The Andromeda Connection, A Journey in Time - A Preview

Dear friends and book lovers, this is a preview of my forthcoming book titled, The Andromeda Connection, A Journey in Time.

The Andromeda Connection is the culmination of an idea that the author had many years ago, of writing interesting narratives in prose. He had always wanted to write short stories and had even made a false start, one being a story written from the perspective of a deer living in the in the jungles of Africa! The scrap book is lost but the desire to narrate a story remains. Many years later, the author was able to publish his collection of poems, although he had never dreamed of writing poetry! Poetry somehow came naturally to him and he used it as a suitable vehicle for communicating his perceptions about life. His priority has always been to write short stories and novels, and this is his first offering in the prose form.

The author does not claim to have written a collection of short stories, or discursive pieces, or even a novel - the book combines the stream of consciousness with linear narration. The Andromeda Connection – A Journey includes biographical elements which might suddenly move on to the more fictional style of writing. A combination of recollections of childhood memories of life in an African country in the first part titled: The African Connection-Memories of Childhood which is dominated by the autobiographical genre, the reader is introduced in this part with the voice that he will find throughout the book. The second part, Titled: The Asian and Western Connection - describes the immediate past flowing into the present. Although the reader comes across the familiar voice of the narrator, he will notice a clear shift in the writing style from that of the autobiography to that of narrative fiction based on different genres based on adventure, suspense, mystery, and fantasy. The third part titled: The Andromeda Connection the Future where the genre changes completely to that of Science Fiction. The predominant use of the third person narration might suggest a degree of maturity and the healthy detachment of a leader of a group. Readers may find the shifts in the narrative style sometimes perplexing, (The author begs them to bear with him) but here, the author would like to state that the idea is to provide a rainbow experience of reading without being bound to read each story in a chronological order, something very oriental a way of describing the complexities of life with varied themes, stories and writing styles.

The Andromeda Connection, A Journey in time will be available shorty on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Flipkart in both soft cover version and E-book version. Published in association with Partridge Publications, I am indebted to Antoniet Saints and Joe Anderson for helping me bring out this book. I would like to acknowledge my family for supporting me in my endeavour, and my students for insisting that I should write my stories in a compiled form! The Andromeda Connection, A Journey in Time is the result of two years of writing short stories, anecdotes and reminiscences on my blog titled:http:// rodrick writes.BlogSpot.com. My advice to all aspiring writers is to write their thoughts and ideas in a form that would be accessible in later times. In times where writing in long hand has become tedious and time consuming, it makes sense to use a  blog as a diary to save a resource of material that can be used in later times when the aspiring writer might decide to publish his or her work.

I sincerely hope that my friends enjoy reading The Andromeda Connection, A Journey in Time as a compilation of short stories written in different genres. I look forward to the support of all my friends and acquaintances in making this book a bestseller, not because I tell them to do so, but because of the merits of the book!

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The Andromeda Connection-A Journey in Time (A Glimpse into the book)

                                   
 
                                      The Andromeda Connection-A Journey in time

By Rodrick Rajive Lal

 

 

The Andromeda Connection is the culmination of the germ of an idea that was sown many years ago, when I was still a student studying in high school. I had always wanted to write short stories and had even made many a false start, one being a story written from the perspective of a deer living in the in the jungles of Africa! I have lost that scrap book, but the desire to narrate a story remains. Many years later, I was able to publish my collection of poems, although I had never dreamed of writing poetry! Poetry somehow came naturally to me and I used it as a suitable vehicle for communicating my perceptions about life. My priority has always been to write short stories and a few novels, but then I ended up publishing a collection of poems!

The Andromeda Connection is however an experiment which involves different genres of writing which include the biography, fantasy, mystery, and finally science fiction. All of these variants are to be found in this book!

Each piece is the result of careful thought, and while many of them might have parallels in real life, some of them have been the result of inspiration and perhaps even stories that were outlined in the vivid dreams that the narrator had no dearth of.

The writer’s experience of life in an African country has been so rich, (what with an amazing culture and a rich flora and fauna, and a society undergoing an upheaval after a revolution that overthrew an imperialistic regime) that it keeps presenting itself in many of the narratives. The Andromeda Connection is the result of a little boy growing up in a small town in Africa, where there was nothing in the form of entertainment except for the reading of a rich collection of novels in the school library, and of course enjoying nature in all its pristine splendour. Also, the book is the result of a desire to narrate something interesting, strange and compelling! Life in India, has afforded the writer the opportunity to introspect and meditate on his past experiences, and to forge from them new experiences and an opportunity to narrate something special.

The Andromeda connection is an experiment in narration. The author doesn’t profess to have written a collection of short stories, or discursive pieces, or even a novel! One can say that the book combines the stream of consciousness genre (where there might be a shifting of perspectives) with a more straight forward narrative having a single plot. The book includes biographical elements which might suddenly move on to the more fictional genre of writing. A combination of recollections of childhood memories of life in an African country in the first part titled: The African Connection-Memories of Childhood finds the same voice, narrating an adventurous episode in the second part, Titled: The Asian and Western Connection-The Present. The reader comes across the same voice in the third part titled: The Andromeda Connection the Future where the genre changes to that of Science Fiction. The reader may find the shifts in the narrative style sometimes perplexing but interesting as he identifies the familiar voice of the narrator as a presence hanging around in the background. The third part of the book is labelled as The Andromeda Connection-The Future. The stories in the third part of the book follow the Science Fiction genre.

The whole idea of writing The Andromeda Connection is to trace the growth of the narrator who grows up from a child living in an obscure town in Africa, more of a passive spectator of events marching past into an adult in the later parts who leads, makes decisions, and is more of an active participant in the events that take place. He has children of his own and discovers lost kingdoms and then goes on to fight cyborgs and aliens on strange planets. The change in narrative style, genre, and form is in keeping with the growth of the child in terms of mental maturity and thought processes.

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