Mike Kallas

The Fourth Sky Mike Kallas

Author's IntroductionIn 1975, I was eight years old. I was living in a remote village in Lebanon, close to the border with Syria. That was when the Lebanese religious civil war started. In the first week of the war, our village was attacked, and my family and I became refugees. I lived for thirteen years during this devastating war that killed ten percent of the population and displaced half. In 1987, I finally managed to flee to the United States. For years, I have wanted to write a book about my experiences during the war. I am a technical person. I used to get very good grades in Math, Physics and other Sciences while I got barely passing grades in language, grammar, spelling and literature. English is my third language. But I still wanted desperately to tell my story because, so few people got to experience what I did. Combatants tell their stories of wars. Most war books and movies are about combatants, about fighting people. So few stories are told from the perspective of an unarmed civilian trying to survive and escape to save their lives and their family's lives. Heroes don't run away. I started writing this book fifteen years ago. I struggled with my lack of writing experience as well as my deficient language skills. But I wanted to tell the story. Along the way I decided to make this book a science fiction book. The science fiction genre allows me to write about my experiences as well as the experiences of others I knew. The science fiction genre also allows me to explore a topic that has fascinated me most of my life. I saw people motivated by religion commit amazing acts of sacrifice, as well as horrible acts of evil. I wanted to explore what motivates people of faith to do what I think other people would never do. I am sure this book is full of spelling and grammar mistakes. I wanted to tell the story in my own language. I did not want to edit the book and change my words. So, excuse my English, I hope this does not turn you off from completing the book. My main purpose is to convey true feelings that I felt as a young civilian during war. My plans are to continue telling the Sci Fi story in this book and expand on the fictional world of Gavreel that I created. If you like my story, please give the book a good rating and a good review. This will allow more people to experience it and would allow me to continue writing.