Beyond The Steel Wall

Robert Cely is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Union Seminary. He is married with four children and lives in West Columbia, South Carolina. He is pastor of Cherokee Presbyterian Church in Gilbert, South Carolina

robertwcely@gmail.com

FIND MY BOOKS ON AMAZON:

NEWLY RELEASED:

STORY COLLECTIONS FROM SEVEN AWARD WINNING AUTHORS:

New Releases

The Serpent and the Dove, November 2020

Human beings today stand in the midst of a great spiritual crisis. We live in the most technologically advanced age the world has ever seen, in the most prosperous, wealthiest era in all of history. At the same time we are overcome with a great anxiety and dread. We are afraid. We are divided. And we look to tomorrow not with hope, but despair.

Why have we made ourselves so miserable when we have so much? Where can we find hope again?

In The Serpent and the Dove, Robert W Cely goes back to the earliest stories of the Bible – the creation of the world, the creation of human beings, the first marriage, the world as God made it – to find the answers. The world we discover here is not the random and machine-like universe of secularism. Instead, we find a world of mystery and wonder, a world of meaning and purpose, a world that is living, vibrant and full of hope. We find life as it was made by a good and loving God.

If we are to reclaim our hope in life, we must reclaim a vision of life as it was meant to be. Only then can we understand our world, who we are, our place in the grand and spinning cosmos, and why, despite the pain and hardship that we inevitably face, that life is indeed good.

The Covid Quarantine Cantina, October 2020

A collection of short stories written by seven award-winning authors during the first four months of the COVID-19 lockdown. Each author brings a unique perspective to the crisis, and the results are spectacular. There is science fiction, Christian apologetics, horror, drama, suspense, and a dose of comfort. Produced daily during the first 13 weeks of the lockdown, you can see the change in thinking, hopes, and frustration that the public was experiencing. While written from a Christian world view, it’s not preachy. In fact, it’s far from traditional Christian fiction and brings a breath of fresh air to the flash-fiction world from accomplished authors. Also available in print and audio book, this was a labor of love for the authors and it shows through the carefully crafted stories.

Other Publications

In Memory of a Lost World, March 2020

One man can see the awful destiny unfolding before humanity. One man can see the danger.
But what can one man do against the power of the gods?

An anonymous and unknown man, one face lost among millions
A door that awakens the mind to life
The secret magic of the world waiting to be discovered
A beautiful race of ancient beings
And a dark secret that has been hidden for hundreds of years

The Tamarisk Tree: Seeds of Hope & War, July 2018

The world is dying, consumed by a scourge known only as the Blight. Those left behind crowd into coastal cities, if they are lucky. If not, they must wander the waste of the interior and pray that magic will soon find an answer. The only problem, some would say, is that magic is what caused the Blight in the first place.

For Elias Whitsun, a magi once hailed as the next great prodigy, the world doesn’t make sense anymore. Ten years are missing from his memory and the Enclave thinks he was involved in something dark and terrible, though Elias can’t remember what. Lost in his own mind amid the sands of a dying world, a stranger wherever he goes, Elias struggles to find the effort to care about anything.

When his path crosses with an angry, young war widow and her precocious son, his apathy meets an unexpected challenge, and he finds himself reluctantly hoping again. Most challenging of all is the stranger who joins them; a man whose mere gaze can stir up storm clouds in Elias’ mind.

Together with the Enclave guard sent to spy on Elias, the unlikely group braves the broken world in search of hope. But all is not what it seems, as they each carry a secret with them. And the greatest secret of all could lie in Elias’s own mind, buried somewhere in his lost memories. A secret that could save the world.

The Seeker, December 2017

He comes treading over the empty sands, beyond the beacons and lighthouses on distant shores. By the many paths he walks, always searching, a heart always burning. Through the ages, traversing the ruins of mighty empires, forgotten wastes and songs long dimmed upon the memory of man. He comes bearing fire and flame, speaking words holy and profane, to the prophet, the king, and the madman. He speaks of the stars and the sand, of dreams simmering beneath the word our tongue cannot find and the memory our minds cannot hold. He is the Seeker, whose steps cross the ages of the world. He is me and he is you. “The Seeker” is a new collection of poems by Robert W. Cely.

Beyond the Steel Wall, February 2014

Modern man has carved out for himself a place of safety and comfort in the world. It is a world great in pleasure and weak in danger. It is a world where pain and deprivation are the greatest evils of all, where men grow fat and lazy, weak in mind and soft in tooth. Surrounding this world fashioned in plenty and pleasure looms a steel wall, the boundary of which should not be crossed save for the bravest souls of men. For beyond this you leave behind your silkened sheets and perfumed pillows, your broad highways and brightly-lit boulevards. You leave behind the safety of your policemen, the conveniences of your machines, the familiarity of your manicured lawns, the pleasure of your plastic women, the oblivion of your beer and sport, all under the reassuring flash and ever-present flare of digital lights dancing in the midnight shadows. Beyond this wall waits peril and danger, pain, loss, suffering, and the mad temptations of a thousand wild devils. Beyond this wall churns an unpredictable world that runs deep with the blood of powerful and ancient things, magic spills out from the borders of the unseen and touches the frightened visage of our eyes. Beyond this wall looms death. Beyond this wall your destiny waits. Like everyone else in the city Alistair has all that he needs. There is plenty of food and fun, and everyone has a job, even if it’s a boring job. Everything a man needs is there except for adventure. But where do you find adventure in a world where there is none? The only choice may be to go beyond the steel wall that surrounds the city, the wall which is strictly forbidden to cross. It is said that great danger lies beyond it. What better place to find adventure than there?