- Niven, Larry and Jerry Pournelle.
Escape from Hell.
New York: Tor Books, 2009.
ISBN 978-0-7653-1632-5.
-
Every now and then you read a novel where you're absolutely certain as
you turn the pages that the author(s) had an absolute blast writing
it, and when that's the case the result is usually superbly
entertaining. That is certainly true here. How could two past
masters of science fiction and fantasy not delight in a
scenario in which they can darn to heck anybody they
wish, choosing the particular torment for each and every sinner?
In this sequel to the authors' 1976 novel
Inferno, the protagonist
of the original novel, science fiction writer Allen Carpenter,
makes a second progress through Hell. This time, after an
unfortunate incident on the Ice in the Tenth Circle, he starts
out back in the Vestibule, resolved that this time he will
escape from Hell himself and, as he progresses ever downward
toward the exit described by Dante, to determine if it is possible
for any damned soul to escape and to aid those willing to follow him.
Hell is for eternity, but that doesn't mean things don't change there.
In the decades since Carpenter's first traverse, there have been many
modifications in the landscape of the underworld. We meet
many newly-damned souls as well as revisiting those
encountered before. Carpenter recounts his story to Sylvia Plath, who as a
suicide, has been damned as a tree in the Wood of the Suicides in the
Seventh Circle and who, rescued by him, accompanies him downward to the
exit. The ice cream stand in the Fiery Desert is a refreshing
interlude from justice without mercy! The treatment of one particular
traitor in the Ice is sure to prove controversial; the authors
explain their reasoning for his being there in the Notes at the end.
A theme which runs throughout is how Hell is a kind of Heaven to
many of those who belong there and, having found their niche in
Eternity, aren't willing to gamble it for the chance of salvation.
I've had jobs like that—got better.
I'll not spoil the ending, but will close by observing that the
authors have provided a teaser for a possible
Paradiso
somewhere down the road.
Should that come to pass, I'll look forward
to devouring it as I did this thoroughly rewarding yarn. I'll wager that
if that work comes to pass,
Pournelle's
Iron Law of Bureaucracy will be found to apply as Below, so Above.
March 2009 