The first story of the "The Crossover Wars" covers a time span of about twenty years in the life of Hurricane Katrina orphan Nigel Boyd Renoir as he grows to manhood. When we first meet Nigel, he's a patient in Sand Ridge Asylum for the Criminally insane, telling a rather maudlin tale of unrequited love for a woman named Angeline Arlander to a detective who's investigating the mysterious disappearance of Nigel's less beloved live-in girlfriend, Dana Lacy. As the story progresses, Nigel discovers that he is a person with several incarnations in divergent realities and a recurring individual throughout a multiverse he never knew existed. Every version of him is the same, but different in personality, situation and point of view. All of them are matched with, married or engaged to their versions of Angeline, leaving our Nigel as the only one living without her. The actions he takes to assuage a longing for his own version of this eternal love sets alight the inferno that becomes the Crossover Wars. Later in the tale, we are introduced to a Marine Corps General and his wife. They have been stand-ins for Nigel's own mother and father ever since he wandered into their lives at the age of five, but these adopted parents' true identities are revealed in the course of the narrative as an unexpected, heart-stopping twist. The Crossover Wars is a work of science fiction, military action and a love story - a commentary on race and racism along with a tale of families in crisis, all combined in one book. There are malicious mad geniuses concocting pandemic viruses, forcibly mutated humanity who become malignant aliens and gun blazing battles in the Utah desert overseen by a red-caped military officer. The action storms through at least three different versions of the United States of America, where the book was written. With all of that, other elements of the story are still close enough to reality for the reader to feel that this could happen here...
When I began reading The Crossover Wars by S. Warren Winslow, I thought it would be another Sci-Fi novel whose characters had supernatural abilities. However, as I delved into the storyline, I could not help but marvel at Warren’s excellent ability to not only write a fictional text while educating his readers on insights regarding metaphysics. The novel begins with Roan Caldwell’s (The Doctor’s) interview with Nigel Boyd Renoir, otherwise known as The Patient. Roan was investigating the disappearance of Dana Emily Lacy, who had been the Patient’s estranged lover.
Roan was convinced that Nigel was pretending to be a psycho so as to avoid being put on death row. He likened Nigel’s behavior to the Tenement Slasher’s, who had gotten away with his crimes and eventually murdered Laura and Roan’s two daughters. He did not understand how Nigel seemed to beat the judicial system, but he suspected powerful muscles were behind Nigel’s seeming easy way through America’s judicial system. His interview did not yield much, much to his disappointment. However, when Nigel escaped from the prison hospital, Roan was unprepared for the sudden shift his detective work would take.
The book is organized into six interludes and fifty-one chapters. Each chapter is titled to foreground the subsequent storyline, thus building readers’ anticipation. Although Warren primarily narrates this book from the third-person point of view, he includes dialogues and soliloquies in the storyline. This not only provides background for scenes but also helps the reader understand what each character is thinking and feeling. Warren does not use the same narrative style for each character. While some characters are well-developed with distinct personalities, others reveal the protagonists’ motivations. For instance, Roan’s pursuit of Dana only seemed to be able to succeed through The Patient’s parallel pursuit of Angeline.
The storyline is developed gradually and steadily, and the reader is never left wondering why things are happening. The characters are believable and interesting, which helps to keep the reader engaged in their story. I especially loved how doppelgangers were introduced at the most opportune time. It helped build up a bit of suspense and made their role fulfillment later in the story more compelling. The ending was satisfying but still left room for a sequel if the author chose to write one. Intertextual elements like poems and stories within the stories enriched the book, adding layers of meaning and depth to the overall narrative. The characters also drew from a wide range of cultural references, including references to other texts.
The book delves deep into the subjects of metaphysics and multiverses. It also explores the concepts of time, space, reality, and consciousness. The novel is written in an easy-to-understand language and does not require any prior knowledge of the subjects. Warren also explains how these concepts are related to each other in order to give readers a better understanding of their place in this world. It is suitable for readers interested in exploring the possibilities of their “otherness” and understanding their place in this world. The book is also a great tool for readers who are interested in exploring the concepts of time and space, as well as multiverses.
In the bygone, ancient days of 2005, a boy with the ability to step through portals in the universe falls into the hands of an oddly familiar military colonel who unfortunately sees great potential in the industry of super-powered orphan labor. What follows is an epic of biblical proportion about a man trouncing through sentient dark matter in an effort to find who killed his childhood crush, capture a few big-brained racists concocting a genetic superbug, and try his hardest to keep track of all these damn doppelgängers along the way. If you can withstand a few interesting syntax choices as well as a psychic onslaught of exposition, then have I got a Doordasher you need to contact ASAP.
I met the author who is as much of a mystery as the titles of his interludes - He was kind, helpful and inquisitive . He has a way of dangling a carrot ..a way of beckoning with his words .. where they lead? Hmm
I heard Angelina has written a book of her own - called Hello World. (Angels are eternal) in a corner almost unseen is a symbol and an inscription reading WWII I can’t help but think it’s not alluding to War but Warren