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  By philippehaas

  Apr 21, 2011
  Stories are used to either entertain or to communicate a certain information, or both, although perhaps in a modified way, for any particular reason. Maybe a story’s content, settings or even the author’s name would need to be subjected to a certain kind of modification, for whatever reason. Maybe, after all, such a modification would make it easier for the true content of a story to being swallowed, maybe even unknowingly, which might be the true intention of telling the story at first place, after all. There are plenty of stories about science fiction in books and movies, be it on television or even the big screen. As prominently the medium through which their content is transmitted might differ, their rate of appeal usually depends on the ability of the audience to connect somehow to either the story or its settings. The more people can do so, the more “successful” the work becomes. Usually there might be a personal or even a professional issue that a reader, considering a novel... More > for instance, might connect to and particularly enjoy. The less people could do so, however, the less “successful” obviously a novel might end up being. Now, what if the appreciation of a work at hand would depend on a certain pre-knowledge, a head’s start, so to speak. The fewer people would be in possession of that certain knowledge, the even less successful that work at hand would become if scientific or professional relation to the content might be of essence for proper comprehension. That wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine, would it? Oh, and I am not saying that the work at hand is fiction, but I will subjugate that it is subliminally about science and knowledge, not to say, a form of truth. Although not just about science, the work at hand figures scientific issues prominently within the settings of the story. However, that science is not just about interesting gadgets but rather about an advanced and very different Physics from the mainstream one, not just comprising technical aspects but the entire view of nature itself. In general, the more one intends to „space out“, the more deeply rooted in science and technology one must embed the story and the narrative settings in order to remain believable or at least interesting for the “informed” audience. The novel at hand does just that in embedding the story into a very eclectic omnium-gatherum of scientific disciplines, such as Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Material Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Communications but also Archeology, Theology, Religious Studies, Linguistics, Politics and even Medicine with an accentuation on genetics and epigenetics, just to mention a few. Admittedly, this requires a broad spectrum of interest, which might be hard to find in an audience nowadays, especially when that audience was somehow almost indoctrinated with the current “official” scientific paradigm and therefore locked into an intellectual position of unknowing incompetence. Here however, the reader is requested to broaden his or her mind with a different “scientific” approach and be willing to merge different standard disciplines into “new” or let’s say “alternative” scientific disciplines like Biogeosystemics, Cymatics, Pre-Astronautics, Exopolitics, Bioresonance, Sonobioelectrogravitics, Magnetohydrodynamics and others. Of course, one could just state, that by dicing with complex-sounding scientific terms within a military intelligence setting, establishing of a linguistic fire-wall wouldn’t be too hard of an act to accomplish and that therefore a story might sound believable just because of all the technical jargon obstructing access to the true content . Not so here. The setting of the story is not only consistent with the used terminologies, but also with current work done in cutting edge institutions world-wide. This is obvious to the informed mind. I can only encourage potential readers to previously conduct some research on above-mentioned terminologies. That would also include the author’s pen-name, by the way. In addition, the description of the way certain technical briefings are conducted in the novel, sounded far too familiar for my taste and seemed to result from an almost insider’s view, with very talented observation skills, I might add. Coming from a scientific, medical and military background myself I felt very comfortable within the setting and plot of the story and was able to recognize some “hand-writing”, so to speak. So, if you were looking for a summary of the story within this review, you just wasted a few minutes. All I will say about it is, that the reader might get introduced to the fact that we are not alone, never were and never will be and in addition about the true origins of homo sapiens sapiens and this species’ upcoming challenges and the almost inevitable implications of a very advanced type of biophysics. No glory for all the background research and revelations, I am afraid, as well as the forced anonymity by a pen-name and the setting of the story into the realms of fiction. But that is the job, isn’t it? Namaste. P.H.< Less
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• 
  By Lewis Sorient

  Sep 14, 2010
  This is one novel that's taken a lot of flack from intelligence agents I believe to be from Australia and the UK. The reasons for such inordinate interest were not clear, until I put two and two together and came up with what A.R. Bordon was doing: focusing on the Marduk of Sitchin lore and on what it all meant to humanity. I know the author personally, but I know him as a scientist, not as a writer and author of science fiction novels. Which is what surprised me at first, but on thinking about it, it made perfect sense. Having said all of that, FIREBALL is a story well told, a plot that takes on the past in the present and wraps it all around the idea of a supersecret organization that stands up to the designs of a credible bad guy who ends up less than succeeding in the fictional universe of the novel. FIREBALL is populated by credible characters and action in a plot that is driven by both personal and organizational behaviors one can understand, although not necessarily expect. And... More > then, there is one character who more or less functions like a conscience to the lead or main one. Will you enjoy this book? Yes. I did. It is well written fiction that forces the reader to consider if something like it is possible, and happening to us without our knowledge and awareness. The cosmology it engaged me into was sufficiently powerful to place me in a kind of schizophrenic internal dialogue that entertained the worst, hoping a best option outcome to the conflict, yet not knowing whether or not Marduk is "beatable" in the strategic and tactical sense of the low intensity "war" portrayed in FIREBALL. I took a shot at guessing, and thoroughly enjoyed it.< Less
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• 
  By A. R. BORDON

  Sep 9, 2010
  A.R. Bordon’s Fireball is a work that is reminiscent of works like The Illuminatus Trilogy, Philip K. Dick’s Valis and Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles in the sense that it’s essentially a sci-fi work, but it blurs the borders of fiction and reality. These works are all on some level devoted to presenting a cosmology, a view of what the world is that goes beyond just fiction and is meant to engage with our reality. This book revolves around a mysterious government organization known as the National Space Security Agency, who have to stop an extra planetary visitor, Marduk. Marduk is a kind of antichrist and causes all kinds of trouble as he tries to remake our world. The majority of the book is set in Washington D.C. and features a wide variety of governmental intrigue. The book is written in such a way that even though it’s fictional, the conspiracy elements have clear resonance for our world. In addition to those works I mentioned before, The X-Files is a clear influence. That work... More > was never meant to be anything other than fiction, but watching it, there was always that question, could this really happen? Are there government conspiracies going on now? Are there aliens visiting our planet? I love this kind of stuff, fiction that takes sci-fi elements into a reality based setting, and that’s what this work does, present us with a hypothetical vision that’s at once completely fictional, and at times rather ridiculous, but still relevant to the world we’re living in today. It’s always bothered that people claimed government conspiracy theories were no longer valid after 9/11. During the 90s we had all kinds of paranoid fiction, aliens, JFK, anything was game for investigation. Why isn’t 9/11 getting the same kind of attention from conspiracy theorists that JFK did? There are some investigations, but it’s all dismissed as completely ridiculous. I don’t think that the government instigated 9/11 directly, but it’s certainly a valid issue to ponder. On a more real level, we saw things worse than even the most paranoid person could ponder happening right in front of us as George Bush and his crew sent us to war with Iraq on lies, plain and simple lies, while at the same time writing off anyone who dared oppose them as un-American. As they continue to rewrite the history of the Iraq War, the worst thing is that no one calls them on it. Bush has done more damage to America than Osama Bin Laden, and it took far too long for people to stop believing in him. Works like this book are a sign that the spell he holds on us is breaking; it’s a work about false prophets and secret governments, and I’m glad to see that back in the cultural spotlight. Patrick Meany BlogCritics Magazine< Less
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