Round Earth, Open Sky

Round Earth, Open Sky is a psychological suspense thriller and Native American sci-fi road novel that doubles as an inquiry into the nature of human identity. During a mid-summer observance, Sky Man, an immortal, tricked by human sorcery, falls out of the sky and accidentally into a dead human out in the Sonoran desert. Seeking the location of the hole-in-the-sky ceremony so he can return to his sky people, he stumbles upon a boxcar family and more of the dead human he inhabits comes to light. When he finds a road, a car pulls up, and everywhere the driver takes him, more clues are revealed. Stops in the Hopi and Navaho Nations, Oak Creek Canyon, Detroit, Ontario and the Ojibwe Nation unfold different threads of the dead man’s identity, but much of the evidence contradicts, requiring Sky Man to call his host back from the dead before he can make his ascent to his sky people. “Part mystical vision, part cosmic joke, REOS is Kirpal Gordon at the top of his game, by turns lyrical and ironic, magical and subversive, moving past the vanishing point where Jack Kerouac meets Carlos Castaneda. Gordon is a consummate postmodern trickster, wanting nothing more than ‘to stir a little gray into the either/or, black-and-white world,’ leading us to laugh at what we think we know, and to humble ourselves to a world that will always be much larger than we can imagine.” Stephen-Paul Martin. “Gordon flirts with the borders of fantasy and science fiction to create a novel whose heightened reality entertains and illuminates simultaneously. When Sky Man literally falls to earth from a plane of existence beyond it, Moses becomes the first of many colorful and complex characters to try to determine what he is and whether his true nature lies in the heavens, the earth, or both. A highly entertaining journey.” Vernon Frazer. “In the middle of nowhere, a photographer gives a lift to a mysterious stranger and finds himself the passenger on a surprising, and sometimes sinister, journey toward discovery and self-revelation that carries them both through the perils of obscure Native American tribal rites to the portals of metempsychosis and the magical reality behind ‘reality’ which erases past and present and, at the same time, recreates them. Gordon unrolls a map that irresistibly lures its characters, and the reader, toward a spectacular life- and death-transforming climax.” Eric Basso. "Gordon's imagination is unsurpassed; his ability to draw the reader in with a mix of humor, mysticism, reality and tenderness is amazing." David A. Safran. "REOS has the clear potential to be a cult novel. It will attract readers who are on their own spiritual journey and who suspect that 'there is another world, and it's in this one.'" Dr. Michael Hogan. "Brilliant imagery, brilliant language, the strength of its characters, its storytelling; and the ride: wild and wooly; and fearlessly imagined by Gordon to depths rarely seen, or so effectively engaged." Denis Gray. "Altogether a marvellous read, constantly forcing me to readjust my grasp of its multiple narratives, to reexamine the nature of identity itself and to confront the mystery of 'mending the tear in the world.'" David Cope "By far, the best novel I've read of my generation: Gordon has created a work of holy parables." Jim Cohn. "Fast-paced and covers multiple genres and fulfills in each. Witty, deep, violent & sensual." Cheryl Townsend. "A perfect blend of yin and yang; entertaining, original, and has the strong personal voice of a talented writer." Steve Hirsch. "A fun, mystical road trip from the Land of the Hopi to Manitoulin Island." Paul Rosheim. "A remarkably inventive novel. The fusion of sci-fi & mystery together with indigenous elements make for an exciting first-class ride, flawlessly executed." Steve Voliva. "A fascinating portrayal of connectedness; textured characters involved in their own AND interrelated paths; spiritual and physical worlds interwoven through poetic language" J.A. Bellusci