Genre: Historical Fiction

Title: The Days of Peleg

Author: Jon Saboe

Take a spoonful of history, mix it gently with some science fiction, add three tablespoons of ideology, a believable hypothesis, a dash of religion and a very large imagination and you have Jon Saboe’s The Days of Peleg.

Difficult book to categorize because the author has taken a sci/fi plot but instead of placing it far in the future, it is set in Ancient Mesopotamia. Our protagonist, Peleg has been chosen by Reu-Nathor, High Minister of the Citadel to take part in a great expedition. Six ships will travel the world exploring new countries, new cultures and some very different belief systems.

Peleg is the Chief Cartographer on the ship, Urbat and will be gone for twelve years. He is a master of language and his linguistic skills are put to excellent use. He was given not one mission but two: Not only is he to explore and prepare maps of the new colonies but his secret mission is to discover: Why the human race is dying?    In an age where most people live to be three, four or even five hundred years old, why now are they starting to degenerate and die at one hundred and fifty or younger?

Sometime in every man’s life, his beliefs and values are challenged but Peleg experiences more than a mere awakening. To say he finds himself is an understatement. He is shaken to his very core of reality, or reality as he knows it. He spends twelve years on a journey of strange colorful characters, foreign tongues, odd and almost unbelievable customs and monstrosities. When the journey is done will he return home or is his fate and the fate of his descendents changed forever?

Jon Saboe received his Masters Degree from Johns Hopkin’s University and currently lectures on Information Theory and Intelligent Design.

The Days of Peleg is an adventure, a voyage into self and a mind opening experience. The addition of the appendix helps with strange and unusual names and nouns. Well written with excellent research and vivid descriptions making this a highly recommended read.

Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review.

Available from publisher: www.daysofpeleg.com, www.outskirtspress.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com

Title: The Days of Peleg

Author: Jon Saboe

Publisher: Outskirts Press
 ISBN: 1-59800-809-9
Pages: 619
Price: $19.95

April , 2008

 Allbooks Interview

Please state your name and location.  (city and State or Province, Country)

Jon Saboe

Baltimore, MD, USA

Tell us the title and publisher of your book:

The Days of Peleg, Outskirts Press

Tell us about yourself:

I reside in Baltimore, MD with my lovely wife, Valory, where I work as a Network Administrator and Web Developer for a medical company.
I received my Masters Degree from Johns Hopkins University, and currently guest lecture in area schools on Information Theory.
I am also a concert pianist, an avid chess enthusiast, and a practitioner of jiu-jitsu.

When was the book released?

April, 2007

Give us an overview of your book.

The mysteries of ancient history and pre-history come alive as readers are taken on an exciting journey that begins in the newly established city of Ur in Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers”.  There, the leaders of the Citadel commission a group of explorers to learn the fate of the many factions of humanity who left to establish new settlements, but have not been heard from since the “Great Awakening”—a cataclysmic, psychic event which afflicted humanity one hundred years earlier.

Although The Days of Peleg borrows deeply from actual history, it also utilizes Sumerian mythology, Hebrew Midrashim, and modern archeological discoveries of ancient technologies; weaving them together in an amazing, adventurous epic tale of faith and discovery.  Readers will encounter historical figures like Sargon and Queen Inanna, but will also come face to face with the Nephilim, Ušem, and other mysterious entities from Mesopotamian lore.

Heavily researched, with Glossary, Bibliography, and numerous appendices, The Days of Peleg offers a fresh, original, and unprecedented vision into the lives of the ancients—and also offers insight and enlightenment into modern humanity and its future.

What inspired you to write this book?

Initially it was brought about by my concerns with “establishment” archeology, and their refusal to ascribe intelligence to early man, even in the face of advanced, sophisticated finds like the Antikythera mechanism and the Buache Map of Antarctica.  Traditional archeology ignores the implications of these OopArts (Out Of Place Artifacts), while less conventional researchers invoke extra-terrestrials to explain the obvious intelligence behind these finds.

The Days of Peleg began as a nautical adventure story designed to demonstrate that unaided humans were fully capable of such feats and many more, but it soon evolved into the thrilling, intense, yet thought-provoking epic novel that has received great reviews, numerous 5-stars on Amazon, and great sales success.

How is your book different from other books in this genre?

The most obvious difference is the setting – Early Sumerian civilization – which seemed to peak almost at its inception, followed by centuries of decline, both socially and scientifically.  The ancients were amazingly advanced in three primary disciplines: astronomy, mathematics, and chemistry.

Also, it is more like a Michael Crichton or Katherine Neville novel than typical historical fiction, with an extra emphasis on science and technology.  I consider it more of a Historical Science-Fiction novel.

Where can people buy your book?

It is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel, and just about any online distributor.  It can also be ordered at any bookstore. 

Signed copies can be purchased from the author through the book’s website at DaysOfPeleg.com (where one can also find additional chapter by chapter information and commentary about The Days of Peleg in the “Fact vs. Fiction” section.)

Are you working on another book? If so when do you expect it to be published?

When I finally published The Days of Peleg, I couldn’t imagine going through that process again, and had no intention of writing another book.  (Nor did I have the slightest notion of a plot idea.)

However, I have received a great deal of pressure from my readers to write something (perhaps a prequel), and I must confess that a few thoughts are beginning to percolate in my head.

Many readers want to discover more about the antediluvian Family Wars, Nephilim slave camps, or the background of Amoela and her historical chronicles.

If you self published, what advice can you give to fellow writers?

Technically I didn’t self-publish, since I used Outskirts POD service.  However, my advice is to not be too cheap, and consider quality and distribution.  The Days of Peleg is very high quality in look and feel, and also layout, font, etc.  Also, I retain total intellectual ownership, and am free to move to a larger publishing firm at any time if I so desire.

If published traditionally, tell us how you benefited:

Outskirts provided marketing classes, and information about exposure and reviews—including contact info for Allbooks Reviews!  They also produced a killer video trailer for my book which can be seen at DaysOfPeleg.com.

Can you share one of your marketing successes with us?

Locally (and among friends and family) I have had great success with “Book signing parties”.  A certain percentage of those who read The Days of Peleg simply go nuts telling friends and family, and they will often enjoy throwing a “Book signing party” where 20 to 50 people will arrive, planning on purchasing a book. 

On the more global scale, my biggest successes have been through blog advertising.  You can’t imagine the diverse readership that I have found which otherwise would have been totally outside of my field of influence and more typical demographic.  The Days of Peleg has been the subject of discussion on sites dedicated to Crypto-zoology, Orthodox Judaism, Artificial Intelligence, Early Mesoamerican civilizations, Intelligent Design, archeo-astronomy, and many other dissimilar topics.

How did you find Allbooks Reviews and what are you hoping for in your relationship with us?

My publisher told me about Allbooks Reviews, and what I look forward to most is a higher echelon of review and, of course, greater exposure.

Was the low cost a surprise? What other things would you like Allbooks Reviews to offer writers?

The low cost was definitely a pleasant surprise, but the even bigger surprise was the client care and (due to some unique, personal circumstances) the accommodating, professional manner that Shirley Roe exhibits.

Thank you for this interview and best of luck with your book.