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Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club |
BLAMELESS IN ABADDON
by
JAMES MORROW
 |
Blameless in Abaddon (1996) a sequel to Towing Jehovah cover artwork by Simon Ng Harcourt Brace trade edition 404 pages |
From the back cover:
In this independent sequel to the World Fantasy Award winning novel Towing Jehovah, God is alive. His two mile long body -- comatose yet far from inert -- is reposing in Florida as the Main Attraction at Orlando's Celestial City USA. And now one Martin Candle, a small time and sore afflicted judge from Abaddon Township in Pennsylvania, proposes hauling the Corpus Dei to the World Court in The Hague, to answer for history's injustices large and small.
In his quest to counter the world's great theodicies, Martin embarks on an astonishing journey through the mind of the Creator, where Lot's wife proves a most convenient way of adding salt to a margarita glass, early hominids vigorously debate Augustinian doctrine over jasmine tea, and Martin's alter ego, Job, keeps an eternal vigil atop his dung heap. Once the Trial of the Millennium has begun, Martin will understand why Abaddon is another name for Hell. God hunting simply is not a sport for amateurs.
Read for group discussion on January 26, 2000
Characters and things:
Martin Candle, Justice of the Peace Abaddon Township, Pennsylvania
Corrine Rosewood and her Kennel of Joy, a Make-A-Wish foundation for dogs
God’s Cooling Chamber and the Lockheed 7000 heart-lung machine
Celestial City USA, Orlando.
Roxanol
Patricia Zabor, a commercial illustrator
The Job Society
Fellow sufferers Randall Selkirk and Esther Clute
Dr. G. F. Lovett a semi-retired professor, author of the Saga of Sargassia
Neuronauts - neurophysiologist Saperstein, Father Ockham, math prof Beauchamp, and Candle
The Devil, Jonathan Sarkos
The Idea of Saint Augustine
International Court of Justice in The Hague
International 227: Job Society, et al., plaintiffs, versus Corpus Dei, Defendant
RATINGS:
How we each rated this book
| Dan | 8 | Amy | 7 |
 |
10 Wow! Don't miss it 8-9 Highly recommended 7 Recommended 5-6 Mild recommendation 3-4 Take your chances 1-2 Below average; skip it 0 Get out the flamethrower! U Unfinishable or unreadable - Skipped or no rating given |
| Cheri | 9 | Barb | 8 | ||
| Aaron | - | Cynthia | - | ||
| Lindsey | - | Jackie | 7 | ||
| Kerry | 8 |
Our book group has also read the following books by James Morrow:
-- Towing Jehovah in June 1997
-- Only Begotten Daughter in July 2002
Bibliography:
James Morrow (1947- ) is a US writer best-known for his science fiction and fantasy satires.
Awards:
1989 Nebula Award for short story "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge"
1991 World Fantasy Award for best novel Only Begotten Daughter (tie)
1993 Nebula Award for best novella "City of Truth"
1995 World Fantasy Award for best novel Towing Jehovah
Morrow has written the satiric religious fantasies Only Begotten Daughter (1990), and the "Godhead" trilogy Towing Jehovah (1994), Blameless in Abaddon (1996) and The Eternal Footman (1999).
His novels are The Wine of Violence (1981), The Continent of Lies (1984), This is the Way the World Ends (1986), and Slainte (2002).
His short fiction is collected in Author Choice Monthly - Issue 8: Swatting at the Cosmos (1990), Bible Stories for Adults (1996) and The Cat's Pajamas: And Other Stories (2004).
City of Truth (1992) is a novella published as a short book.
Morrow edited the anthologies Nebula Awards 26 (1992), Nebula Awards 27 (1993), and Nebula Awards 28 (1994).
Links:
Our book club's page for Morrow's Towing Jehovah
Our book club's page for Morrow's Only Begotten Daughter
Aaron's book review of Morrow's The Cat's Pajamas on Fantastic Reviews
James Morrow - author website
Locus Online James Morrow interview
The SF Site: A Conversation With James Morrow
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E-mail: SFandFBookclub@aol.com
This page was last updated October 05, 2008