Spiritual Fiction: ARLEN the 20th Century Messenger

The author of "Arlen the 20th Century Messenger" sent me a copy of his book for the purposes of writing a review on his behalf. This book is a compilation of events that occurred in his life and in the life of his father, although it is written as a fiction novel. As you read the book, you will understand why it is fiction as there are dream sequences, time travel in Arlen's dreams, prophecies told and fulfilled and some pretty amazing coincidences. It is still a very interesting story that combines events from past history with some that are more recent.The book is based on the life of Arlen (which the author also uses as his pen name) whose birth is foretold to his mother by a young gypsy. There is no "immaculate conception" however the prophecy is fulfilled and Arlen is conceived on the very day (night, actually) that the gypsy visits Arlen's mother. If you enjoy romance novels, there are a few descriptive scenes of "romance", however they are pretty tame and not likely to
offend anyone.As a child, Arlen is run over by a carriage and has a "near death" experience, and later in life he starts to have dreams where he is transported back in time. In these dreams, he is still "Arlen", and he is always a messenger or spy of some sort, playing an integral role in several historic events (kind of like a medieval "Forrest Gump"). The real Arlen also becomes a mail courier, with several stints in the army as well which reinforce the dreams he has as a participant in some of the ancient battles.The book tells of Arlen's life, the people that he meets along the way, and then meets again later in some instances. The coincidences of meeting some of these people again may seem farfetched at times, however I think we have all had instances where we see someone that we haven't seen in a while and remark "small world". In Arlen's case, this just happens to occur with most of the people who have played a fairly significant role in his life experiences. These "
coincidences" are explained when you realize that the author has combined the lives of two people as the basis for his book, and it isn't inconceivable that this could have happened.The most intriguing aspects of the story are the dreams that Arlen has and the three prayers that he receives. While dreaming, he writes two of these prayers down on a stone in chalk and they are nearby when he awakens. The other is memorized and written down in his notebook when the dream ends. These dreams provide the spirituality in the book, and I have copied and printed them so I can refer to them for my own use. In the book, Arlen passes them on to people that he meets in his life and in his dreams. He also commits to living by the morals and lessons that the prayers impart, both in his "real" life and in his "dream" life. There is a final prayer recited at the end of the book when Arlen's ashes are spread which is a combination of the three prayers in the book and "The Lord's Prayer" (pret
ty impressive company for Arlen's prayers) that would be suitable at any funeral.One of the issues that I have with the book is the editing. It seems that from my experience, those wanting to publish their first book are so anxious to get the book published that they skimp (or skip entirely) the editing process. In some cases in "Arlen" it may have been that run-on sentences and lack of punctuation was done purposefully to create the feeling of excitement and hurried speaking, however there were too many typos in other parts to make it all seem to have been done "on purpose". I'm not sure if the author or the publisher was responsible for the editing, and in my opinion it doesn't matter. If your name is going on or in something that you are selling to the public, it should be done correctly. I was given my copy by the author in return for this review and although it is a good story, had I picked it up in a book store I probably wouldn't have purchased it. The summary on the
back cover has not been proof-read which would have caused me to put it back on the shelf."Arlen the 20th Century Messenger" is strictly a spiritual fiction book. There is a fairly noticeable Christian aspect to the story which is understandable given the author's background and upbringing. The author manages to make the book a little risqué at times while keeping the spiritual theme, and I believe that is how life plays out for most of us. We can be spiritual at heart, however there are times when we are mad, upset, frustrated, and if we are really honest, sometimes we get horny. "Arlen" deals with all of these in an upfront way without being crude and without losing the spiritual theme of prayer, gratefulness and forgiveness.As a spiritual fiction book, the author has done a commendable job of combining history, spirituality, dreams, coincidences and prayer in a story that I would recommend. However, I will caution those that are very particular when it comes to editing,
that it would be difficult to look past that aspect of the publication as it is sorely lacking. Reading this book strictly as if it were being read to you enables you to get past this obstacle and I was able to finish it fairly quickly once I did that. The story is believable and I would purchase the book just to get the three prayers out of it. Perhaps on the next printing the text can be edited as that was the biggest flaw that I found, and it is easily corrected. Congratulations, Paul, on your first book.Laughter and love,Rick FessArlen the 20th Century Messenger

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