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mschlat's review
2.0
Well, I used to like this book...
I'm guessing I bought this back shortly after it was published, and I recall that it was one of my "fun reads" during the 90's (during which I'm guessing I read it a couple of times). But, I read it after a couple of decades and failed to connect to it at all.
It's a light piece of science fiction where we learn that two slightly immature brothers from a highly advanced species were stranded on Earth and jump-started human development. They also had to do something with the energy remaining after humans died and started two hubs for the departed: Topside and Below Stairs. Most of the action of the novel takes place in one of these two locations as the two brothers foresee a ton of trouble if an energetic white supremacist marries an intelligent but uneducated woman (think baby Hitler). So they transport the couple into various scenarios in their versions of Heaven and Hell with the hopes of educating one or both of them.
I think a lot of the appeal of the book when I was younger was the transgressive nature --- the idea of two aliens being God and the Devil added a bit of frisson to a just-recently-ex-fundamentalist reader. But, years later, that appeal is gone and the whole thing just reads a bit too silly and trite.
I'm guessing I bought this back shortly after it was published, and I recall that it was one of my "fun reads" during the 90's (during which I'm guessing I read it a couple of times). But, I read it after a couple of decades and failed to connect to it at all.
It's a light piece of science fiction where we learn that two slightly immature brothers from a highly advanced species were stranded on Earth and jump-started human development. They also had to do something with the energy remaining after humans died and started two hubs for the departed: Topside and Below Stairs. Most of the action of the novel takes place in one of these two locations as the two brothers foresee a ton of trouble if an energetic white supremacist marries an intelligent but uneducated woman (think baby Hitler). So they transport the couple into various scenarios in their versions of Heaven and Hell with the hopes of educating one or both of them.
I think a lot of the appeal of the book when I was younger was the transgressive nature --- the idea of two aliens being God and the Devil added a bit of frisson to a just-recently-ex-fundamentalist reader. But, years later, that appeal is gone and the whole thing just reads a bit too silly and trite.
janetlun's review
This book was published in 1988. My guess is that it was written when Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984, after Godwin's head (like mine) nearly exploded. I just learned about it recently, when Jo Walton reviewed it on Tor.com. Godwin writes excellent novels. This is something rather different. He's ranting and raving about politics fueled by fear and hate, and the ways that fundamentalist religions (of every variety) feed into that. I think I'd have found it a bit quaint in 2000, but in 2010 with Glenn Beck foaming at the mouth on television, it's quite fresh again.[return][return]He's writes beautifully, and it's very funny. A favorite quote:[return][return]"'I don't like actors,' Grubb complained in a voice like a damp sock. 'I don't like writers. They're never as nice as their books. All they do is get drunk and arrogant and sick all over the furniture.'"
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