childbearing ability; if she were too young or too old or unable to have children she would probably be sent to a place beyond the city where conditions are very poor and people don't live long.

The book, a gripping story, is the introspective ramblings of the handmaid about her so-called life and her slim hope of finding some escape. The story implies that this repressive regime has come about because previous generations have polluted and destroyed their environment to such an extent that many people are now infertile. Instead of seeking solutions in scientific knowledge, these leaders have led the population into ignorance and repression. This book tends to make an impression on those who read it. There are over 200 reviews of it at Amazon.com. That ought to tell you this one is a page-turner, a story you truly will not forget.

Foucault's Pendulum
by Umberto Eco (translated from Italian)

Foucault's Pendulum is a complex weaving of past with present, both an unusual mystery and a narrative about several men who work in a publishing firm in MIlan, Italy. When they decide to publish a series of books on the occult, reality becomes mixed with the craziness of their authors, whom they dub The Diabolicals. You work your way through revelations about the Templars, the Cathars, and Hitler. One of the characters pursues odd clues into real danger. The book oozes with occult scholarship, spewing names, dates, and strange facts as the book becomes a kind of intellectual puzzle. There are weird characters and secret ceremonies and, of course, the pendulum that hangs in a museum.

Is it a psychological thriller, delving into the minds of the characters, or a real treatise on the history of occultism, or just an incredible story? I found almost too much packed into these pages; the author's knowledge is wide-ranging and full of depth. Be ready for a mental challenge if you read this one.

Tara: Initiate of Heliopolis
by Theresa Welsh

Okay, I'm about to plug my own book, Tara: Initiate of Heliopolis. While I do not claim to be in the same category as the above authors, I do say my book about a teen-age girl hurled back in time to Cleopatra's Egypt is a good read. Tara finds herself in an Egypt in turmoil, with the Romans threatening at Egypt's shores, and the sacred places reduced to mere tourist attractions. How can the temple at Heliopolis maintain its teachings and protect the sacred monuments at Giza? Thought to be a prophet, Tara delivers a crucial message to Cleopatra. Through friendship and mutual seeking, the two female initiates, both of whom arrived at the temple under strange circumstances, find what they are looking for. The answer for Tara lies at the end of a frightening journey that leads inside the Great Pyramid.

More on this book at the Tara web site.