Last Updated on October 28, 2022 by Tom Kane
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla electric cars and SpaceX, makers of launch vehicles and spacecraft, has long nurtured the desire to see humanity colonise Mars. As one of his websites puts it, The Road to Making Humanity Multiplanetary. To some it’s a noble cause and to others a waste of money. Personally, I’m not in the judgement game, what he does with his resources is entirely up to him. However, as many historians like to tell us, history has a way of repeating itself and in the 17th century, a group of people got together and attempted to achieve a similar goal to that which Elon Musk now aspires to.
The times and the people of those times were driven not by accomplishing an impossible goal, they were attempting to obtain religious freedom. In September 1620, an English ship named Mayflower set sail for the New World in the Americas.
Mayflower was chartered by a group of English merchants called the London Adventurers to transport groups of English families, the Pilgrims, from England to the New World. There were supposed to have been two ships, but the Speedwell proved unseaworthy and after several delays, where the pilgrims were living in the cramped conditions on the Mayflower, there followed a gruelling ten weeks at sea as Mayflower set sail alone on a potentially treacherous, and ultimately unpredictable voyage.
Mayflower reached the New World with 102 passengers and a crew of 30. The ship dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21, 1620.
The enterprise had massive repercussions on the world over the following centuries. Yet at the time the small band of pilgrims were called foolhardy, ridiculed by friends, family, the government as well as religious leaders. All because they had a dream of religious freedom. The spirituality of the journey apart, it was, with the available knowledge and technology of the time, a daring undertaking and remarkably became the first successful major colony in the New World.
Now fast forward to America in 2022. Musk, a South African by birth, has his own vision of what must happen to humanity. His dream isn’t about religion, it’s about how he sees human beings in the future, as a space faring race. To him, if humanity doesn’t reach out and colonise our solar system, then we stand to live on an isolated planet that may not be able to feed us within a few years, notwithstanding climate change, war and disease. We are already seeing the knock-on effects of food shortage because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What next? When the oil runs out and climate change kicks-in with a vengeance, humanity will be reduced to fighting for scarce resources… strongest nation wins!
Americans at least should applaud a man willing to put his money where his mouth is, to attempt to establish a colony on Mars. Consider this. If it hadn’t been for a few English pilgrims achieving a similar, though Earthbound feat, the world, especially America, may have been a very different place.
The Road to Making Humanity Multiplanetary seems a fitting slogan to me.
Copyright © Tom Kane 2020
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Synopsis
A young Magda Asparov travels alone from her home in Ukraine to America, to marry Matthew Turner, an unscrupulous American businessman. It’s an arranged marriage and part of the dowry is land in America the Asparovs own. But this parcel of land holds a secret only Turner is aware of. It has a huge reservoir of oil beneath it.
Magda’s journey is cut-short when her ship, the Titanic, hits an iceberg & sinks.
Magda is rescued by another ship, captained by Richard Blackmore.
In the ship’s sickbay, it’s discovered the survivor has lost her memory. The crew of the rescue ship give the survivor a name, Maggie, to use until her memory returns. But as the ship sails to New York a new personality in Maggie takes hold, stifling Magda in the process.
On reaching New York, Maggie accepts Captain Blackmore’s offer of help and occupies Blackmore’s guest room in his apartment. But over time, the couple fall in love.
Meanwhile, Matthew Turner feels Magda is still alive and has unleashed his henchman, William Harker, a crook, con artist, money shark and murderer. Turner hates to feel his investment has slipped through his fingers and is keen to track Magda down and keep alive his hopes of cashing in on her oil field. Harker is told to find any trace of Magda among the survivors arriving in New York.
Harker discovers Magda is alive but is unaware of who she is. Harker makes his plans to snatch Magda away from Blackmore. Leaving Blackmore as collateral damage and his life in ruins.
Reviews
“This one has it all – mystery, corruption, murder, kidnapping, love, revenge. Don’t plan to read it as a stand alone. You’ll definitely want the next books in the trilogy because the ending of book one is a cliff hanger. I couldn’t put this book down although I became so worried about the fate of Blackmore I had to regroup myself. Tom Kane did one helluva job writing this set.”
“This book has everything Romance, Murder, Mystery which automatically hooks you to the story.”
“Set against the backdrop of early 20th century America, an incredible story of love, loss, injustice, perseverance, mental illness & heartbreak.”
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An arranged marriage, tragic love story & a bad guy you’ll love to hate.”
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