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The Divine Theory of Everything: Book 1, Wanderer is the first volume of a new series by Robert D. Berger. Bringing together the theories of science and religion; two topics that have not always got on together, he ponders on whether man was made as per Darwin's theory or by God. The novel reads like a history of evolution and the history of spirituality from other countries. Certain names like The Priestess and Seth are synonymous with Celtic and Egyptian myth also, and the story can be seen as a fantasy crossed with science fiction.

A person called Iblis who might look human, yet is seen as the father of lies and destroyer of worlds is described as being alien, powerful and carries an artefact called The Key, a sword that is used to create a balance between good and evil, and the divine energy inside it maintains the balance of the universe, yet Iblis has changed it with his opposing influence. His actions toward others, like killing others increase his evil energy and diminish the power of good. Iblis is the being who cares nothing for people or time, or anything, and he seeks to destroy Seth and the High Priestess. Though the more he uses the artefact the more evil triumphs and they cannot let that happen.

Seth and the High Priestess are ready for battle, getting their warriors together, the Knights of the Rose. They realize they have to do their best to rid the world of Iblis and his evil nature at all costs. The thing is they cannot win against the power of the key, but they would like nothing more than to at least tip the balance in their favour for a change.

The Divine Theory of Everything: Book 1, Wanderer is an interesting novel of fantasy in the sword and sorcery genre complete with warriors and orcs. Robert D. Berger has single-handedly written a thought-provoking first novel that will hook the reader as long as they persist with the story and increase interest in a more unusual fantasy tale of the battle of good and evil. Other than fantasy, there is an element of sci-fi in it too, proving that the two genres can be twinned to make a decent story, linking past, present and future. The reader will have no trouble getting into the story as the characters are fleshed out and original, and it is based on an ages old fable of good versus the inevitable evil that most have read about in world cultures everywhere.

The action starts when Iblis is fighting and loses the artefact, screaming:

"You can't do this to me!" Iblis falls to his knees and blindly scurries around searching for the artefact. He can feel the fabric of this universe pushing him back through the tear he created. "I command you to return to my hand," he bellows."

What follows after this is a leap into the future to 2012 where Captain Stephen Morgan the holder of a special seal, a space ship holding a crew of 144,000 lives which corresponds to an excerpt from Revelations Chapter six. Going against Iblis, Captain Morgan engages him in battle, hoping he can save the lives of his crew from the evil Iblis and send him back where he came from. As usual, it is not that easy to get rid of anything evil and so Captain Morgan has to battle with him time and again.

One of the parts of this novel that is truly wonderful is the fact the author gets Captain Morgan to explain who he truly is:

"Now that you understand where this all began, let me tell you how I became involved. For me it all began in the fall of 1999. I find it difficult to connect to the person I once was. To me, that person died long ago. I did not enter the struggle willingly, but in retrospect, I have to say that the journey was worth taking, although events did not turn out as I had anticipated. Remember that for every ounce of good, there must be an ounce of evil as its counterpart."

The mixture of sci-fi and fantasy is convincing and as far as the story is concerned the battle does not simply end in the past, the future carries it on to a very enjoyable conclusion.

Sandra Scholes is a writer, but likes keeping up with her artwork part time, loves anime and manga, fantasy and horror stories and loves twists in the ending.