An S.F. tour of Hell

So for the first midweek post on the Inferno, I thought I'd refer you to another author's take on the same subject.

Niven and Pournelle's Inferno follows the adventures of a recently deceased science fiction author traveling through Hell with the aid of a guide (whom I will not name, although much of the publicity material spoils the surprise). He sees some of the same areas that Dante witnessed, as well as ones that either Dante missed or simply did not exist yet. Overall, it's not a bad story, and it has a sequel as well.

One interesting feature of the story is that the main character is heavily skeptical of the afterlife and spends much of the book trying to figure out what's going on, since obviously, he couldn't actually be in Hell, which obviously doesn't exist.

The sequel eventually settles on a theory somewhat like that in C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce, that Hell is effective Purgatory for those who choose to repent and truly Hell for those who remain obstinate in their sins. As to the theological validity of this idea, I can't say right now.

Having read both Niven & Pournelle's Inferno and Escape from Hell, though, I can say they're good stories, and nothing in them is patently offensive to Christians, which is, in itself, a nice feature these days.