Essential Information

• Title: The Gift from Aelius
• Author: Michael Colon
• Genre: Science Fiction with elements of Post-Apocalyptic elements
• Publication Date: October 2024
• Length: 186 pages
• Format: eBook
• Publisher: TWB Press

First Impressions

The Gift from Aelius came to my attention when Michael, the author, reached out and requested a book review. I looked over the synopsis and thought it might be something that interested me. From the synopsis I’m expecting a book about robots, humans, and the dynamics of their relationship in the world Michael created. It also gives the sense that there will be hope, loss, and an overall understanding of how the current relationship between the humans and robots has caused a decay of both societies.

The cover is nice, but I didn’t feel like there was a ton that made it stand out from other books of this nature. I’m guessing that beyond the backgrounds of the cover deal with different parts of the story, as the desert is mentioned in the synopsis. The storm indicates conflict even though the portrayed characters are shown shaking hands. Maybe the agreement between the two will be the final catalyst for the climax. We’ll see.

I am jumping into this book right after reading I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, so it will be interesting to see how that mindset impacts my reading of The Gift from Aelius.

Synopsis

The Gift from Aelius by Micheal Colon explores the power of love, and the love of God, through the eyes of robot A191. Living in Paradise, a robot sanctuary, A191 acts and thinks differently than his counterparts in his highly regulated world. They are told that Paradise is the only place that robots can remain safe from the human savages. A191, though is out of place, and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the robots. When visions of a boy plagues his mind, it’s time for many things to change.

Forced into a resistance he doesn’t want to be a part of, A191 finds his desire to find the humans increasing. His optimistic view, and hope, drive A191 to new depths of the world that he’s never explored. He might just be the codex to walk between two worlds, and possibly save them at the same time.

Critical Analysis

The Gift from Aelius follows a hero’s journey format well and explores themes of the soul, God, us vs. them mentalities, and the impact love can have on the world. The book also shows how conflict impacts society and their relationship with the unknown. While The Gift from Aelius has its strengths, as a reading experience, I was left wanting. Let’s dive into what worked and what didn’t for me.

Narrative Craft

The writing style and voice of The Gift from Aelius is unique and creates a certain pacing for the story. I would describe the narrative voice as objective and the style as, well, robotic. This aligns well with the Point of View and what the character is. Micheal did a great job of maintaining this voice and style throughout the book. While the style and voice didn’t falter, the struggle with this type of voice is that readers may not always connect with it. The objectiveness and almost broken ways A191 presented the world kept the readers from understanding the world and characters more fully. As mentioned before, this plays into the pacing and structure of the book.

The Gift from Aelius follows a hero’s journey structure with all of the flagpole scenes hit. While some of the scene/chapter structures didn’t flow as well, the overall story carried a logical path. The scenes came across as a little more stilted as movement wasn’t always stated and the transitions were hard to follow. This could be attributed to the natural thought process and comprehension of the Codex(the robots) though. The pacing of the story matched well with the hero’s journey and gave moments of interiority at the right places.

Micheal did a good job of world-building Paradise and Old Haven. The objective nature of the narrative allowed for clear descriptions of setting details and thorough histories of the world. Set in a future Earth, The Gift from Aelius does a great job at making this story timeless by minimizing any pop culture references that are prevalent in science fiction novels anymore. One of the key things was the paper airplane, that made me wonder if those will ever go out of fashion for kids in these technology driven days. Aside from that, expect the typical isolationism of an us vs. them conflict where the other is truly unknown.

The final part of this I’m going to talk about is the use of literary devices. While the first half of the book may not seem it, The Gift from Aelius is heavy with allegory. This is not a bad thing, and is often done on purpose to emote a certain message or theme. To put it in most basic terms, The Gift from Aelius is if Jesus were a robot and came in the future instead of the past. It’s really as A191 obtains his gifts that the book dives heavily into the allegory. It aided in adding some context to the rest of the story, and maybe why the language was strange, but the message that love conquers all is clear throughout. With that, let’s dive into some of the thematic depths of The Gift from Aelius.

Thematic Depth

As mentioned above, love conquers all is a strong central theme for The Gift from Aelius. As A191 journeys through his time in Paradise, Old Haven, and inbetween, he’s shown constant examples of where care for others is powerful. The moments where it’s lacking becomes just as impactful. A191 embodies this theme even though he doesn’t recognize it, as it seems instinctual to him. They are developed in both the codex robots and the humans A191 interacts with. This presents an underlying argument that even when others and our own kind are rude to us, torturous even, that we should still treat them with love and respect.

The Gift from Aelius calls into question our need for violence in this world, and a possible path forward with peace. You might even be able to parallel this to the current view on AI and it’s negative/positive impacts on the world around us. Either way, The Gift from Aelius offers a concept of Higher Human Consciousness as a path to peace, which can be most compared to spirituality. It’s a fair message that comes across clearly in the pages of this book.

Character Analysis

A191 is the protagonist of The Gift from Aelius, and follows the hero’s journey from a normal, every-day codex to savior of the world. The arc follows the growth narrative well and hits each milestone clearly. This shows that Micheal has a great understanding of the character arc and it kept A191 on the right path. There weren’t any crazy twists from his character, as each action aligned with A191’s growth at the moment of the scene. One tool that helped with A191’s growth was Bingo, his robot dog.

Bingo was a great relationship character that brought A191 moments of joy, stress, and heartbreak. Having a character like Bingo in a book like The Gift from Aelius is important. Bingo offers something that many people can connect to, a pet. Companion animals are a quick way to create connections between strangers (How many rom-coms include pets as the setup?). The reason Bingo is more important than that is that A191 is a hard character to connect with based on his different language patterns and objective observations. Bingo acts as a final driving force for A191 into the unknown he wouldn’t make it past with them.

A191’s primary goal is to get to find Aelius, a boy that keeps appearing in his mind, often leading to conflict in the external world. This drive to find the boy, and the fact that A191 feels like an outsider in Paradise is well executed to get A191 out of the city. The book closes on a larger goal as A191 learns more about himself and the true state of the world.

The other side characters are important for A191’s growth, but not extremely unique. While they play an important role in the story, none of them are present long enough to truly connect with them. Overall, the characters play their roles in the story and offer a satisfying ending.

Impact and Significance

The Gift from Aelius was not my favorite robot/AI book, and I think reading it right after Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot might have impacted this view slightly. I struggled through the book as the narrative writing style was a little too robotic for my liking, even though I understand that’s the POV character narration. I appreciate the message Micheal Colon was pushing for in the story, and think it’s one that people need to be reminded of from time to time. The allegorical nature of the second half of the book, though, comes off a little strong and detracted from the reading experience for me.

Reader’s Guide

Who Would Enjoy This Book

I would say the target audience for this book would be young men looking for a robot story that doesn’t forget God. The Gift from Aelius is a soft Sci-Fi, which opens it to a wider audience who may not be as technologically focused.

Content Warning: There is violence between humans, robots, friendly fire, and torture in The Gift from Aelius. Some readers might find this disconcerting.

Rating Breakdown

• Writing Quality: ★★★☆☆
• Plot/Development: ★★★★☆
• Character/Argument Strength: ★★★★☆
• Pacing: ★★★☆☆
• Innovation: ★★☆☆☆
• Overall: ★★★☆☆

Final Verdict

“The Gift from Aelius” offers an intriguing premise and consistent allegorical message about love’s transformative power, but falls short in narrative execution. The robotic writing style, while appropriate for the protagonist, creates distance that makes emotional connection difficult. Combined with heavy-handed religious allegory in the latter half, these elements justify a 3-star rating. I’d recommend this book specifically to readers who enjoy Christian science fiction and don’t mind stylistic choices that prioritize message over immersion. While not groundbreaking, Colon’s novel provides thought-provoking commentary on division, faith, and the potential for peace between disparate groups.

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