Harvester: Ascension

by Eric R. Johnston, Andrew Utley

The media dubbed it “The Meteor.” As an object roughly the size of the moon is discovered hurtling toward Earth, hysteria brews and doomsday prophets call forth their sermons of death and destruction, but is this “meteor” what it seems?


Charles Wallace, a sociology professor at University of Michigan, is crippled with debilitating headaches that his doctor is at a loss to explain as dreams torment his sleep with images of an alien landscape littered with monuments to a god known as The Harvester. Are these dreams the source of his headaches?


Nightmares plague people across America, and they all say the same thing: there is an incoming extraterrestrial threat. But one person's dreams are even more dreadful: Charles’s friend, Sebastian Irvine. “The Harvester exists in Charles’s mind,” an mysterious voice whispers to him in the dark. “You must kill your friend.”


As nightmares and paranoia threaten to tear America apart, Lou Bryan, host of America’s highest rated cable news show, takes advantage of the hysteria. The frightened look to him for wisdom and guidance, a responsibility he takes too light-heartedly as he convinces the American people to riot in every major city, making the planet ripe for invasion.


An unlikely group of heroes come forth to defend the planet from imminent invasion. Can they overcome the things that separate them to fight for the common cause of humanity?

239 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2011

About the author

Eric R. Johnston is the author of five novels, including Children of Time, An Inner Darkness, A Light in the Dark, and Harvester: Ascension. Eric is currently working on Harvester 2: Conception and a novel about bullying and suicide titled All I Want in Life.

When he isn't writing, he is editing novels for other authors and spending time with his wife, step-children, and two-year-old daughter, Alexis. He is also an exercise addict, citing that exercise helps get the creativity flowing. He lives in Imlay City, Michigan.

Visit his blog at: ericjohnstonauthor.blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorericjo... https://www.facebook.com/HarvesterAsc... Follow him on Twitter at: @ejohnstonauthor Check out and review his novels at:http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/... And you may contact him at ericjohnstonauthor@gmail.com

Reviews

[Mathieu Gallant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a real page-turner. I finished it in just a few sittings, and was suprised to get to the end so fast.
I think what I liked most about this book was that many of the characters could be (and I assume the author planned it this way) clones of people in the real world. Lou Bryan? I'm almost sure he's modeled after Glenn Beck. And in this book, Lou Bryan's big, fear-mongering, hate-spewing mouth ends up causing one hell of a mess. I won't go into any detail here for fear of ruining the story for others, but suffice it to say that Lou does get his comeuppance at a few points in this story. If only someone would be so kind with Glenn Beck!
But this is not just a story about a TV personality gone wrong. As the backdrop to this story, the arrival of the mysterious Harvester at extremely high speeds from deep space has caused a great deal of concern. After the gargantuan ship settles into an orbit matching that of the moon, the earth has two satellites. The mayhem wrought on the planet - especially New York City - after it's arrival and the subsequent launching of a planet drilling probe, hits a high crescendo that's action-packed and dramatic. The action is not for the squeamish; the author's descriptive powers render each scene in gory detail. There will be blood (human and other.)
Harvester Ascension also has a lot to say about our place within the marvelous living organism that is our planet as well as in the wider universe. Some of the aspects touched upon in the book are really thought-provoking.
Finally, it's clear by the ending that the author intends this to be the first book in a series. So keep your eyes peeled for sequels!

[Maxine Bringenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild dreams begin to haunt the sleep of most people in the world, dreams that are eerily similar in their message: "The Harvester is coming". One man in particular seems particularly affected by the dreams, and as it becomes apparent that a spacecraft is nearing the earth, his involvement becomes more and more pronounced. The spacecraft, known as the Harvester, soon makes its hostile intentions known, and a handful of people group together to attempt to save the world...with the help of an unexpected presence on earth!
Harvester: Ascension is sci-fi at its best. It blends splendid character development with elements of technology and terror, and the combination is a fun trip from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book!

[Doreen Dalesandro]

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