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A review by cantrememberthedreamthatihad
Escape from Hell by Larry Niven
4.0
This sequel to Inferno sees former science fiction novelist Allen Carpenter re-traversing the Dantean circles of hell in an attempt to free souls and to come to grips with the meaning behind the Inferno.
Along the way he befriends noted poet and suicide Sylvia Plath, and meets a host of other famous historical figures as they traverse the landscape of the dammed.
While the endnotes declare the work is not a theological treatise, there is much pondering on the notion of a literal hell, whether escape would be possible, and what purpose such a place would serve. While borrowing heavily from CS Lewis' ideas in 'The Great Divorce,' there's a great deal of theological pondering that would be familiar to Christian proponents of Universal Reconciliation.
An interesting work, and whole it doesn't cover too much new ground over the original novel, the ideas presented within are perhaps more mature and more fleshed out.
Along the way he befriends noted poet and suicide Sylvia Plath, and meets a host of other famous historical figures as they traverse the landscape of the dammed.
While the endnotes declare the work is not a theological treatise, there is much pondering on the notion of a literal hell, whether escape would be possible, and what purpose such a place would serve. While borrowing heavily from CS Lewis' ideas in 'The Great Divorce,' there's a great deal of theological pondering that would be familiar to Christian proponents of Universal Reconciliation.
An interesting work, and whole it doesn't cover too much new ground over the original novel, the ideas presented within are perhaps more mature and more fleshed out.