Shadows of the Past
by Eric Goebelbecker
Genre: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9798990006713
Print Length: 360 pages
Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph
Two brave men reluctantly (but brilliantly) uncover an international conspiracy of rogue military agents using alien technology to set the world on fire.
In Shadows of the Past is a captivating sci-fi novel inspired by War of the Worlds. It features assassinations, invasions, death by black tar smoke from Mars, public executions, explosions, espionage, and escape missions. And there’s a new threat to our protagonists at every turn of the page.
At its heart, the novel is about unexpected heroes who risk their lives and careers to do the right thing in the face of corruption.
It’s told from two different points of view: American radio engineer James and German soldier Emil. Their lives couldn’t be more different and they never meet, but both find themselves at the heart of a war on the verge of outbreak. Author Eric Goebelbecker seamlessly delivers two sides of an expansive international plot to instigate war—possibly with help from the Martians.
Emil is a loyal friend and a defiant soldier. He’s moody and bratty and excellent at leading others, with a natural talent for strategy and recognizing suspicious behavior. Emil is so good at what he does—and better at his superiors’ jobs than they could ever hope to be—but he walks around very clearly not wanting to be there. His army acquaintances would say he’s frustrating and infuriating to be around, but he is a delight to read! Emil is easy to love, immediately endearing himself to us with fierce loyalty and adoration for his friends. He’s constantly inspiring new levels of compassion for the young men in the army with him.
James is an American radio engineer leading a quiet, simple life. We meet him as he’s been brought in to assess a faulty radio signal on a military base. His investigation reveals signs of sabotage and a potential attack from an enemy army using salvaged Martian technology—including heat rays that extinguish human life and vaporize homes instantly, leaving only piles of ash behind. When his father was on his deathbed (James’s dad died of cancer, caused by his proximity to a huge fire that wrecked their city), James promised that he would look after his mom and has taken that responsibility on with a commitment that has made his life small.
When he discovers large-scale interference inside army radios, James can’t comprehend the power source and extent of the sabotage—until he is alerted to a conspiracy that involves his colleagues, an insistent tabloid journalist, and a plot that may be the real cause of his father’s death.
If you’re a fan of stories where you don’t know who to trust and where the stakes keep increasing—this is the book for you. Life or death suddenly feels small when there’s a potential for entire towns to be wiped out by a Martian heat ray and you’re holding your breath hoping an alien attack isn’t looming ahead.
“That was outstanding work, James,” Fleming said, repeating himself like the military man he was. Outstanding work? But it had led three men to their deaths.” Most striking in this story: the humanity Eric Goebelbecker instills in both protagonists, who are in the army and in service of their governments but act only in ways that they can morally uphold. No matter how many years they’ve been in service or how many deaths and betrayals they’ve seen, these men value human life, grieve for each individual loss they witness, and second-guess all acts of violence, doing their best to limit fatalities. James and Emil are compassionate, competent men in the eye of their respective storms. And the author never allows the fact that someone is registered in the army or living in a military location act as reason enough for their death.
Shadows of the Past is an important, deeply affecting story—especially in a time when it feels as though these kinds of war efforts are happening every day. It’s a read that cuts to the heart of military culture and pierces the heart. It’s easy to root for James and Emil and to worry for them as new secrets and increasing risks are revealed to them.
I’m highlighting my appreciation for the conscience and kindness of these men, but that is not to say that Shadows of the Past isn’t brutal and thrilling and suspenseful too. What’s special about this novel is that you’re seeing it from the perspective of these men trying to save the day at the risk of their own lives. So intimate and engrossing is Goebelbecker’s writing that I always felt like I was right there with them, constantly making sure I did not twitch or shudder obviously—wanting to blend in and draw no attention to us.
Where Emil’s men almost playfully nudge him into positions of leadership—because they trust him and can tell he’s got the natural abilities that will help them succeed and keep them alive—James’s primary value lies in his skillful command of electronics and his insatiable curiosity for the mechanics of war. I appreciate that James recognized that the women in his life—his mother, whom he swore to take care of after his father’s death; and Susan, his girlfriend and colleague—are the brave and brazen forces who not only see these opportunities to do the right thing before he does, but have seen the truth in various shady operations for years.
“If James was wrong, he’d be accusing a foreign power of starting a war. But if he was right, he’d be in the middle of something he wanted no part of.” James is brilliant with machines, but he’s also hilariously reluctant to be involved in anything that isn’t compulsory. First, his superiors, and later, these women, must push and pander to him to make him do more work and help the cause. I loved reading that. He feels so real.
It’s a blast to read a man who has the capacity to be a hero but is frankly uninterested. Emil is similar in the fact that he does not want to be a leader and seems incapable of following the army’s rules. But it’s undeniable that he has the exact skills and powerful instincts that make an excellent leader in his department. Emil’s men immediately trust him, even when he doesn’t want to be trusted in that capacity —even when they aren’t his men and he is outright saying ‘I am not your leader! Stop following me!’
“There’s a war on, James, even if we’re not in it yet.” Urich looked around this time, then lowered his voice. “But information doesn’t exactly flow freely, even during peacetime. And we’re always in one war or another, aren’t we?”
Shadows of the Past is a refreshing and reflective read. It feels especially emotional as I follow the news of international military invasions and occupations in our time. Reading Emil and James gave me some hope that there are good men on the ground who can see past narratives of disposable people, who are shocked by deaths of civilians and soldiers with equal, lasting measure, and who can’t help but think about how it could and should have been avoided. There are power-hungry, corrupt, violent soldiers in this story, of course, but they are depicted as deranged. James and Emil see them as people that others must urgently be protected from. Eric Goebelbecker compassionately handles the reality of what it must be like to be employed in these capacities by the army, especially as young men who did not have a choice in their involvement. It’s been years since the Martians invaded, but society is still haunted by it. Goebelbecker captures the unsettling sense in everyday life post-invasion when it’s been too soon to have uncovered all the truths and yet much too soon to have grieved for the losses properly.
I’d highly recommend this novel to fans of the AppleTV+ show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, for the post-apocalyptic world that starts to feel like the apocalypse is happening all over again, and to fans of the AppleTV+ show Silo (based on Hugh Howey’s dystopian trilogy) for the “who can I trust while I’m trapped in this place?” energy in the paranoid decoding of colleagues’ behavior. James and Emil both work under the stressful conditions that come with investigating topics that could get you labeled as a traitor and swiftly, publicly executed.
Shadows of the Past is set a century ago, in a post-Martian invasion reality from another fictional world, and yet it feels both timely and important to understand when we look to our future as a global community. Whether you’re concerned about the media’s coverage of international relations, the manipulation of the public ahead of declaring war, or feel conflicted about civilians’ complicity in weapons manufacturing, there is so much to learn from the humanity of both Emil and James and the world that Eric Goebelbecker built around them. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.
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