Heaven and Earth

by Arturo Riojas

This sci-fi novel portrays an unlikely alliance that is forged between extraterrestrial beings and a group of earthlings to address an invasion of the aliens' planet, the environmental tailspin seen on earth, and the lack of protection afforded by U.S. government agencies.

This book identifies and discusses a health issue that goes unnoticed by the medical community, which focuses on diagnosing symptoms (for example, type-2 diabetes, kidney failure, and various forms of cancer) rather than identifying the underlying cause—cadmium poisoning. It also questions whether several U.S. government agencies fulfill their charge of protecting the general population of our country.

A tale of mass deceit and denial, conquest without overt violence, insidious enemies, and turbulent battles fought within, “Heaven and Earth” explores the very sources of pain and suffering in society and offers a surprise ending to free two races from oppression and exploitation.

Arturo Riojas, Ph.D., P.E., wanted to share his newfound understanding of cadmium poisoning—what he believes is causing enormous and widespread pain and suffering in our society, but almost no one wanted to listen. He decided to disseminate information in the form of a book that would entertain as well as enlighten readers. “Heaven and Earth” (published by Xlibris) is the result of this undertaking.

398 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2016

About the author

Arturo Riojas, Ph.D., P.E., holds four engineering degrees (two in chemical engineering and two in civil engineering, specialization in environmental) and is a licensed professional engineer in Texas. Dr. Riojas' professional career spans over 35 years in industrial, consulting, and academic settings. He possesses hands-on experience gained in the petroleum refining and chemical industries and is well versed in the environmental regulatory processes associated with CERCLA and RCRA. He has extensive experience with U.S. military environmental projects and has worked on water and wastewater projects in Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico, Central Europe, and the Republic of Korea. He has also taught graduate- and undergraduate-level classes at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Reviews

[Nikola Leka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cadmium, the silent killer that no-body wants to talk about.
This is a very important book. The widespread use of phosphate-based fertilisers to boost agricultural production is associated with the release of vast amounts of Cd. Consequently the amount of Cd available to be inhaled, ingested and otherwise absorbed into the human body is steadily increasing.
Cd is a heavy metal, and one that has no known function in our bodies. It is has a wide range of negative effects on human health, ranging from serious kidney damage, decreased metabolism as a result of its effect on thyroid function, bone diseases, cancer and other conditions. Our bodies are very slow are getting rid of it, so the amount of Cd we have in us builds up over time.
The use of phosphate fertilisers since WWII has increased markedly. So has the incidence of diabetes and obesity. It is quite likely that exposure to Cd is one of major causes. But there is a specific silence about it.
The dangers of Cd are known. There are guidelines on workplace exposure. Yet it’s presence in our food chain and non-occupational exposure is ignored. Why?
This book includes explanations of how Cd affects our health, and individual strategies we can take to ameliorate that. But this book was written in the science fiction genre in an attempt to overcome the peculiar form of silence about the widespread exposure to Cd in our current environment.
Stepping away from the book for a moment, I want to give you the example that aroused my interest in this topic. Bear with me.
Naomi Klein referred to Nauru in chapter Five of “This Changes Everything” as a paradigm case of a land and its people being used up and thrown away by extractive industries. She notes that basically all of Nauru’s topsoil, rich in phosphates, had been exported by 1996. After it was ruined, Nauru tried its hand at being a tax-haven, and when that failed, desperate for money, it agreed in 2000 to become a dumping ground for human rubbish. She cited Mark Isaacs’ book “The Undesireables”, about how the Australian government dumps asylum seekers there. It is a disturbing parallel, but I don’t think she knew about the Cd issue.
In the early 1970s widespread alarm about the very high Cd content in phosphate exports from Nauru was driving down its price. So Nauru invested in a de-cadminisation plant. The Cd concentrate waste was dumped on the edge of the island’s only lake. Producers of Nauruan phosphate were only concerned with its export price. The health and welfare of the Nauruan people was not their business.
Since phosphate mining began, the Nauruan people have become the most obese race on earth- over 95%. They have extraordinarily high rates of kidney disease and diabetes. They die young- around the age of 50. Yet despite the dangers of Cd being so well known, it does NOT appear as a cause. Obesity as a result of eating imported packaged foods is regarded as the main cause. Not the Cd dust that swathes the island and swamps its waterways and soil.
The island had become very dusty since losing the majority of its vegetation. When another layer of phosphates were found, and mining resumed in 2006, the dust control unit from the former operation had to be repaired because the dust was regarded as “a public nuisance”. The Easterlies that blow across the island funnel dust down into a town called Aiwo. A mining report declared that “Geographically Aiwo is in the wrong place”. The same report estimated that there is about 1.5 tons of dust generated every 24 hours that the drying plant is in operation. It wonders how to “combine it [the dust] with the dried phosphate for export”.
Nauru prepared a report for the UN in 2013 regarding its problems with development. Here is the only mention of Cd in the whole report:
“In addition to the damage done to the land surface, the mining has created its own pollution, particularly Cd residue and phosphate dust. The pollutants from the mine have infiltrated into the natural environment of Nauru. The phosphate dust pollutes the air and reduces the quality of water in certain residential areas which has had a negative impact on health.”
It beggars belief. The locals, as well as asylum seekers are victims (the detention centre is next to renewed mining). So too are those who profit from it: Nauru's president Baron Waqa died the other day, aged 52.
But what makes it more alarming is that it is not confined to Nauru. It’s the same in other Cd-rich locations. That is why Arturo Riojas says he resorted to science fiction , as a way of exploring the harder, social question, of just why there is this peculiar silence surrounding Cd.

Excuse the length of this review. But it’s not just a book we have here. It’s the starting point of a movement that is very much needed.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Heaven and Earth" by Dr. Arturo Riojas tries to be two things at once i.e. a sci-fi novel about aliens visiting Earth and a health book warning us about cadmium poisoning (a dangerous heavy metal in our food and water). Cool concept, but the problem? It doesn't really nail either one.

The book has tons of great information about cadmium and how dangerous it is. Dr. Riojas clearly knows his stuff and explains how this heavy metal sneaks into our food and water. Those fact chapters are written super clearly and actually made me think about what I'm eating. If the whole book was just about that, it would've been awesome. If you want to learn about health dangers, those chapters are gold.

But after a while, my interest totally fell off. The pattern where the novel and scientific fact paper run hand in hand made me feel really disconnected. The story itself is, for me, pretty boring and hard to follow.

You would get into the story about NASA scientists Olga, Gavilan, Sam, and Dr. Welch meeting an alien named Nivla, then BAM, suddenly you're reading facts about cadmium again. Then back to the story. It's exhausting and confusing.

The plot itself is pretty dry and unclear until quite late in the book. Most scenes just exist so characters can talk about cadmium poisoning instead of actually doing anything. The dialogue sounds super fake and stiff, like nobody talks like real people. There are big chunks of text with information dumps hidden in them, which made it really hard to stay focused.

Some characters are likable though. Olga is rebellious and fun, and Gavilan has humor and personality. And honestly, the romance between them feels weird since she's 25 and he's way older. The dialogue between them is so unnatural and robotic.

The best part of the book is that it did not have grammatical mistakes. However, the structure of the book can be improved with proper paragraph spacing and trimming unnecessary, lengthy chapters.

Also, the vast amount of information dumped on any reader can be overwhelming, so maybe trimming it would help. The alien arc could have been interesting, but after a while, it felt so generic and flat.

I agree that the author shows their passion for the subject, and it should be taken seriously for human beings' well-being, but that information can be presented in a way that the readers take it to heart.

Maybe the author should divide both parts into separate books. One actual sci-fi novel and one health guide. Mixing them together just makes both weaker.

I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. Useful health info, but the story couldn't keep me interested. I would recommend this to readers who are sci-fi lovers but also health buffs and don't mind a bit of storyline mix-up.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heaven and Earth is a science fiction story that surprised me in a good way. I started reading it expecting a regular sci-fi adventure, but the book turned out to focus more on ideas and deeper questions about humanity and the universe. It is the kind of book that makes you stop and think instead of just rushing through the story.

One thing I really liked was how creative the concepts were. The author introduces interesting perspectives about Earth and human existence that felt unique and different from other books I have read. Some parts made me reflect on real-world issues and how people understand their place in the world. I appreciated that the story tried to do something meaningful instead of only entertaining the reader.

The writing style is mostly clear and easy to understand. Even when the book discusses complex or philosophical topics, the explanations are written in a way that helped me follow along without needing special knowledge. I also liked the calm and thoughtful tone of the story, which matched the themes well.

That said, there were a few things that did not work as well for me. The pacing felt slow in several sections because the book spends a lot of time explaining ideas. Readers who prefer fast action or constant excitement might find these parts difficult to stay engaged with. I also felt that some ideas were repeated a little too much, which made certain chapters feel longer than necessary.

Another reason I did not give a full five stars is that I wanted more connection with the characters. The focus on big concepts sometimes made the characters feel less developed emotionally.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Heaven and Earth. It is a thoughtful and imaginative book that stands out because of its ideas and message. While it may not be for readers looking for a fast-paced story, it is a good choice for anyone who enjoys science fiction that encourages reflection and deeper thinking. I would recommend it to readers who like philosophical themes mixed with sci-fi storytelling.

[Ritika shrivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heaven and earth is an effort to showcase the philosophy of the domination of greed over ethics. It is a weak fictional attempt to deliver facts with an uncompelling and haywire storyline. The author was primarily focused on delivering the facts about the carcinogenic metals and their impact on the human body in the entire book.
The premise of the book develops initial curiosity as to how the story will unfold and how facts will intertwine with the core of the story. The author fails to sustain the reader’s interest and imagination throughout the book. The characters lacked depth and conviction. The writing was predictable, and the event descriptions were average.
Overall the book is an below average read as it lacks in storytelling, and over-exposure about facts deeming the book boring.

[Aditi Mudaliar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book pleasantly surprised me. At first, I thought that it would be like the rest of its kind—a novel about aliens who come to invade Earth. Whereas this novel integrates this trope with a hidden but grave environmental issue to provide a well-thought-out and fulfilling plot. The author has taken great care to sculpt three-dimensional characters, each with their own strengths and flaws. I liked the whole cause-and-effect theme throughout the novel, which explained a lot of would-be plot holes. I had a satisfactory reading experience and would recommend this book to others. 5/5 stars!

[Tsheola Asavela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The following link is the review I wrote for Online Book Club.Org: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/vie...

[Mylène · Rating 1 out of 5]

The synopsis made me think the book had potential. Cadmium poisonning seemed like an interesting subject. However, the facts about cadmium were thrown in your face at the end of every chapter, even at the very beginning, when cadmium had not yet been mentionned in the book. It probably would have been better to assemble all those facts at the end of the book, and to refer to them when needed in the novel.

The main character seemed similar to Ellie Arroway in Contact, but she wasn't as interesting as Carl Sagan's character.

I didn't finish the book (I read 30 %). It wasn't bad per se, I just lost interest.