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When I was a young teenager, I would often meditate on the concept of eternity: life with no end. Each of these sessions would end exactly the same way: I was hyperventilating, my heart was racing, and I was completely freaked out. I finally stopped processing those thought problems and have not recalled them in decades. This novella brought all those feelings rushing back in a disturbing flood of memory.
Soren has died and gone to hell, but it is not the concept of hell that his religious beliefs had prepared him for. He learns that the faith he had devoutly followed all during his mortal life was not correct (although it was close) and that he must now spend some significant time sifting through the innumerable books shelved in the underworld library before attaining his heavenly reward.
Steven L. Peck utilizes masterful prose in first person to describe an eternity searching for a needle in an enormous (yet finite) haystack. His protagonist is well developed, and the plot moves smoothly through a handful of superficial characters as Soren’s quest moves steadily along. There is a distinct feeling of being robbed as a reader, however, since a handful of truly interesting plot threads are presented yet never explored. It reads like a book that is preparing a fantastic and satisfying climax, and then it is over, which is too bad. Soren has a lot of really interesting ideas about life, death, and the meanings associated with relationships. I would have thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with him.
Rated: None.
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