In The Harvest the FBI has Anthropology /psychology/philosophy professor meet a man that boldly announces to be our Creator. Certainly a most delicious proposition, and it starts out fine by having the main character give a university lecture (you have to discount God as a character, of course). Within the lecture the author has the protagonist , said professor, point out some intriguing shortfalls of contemporary academic institutions. This intro also serves well as a character description and personal history of the protagonist. However, in the second part, when he finally meets God that is, things go a bit downhill - at least in my humble opinion. First and foremost, it becomes pretty much immediately clear that the man in the flowing white hair and beard is the real McCoy. (Created in my image has been taken a bit far here.) Hello, Michelangelo. Then, the Creator tries to sell us an absolutist version of a free will world. Of course, that point of view is quite imperative in order to be able to buy into the whole judgement and rapture catechism - no matter how unlikely to be true. But seriously, I mean considering what we have learned from the determinism vs free will debate, it seems a bit preposterous to subscribe to such an absolute notion. So, frankly speaking this just doesn’t fly, in my book.
From then on it becomes a long dialogue in which “God” explains human history and the kind of morality he expects from
mankind, all within the context of his creative principle. This is not only a bit tedious but also - coming to the part when the author produces certain analogies to explain the physics and chemistry of creation - controversial to say the least.
There are logical errors. Example: He makes an inference from a Narcissistic individual to a group of individuals which when having similar traits would not be narcissistic since it would be a kind of “group special”. To me that would be simply tribal and not any better than that.
Another point of offense is the explanation that the soul made it possible for humans to band into groups, societies. Well, don’t animals band together too? I believe Wolfpack’s have a fairly complex societal order, and I don’t think the Creator as described in the book has given souls to animals.
Also, the author just regurgitates long disproven cliched analogies to have God make his point -
He tries to sell us the Million monkeys on million typewriters typing analogy never being able to write a play worthy of Shakespeare. This analogy is incorrect for its oversimplification when making a case for the necessity of intelligent creation for forming proteins. We know that certain amino acids can only connect with others. It is, therefore, much closer to the probabilistic truth to propose a washing machine in which you have parts (amino acids) that have Velcro connectors which are then mixed up and have to fall together to form a protein. The connectors, and this is crucial, can often only connect in a certain way. This increases the probabilities for the formation of a protein quite a bit, so much so that it becomes an entirely different ball game in terms of probability. So, please can we just drop the monkey business - it’s as old as it is just wrong.
Another fallacy proscribed to is when God says that time is an illusion, yet later on claims he doesn’t know the future , merely the past and present. Hmmm. If the vector of time does not progress in only one direction and if time is then just a fourth dimension, it is then of a block character (proposed by Einstein) if so then it has to be quite predictable, especially for God. Of course, this inconsistency is again necessary as he claims this world to be an absolutist free will world. Be that as it may, this just won’t fly either.
Moreover, the author’s Creator claims scientist invent subatomic particles in their mind, as to believe them into existence. Well, the author seems not to know that such subatomic particles follow mathematical rotation geometry that calculates to perfection within the symmetry principle and so are not invented but proposed according to strict mathematically principles. Many, then, have subsequently been proven through black box interaction.
Finally, the Creator claims that numbers such as pi or the alpha value can be expressed in exact finite values in other number systems other than the decimal system. This has absolutely no basis.
In sum, this book is a great effort. However, the author has chosen an all encompassing topic, and quite literally so. I believe it is quite impossible for an author to manifest a God figure and attendant knowledge base to the satisfaction of an educated reader on the pages on a novel, for the author can only project what he (humankind) knows, and that must always fall infinitely short of any hypothetical god. Read this book and you will do some serious thinking. ( )

An Arizonan psychologist/archaeologist gets summoned by the FBI to meet and study an old looking man who gives his name as Elohim.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. It had a nice hook on the level of JDK's second book or "The Man From Earth", but just didn't deliver. It was like a Dan Brown book (a lecture, suspense!, a lecture, RUN!, a lecture, HIDE!, a lecture... and so on) but without the action. The main character, Dr Reese Johnson, seems an okay guy. We read of one of his classes and how he interacts with his students, but when he talks with the Creator, Elohim, Reese's language... his syntax, starts getting more formal, dropping contractions for the most part until it reads more and more like a staged infomercial. ("I see. I am sorry to interrupt. Please continue.")

Further dragging the book down is the character of Sheffield, a raging unpleasant nay-sayer liberal who is probably meant to be Reese's intellectual opponent and convenient plot device, but comes across as cartoonish and inept, making a jarring transition between the solemn, deep discussions of the lead character and Elohim.

In conclusion, skip this book. Perhaps try his second one, or better still, a different author. ( )

One word: AMAZING!! The vast majority of the story is dialogue (or rather monologues from primarily Elohim and Dr. Reese Johnson), but the topics discussed were so fascinating that the lack of action scenes throughout the majority of the novel was actually what made this book so incredibly intriguing. The only downside I saw in this novel were actually the action scenes, which seemed to be a little too drawn out when they did take place. If you don't have a conservative bent, I would warn against reading this one as it points out very strongly the harm that atheism has done to the world at large; something I strongly agree with (I was cheering on pretty much everything stated by Dr. Johnson), but that others may not. Elohim (God as a guest in the FBI building - I know, crazy right? Trust me, it REALLY works!) describes the real functioning of physics, evolution, our souls, and more, to a point that the reader really has to be careful not to take these creative and believable explanations to heart! Read THIS BOOK, you will not regret it ;-)

-Check out the full review at http://www.knittylove.blogspot.com/2012/03/amazing-speculative-fiction-curricula... ( )

Not a fan. Almost feel duped by author who claimed at book signing to have no religious agenda with this book. Not only was this untrue, but there was also the requisite political agenda one might expect to accompany it. To hide true intentions behind the veil of fiction writing is a bit cowardly, and to deny it when asked point blank and then happily take a person's money in return is 'immoral'. This is not in response to the subject matter of the book, but rather the misrepresentation of it.

Knowing I was going to comment on this book, I forced myself to read it in its entirety even though I desperately wanted to move on to something else. I have no desire to weigh in on the theological views or political ideology expressed in The Harvest, but I will comment on the development of the characters and a few plot points. With the emphasis of positive and negative energy and its role in creation and human motivation, the story and characters would have resonated more with the reader if both of these opposing forces were within each person. Instead we have people who are all good, all bad, or all bad and then turn all good. One dimensional characters are hard to identify with. The conversation between Reese and the Visitor are trite and the verbal equivalent to a constant patting of each other's back. There were hundreds of scenes that went something like this: "You're so smart, you're so great!" "No, you are!" "No, you!" Throw in some questions and then pan to another scene where the good guys are grabbing a snack or something to drink.

Then we have those on the other end of the spectrum who have this blind rage that is never fully explored or developed, maybe due to a lack of understanding of those who differ from the author in their philosophical beliefs. There is a very black or white, good or bad, this or that take on humanity. Therein probably lies the reason each character is only a cardboard cutout of the real thing.

There's my two cents, which I overpaid for with a $20. What was I thinking? ( )

The Creator has come to Earth to bring the chosen back to heaven with him? This will occur in 5 days. Not God, not Allah... but The Creator. His name is Elohim and he looks like an older gentle man in khaki pants and button down shirt with an open collar. Those who have been chosen suddenly have his name, in Hebrew, on their right palm.

Five days of in which the people of Earth come to grips with this new reality. During these 5 days there is much discussion between Elohim and a professor of religious studies, a top physicist, a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, a Rabi.... and others. This book lays out an idea of creation and the subsequent development of mankind to how we got to today's world.

This is not a "Christian book", as I believed it would be when I first began to read it. It is philosophical and accepting of the major and minor religions of the world and blending them with physics, mathematics, and evolutionary biology. Focusing on the intent and ACTION of an individual, not what church they go to or sacred book they quote.

But this is only part of the story. We are brought along a scenario in which those who have lived a life opposite of what is needed to be chosen do. We are introduced to an idea and picture of Lucifer that is unlike any I have seen expressed before. Not to mention a confrontation between Elohim and Lucifer.

For me this book explains the forces of good and evil in a manner I can see as being possible. Christian, non-Christian, atheist, agnostic, new age... no matter. This is a book that will introduce any reader to a completely different way of looking at the universe. Except a bit of repetition when discussing and explaining some of the physics, it is easy to read and very enjoyable. The characters are interesting and neither "too good" nor "too evil" to be realistic. A good read! ( )