ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt part 1 by Mark Dowson’s, Book review

ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt part 1 is a book about science fiction. The story revolves around UNA- united nations authority trying to stop this corporation(GIATCOM) from bringing the end in 2112.

ReCo2gnition – TENET – a time travel concept, Author’s note

I first came across the word TENET as a child, when my Uncle James talked to me about the history and the mysticism of the word being used as a palindrome within the magical Sator Square.

I became fascinated with the mystery of what does it mean? And how it is configured? Within an array of words which all read the same forward and backward within a square formation, like some sort of magical puzzle that made me want to solve the mystery of it’s meaning.

It is this real-life experience that inspired me to create TENET as the reversal of time concept within a real-life ancient artifact that is the SATOR SQUARE. Given the fact that TENET can be read in reverse in the form of a spiritual cross formation, which adds to its mystical qualities.

My uncle used to repeatedly say to me, “SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, ROTAS…..He who sows the seeds has the key to the wheel of life.”  Making me realize the words were referring to – Creator / Saviour with its religious origin.

I was fascinated by how all of the words spelled together to form a square, whilst being able to be read the same forward and backward.  Specifically, the middle word TENET which not only read the same forward and backward but the same up and down, which represented not only the spiritual symbol of the cross but also symbolized time in the form of a clock face.  Being able to be read the same at positions 12, 3, 6, and 9 on a clock face.   This gave me the idea of time travel being linked to spiritualism and the church hiding the secret for generations.  As religion is mystical, it occurred to me that this magical square represents religion as being mystical, given the fact it is mystical itself in being a puzzle.

My uncle was a talented intellect, who was one of the few people in the UK who had read the Egyptian ‘Book of the Dead’ and could read hieroglyphics.  I believe it was his in-depth knowledge of Egyptiantology that made him think that the SATOR SQUARE had an Egyptian influence, although the language of the square is written in Latin.  Which indicates it coming from the Western part of the Empire at the time of its creation. I believe he thought that the occurrence of acrostics and crosswords within Egyptian literature made an Egyptian influence on the origin of the SATOR SQUARE even more likely.   We know that the first sign of the square being found was in Pompeii AD79.

“When St. Paul landed at Puteoli, AD 60 he found Christians there to welcome him and found Egyptian cults had early been established.  Pompeii too had its part on the River Sarno and traffic with Egypt was lively.  It is known of course, that Pompeii also had a flourishing cult of Isis.  It was influenced by Alexandria a city that fostered not only Egyptian cults but also at an early date, Christianity.”  J.  Gwyn Griffiths.  The Classical Review, Vol. 21 No. 1 (Mar 1971) pp. 68  Journal article – ‘Arepo’ in the Magic ‘Sator’ Square.

By the end of the middle ages, the prophylactic magic of the square was firmly established in the superstition of Italy, Serbia, Germany, Iceland, and North America.

Finally, I liked the connection of the word SATOR being read backward as ROTAS within the SATOR SQUARE, being associated with the Rotors of a wind turbine.  Which is significant to the Wind Energy theme of my story.

The SATOR SQUARE is unsolved and a mystery, which is why it perfectly represents time travel symbolically as a mystery.

SUMMARY

ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt revolves around energy consumption and time travel. While in the 21st century Dr. Benjamin Richards was close towards the creation of harnessing the wind. This would have made it possible to create sustainable and renewable energy which could’ve paved the way for humanity. But he died under mysterious circumstances. The UNA figure out that saving him in the 21st century is the way to prevent the dystopian future. The story has interesting facts, time travel, brilliant characters. The book travels between two timelines. The humanoids and android have an internal fight between them as one side is trying to prevent his death and one side is trying to make sure he dies

Author Mark Dowson, ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt part 1
Author Mark Dowson, ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt part 1

About The Author

Mark Dowson’s inspiration to write the trilogy of books came from his knowledge and experience in carrying out his own wind energy research at a master’s of science degree level. The story’s foundation is based on his own factual research dissertation. He has transformed and expanded upon these facts to create an exciting fictional mystery thriller. Mark has published a wind research article for Amida recruitment based on his wind research. Mark has worked on some of the most prestigious renewable power generation projects in the UK. He has worked as a practicing commercial manager for the past 15 years. This substantiates his factual research being valid and reliable.

Dystopian Future

The plot of this book revolves around energy consumption. It’s about how they’re running out of natural resources to generate energy. Due to this, they will have to resort to nuclear energy which has ghastly repercussions in the future. That is why all the data analysts come to the conclusion that they need to save Ben Richards in 2017. It’s the only way for humanity to have a better energy source. This whole story is an eye-opener for the real world as well. The way our resources are being consumed recklessly, we might too show signs of running out of natural resources in the coming years.

Fancy Concepts and storyline:

Initially, the book is a tad bit confusing. But eventually one gets the idea of what’s happening and it’s a rollercoaster ride from there. The book has androids, humanoids, time travel, portals, history- you name it.  The time travel part is perfectly executed, all the rules and regulations of time travel are followed.  The androids and humanoids are equipped with advanced technology which makes time travel so cool to read about.

What did I like About The Book?

I am a person who is a fan of time travel and alternate universes. So naturally, the story was one of the things I enjoyed most about the book. When I first started reading it, I had low expectations but the book superseded them. It gives us an insight into how we should also be looking after our environment. The author does a brilliant job introducing various new androids and humanoids who are sent to save/kidnap Ben Richards.

Characters

The characters are pretty fun to read about-

There’s Ben- who’s a scientist, has difficulty in social interaction.

Grazia- an Italian journalist, who helps Ben analyze the weird situations around him and is writing an article about his work.

Merisi- an agent who is sent to avoid the death of Ben. All their interactions are well- written, pleasant to read with interesting backstories.

Memorable quotes/e

  1. “The general conclusion of our deliberations is that, as ever, it is people who change the course of history. People who can lead others. People who can change the way that others think. And, fortunately, individuals can be eliminated easily, cleanly and easily, cleanly, and with minimal collateral impact on events.”
  2. “A belief is something you hold. A conviction is something that holds you.”
  3. How the world has progressed, he thought. But progressed to what? Surely the whole concept of progress implies motion towards something, doesn’t it? So where has this “progress” taken us? Towards the world’s destruction?

The Writing

I want to praise the writing style of the story, it’s admirably written. The language is a little difficult to catch onto. There are various scientific words used but one will get used to it. The writing merges well with the story. The writing has the reader on edge all the time. Initially, the story starts off a little boring but it catches on and becomes very mysterious and thrilling. I honestly think the chapters could’ve been a little shorter and maybe divided into a couple of more chapters.

I also was a fan of all the locations and a little bit of history written about the places. The descriptions of the monuments and places were appealing. The writing is also very different. You’d think it’s sci-fi so it’ll have too many scientific terms, so you wouldn’t go for it but that’s not the case. The characters are written in a way that they are relatable as well.

Why You Should Read It

The concept of time travel is very interesting. The well-crafted storyline and poignant characters support the book further.  The story even gives information about energy consumption and is a fun topic to read and learn about. It’s an adventurous and fascinating plot.  After reading this you’ll want to read more about time travel, alternate realities, and all that jazz. A must for sci-fi fans. It’s a little bit inclined towards mystery and thriller as well but a great read nonetheless.  This book will suit mostly younger audiences and adults as well.

My story ReCO2gnition has similar time travel theme to TENET movie, Author’s note

Whilst enjoying last Christmas Eve with friends and family, I couldn’t help but notice the strong similarities between my own story ReCO2gnition and Christopher Nolan’s new TENET movie trailer and its write ups on social media and in journalism that highlight these similarities:

– The word TENET features in my story within the use of the SATOR Square
– The movie TENET uses the same time travel concept by using the SATOR Square, as does my ReCo2gnition story.
– The movie TENET uses time travelling spies to go back in time from the future to prevent a nuclear holocaust happening in the future, and so does my ReCo2gnition story.
– The movie TENET has a Wind energy theme, and so does my ReCo2gnition story.
– The movie TENET uses gas masks in it’s story, and so does my ReCo2gnition story.

– The movie TENET is associated with using a Hitchcockian style thriller, and so does my ReCo2gnition story

– The movie TENET’s trailer shows a specific core scene in it’s trailer showing shootings in an auditorium, and guess what so does my story ReCo2gnition.

I hope you will be curious like me to compare my full story with his.  There appears to be many similar themes in the subgenre of time travel that seems to be bucking a trend at the moment.

My Manuscript was sent to a Hollywood Scriptwriter in 2015 via social media, it is looking likely that Mr. Nolan or one of his creatives has seen my Manuscript and was influenced by what they had seen.

Or is it just a Coincidence?

Christopher Nolan is using TENET as a code for time travel which is synonymous with me using TENET within the SATOR Square mysticism link with time travel, as featured as a code, and time travel portal in my story.
But does Nolan’s use of TENET suggest a deeper reasoning, or actually answer where the code TENET comes from, and have an actual proposed answer to a mystery?

Or will TENET be too vague and have a lesser deeper meaning and methodical link to time travel in his story TENET than ReCo2gnition?


Intrigued? Well find out and buy my book to compare?

Buy ReCO2gnition: Oxygen Debt part 1