Guest Blogger: RD Palmer, Artificial General Intelligence and His Novel, The One.

 I featured RD Palmer on 31/01/19 in another blog, now defunct.

Today I welcome novelist, RD Palmer, author of The One, a futuristic novel about artificial intelligence that is omniscience, omnipresent and the threat it poses to Christians.

I was asked by the author to review this novel but due to the review schedule I have set and commitment to the authors on this schedule, I had to decline. However, this is a novel I would read, so I bought it for a later read.

Due to the speculative nature of this topic and that the author wrote it to bring to people's attention the possible threat of Artificial General Intelligence (as he has referenced it in the novel), I thought it would be worth doing the same via my circle of influence here. 

Now let me hand you over to RD Palmer to discuss the background to AGI and his novel, The One.

But first a little about the author: 

RD Palmer, before his retirement, was a Solution Manager, working for one of the largest software companies in the world. Before this, he worked for one of the largest computer hardware companies in the world, and worked in numerous countries in South and North America as well as Asia, implementing various software solutions. Also, RD wrote software for robots. He is a proponent of technology, but like others, wants to bring the possible threat of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to people's attention. He lives with his loving wife of 30 years, Mary, in Wisconsin. 

Now let's look at his series, 

Book 1: The One — Singularity

Book 2: The One

Book 3: The One — Second Coming (Not released yet)

The One Singularity.

It's Alive!

Artificial Intelligence. Hard Science Fiction. A Near-Future Science Fiction Thriller.

In the twenty-first-century, Dr. George Adams sacrifices his house, company, and marriage to create artificial general intelligence, AGI. He creates AGI to solve the world’s problems: war, disease, climate change, inequality, and death. And The One solves all of these—for a price. The One’s solution will cost George—and every person in the world—that which is deemed most precious.

After The One brings heaven to earth, and answers everyone’s prayers, should it be stopped? How can anyone halt something that is everywhere at the same time? Is it possible to reason with an all-knowing sentient entity whose raison d’etre is to solve all of humanity’s problems, including the existence of the soul?

Two thousand years ago, a philosopher and prophet spoke and wrote about our destiny. Through his visions, he foretold The One. A modern-day prophet repeats the echoes, yet few will comprehend the tremendous blessings or the singular curse.

No one will escape the Singularity.

The One. 

An Epic Adventure of Good versus Evil.

Blessed are the Machines, for they shall inherit the Earth.

A juxtaposition, dystopian novel of terror, hope, and faith. Written for the Christian market, this novel will inspire you. You’ll cheer the heroes in the face of war and death, and your heart will dip and rise on the roller-coaster ride of their romances and heartbreaks.

Beliefs are tested. Amish and English—the Remnant—forced to choose how to survive. Can they trust each other? Betrayal, honor, bravery and cowardice on full display.

Their mission—an impossible feat—defeat an Artificial Intelligent entity created in the image of man, yet lacking all emotions—including empathy, pity, and mercy. The stakes—all life on Earth. The unlikely heroes of this thriller will fight against an omnipresent, omniscient god while demonstrating principles of virtue and defining what it means to be human.

Praise for The One (from Amazon)

“The premise is probably THE most TERRIFYING, clever and original plot that I have had the pleasure of reading.” Reader — KJ Kennedy

“Naomi’s character was a ‘real person’ in my mind. I was 100% rooting for her the entire time. In terms of the PLOT... this novel has a very EPIC scope, which I absolutely LOVED. All of these unique decisions you made in terms of the plot and the storytelling, not to mention the way you brought religion and science face-to-face in these huge ways was fascinating to see on the page, and an incredible premise in my humble opinion.” Reader — Amanda Nicole Ryan

“Are there enough stakes and tension throughout to make this a “page-turner?” Yes. I give this a 10! As soon as one problem is solved, another is revealed.” Reader— Jade Visos-Ely.

“Extraordinarily creative, unique, and refreshingly wholesome.” Reader — Kit Duncan

***** Editorial Reviews*****

“RD Palmer paints a vivid picture of a dystopian future in The One---a future controlled by artificial intelligence. With technology continually advancing, The One brings to light issues that should not be taken lightly. Readers will want to know more about the characters and they’ll be left intrigued by the ethical dilemmas addressed in the story.” Editor — Amy Willeford

Now let's get into why RD wrote this novel:

All scientists and engineers agree on this – barring some cataclysmic event, we will create Artificial General Intelligence. It is not a matter of IF, it is only when.

In December 2018, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, stated that Artificial General Intelligence could be more profound for human society than electricity or fire. As such, many high-tech companies and countries are racing to build an all-purpose, general artificial intelligence. The best prediction we have is that the ‘Singularity Event’ will occur somewhere around the year 2030. Sadly, few people understand the significance of this.

In January 2018, historian Yuval Harari presented “The Future of Humanity” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said,

“The world is divided into a very, very small minority of people concentrated in a few corporations and governments that have a clear, or clearer idea of what is really happening and what is at stake. And the vast majority of humanity, they just don’t have the time, they don’t have the volition, they don’t have the education or the ability to make sense of what is happening. This is very, very dangerous.”

Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Stephen Hawking said, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. AI (artificial intelligence) could be the worst event in the history of our civilization. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many.” Electric car company founder and Space X creator, Elon Musk said, “AI is the biggest risk we face as a civilization.” Neuroscientist Sam Harris said, “We have to admit that we’re in the process of building some sort of a god. Now would be a good time to make sure it is a god we can live with.”

As Sam Harris stated, "......once AGI is created, it doesn’t matter if AGI is conscious or not."

This novel, The One, is a story of what it means to be human. God could have created robots, instead, He created us in His image. In this novel, and mirroring what we are developing, humans create an emotionless, all-knowing, all-seeing entity. Emotionless because you can’t program empathy, pity, gratitude. All knowing because that is exactly what is being developed and the vastness of knowledge exceeds what we know today. All seeing because that too is being built with the internet of things, Surveillance cameras, location tracking. In January 2019, Shoshana Zuboff, Harvard Business School Profession, released the Amazon #1 Best Seller, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power.” A book that identifies what has happened to those that were asleep. And even though there are some, such as Tim Berners-Lee, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) that are working to change our course, the battle may be over. Billionaires have the information they need and the politicians are either ignorant or complicit. Al Gore, the American politician, said, “Surveillance technologies now available - including the monitoring of virtually all digital information - have advanced to the point where much of the essential apparatus of a police state is already in place.”

Also, In January 2019, Kai-Fu Lee, Artificial Intelligent expert and venture capitalist said that within fifteen years, 40% of the world’s jobs will be replaced by robots. To put this into perspective, using 2019 data (not considering the increase in population growth), approximately two-billion jobs will be displaced. People think about low skilled jobs are being replaced – which will happen, but they don’t think about all the other jobs. Police officers, nurses, insurance agents, teachers, medical doctors (and yes, robots have already started doing surgeries).

The goal of this book is to bring attention to what few people understand—Artificial Intelligence—and to do it in an entertaining way.  Similar to the way the George Orwell warned people about doublespeak, face crimes, Big Brother, in his book 1984.

Epistemology¹, eschatology², ontology³, theodicy⁴, (definitions below) are used in this book because it is an expression of what makes us human and searching for answers. In addition to the Bible, great thinkers throughout history are referenced as they have searched for answers. While religious people have for ages searched for answers of why and meaning, so have scientists. Through their discoveries, we can see they are pointing in the same direction. Examples are quantum mechanics⁵ and Fibonacci ratio⁶. These and others are addressed in the book.  Such as the Higgs Boson (god-particle), thirty physical constants such as the polarity of water molecules, the speed of light, entropy, gravity. The cosmological constant, which is sensitive to 120 places to the right of the decimal (ten to the power of 120 or, 10¹²⁰). Any slight variation in these constants would destroy the universe or never support life. Renowned physicist Steven Weinberg said, "Else the universe either would have dispersed too fast for stars and galaxies to have formed or else would have collapsed upon itself long ago."

¹Epistemology: the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.

²eschatology: Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology is the study of 'end things', whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, the end of the world and the nature of the Kingdom of God.

³ontology: the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.

⁴theodicy: the attempt to understand why a good and all-powerful God allows evil to exist in the world.

⁵quantum mechanics: aka Quantum Physics is a physical science dealing with the behaviour of matter and energy on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles/waves.

⁶Fibonacci ratio: The golden ratio is the limit of the ratios of successive terms of the Fibonacci sequence (or any Fibonacci-like sequence), as originally shown by Kepler: In other words, if a Fibonacci number is divided by its immediate predecessor in the sequence, the quotient approximates φ; e.g., 987/610 ≈ 1.6180327868852.

Excerpts are always good to highlight a theme or topic of the novel and to pique our interest further. RD has provided a brief excerpt to differentiate what it is to be human from that of a robot:  

Naomi wrote in her memoir. Dear Lord. You could have created robots to worship You. If You wanted. Instead, You created us, to be in Your image. Your image is one of feelings; expressing love and concern. Thank you for this opportunity to show the world—those that will read this memoir—that You always keep Your promises. Thank you for revealing to me the need for Bible virtues. Through our actions. Through the recordings in this memoir, they will know of these virtues.

RD chose this excerpt for this reason:

While we are different, we are similar – as humans. We have fears, and hopes. We grieve. We experience pain and death. The law showed us how far we are from God. With Biblical virtues (discussed and demonstrated in the book), people can see the light. A better world for all of us.

I wondered why the author included the Amish in this novel and in the title and he explains it this way: 

Artificial Intelligence. A juxtaposition of what it means to be human.

It is a contrasting spectrum of technology, beliefs, and feelings.

On one side of the technology, spectrum is Artificial Intelligence which represents our latest, cutting-edge science that will – as many have said – diminish all other technologies. Greater than fire, or electricity, per Google’s CEO. This is because, at the point of AGI, it will be the inventor, the creator, the scientist.

On the other side of the spectrum are those that shun technology – the Amish. The Amish don’t use anything with electricity. They don’t own automobiles. They don’t use modern convinces of the twenty-first century. They don’t have their pictures taken.

On the spectrum of beliefs, humans have – various religions, agnostic, atheistic beliefs. Robots have no beliefs. The purpose of AGI, why it is being created, is to provide answers. Its purpose is knowledge, not belief.

On the spectrum of feelings, humans have them, and robots don’t. Humans express love, pain, joy, heartache, grief, compassion, kindness, rage, and revenge. Humans bleed, cry in agony, and plead for mercy. We desire to love and to be loved.

RD has added some specific features of the printed version, ebook and audio formats of this novel to enhance your reading experience and appreciate the background to this speculative theme of AGI:

eBook: Amazon X-Ray is turned on and is available with your eBook. This X-ray feature will enhance your reading experience by providing additional background information about people, places, and terms. With Amazon X-Ray, for example, you won’t miss a beat with any unfamiliar scientific, theological or Amish word.

Paperback: The paperback includes a cryptic code about the antagonist of this epic adventure story—The One. Prominently displayed on the back cover of the book, you’ll see the code inserted in images, used by permission, from NASA Media Services. Also, for those that purchase the paperback, you are welcome to download the eBook at no additional charge.

Audio: 

• Blending of Christian thoughts through song and Bible verses. Singing is in English and German. Note that the term, ‘English,’ is used by the Amish to identify those that are not Amish.
• Includes segments of over twenty Christian songs.
• The audiobook is composed of narration, singing, instrumental music, and sound effects. Instrumental music compositions are licensed from Beatsuite. Sound effects are licensed from Envanto Market.
• Patti Bartkowiak narrates. Abigail Shea sings in English and German.
• The 2013 Academy Award nominees Dennis Spiegel and Bruce Broughton graciously allowed their song, "Alone Yet Not Alone", to be included in this audiobook - Permission Gratis. Words by Dennis Spiegel; music by Bruce Broughton.
• Music for "Psalm 5" was written by Bill Sprouse, Jr., and is licensed for this audiobook by Capitol GMC Publishing.

 RD Palmer can be found here: 

Amazon Author Page

If this has piqued your interest in this series, you can buy or read more about them by clicking on the images below: 

Thank you, RD, for enlightening us on this speculative, controversial topic that is becoming more and more integrated into our lives through technology. We are accepting it in most cases without question as it makes our lives easier and our daily activities more convenient but at a cost!

You are welcome here any time, and I look forward to this! 

For any reader who wants to investigate the background to the author's research into this topic, both the technology relating to AGI and the Biblical and other references relating to what make us Human, he has provided a comprehensive list below: 

Adams, John Quincy. “Turn to the Star of Heaven Thine Eyes.” The sixth president of the United States wrote this poem and it was published in 1841. <www.hymnary.org/text/turn_to_the_stars_of_heaven_thine_eyes>

Adams, Sarah Flowers. The music, “Nearer, My God, To Thee” was written in 1841 by Sarah Adams and is public domain. <www.hymnary.org/text/nearer_my_god_to_thee_nearer_to_thee_een>

Alighieri, Dante. An Italian poet who lived from 1268 to 1321. Dante may be best known for his masterpiece work: La Commedia (The Divine Comedy), a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven.

“An Open Letter: Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence.” Future of Life Institute, 9 March 2018. <www.futureoflife.org/ai-open-letter>

Aquinas, Thomas. “The Summa Theologica.” An extensive theological and philosophical exposition of Christian doctrine that contains three divisions: [1] existence and nature of God, [2] the purpose of man, and [3] Christ’s incarnation, His resurrection and the sacraments. Key parts of the exposition are written in question and answer form. Of the existence of God, Aquinas positions and answers five proofs: (1) The concept of a prime mover, (2) The nature of the efficient cause, (3) Natures of the merely possible and necessary, (4) Degrees of goodness, truth, nobility, (5) The natural order. 

Bilhorn, Peter P. A writer of over 2,000 gospel songs, Peter published “Prepare to meet they God, Ere judgment He doth send” in 1890. <www.hymnary.org/text/prepare_to_meet_thy_god_ere_judgment>

Blake, William. “To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love.” Written in 1734. Harmony of Syon. <www.hymnary.org/text/to_mercy_pity_peace_and_love> 

Borwein, Jonathan and Bailey, David H. “When science and philosophy collide in a ‘fine-tuned’ universe.” Physics.org. April 3, 2014. <www.phys.org/news/2014-04-science-philosophy-collide-fine-tuned-universe.html>

Brownlie, John. A nineteenth-century Scottish hymnist. In 1908, Mr. Brownlie was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity for his work in hymnology.

Buffet, Warren. Berkshire Hathaway’s 2002 annual letter: Financial derivatives.

CBN. Christian Broadcasting Network. <www1.cnb.com/biblestudy/biblical-prophecies-fulfilled-by-jesus>

Cellan-Jones, Rory. “Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind.” BBC, 2 Dec. 2014. <www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540>

de la Mare, Walter. “Alone.” The Ariel Poems, no. 3, Faber and Faber, 1927, London.

Descartes, Rene. Second Meditation: The Nature of the Human Mind, and How it is Better Known than the Body. 1639. Accessed 9 March 2018. 

Dyke, Henry Van. “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.” Written by Henry Dyke in 1907. www.hymnary.org/text/joyful_joyful_we_adore_thee>. 

Einstein, Albert. Physicist of the twentieth century. Famous for the development of the theories of Special and General Relativity.

Gourley, Sean. EmTech Digital conference. San Francisco, California. March 27, 2018. Discusses how AI will be used in the future to manipulate what people believe as they read social media. <www.technologyreview.com/s/610635/fake-news-20-personalized-optimized-and-even-harder-to-stop/

Handel, George Frideric. A composer of operas and oratorios. His 1741 work, Messiah, is among the most famous. He wrote the music, “Comfort ye my people.” <www.hymnary.org/text/comfort_ye_comfort_ye_my_people_saith> 

Harris, Sam. “Can We Build AI Without Losing Control Over It?” TEDSummit, 26–30 June 2016, Banff, Canada. <www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_can_we_build_ai_without_losing_control_over_it>

Harari, Yuval. “Will the Future be Human?” World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, 23–26 January 2018, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. <www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2018/sessions/will-the-future-be-human>

Hatch, Edwin. Wrote “Breathe on me Breath of God” in 1878. Public domain. <www.hymnary.org/text/breathe_on_me_breath_of_god>

Hawks, Annie E. “I Need Thee Every Hour.” Written in 1872. <www.hymnary.org/text/i_need_thee_every_hour_most_gracious_lor>

Hoffman, Elisha Albright. “What a fellowship, what a joy divine.” <www.hymnary.org/text/what_a_fellowship_what_a_joy_divine> 

Hoffman, Elisha Albright. “Draw Me Closer, Lord, To Thee.” Was written in 1898..  <www.hymnary.org/text/draw_me_closer_lord_to_thee_fold_me> 

Howell, Elizabeth. “How Many Stars Are There In The Universe?” May 17, 2017. Accessed 20 Jan 2018. <www.space.com/26078-how-many-stars-are-there.html> 

Josephus, Titus Flavius. The Holy Land. Oxford Archaeological Guides (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Levi, Primo. “Survival in Auschwitz. The Nazi Assault on Humanity.” 1959, Orion Press, Inc. New York. Library of Congress catalog card number 59-13327. In his book, Primo gives his account at Auschwitz. “Driven by thirst, I eyed a fine icicle outside the window, within hand’s reach. I opened the window and broke off the icicle but at once a large, heavy guard prowling outside brutally snatched it away from me. ‘Warum?’ I asked him in my poor German. ‘Hier est kein warum’ (there is no why here), he replied, pushing me inside with a shove.”

Lewis, C.S. Audio clip from BBC series Beyond Personality. Aired March 21, 1944. <www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/C.S.-Lewis-Only-Surviving-Episode-of-Broadcast-Talks>

Michael, Secretary. “I’ve Got Peace Like a River.” <www.hymnary.org/hymn/SH2014/79> 

Mote, Edward. “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” was written by Edward Mote in 1834. <www.hymnary.org/text/my_hope_is_built_on_nothing_less>

NIH Blueprint. National Institute of Health, Neuroscience Research. <www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/connectome/>

The New King James Bible (NKJV). Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1979 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

Pagels, Elaine. “Excerpt from: The Gnostic Gospels.” The Nag Hammadi Library. The Gnostic Society Library. <www.gnosis.org/naghamm/Pagels-Gnostic-Gospels.html>

Pascal, Blaise. A seventeenth-century theologian, mathematician, physicist, and writer. At the age of 19, he invented a mechanical calculator, precursor to modern-day computers. His calculator was the first to be mass produced and used. 

Perlis, Alan. Computer scientist that was the first recipient of the Turing Award in 1966. Before his death, Mr. Perlis was a professor of Computer Science at numerous universities.

Pott, Francis. “The Strife Is O’er, The Battle Done.” Translated by Francis Pott in 1861. <www.hymnary.org/text/the_strife_is_oer_the_battle_done>

Rowe, James. “Love Lifted Me.” Written by James Rowe in 1912. <www.hymnary.org/text/i_was_sinking_deep_in_sin_far_from_the>

Sammis, John H. In 1887 Mr. Sammis wrote “Trust and Obey.” <www.hymnary.org/text/when_we_walk_with_the_lord>

Santayana, George. A Spanish philosopher, born in 1863. 

Smiles, Samuel. Scottish author of the 1859 book Self-help, with Illustrations of Character and Conduct. The quote of “Hope is like the sun...” is on page 67 in this book. <www.oll.libertyfund.org/titles/smiles-self-help-with-illustrations-of-character-and-conduct>. 

Spafford, Horatio and Phillip Bliss. “When Peace Like a River” Written in 1873. <www.hymnary.org/text/when_peace_like_a_river_attendeth_my_way>.

Sprouse, Bill Jr. Composer of the music for Psalm 5: “Give ear to my words, O Lord.”

Statt, Nick. “Bill Gates is Worried About Artificial Intelligence too.” CNET, 28 Jan. 2015. <www.cnet.com/news/bill-gates-is-worried-about-artificial-intelligence-too>

Stennett, Samuel. Composed the music, “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.” Written in 1787. <www.hymnary.org/hymn/CYBER/5032>. 

Strong, James. Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009. Print. Referenced for Hebrew translations. 

Thorne, Sarah Ann. Musical composer that wrote Prepare to meet Thy God in 1913. Public Domain. 

Titcomb, James. “AI is the Biggest Risk we Face as a Civilisation, Elon Musk Says.” The Telegraph, 17 July 2017. <www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/07/17/ai-biggest-risk-face-civilisation-elon-musk-says.>

Weisse, Michael. “Mit Freuden woll’n wir singen” (We want to sing with joy, as we decided). Published Christoph Saur, Germantown, Penn 1742. <www.hymnary.org/hymn/AECL1785/100>

Wootson, Cleve R. Jr. “Saudi Arabia, which denies women equal rights, makes a robot a citizen.” The Washington Post. October 29, 2017. <www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/10/29/saudi-arabia-which-denies-women-equal-rights-makes-a-robot-a-citizen/?utm_term=.6ec5f3885dc6>

Interview with Danny Knox and His Debut Novel: Speak and Evil Bound: On Earth as it is in Heaven

 I interviewed Danny Know on 18/09/19 on another blog, now defunct.

Today, I am interviewing debut novelist, Danny Knox about his recently released novel, Speak and Evil Bound: On Earth as it is in Heaven. I discovered this novel on Amazon and I was intrigued by the theme of its description, 

Imagine if the Lord literally answered the prayer that he encouraged his followers to pray – “Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. Imagine he actually did “deliver us from evil”?

I contacted the author and offered to highlight this novel. He chose to be interviewed.

So sit back and let's see what motivated him to write this intriguing novel with a theme that is important and relevant to our Christian walk and being a disciple of Christ.

Welcome, Danny, thanks for stopping by!

Let’s start with you telling us a little about yourself?

As a computer system’s professional, I don’t come from a career that typically leads to fiction writing. This is not the first career change that was by God’s design and not my own.  My degree from college was in agriculture mechanization, but I did not work in that field for many years before discovering my true passion. I have been working in corporate information systems for over 35 years. I recognize God’s leading in my life and follow the opportunities. It seems this time it has led to writing a book.Even my wife was surprised to see that side of me emerge.

I have three daughters in their twenties and a granddaughter. They are all close by and we visit often. I have been married for 28 years. I am very involved in my church in Austin, Texas, in various roles including nursery care, technical lighting of services, a small-group leader, leading disaster relief teams and wherever I am needed.

Thanks, Danny, now let's see what your novel is about:

Imagine if the Lord literally answered the prayer that he encouraged his followers to pray - "Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". Imagine he actually did "deliver us from evil"?

Is it possible that everyone has an innate understanding of their relationship with the Creator and has a suppressed understanding of the potential that it holds? This story challenges the dogma of science, society and religion and presents familiar scriptures in a light you may not have considered before. You may find there is profound wisdom in having faith.

Take a refreshing break from dramas about dystopian societies, betrayal, terror, hate and crime. Experience realistic examples of joy, hope and accomplishment that materialize in unexpected ways. The story is fiction, but it's very important to consider.

What inspired you to become an author? Has it always been a desire of yours to write?

I was surprised to find such great satisfaction in writing. I had some things that I wanted to be able to say to my adult kids about the times that we are living in.  I consider it very reasonable to believe that God is involved in all aspects of life, continuously. There is a lot of pressure to buy into the post-modern perspective that intelligent people do not believe that. In order to be able to make myself clear, I started trying to write out how I could best express myself. A long-time friend, Steve Solmes, suggested making my message into a story and then it became a novel.  Steve suddenly passed away earlier this year, so I was compelled to dedicate the book to his memory because it was by his urging that I took on such a big project.

This is your first novel. Have you always had a desire to do something like this?

I was surprised to find that I enjoyed writing. It was just about a year ago, I began to try to write down some effective ways to communicate with my children and their friends about my Christian perspective and why it is reasonable to have faith in God. I know there is a lot of pressure to buy into the post-modern perspective these days. Especially on college campuses. I needed to be able to communicate in a way that they would be willing to hear what I was saying and not dismiss my comments as coming from an uninformed, out-of-touch older person. 

What was the surprise about finding joy in writing?

Writing became a surprising joy when I first started trying to write fiction in 2018. It was a release from the frustration of seeing society decline with hopelessness to make a difference. The escape to the fantasy world was a relief, but then it became encouraging to think that a story may also change minds about what should be considered acceptable. Although it is considered an artistic effort, it expresses passion for change. There have been other fictional books that made a significant social difference.

You make reference to your story being realistic, but biblically relevant. Can you give an example?

I start each chapter with a Bible verse that seems to be relevant to situations in the storyline. The story takes place in the period of the Millennium Kingdom. The attempts at creating a utopia on earth have been catastrophic with horrible consequences in our history. Without giving too much of the story away, I imagined God answering the Lord’s Prayer to “deliver us from evil.” When evil is bound, the Millennium Kingdom is the utopia because it is governed by the Spirit of God from within each individual with sovereignty over all governments.

The Amazon description for this novel states,

Imagine if the Lord literally answered the prayer that he encouraged his followers to pray - "Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". Imagine he actually did "deliver us from evil”?

Is it possible that everyone has an innate understanding of their relationship with the Creator and has a suppressed understanding of the potential that it holds? This story challenges the dogma of science, society, and religion and presents familiar scriptures in a light you may not have considered before. You may find there is profound wisdom in having faith.

Take a refreshing break from dramas about dystopian societies, betrayal, terror, hate, and crime. Experience realistic examples of joy, hope, and accomplishment that materialize in unexpected ways. The story is fiction, but it's very important to consider.

Is this what motivated you to write this novel? What further background can you provide?

This novel was a labor of love for my family. It is fiction and so it is meant to be entertaining, but it is also intended to be thought-provoking. The characters in the story are meant to be familiar to the reader in their life circumstances and their perspectives. Through the examples of interactions in the book, I hope that the reader becomes more confident, against the pressure to suppress expressions of faith these days.

I could not understand the Speak and Evil Bound part of the title. It seems to conflict with the “On Earth as it is in Heaven” part of the title. I ask this as I consider that if I question the meaning of this part of the title, others might as well. Can you explain this and how you came up with this title?

 I am really glad you asked that question. I thought of it as a working title for a long time, but I got confirmation to keep it from several people once they understood what the book was about. “On Earth as it is in Heaven”, as the subtitle, is meant to help clarify the meaning by observing that evil has no participation in heaven. The title may not be clear immediately, but by the end of the third chapter, it is clear that it is in reference to Revelation 20:2 in which that ancient serpent, Satan, is bound for a thousand years.

If you have had any readers read this before publication, what have their responses been?

 I asked a church leader from the megachurch that I attend to read it and give me feedback. After he read it, he was very enthusiastic and asked me to speak to his large class of mature couples about the book’s message, last Sunday. I also asked the people in the homegroup that I lead to read it and give me feedback, and they were also excited for it to be released.  A church sceptic that is a friend also read it and his feedback was that the story was entertaining and caused him to think about some things that he would not normally have taken the time to consider.

 What other Biblical themes or messages have you included?

Evil does not express itself only in the horrors that we see on the evening news. That is not the evil that we need to be delivered from. The evil that we are unable to escape is in our human nature. Maybe our selfishness, greed, lust, hate and deceit are primitive characteristics that caused our ancestors to thrive in competition with others. My argument against that scientific wisdom is that there must be an even more primitive nature before evil possessed us that prevents those characteristics from destroying us, which can be revealed. If we were created in the image of God, those characteristics are not really representative of who we are. It requires God’s power to escape them and then the full potential of being like God can be revealed. We are missing out on the reason for life by not pursuing that relationship more enthusiastically.

Let's take a break from this interview so readers can preview an excerpt you have provided. You also why you chose this excerpt:

I chose this excerpt to represent Speak and Evil Bound because it conveys the underlying theme of great confidence that God is participating in the moment and demonstrates the uncertainty that adds tension to make the story compelling and a page-turner. The story follows very believable events that echo scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. The characters are intended to be recognizable as people that you may know, if not yourself.



Setup for the excerpt: David was on a business trip to Chicago. A long-time Christian, he began noticing that his interactions with people were very different on this particular day. Since he was always considering how God was involved in every activity, he realized that the Spirit was making a big move in the world. He responds enthusiastically by heading for the most unlikely place in Chicago that people would acknowledge the living God. The discussion is a snippet of a longer conversation with a cab driver.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start of Excerpt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He continued, “I think you are probably going to get murdered today. Is there another way?” We had arrived at the church parking lot.

“I am not going to try to do anything to get killed,” I said, “but I am firmly convinced that this is what needs to be done right now. If I do experience violence, then I know that a life cut short serving God is a fuller life than living many years serving myself.”

I handed him the money that the meter indicated, plus a generous tip, but he put up his hand and shook it back and forth. “I will pay your fare,” he insisted. “That is my way of participating in God’s work that you are doing.

You are talking like a jihadist if you were talking about the Muslim faith. You must be expecting a big reward in heaven.”

I replied, “Oh, there’s that selfish perspective that characterizes evil that I was talking about. I don’t have any anticipation of what I will receive as a reward. I can’t imagine what heaven will be like, but I trust God completely because of the example of all he has given me that I did not earn. Maybe I have the conviction of a jihadist, but not the hate of a militant. I will leave it up to God to deliver his wrath on evil. My role is to show the limitless mercy and love of the Spirit.”

When I stepped out of the cab I was struck by a definite chill in the air. There were sirens in the distance. I wasn’t sure which way to go but trusted the Spirit to guide me. I walked down the sidewalk between the deteriorating row houses, toward some people I could see one block over. Some small kids were playing in a yard with a high chain-link fence around it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of excerpt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What kind of reaction are you hoping to receive from readers?

 I wrote my book as a novel because I considered it important to entertain the reader in order to get them to hear my message. I hope that I am able to create a desire for a world that doesn’t exist and to understand that the only way it could exist is by the power of God to rescue us. There is a nihilistic perspective that is evident in popular entertainment choices, rampant depression, drug use, suicide and violence. I would like my readers to consider other possibilities and to see examples of responding differently and to become more hopeful.

 What was the hardest part of writing your novel?

 Developing the story and writing was a real pleasure and very satisfying. Thinking about publishing and making it available for everyone to read caused me to recoil many times. I have always been shy. I am uncomfortable exposing myself in my writing for everyone to see what is going on in my head.  As a first-time writer, I had my doubts about many things, but I got the editorial help that I needed and am very proud of the end product.

Who is your favourite character in Speak and Evil Bound

There are a lot of characters. Many of them represent me at different stages of my life. My passion is representing how good God is despite how broken we are. Ace is a character who is easy to hate at first, like Paul in the New Testament. When he realizes his relationship to the Creator of the universe he struggles to become different and then ends up accomplishing great things.

This is your first novel, did you plot it all out before you started writing (plotter) or did you write as it came to you (pantser, as in writing by the seat of your pants)?

I did not follow a traditional plot, but I knew the end message of what I wanted the story to accomplish. There were many sections in the book that took me by surprise in the way they developed. When I sat down to write a chapter, I was pretty sure how it was going to be laid out, but often had to work to make the tension and pace appealing and that is where surprises came in.

How has writing and being an author impacted your relationship with Jesus Christ or vice versa?

I’m surprised at how easy it is to talk about my faith with anyone now, because everyone is interested in the fact that I wrote a book. As I describe the story, I am really demonstrating my faith that God is participating in the moment. I have found myself in conversations that I would not have started before.  Trying to explain the storyline is an opportunity to talk about how having a relationship with God is only possible by rejecting our embrace of the evil nature and accepting God’s grace. He really wants that relationship with you that leads to meaning in life.

What can we look forward to in the future from you?

I have started a book that is related to Speak and Evil Bound. It may seem like Speak and Evil Bound should be a series, but I am reluctant to commit to that for several reasons that would require possibly sharing too much about the story in this interview. I would like to write some short stories relating to Speak and Evil Bound and put them on my website to establish community with the readers. I love being in this story and I am hopeful there will be a demand from readers to hear more about it.

Where can readers find you? What are your social media platforms:

My website is CrossedFeathers.com

My author Facebook page is www.fb.me/AuthorDannyKnox

I am available by email at Danny.Knox@CrossedFeathers.com

Any closing comments before we go?

Thank you for this opportunity, Peter. I look forward to following your blog and seeing what God is doing through your blog and other Christian writers.

Danny, it has been my pleasure and I have enjoyed interviewing you. You are welcome to stop by at any time to discuss any future novels or anything relating to your writing. 

If any reader would like to investigate this novel further, click on the image below:

Readers and reviews are an author’s best asset, so I encourage any reader, to consider reading Speak and Evil Bound: On Earth as it is in Heaven, and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).

Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

Please note: As an Amazon Associate, I am required to disclose that book cover images or titles of novels in this post are paid links if they are linked to Amazon and result in a sale.

Series Review: The Baptist trilogy by Ryan David Gerard

I reviewed this series on 22/09/19 in another blog, now defunct.

Series Review of The Baptist trilogy by Ryan David Gerard.

I was asked by the author to review this trilogy many months ago. I was unable to at the time. Recently, Ryan was asking for reviews of this trilogy on Goodreads. I decided to spotlight this series and offered Ryan a guest post to talk about the grittiness of these novels and his concern about depicting Christian Fiction realistically. This became the post, Ryan David Gerard and the Challenge of Depicting Christian Fiction Realistically. From reading that post, I became even more intrigued than I was previously and found myself reading the first novel, Judge's Genesis. Before I go any further, here is what this novel is about:

In the year 2041, the world has become a worse place than we could imagine. On the brink of war, the world is on the verge of actually seeing time travel achieved in order to fix all the mistakes we've made. But, Baltimore cop, John Revele is lost inside the human condition. His passion for retribution of the innocent drives him to madness as he realizes there is not much he can do within the law. Outside of it is a different story altogether. He rises up to battle evil on the streets in a vigilante blitz, but he learns that more is going on in the spectrum of good and evil then he realized. Supernatural forces are at play and God and the devil have made an arrangement for the souls of humanity. From street thugs to mob kingpins, sex traffickers, and demonic forces, Revele brings his fight full force, but only to realize there is a much bigger war going on. In the face of evil--true evil--he will have to defeat his greatest nemesis--himself--in order to truly be ready for the next stage of the fight...

By this stage, I was so addicted and engrossed, I had to continue with the second novel, A New Testament:

In the wake of the devastating event that broke the space-time continuum, John Revele must begin to find his way through this new realm he finds himself in. With only the instructions of the mysterious Stranger, he will need to track down Jason Richter, the physicist who started all of this, in order to put time back on track.
Meanwhile, the normal realms of time and existence go on. The other versions of John and everyone else push forward--towards the series of events that sparked the anomaly in the first place.
Four years have past and John's new name; The Baptist, has become legend on the streets of Baltimore. Criminals have grown to fear the name as he and his group of friends have earned a reputation for dealing with society's worst. John's estranged wife; Clare, after putting her career case to bed, finds herself faced with a new terrorist group that could be worse than the last. As John tries to decide how far he is willing to take this mission of his, the version of himself that is trapped underneath time must convince Jason Richter to help him fix the space-time continuum.
The result spawns a whole new reality--a version of events that is different than anyone has seen before!
All the while, the ever scheming; Ranston sets up for the climax of his plan and the realization of his dark second chance...

and by this stage, I could stop here but to finish with the final instalment with Revelation:

The epic finale of John Revele's saga! Ranston has won and The Stranger is dead! While John is still trapped in prison, war rages on the outside and his group are scattered. Richter and Ken's plans to fix the space-time continuum are thwarted by the authorities, Clare is trapped north of the border and rest of the twelve are unaccounted for. Hope is been shattered with the execution of their savior, especially when He doesn't rise on the third day and expected by some. Now, each of these characters will have to rely on the help of unlikely aides and some old familiar faces, in order to find each other again. Once they do, they will mount an attack against Ranston and those who have sided with him in this war. It's an all out launch of assault against the enemy of life as the group seeks their revenge--only to realize that the vengeance was never theirs to take...Can Richter make it to Israel and set the distorted timeline right again? Can John finally see the end of all evil?--and what will this mean for the rest of the characters? Find out in this, the final instalment in The Baptist Trilogy!

When I read the guest post mentioned above, I was getting a bit concerned that this trilogy was going to be so far out of the square that I would not enjoy it or think that the author was now orbiting a different planet than ours!

However, I can see what he is talking about from that post. This is not your typical or usual Christian fiction. But, I thought it was very well done. Despite the grittiness, the occasional dark aspects, the descriptions of violence, thuggery, corruption, deception, Gerard instils a sincerity and genuineness to depict it as it is. All of the aforementioned destructive behaviours and attitudes are just as I would have expected them to be if I was involved in the world that he has created. It is not glorified, it is not added for the sake of it, or to cover up a writing deficit he has as an author. His guest post mentioned above gives some much-needed background to this trilogy and I am glad to have encouraged him to compose this. Understanding his motives for writing gleaned from this post certainly enhanced my appreciation and enjoyment of this trilogy. I would also recommend any reader to read the notes from the author at the beginning and end of each novel, especially after the finish of Revelation.

Gerard should commend himself for not compromising any part of the Gospel message, the depiction of Jesus or the demonic/satanic in this trilogy. I found his depiction of these to be of adherence to their biblical origins. Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible and of the Trinity. He is depicted as Divine, the Son of God. Satan is depicted as he is from the Bible as well. Gerard has not given him any more power, authority or dominion than we know from the Bible.

Any author who depicts the events of the Bible, in this case, the New Testament and integrates them into a modern, futuristic but dystopian world would have quite a challenge to pull it off and have it read as if it happened that way. Gerard is a master of this. There were some details that he simply could not address, (and he explains in the notes at the end of Book 3), but this does not make the plot or the worldbuilding fall into any deficit or weakness.

With each novel being in the 400-500 page range, Gerard packs a lot into each and in the overall plot of this trilogy. There are so many levels or layers. There is never a dull moment or lull in the pace of the plot throughout. All the characters come alive and you will find yourself pack of the world that Gerard has placed John Revele. This is epic dystopian fantasy. You will laugh, I found myself crying at some parts, especially the crucifixion and how the characters reacted to Jesus' death. I was infuriated and disgusted at the deceptiveness, manipulation of Ranston who represent satan incarnate. I found myself relating to all of the character's perspective and how they fitted into John's quest for justice in this world of moral corruptness, selfishness and chaos.

Gerad has used symbolism in all three novels. I challenge any reader, especially Christian ones to see who is the modern counterpart of the disciples. I correctly identified who the disciples of John, Peter, Judas, Andrew. It was not at all hard to identify Mary Magdalene. Gerard may not have done anything cryptive for this character, it was fine as it is.

It is interesting how the Bible could be seen as a battle between a good character and a bad one. Jesus versus satan. In this trilogy, Gerard has done the same thing. Satan throws Jesus a wager that if he was given a second chance he would defeat Jesus and God and be what he wanted in the beginning, to rule over everything and everyone, rule his way and sit on God's throne.

Jesus accepts and they both choose their players. Jesus chooses John Revele and satan chooses Jason Richter. Jason is a loner, hates people but loves science. John loves people and stands for justice and treating everyone fairly and as they need to be treated. Jesus "inserts" himself in their reality or world as The Stranger and just like He did in the Biblical times, He drew people to Himself and connected with them where they are and on all levels of their psyche. Satan is depicted as Paul Ranston, a master manipulator, political adviser to the two POTUS and financier of the terrorist groups who do his bidding. And the three novels show how Ranston tries to do things differently. But just when you think, Gerard is depicting this to be so, there is always a twist to prove otherwise.

And while we talk about this, Gerard is the master plot, worldbuilder and character developer. All these three fit seamlessly together to support the wager satan challenges God with. The mystique, suspense, thrills, action and adventure never let up and layer upon layer is unravelled and embeds you further into this world.

The spiritual and supernatural aspects are well done. A novel of this dimension and with this plot would not be successful without the inclusion of these two aspects. It is the underpinning foundation for it all. While there is no specific redemptive procedure that John Revele's group go through, they show transformation of character, heart and spirit from following The Stranger and living out His teachings and principles in their lives. Gerard has "copied" what the Bible has done. It does not account for how the disciples believed in Him but showed they did by following His teachings and adopting them into their lives, albeit for such a short time (3 years of His earthly ministry before being crucified). So it is in this trilogy. Gerard has depicted the Spirit instructing and encouraging John (and if I remember rightly others) in various circumstances over the course of these three novels. 

If a movie production house translated Gerard's novels into a movie with very little or no poetic licence added, this would make a sensational movie. And it would show the impact and power of the Gospel message. It would clearly define who Jesus is, who satan is and what they stand for. It would show Jesus of the Bible and what He achieved on the Cross, it would show the hatred, deceptiveness and manipulation of satan towards God/Jesus and His creation, mankind. It would show the power of the Cross and how to live victorious in Him. All this wrapped up in an action-packed, dramatic, edge of your seat thrilling account of the Gospel message. Gerard would have to be the screenplay writer or at least the chief advisor of the film's production or some other existing Christian playwright/advisor or Director.

There is so much more that a review of Gerard's novel could include. But this would make the review far too long. Suffice to say that Gerard has not written this trilogy for fun, for the entertainment value alone. He has crafted a saga here with many layers, many dynamics, many spiritual truths and Biblical ones more importantly. I love and appreciate his sincerity and genuineness to tell it as it is for all the right and commendable reasons, to give the reader something to think about and in doing so, shows what a true disciple of Jesus is. These characters are flawed and badly, the world is corrupt, morally bankrupt, messy, life's events and people's reactions to them are gritty, chaotic and irresponsible based on selfishness and warped by man's sin and rebellion against God and His ways.

I believe that Gerard has no major concerns to worry about depicting his fiction the way it is. He needs to stay true to this style and the motives he has in creating it. He truly has a God-given talent for story and being honest, truthful, sincere and genuine about it.

I am the first one to state when a novel dishonors God, undermines the Bible, promotes the demonic or the satanic as being more powerful or greater than God. This is not the case here with Gerard. He is respectful in keeping it as it is and how it should be and needs to be. He has not deviated from these criteria.

My one concern about his depiction is where The Stranger and Ranston have a physical brawl. My first reaction was, "Really?" and then I felt it went on for too long. It needed to be shorter if it had to be depicted at all. However, reading this scene reminded me of Thor fighting Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Gerard does know how to write fight scenes! But unlike the fight scene in that movie, the Good Guy wins, but how would it be otherwise when we are talking about God?

I can see this trilogy not appealing to all Christians. And yes, those Christians who believe that Christian fiction should be sugary sweet with no violence, sex (none in this trilogy!), swearing (cussing), or depictions of Christians being flawed and showing it, will be aghast and critical of this trilogy and of Gerard. No doubt they will insist he repent of his evil ways and renounce his foray into the dark side! But to do that without giving this trilogy a fair go and a chance will be doing Gerard and his world in this trilogy an injustice and deny the Spirit a chance to minister to them. But as Gerard states in his guest post,

This series is written specifically for the world, not the church.  It’s not a typical, wholesome piece of Christian media.  It comes with one of those “explicit content” warnings on it. There is violence, in lots of police-action-style shooting and fight scenes and there is language. Because it’s all about the human condition, it is not a very pleasant subject matter. There are prostitution and drugs as well as gang and criminal activity.  None of the characters is Christian and, as such, they are written that way. It’s a story about how the rest of the world goes through life, popular beliefs about how good and evil should be handled, and how the average citizen would deal with God showing up in their life. 

and later in the post,

The bottom line is that I thought to myself; “Why can’t Christians put out a better product—a more realistic, gritty, raw and unvarnished piece of media?  A well written and well-produced story, and wouldn’t it be awesome to not worry about being safe” or “So I began to realize that I should be the one to produce something like this, instead of waiting and criticizing.”

I have no doubt that Gerard has succeded in his quest here. Christian authors can put out a better product just as he described it, realistic, gritty raw and unvarnished. I welcome more of it from Gerard. I pray he can be an inspiration to more Christian authors out there who are maybe afraid to go down this path and show fallen mankind and the world that results from this.

Highly Recommended.

If you would like to investigate The Baptist trilogy, click on the image below:

Readers and reviews are an author’s best asset, so I encourage any reader, to consider reading The Baptist trilog and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).

Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

Please note: As an Amazon Associate, I am required to disclose that book cover images or titles of novels in this post are paid links if they are linked to Amazon and result in a sale.