Morrow, James: Blameless in Abaddon
Blameless in Abaddon
Writer: James Morrow
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy/Satire
Pages: 404
I'd never heard of James Morrow until 2003, when I audited a "Modern Science Fiction and Fantasy" course at Maryville College. We ended the term with Morrow's Towing Jehovah, which was the first taste of modern fantasy I'd ever read, let alone religious satire of a modern sort. I loved the book, but every time I'd go to the bookstore, I could never find the subsequent volumes, and I was too lazy to go to Amazon.
Enter the 2005 Odyssey Fantasy Writer's Workshop. One of the "signs" that convinced me to apply was the fact that James Morrow was going to be one of the guest lecturers. When I got in, I wasn't able to score a private or even an in-class critique with him, but his Q&A session was great, and while I remember very little of his lecture in class, I do remember that my experience with the man left me THISCLOSE to buying ALL of his books on Amazon and having them shipped home. I didn't, because I didn't have the disposable income, and that's just as well, because otherwise, dwarvanamazon wouldn't have known what to get my for my SHU graduation.
I was thrilled to get my hands on this book. I'd always known the rather rough arc of Morrow's Godhead Trilogy, so it was really neat to see that arc played out. What's cool is that even though it's been five years since I read Towing Jehovah, it wasn't necessary to have that book fresh on the brain to thoroughly enjoy this one, the independent sequel.
As far as reviews go, I'll be honest, to truly "review" this book would require--for me--such an in-depth analysis that I'd never finish, so I'm not going to bother with a cut. Instead, I'll give you a brief summary, a couple of brief details, and be done with it.
Towing Jehovah centers on one basic premise: God is LITERALLY dead, and it's up to a small-group of people to tow His body to Its final resting place in the Arctic.
But in Blameless in Abaddon, God's body has been discovered and has made world-wide news. There's all kinds of theories revolving around the body, including whether or not God is REALLY dead or simply in a coma. Turns out the latter is true, and our protagonist, Judge Martin Candle, wants to hold God accountable for all the ills of the Earth.
At first glance, it seems a rather silly premise, but it's pulled off with magnificence and subtlety that makes for a very good, intellectual, and entertaining read. Martin's is actually a modern-day Job, a man who's lost everything. Prior to those losses, he was known as one of the most fair judges around Abaddon, Pennsylvania, which makes him a likely candidate for his Herculean task.
The book is divided into three parts: the first introduces us to Martin and his life and reveals how the shit hit the fan. Part two details Martin's journey into God's brain, and oh, what an entertaining journey that is. We meet the "Ideas of" -- essentially, the prototypes of everything of Earth, but living in God's comatose brain. Enter dinosaurs playing Scramble, a guilt-ridden Noah, a know-it-all Saint Augustine, and of course, Adam and Eve, whose appearance might make more traditional Christians flip out. Me, I grinned. The final part of the book is, of course, the trial, and what's more to be said about that?
There's a wealth of fascinating debate and perspective concerning the problem of evil in this book, and of course, it's all anchored to the fact that in this world, God DOES (or did, before for the coma) exist. It's a solid, satisfying read, though Morrow did have me wondering just how much of this book, if any of it, would be different had it been written post-9/11. Maybe I'll get a chance to ask the author myself sometime.
Oh, and one more detail: did I mention that the Devil himself helps narrate the book? He does, and trust me, this particular vision of Lucifer, aka Satan, aka Jonathan Sarkos (as he's named in this text) is more than worth a reader's while, especially by the end.
My Rating
Must Have: I'll always recommend reading books in order, so really, if you haven't yet read Towing Jehovah and you're interested in Blameless in Abaddon, you really should. However, you don't have to. It's a great read with lots of interesting, thought-provoking questions to chew on, worth reading no matter what your religious stance or lack there-of is. Me, I'm once more tempted to go on Amazon and buy the rest of Morrow's backlist. We'll see what happens. :)
And dwarvanamazon? Thanks! :)
Next up: The Terror by Dan Simmons
AND!!!
The WINNER of the Fantasy List Giveaway!