Francis T. Perry Williams,
Pollen & the Ring of Harmony
(Bridgeway, 2008)


I was immediately drawn into the book and could not stop reading it until I finished the final page. I was left wondering if there would be a sequel or a movie; this book is too magnificent to not have a followup. It carries a vital message that our world needs to hear.

Pollen is a 278,000-year-old alien from deep space who travels from one planet to another issuing warnings. If the inhabitants agree to change their ways and try to learn to live in harmony with each other and all things around them, Pollen will save the planet using the living Ring of Harmony that he wears. Usually, they do not elect to change their ways.

Two planets have collided and an asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. Pollen arrives with the ability to deflect the asteroid, but says he must first speak with the U.S. president. He teams up with an old environmentalist, Reb, who's dying of cancer, and his hound dog, Duke. Together they leave California on an excitement-filled journey toward the White House, picking up friends, supporters and a few environmental crusaders along the way.

But Pollen's exploits (saving lives, alleviating suffering and righting the wrongs he encounters) do more than make news. They catch the attention of the evil, power-hungry vice president, who decides to get the Ring of Harmony for his own self-promotion. The story turns deadly when the vice president meets with Pollen, professes trust, entices Pollen to remove the Ring, then has Pollen grabbed by a security team.

With the asteroid less than two days from Earth, Pollen is shot in the chest six times and Reb is on the run with a Ring he cannot control, a news team with a teenage daughter who just got suspended from school and a hound who just got the tip of his tail shot.

What a story! I loved every paragraph. Francis T. Perry Williams has crafted a spellbinding tale that packs a solid combination punch right to the midsection. He delivers his message with emphatic clarity while providing the highest caliber of entertainment. The storyline flows smoothly with excellent segues and his writing is descriptive to the verge of poetics. When he describes how the old guy and his hound both have droopy skin around their eyes, you will see the melted-hound-dog face on both of them and agree that they do resemble each other.

The character development is tremendous. Williams has created an alien you must love and the world's most unlikely hero, combined them with the world's most under-appreciated type of dog, and thrown in enough diversity in the supporting characters that the average reader will identify with at least one. Then, he allows them to grow and mature before your eyes. By the time the story ends, you feel as if they are old friends.

Williams follows action in multiple areas before merging the threads into one tightly woven story. It is as good as any writing I have found and far better than the average book on the market. Williams is a name to remember. He is a gifted storyteller and an outstanding writer.

If you read my reviews, you know that I am not a fan of science fiction and prefer not to read about aliens unless they have vampires or werewolves among them. So when I promise you that Pollen & the Ring of Harmony is one of the best books I have read in recent months, you can believe me. This book is first-rate entertainment.




Rambles.NET
review by
Alicia Karen Elkins

30 August 2008


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