Book Review: Inferno

In my early teens I enjoyed Larry Niven's science fiction quite a bit, particularly anything related to his "Known Space" universe. Though I knew he had written several novels in collaboration with other authors, I never got into any of them. Amazon.com recently recommended "Inferno" to me, which was a joint work by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and the description caught my interest. I bought it and am pleased I did.

Dante Alighieri wrote the three-part "Divine Comedy" in the early 1300s. The first book dealt with hell, the second with purgatory and the third with heaven. "Inferno," the first of the three books, is far better known in our time than the other two. Niven and Pournelle took up this first volume in an attempt to give a modern update to the medieval tale.

Though Dante's Inferno was established on the legends of western Christendom rather than the traditions and scriptures that came together in early Christianity, and despite the fact that science fiction writers put together the modern version (with a dead science fiction writer as the protagonist), the essence of their work in this book has a definitely Christian feel to it. In fact, as I was reading the book I kept thinking that it would make a good companion to C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce." Then, after finishing reading Niven and Pournelle's "Inferno," I found the following in the notes at the end:

"Jerry Pournelle immediately said, 'Suppose we look at Dante as C.S. Lewis might have? Lewis's The Great Divorce looks at an entirely different geography of Hell, but it certainly provides a consistent philosophy.' We continued the discussion, and before the night was over we had the beginnings of a novel, including the main character, Allen Carpenter, a somewhat pretentious but successful science-fiction writer modeled on a composite of several people we knew. We had also determined the theme of the book: Carpenter is dead, and in the Inferno, but he does not believe in Heaven and Hell. The book is about his efforts to discover where he is, and why. Our Inferno whould employ Lewis's theology and Dante's geography."

What these writers came up with in this book, as a result of that combination of Lewis, Dante and their own creativity, is an insightful look at the lies we tell ourselves, the excuses we make for our errors and the bullheaded rejection of what should be obvious to us when it doesn't fit with our preconcieved notions and conclusions.

Whether you enjoy fiction, have a mind for theology or both, check this book out. It will be worth your while. If you have the patience and perseverance for it, why not read the original "Inferno" first, then "The Great Divorce" and finally this book? That could only enrich the experience.