|
Hotamah! chronicles the apocalyptic clash of civilizations by Islam to attain world supremacy and domination. The novel describes how several Iranian, Israeli and American children, who cross paths in maturity, are influenced by religious fanaticism and its resultant eternal, intolerable wars. The Avrahamic War between Judaism, Christianity and Islam is thirteen-hundred years old and seeks a winner. Hotamah! addresses the question: "Suppose there are no winners?" An excellent introduction to Hotamah! is the movie Iranium: http://www.iraniumthemovie.com/
About the Author: Jay J. Schlickman, was
born in West Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 1934, and is an industrial physicist and consultant who has spent his life in science
and technology and published significantly in that domain (several dozen publications in peer-reviewed technical journals
and two peer-reviewed technical books). Jay obtained both his B.S.
and M.S. degrees in Physics from the Northeastern University, Boston, MA. However, his passion was to write a novel. Hotamah! is his first, conceived at the age of 69 and published in October,
2010 on Kindle at the age of 76. It is the first of a trilogy (Abraham's Forge). The second book (in the formative stage)
is entitled Mahdi! and the third book (also in the formative stage) is entitled Moharebeh!. The theme of the trilogy is to demonstrate that human beings tend to be innovative, creative and
arrogant animals even when arrogance leads to their own demise. Religious fanaticism in the Middle East is used as the vehicle
to demonstrate this tendency towards self-destruction. Once convinced that the protagonists have the only valid message from
their deity they are determined to attain Islamic supremacy over the world regardless of the outcome. This desire for dominance
follows them from the rutted remains of a wounded Earth to a colony on Mars and then back to a restored Earth hundreds of
years later. Their progeny never learn a thing. Clearly, at the age
of 76 one cannot spend 14 years creating the next two books. His wife of 53 years (Judy)is the one who makes his words sound
like acceptable English. (She didn't review this.) All three children and three grandchildren have encouraged their father
and/or grandfather to publish and have contributed to the novel with respect to technical content and editorial ideas. His
muse has been his nephew Lance Silver who kept him from quitting during the several major rewrites. Jay feels it has been
worth the trip. Jay's technical background includes electro-optics,
medical imaging instrumentation, security systems, display monitors and semiconductor research and manufacturing. He has also
served as a quality management system consultant and auditor for organizations that conform to National and International
Standards in the aerospace, automotive and medical device industries as well as conformance to environmental standards. He
has served as an infrared detector consultant for AAFE NASA and has been jointly awarded a Multispectral Detector U.S. Patent
#3,761,718 for a detector design that flew on NASA's Skylab Mission. He is also the winner of a prestigious Honeywell, Inc.
Engineering and Scientest award for outstanding achievements in the computer-aided-design of infrared detectors used in industrial
and military applications. Jay is a United States Army Security Agency,
Korean War-era veteran; a life-time member of the IEEE; and a member of the American Physical Society.
Hotamah!
is my first novel and has been self-published as an Amazon.com Kindle e-book. It is the first book in the trilogy "Abraham's
Forge". Amazon.com: Hotamah! (Abraham's Forge) eBook: Jay Schlickman ...
Hotamah! spans the years
1982 to 2045 from the battlefields of 1982 Dezful, Iran to the proximity of Martian deep space in 2045. The novel tells
the epic story of the exploits of two eleven-year-old Iranian boys, Hasan Azam and Mohammad Khan, who with fifty-thoudand
other volunteers vow to clear mine-fields at Dezful with their bodies during the Iraq-Iran War. Hasan's and Mohammad's experiences
on the blood-drenched field of Dezful inflame the boy's indoctrinated hatred of the West and they vow to resore Islaamic supremacy.
Hasan is driven to create Islamic domination through military power and Mohammad through science and deterrence. As prominent
Islamic leaders in 2045 they forge an alliance to achieve Islamic world domination. The result is a cataclysmic battle between
Islamic and non-Islamic civilizations and the potential end of humankind. Western rule is precariously balance on the edge
of an abyss. Thus Hasan and Mohammad unwittingly fulfill the Quranic Prophesy in Surah 104 of the Holy Quran of an apocalyptic
Crusher (Hotamah) destined to be launched by God (Allah) to destroy the enemies of Islam.
However, the novel is
a work of fiction based on some historical facts and develops its narrative not by attacking religious icons but by analyzing
the behavior of human beings ensnared in religioius doctrine. In this manner the novel describes the motivations and
events that result in the most destructive battle in history between the three great Avrahamic relions - Islam, Christianity
and Judaism. This apocalypse seems inevitable. Muslims, Christians and Jews are believed to consist of the progeny of the
same biblical partiarch, Abraham of Ur. Each religion believes that it has the one and only one correct religious belief system.
As a result, the children of Abraham have been at war for over thirteen-hundred years. Will Islamic armies finally defeat
the non-Islamic forces and thus define Islam as the supreme religious belief system of the future?
