Book Review: Spirited Life and Afterlife Stories by Mike Friedman

If you study philosophy, you have likely confronted the global religions and their alternatives to an afterlife. If you read science fiction or watch it in movies or on television, you no doubt have encountered many more alternatives to the next life, whether it is nonexistent, mental, physical, or other-dimensional.

All of this can raise more questions than answers can be provided by philosophy and religion.

If you have questions about what happens after the years we are granted on this planet - and even if you are sure where you will or will not go next - author Mike Friedman offers two sets of stories offering alternative answers that warm the heart and bolster the mind to come up with even more answers.

Mr. Friedman knows what he is writing, certainly, and has won the annual Best Fiction Writer Award for a number of years. He is esteemed and supported by many faithful readers and one hopes that you will join them.

The Carriage Driver, with a sequel to appear in the future, is a unique collection of stories about the lives and backgrounds of individuals and how they are escorted into their next chapters. I think that you will be moved by at least some of these stories. In fact, many people continue to read the book several times.

Meet a white horse in this book and be captivated. Let yourself be intrigued by each alternative journey.

Michael Friedman is a logical choice of author to poke around in readers' minds in order to extrude creative thoughts about life and afterlife.

However, a site called Mediander.com, gave him the profile of a philosophy professor accidentally. What fun! Still, Mike makes philosophy of afterlife alternatives fun and easy to understand - something that many professors cannot achieve.

. From out of all this and more, Michael has created a set of stories about the physical and metaphysical that appeal to those outside university walls and to those who may never have thought about philosophy or what happens to humans after this life.

I am glad that he did this. Several of his stories are among my favorites of all stories from Ancient Days to Modern Times.

While one's earthly remains travel by coffin or urn of ashes to an end point, the long-time carriage driver in a top hat with his equine emissary Nuelle elegantly transports the real people departing this life. They all travel to different locales.

At the end of some of the driver's stories, you may wish that you could go along with the characters, their futures seem so compelling..

The departing souls enjoy a comfortable carriage ride, sometimes touring their hometown a final time before shimmering out of this dimension.

It is a much better ride than one would have with the boatman on the river Styx or on the Klingon Black Ship.

Sometimes, Nuelle is the only one who really knows what's going on in a particular case. This horse is always ready for the journey. So who is the real driver - the man, the horse, or both?

Michael says in his own description of his book "This work presents the instances where a person’s life has led to a carriage ride to the Promised Land."

The book leads the reader to serene and/or stimulating thoughts in the current day as well. As a pastor once said, "Last Days!? These are our ONLY days, so we need to make the most of them."

But still, there is After.

The stories in this book encompass Boston, Massachusetts with place names that might be familiar to you. Other places may not be familiar at all - like the comfortable interior of the carriage drawn by Nuelle, who likes about half an apple for a snack every day.

The driver in the top hat is well dressed and kind, sometimes following Nuelle's lead as they gather souls for delivery to that Promised Land. Each individual has their own concept of it and some of these ideas are astonishing.

What might be called Heaven by many of us is located just past a way-station in the Beyond, called The Castle.

In the other-wordly castle, the Traveler may meet friends and family, but even if (s)he meets no one else, (s)he enjoys the ministrations of a cordial staff. The Castle is pleasant and welcoming, a place to be nourished before going on.

Interestingly, such a place is found in certain religious teachings -- One pastor has described a glade under trees where angels bring food before one enters Heaven, for instance..

Travelers may rest a short while in the castle way-station and then journey on, or in some cases, they may even return to Earth for a special assignment mission. All the while, the carriage driver has his carriage, top hat, and horse at the ready.

Each story is better than the last, but my favorites are likely the most unusual of the group:

• The Aviarist - The gem-like colors of the world's birds bring to mind the rainbow, the light spectrum, flowers, and a jeweler's showcase. You may think of all those things as you read this engaging story. Do you know anyone who has collected colorful birds throughout a lifetime? What does one do with them ultimately? This story describes a beautiful option
• The Pianist - Have you ever seen a piano in the company of angels? Is there music in Heaven? -- Many sources already say there is beautiful music there.

Other stories in this book focus on a trumpeter, children, couples, and individuals who come back to Earth rather than continue to the other side. And who takes people to "The Other Place" (no Heaven)? There seems to be a whole stable of them!

Setting: It is around the the middle of the 21st century and you are in your 70s, 80s or 90s - are you happy? You could be!

Mysteries occur one after another in the lives of Quinn, Betty and his adult daughter. Some of these thrillers involve murder and others involve the backstories of classic pieces of art like those stolen during WWII raids by the Third Reich. We also hear about the lives of Quinn and Betty before the timeline of the book. The stories occur locally in Clearview Terrace, but take the characters to Europe more than once. The book has a pleasant variety.

The stories pack a lot of interest and action into the lives of an older couple. I hope the stories and the characters encourage older people to remain active as long as possible..

If you want to read about additional characters and their life events, you can try a copy of Mike's Emerald Wells Cafe and Pear Blossom Lane. The stories take place in and around a cafe diner in Emerald Wells, Texas and Mike says about this book: "It’s a western. It’s a poetry book. It’s a romance. It’s a food book. It’s the lost biography of the USA. In my heart, I am from Emerald Wells."

With over 400 pages of great characters and stories, this book is rated 100% at five stars out of five on Amazon.com.