I’ve commented before that LDS speculative fiction is very popular just now. We are seeing more “End Times” or “Latter Days” stories published than ever before. “Ephraim’s Seed” by Pam Blackwell is book one of “The Millennial Series,” another in this somewhat new but very well-received genre.
We start the story with a brief introduction to the status of the world: The LDS church has been declared illegal by the government, and all Mormons are having to practice in secret. The United World Economic Network (UWEN) has taken control of all buying and spending, making it difficult for the Mormons to get the things they need, but a certain group of ranchers are subsidizing the Church secretly, allowing it to purchase items at a discount. The persecutions experienced by the Mormons at the time of Joseph Smith are starting all over again, only this time, they know it’s not going to stop until the end of the world, as it has been prophesied.
Now we move into the bulk of the story, and we meet Ben. He’s a mild-mannered student finishing up his degree a little bit late in life, having been sidetracked by a marriage gone wrong and having to fight to keep his children. He has remarried a good woman named Peg, and now he is working with his bishop and other men in his ward boundaries to assist the underground in taking financial aid to those who need it. It’s a clandestine operation, active in the middle of the night, the meeting place by a dumpster.
On this particular night, the bishop has called for a special gathering. The UWEN has obtained the names of all the men who have been working with the underground, Ben’s included, and it is necessary for all of them to pack up and leave their homes now. They must go into hiding and stay hidden until further notice. Ben has been prepared for this for a while, but it’s one thing to know it could happen and another for it to actually occur. He places a call to Peg, sends her into action packing the car, and as soon as he arrives home they leave, driving to Southern Utah and their first safe house. But he can’t stay there forever; before he knows it, he finds himself heading across the country to Jackson County, Missouri.
This book is so deeply plotted that it’s impossible for me to give it full justice in a blog, but I found it fascinating, suspenseful, and it held my interest. I did find places where the writing could have been tightened up and where the editing wasn’t as stringent as it should have been, but those are minor mistakes against the backdrop of a truly enjoyable novel. There are more books to follow in the series; stay tuned for reviews on them.
(This book was published in 1996 by BF Publishing.)
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Author Interview — Linda Paulson Adams