Darkness Is Not Eternal

"Darkness Is Not Eternal" tells the story about life during the American Civil War period in which slavery was still in vogue. Although family life for some was very challenging, when two families representing master and slave are confronted here by the same supernatural evil forces, how they handle the situation reveals the diversity of faith believers.

The pre-Civil War era of the southern states was a challenging time. White plantation owners worked their slaves hard, often so, buying and selling slaves as if they were mere livestock. The fine line between good and evil was a gray area. The white slave owners were Christians and read the Bible, but were they good just because they went to church? Owners often banned slaves from following any religion and resorted to horrific rituals handed down through the generations, rituals that included live sacrifices. They did their work, endured punishment at the hands of their owners and followed their own leaders, those who had already given their souls to the devil.

Byron, the white slave owner, purchases a slave family and sets his eyes on the lovely daughter. Jobba, the slave family’s father, keeps his eye on Byron and those, both white and slave, who would do his daughter, or anyone in his family harm. But evil comes in many forms and in his struggle to keep his family safe, Jobba ends up being sold and his children, all to different owners. Their journey to reunite as a family is difficult. As the Civil War is breaking out, the North is conquering the South and many of the white slave owners, and the slaves themselves, recognize the difference between good and evil.

Sidney L. Jackson’s novel, Darkness Is Not Eternal, is a powerful narrative of love and the strength and enduring power of family unity that overshadows the conflicts between white slave owners and their slaves in the pre-Civil War era. The story traces two families: Byron, the slave owner, and Jobba, the slave. Whilst the elders seek to protect their families and the traditions held for generations, the young people carve their own paths, often obliterating the shady lines that differentiate between the owner and the slave This is an interesting dramatic story about a very difficult time in American history.

Fans of atmospheric fiction will enjoy the work of author Sidney L. Jackson for the dialogue alone, which sight-reads with the Southern dialect and brings its characters off the page into literal living color from the moment they appear. The plot itself features many intense moments, relationship thrills and a rather startling conclusion. Overall, the general themes of character depth, the threat of darkness and the struggle which seems endless are central to the story and re-emerge many times. Jackson’s character development is key, giving us intimate insight through close-up narration so we can hear the characters' thoughts in our heads and feel the very visceral sensations of the uncertainty and danger that they undergo during the tale. Overall, Darkness Is Not Eternal is well worth sticking with if you enjoy its unique narrative style, and will bring the darkest elements of America’s past to light with a harrowing tale that offers some hope at its end.

Sidney L. Jackson is the founder of El Cid's Books, a website (Elcidsbooks.com) offering published books using his pseudonym El Cid. He is an accomplished novelist and short story writer who brings to the reader wholesome stories that will both entertain and enlighten him or her about the spiritual value of Biblical knowledge. As the reader is engaged in the various adventures and challenging situations which mirror real life, Sidney provides within the novel relevant scriptures that deal with the predicaments. Born 1942, New York City in the section of the metropolis known as Harlem, Sidney was exposed, at an early age, to many of the situations that he writes about. He spent his later childhood and young adult years growing up in the city of Newark, NJ where his interests in music and sociology was spawned. Gravitating toward the field of jazz he attended Arts High School, which has become known for producing jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan, Wayne Shorter and Woody Shaw in addition to several movie and TV sitcom stars. After high school, he matriculated at Hampton University where he received the Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. While studying at this university, during the years of the early Civil Rights movements, he became aware of the disparity between what many religious patrons preached and what they practiced. This led to his interest in Biblical studies and the relevance of scripture to life's journey. With this in mind, he furthered his education at Seton Hall University and Rutgers University studying at the post graduate level guidance and counseling and business modeling. Driven to write about the need for Biblical faith in certain situations using his experience both in the military as a Viet Nam soldier and living in the inner city during some turbulent times, he has penned short stories and completed three novels. The two other novels are "The Big Lie" and "Kingdom Planet" which may be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as on his website.