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Astra Somnia: Becoming Immortal is Fatal
What if stars are alive?
Imagine individual stars as sentient beings, living for billions of years in bodies of light, part of a vast heavenly family, and a massive vibrant society.
As Tommy Robinson imagines stellar society, he discovers that if you look to the stars for the meaning of life, or the purpose of death, or the role of dreaming, or the power of love, you'll probably learn that ignorance is essential.
Join the reluctantly pregnant Red Dwarf Carols in Sequins, who will soon become a binary system. Before her Brown can turn Red, she needs to nurture a mind capable of coping with eternity. It's a fatal process.
Imagine individual stars as sentient beings, living for billions of years in bodies of light, part of a vast heavenly family, and a massive vibrant society.
As Tommy Robinson imagines stellar society, he discovers that if you look to the stars for the meaning of life, or the purpose of death, or the role of dreaming, or the power of love, you'll probably learn that ignorance is essential.
Join the reluctantly pregnant Red Dwarf Carols in Sequins, who will soon become a binary system. Before her Brown can turn Red, she needs to nurture a mind capable of coping with eternity. It's a fatal process.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 9, 2014
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 15, 2015
Not what I usually read - but so glad I did. Blew my mind.
This book is mind-boggling, a story I will never forget. Not often does a book change the way you think about life, let alone about death, and the meaning of it all. Thoroughly impressed. What an imagination, what an amazingly creative mind.
I will never look at stars the same way again, but I will never look at my cat or my plants the same way again. What a magnificent tale. More please!
This book is mind-boggling, a story I will never forget. Not often does a book change the way you think about life, let alone about death, and the meaning of it all. Thoroughly impressed. What an imagination, what an amazingly creative mind.
I will never look at stars the same way again, but I will never look at my cat or my plants the same way again. What a magnificent tale. More please!
April 4, 2015
Science and religion together?
How about creation, evolution AND reincarnation all together?
What a mind-blowing imagination.
I will never look at stars the same way again. Can't wait for his next novel.
How about creation, evolution AND reincarnation all together?
What a mind-blowing imagination.
I will never look at stars the same way again. Can't wait for his next novel.
June 18, 2015
Intrigued by a strange request (guy asked me to rate this book with one star), I actually bought and read this book, and simply cannot do what he asked. Not with any integrity - although others seem to not have this problem. It blew my mind.
It's a story about a guy who discovers a journal kept by his mother from a strange series of visions she had as a teenager, and it's a story about a sentient star who wants to become a binary. "Reluctantly pregnant", the author says. Anthropomorphising a stellar society couldn't have been easy, but the astrophysics is spot on, and the way he has described what are interactive, emotive energy beings, is skilled.
The idea behind the visions, and the pregnancy, is a little bit Buddhist, a little reincarnation, a little Christianity (the creation week, the many mansions of the heavens) and even a little Islam. To become a star, to grow a mind that can cope with eternity, there needs to be layers of skill acquisition, steps of development - and from grade one (plant) up to grade six (human).
The author has done some research, and the result is impressive. This is a highly original blending of philosophy, cosmology and theology, one that will stay with me, and one that I will recommend to all my friends. Why haven't we always thought of stars as alive?
We are all star dust, as Sagan famously said. What if we are all stars dreaming (The Latin title: Astra Somnia) - not just us, but every living thing on the planet? I for one will never look at the night sky the same way again...and now I know why I talk to my plants. They are made of star stuff as well.
Astonishingly life-affirming for a book that tackles the meaning of death. Can't wait for more from this new (Aussie!) author.
It's a story about a guy who discovers a journal kept by his mother from a strange series of visions she had as a teenager, and it's a story about a sentient star who wants to become a binary. "Reluctantly pregnant", the author says. Anthropomorphising a stellar society couldn't have been easy, but the astrophysics is spot on, and the way he has described what are interactive, emotive energy beings, is skilled.
The idea behind the visions, and the pregnancy, is a little bit Buddhist, a little reincarnation, a little Christianity (the creation week, the many mansions of the heavens) and even a little Islam. To become a star, to grow a mind that can cope with eternity, there needs to be layers of skill acquisition, steps of development - and from grade one (plant) up to grade six (human).
The author has done some research, and the result is impressive. This is a highly original blending of philosophy, cosmology and theology, one that will stay with me, and one that I will recommend to all my friends. Why haven't we always thought of stars as alive?
We are all star dust, as Sagan famously said. What if we are all stars dreaming (The Latin title: Astra Somnia) - not just us, but every living thing on the planet? I for one will never look at the night sky the same way again...and now I know why I talk to my plants. They are made of star stuff as well.
Astonishingly life-affirming for a book that tackles the meaning of death. Can't wait for more from this new (Aussie!) author.
April 26, 2015
Give this "novel" a miss. I found it uninspiring. The first glowing review on this site was posted by the author himself, Clinton John .This should have been a warning. An author who needs to post a great review of their own work is rather concerning and smacks of desperation.The ideas plotted out in Astro Somnia have already been presented, revealed and illuminated much better elsewhere.. Astra Somnia excels at being ordinary. Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and George Orwell have already covered this same territory in a more eloquent, engaging and inovative manner.
July 7, 2015
Only an intelligent and creative imagination could have produced the book Astra Somnia. Although it incorporates familiar themes in science it intersperses them in a meaningful way with imagined scenarios of Stella birth and the path of evolution/and or creation.
Combining science fact with imaginative fantasy, the book explores how our lives are shaped through family bonds of love and loyalty, the choices we make and things beyond our understanding or control.
This thought provoking book could be ahead of its time.
May 3, 2015
A FIVE STAR READ. For a first time author this is a breath taking accomplishment. Such an astonishing narrative vision........while it is an overwhelming positive and life-affirming connection between life on our own planet.... it is also up-to-date science with an introduction to cosmology. I am looking forward to his next novel. Am recommending to all my friends..!
July 9, 2015
Amused and saddened to see cynics on here deriding this book - I mean, how many people from Melbourne seem to be logging on just the once to review this book with one star and no comment? Some sort of cyber bullying I can see others have referenced. Idiots. Haters will hate.
I was really impressed with this book. Others have talked about it, but for me the blending of Buddhism with other philosophies like blatant Christianity analogies was impressively done. Very creative, original beyond belief. What sort of imagination saw a way of connecting all this?
As a scientist who left his childhood Christianity, I loved this book, and feel closer to a comprehensive understanding of purpose than I've ever felt. It's more meaning-of-life, comparative philosophy stuff than a science fiction story.
I hope the author continues with this "Astraverse" - I for one want to know more about the eternal star, and about stellar society.
I was really impressed with this book. Others have talked about it, but for me the blending of Buddhism with other philosophies like blatant Christianity analogies was impressively done. Very creative, original beyond belief. What sort of imagination saw a way of connecting all this?
As a scientist who left his childhood Christianity, I loved this book, and feel closer to a comprehensive understanding of purpose than I've ever felt. It's more meaning-of-life, comparative philosophy stuff than a science fiction story.
I hope the author continues with this "Astraverse" - I for one want to know more about the eternal star, and about stellar society.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews