THE SOVEREIGN GUIDE: A TALE OF EDEN (1898) – Written by William Amos Miller and published under the title My Sovereign Guide: A Tale of Eden, so I have no idea why everyone now starts the title with The instead of My. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that many works of “ancient” science fiction mixed in religious elements with the sci-fi. The Sovereign Guide is one of the most inventive and features angels using advanced technology. Taking the novel section by section:
PART I: JOURNEY TO ROME – Miller himself serves as our narrator. He has received word that Manethoe, a former household aide who had embezzled money from him long ago, is on his deathbed in Rome.
Miller is filled with such a strong desire to see the man one last time and openly forgive him that an actual angel appears to him and offers to take him to Rome to see Manethoe. The angel – who has neither eyes nor ears but functions perfectly without them – has our narrator fly off with him in his chariot.
High above the Earth they pass by a multitude of angels singing a song which William’s guide joins in. At length the chariot descends toward Rome.
PART II: A SCENE IN THE CHAMBER OF DEATH – At Menethoe’s bedside, our narrator and the angel behold the Angel of Death waiting to claim the dying man’s soul. Miller sees the Angel of Death studying a high-tech instrument which it has implanted in Menethoe’s heart.
William forgives his former aide and when the device in the dying man’s heart indicates that he has died, Mary, Mother of God appears at the bedside, a vision so dazzling that our narrator faints. He comes to later on his angelic companion’s chariot. The angel informs him that he is taking him to see Eden and what is left of its Garden.
A weakness of the book is that we never get any indication why William Amos Miller is being granted this privileged tour.
PART III: SUBTERRANEAN VOYAGE TO EDEN – The chariot lands at the seashore, where our narrator is accompanied aboard a futuristic submarine crewed by angels. The vessel is egg-shaped but with spires at both ends. Continue reading
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