What do you think?
Rate this book
Afterlife #1
Heaven
Is perfection really an attainable goal? After their deaths, best friends Kate and Daniel learn that perfection is, well, boring. Heaven is not their cup of tea, so to speak, so they leave and begin visiting the afterlives of other religions, other times, even other species. But turmoil keeps churning back on earth, and the friends discover secrets between themselves, and secrets about the world they left, and they begin to wonder if their wandering wasn't aimless after all, but part of a much bigger design.
Heaven is the first book in the epic Afterlife Series that began as a free podcast and remains one of the top five most downloaded podcast books. It will be followed by Hell, Earth, Wasteland, and War.
"Mur Lafferty’s Heaven is a heartfelt, engaging fantasy. It’s like a Unifying Theory for all religions and mythologies, binding together diverse cosmologies into a coherent, end-of-the-world tale in which the deepest human values may not be enough to save us. Full of surprises and pointed observations about human behaviour." - Minister Faust, author of From The Notebooks of Dr. Brain and The Alchemists of Kush
"Lafferty is a funny writer, with a clear obsession for afterlife mythos and an admirable hand for drawing likable characters." - Cory Doctorow, Locus and Campbell Award Winner and author of Little Brother, Makers, and For The Win
Heaven is the first book in the epic Afterlife Series that began as a free podcast and remains one of the top five most downloaded podcast books. It will be followed by Hell, Earth, Wasteland, and War.
"Mur Lafferty’s Heaven is a heartfelt, engaging fantasy. It’s like a Unifying Theory for all religions and mythologies, binding together diverse cosmologies into a coherent, end-of-the-world tale in which the deepest human values may not be enough to save us. Full of surprises and pointed observations about human behaviour." - Minister Faust, author of From The Notebooks of Dr. Brain and The Alchemists of Kush
"Lafferty is a funny writer, with a clear obsession for afterlife mythos and an admirable hand for drawing likable characters." - Cory Doctorow, Locus and Campbell Award Winner and author of Little Brother, Makers, and For The Win
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Mur Lafferty
115 books1,809 followersNOTE- Goodreads mail is NOT a good way to get in touch with me. I don't get notifications of questions and I'm rarely here. Please contact me via my website, murverse.com.
Mur Lafferty is the author of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Hugo and Nebula nominated novel Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides series, and several self pubbed novels and novellas, including the award winning Afterlife series. She is the host of the Hugo-winning podcast Ditch Diggers, and the long-running I Should Be Writing. She is the recipient of the John Campbell Award for best new writer, the Manly Wade Wellman Award, the Best Fancast Hugo Award, and joined the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015, its inaugural year.
Mur Lafferty is the author of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Hugo and Nebula nominated novel Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides series, and several self pubbed novels and novellas, including the award winning Afterlife series. She is the host of the Hugo-winning podcast Ditch Diggers, and the long-running I Should Be Writing. She is the recipient of the John Campbell Award for best new writer, the Manly Wade Wellman Award, the Best Fancast Hugo Award, and joined the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015, its inaugural year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 22, 2015
Mur Lafferty was generous enough to make a bunch of her ebooks available for free earlier this year. Which was lucky, as I'd never really heard of her before, but I seem to be suffering from an addition to free ebooks – the downloading more than the reading so far. However, sitting by the pool, having read all but one of my real books (always keep one real book back for the flight home – nobody can tell you to turn a book off during take-off) I was searching for something new to read on my Kindle and remembered Lafferty's
Heaven
. The first in a series of novellas, originally presented as podcasts before being updated for the ebook format.
Firstly, it's a novella, so it's short. There are no page numbers in my ebook, but I read it in a single sitting one afternoon. But, it's fun and it tears along at a pretty steady lick to keep you reading. We start out being introduced to our two protagonists: Kate who narrates the first half of the novella, and Daniel who narrates the second half. As we're introduced to them it's explained pretty quickly that they're going to die. After all, it wouldn't be much of a story about Heaven if they didn't get there pretty quickly. Consequently, Kate introduces the characters and narrates their deaths before describing her arrival in Heaven. Initially happy, she starts to feel it's all a bit, well, dull. So she starts to challenge the boundaries of her Heaven. Eventually, Kate and Daniel are charged with a secret mission from God. A mission that could mean the end of all the Heavens – yes, even doggie Heaven. Souls are disappearing and God's apparently a bit too busy to investigate himself.
Kate's narration suffers from two problems. Firstly, her continued and unspoken (except to us) obsession with Daniel gets irritating pretty quickly. And, secondly, Daniel himself is a bit of a dick. Actually more than a bit. However, the second half of the novella, into the main part of the mission itself, is narrated by Daniel directly. He seems a lot less of a dick when he's describing himself – maybe there's a message for us all in there – but it could also be that once he's got a mission to concentrate on, he's just got a lot less free time for being a dick.
Lafferty's Afterlife universe is fascinating. Multiple cultural Heaven's – all interconnected – some aware of each other, and others less so. The novella wraps up pretty sharply, a limitation of the form itself, but also the initial serialisation of the Afterlife series has led Lafferty to do the same with the novellas. Heaven ends abruptly and makes it pretty clear that the mission is far from complete. The title of the next novella, Hell should provide a big clue as to the direction (if that's not enough, there's a sneak peak of the sequel at the end).
Firstly, it's a novella, so it's short. There are no page numbers in my ebook, but I read it in a single sitting one afternoon. But, it's fun and it tears along at a pretty steady lick to keep you reading. We start out being introduced to our two protagonists: Kate who narrates the first half of the novella, and Daniel who narrates the second half. As we're introduced to them it's explained pretty quickly that they're going to die. After all, it wouldn't be much of a story about Heaven if they didn't get there pretty quickly. Consequently, Kate introduces the characters and narrates their deaths before describing her arrival in Heaven. Initially happy, she starts to feel it's all a bit, well, dull. So she starts to challenge the boundaries of her Heaven. Eventually, Kate and Daniel are charged with a secret mission from God. A mission that could mean the end of all the Heavens – yes, even doggie Heaven. Souls are disappearing and God's apparently a bit too busy to investigate himself.
Kate's narration suffers from two problems. Firstly, her continued and unspoken (except to us) obsession with Daniel gets irritating pretty quickly. And, secondly, Daniel himself is a bit of a dick. Actually more than a bit. However, the second half of the novella, into the main part of the mission itself, is narrated by Daniel directly. He seems a lot less of a dick when he's describing himself – maybe there's a message for us all in there – but it could also be that once he's got a mission to concentrate on, he's just got a lot less free time for being a dick.
Lafferty's Afterlife universe is fascinating. Multiple cultural Heaven's – all interconnected – some aware of each other, and others less so. The novella wraps up pretty sharply, a limitation of the form itself, but also the initial serialisation of the Afterlife series has led Lafferty to do the same with the novellas. Heaven ends abruptly and makes it pretty clear that the mission is far from complete. The title of the next novella, Hell should provide a big clue as to the direction (if that's not enough, there's a sneak peak of the sequel at the end).
September 12, 2011
I don't know why Mur Lafferty isn't more well known than she is. She has interesting plots, and she writes well, with a natural conversational style that flows well. Having been a fan of her novel "Playing For Keeps" (which I listened to in podcast form), and as a regular listener to her "I Should Be Writing" podcast, I thought it was time to dive into her Afterlife series, of which this is the first novella. Written, I think, before "Playing For Keeps", this tells the story of friends Kate and Daniel, who die together in a car crash and then find themselves travellers through various interpretations of "heaven". This is an enjoyable first book in the series, and sets the scene well for the story to come. I'll enjoy reading the other novellas in due course.
November 3, 2011
This story is the heartwarming pair of childhood friends in the afterlife, after dying in a car crash. Oh yeah, and the end of the world.
Kate and Daniel have been friends for a long time, despite the fact that Kate is in love with Daniel, and he is completely blind to this. After dying in a car crash, they end up in separate heavens, but get the chance to reunite and travel between heavens because Daniel wants to find his sister, who died as a child, and God wants agents to find souls that have gone... missing. Only problem is, their travels are going to set off the Apocalypse. Ragnarok. The end of the world.
Oops.
(It maybe be cheesy, but my favorite of the heavens that they travel to has to be dog heaven, where everything is in grayscale, and there are fields of rotting carcasses to roll in.)
Next up, Hell.
Kate and Daniel have been friends for a long time, despite the fact that Kate is in love with Daniel, and he is completely blind to this. After dying in a car crash, they end up in separate heavens, but get the chance to reunite and travel between heavens because Daniel wants to find his sister, who died as a child, and God wants agents to find souls that have gone... missing. Only problem is, their travels are going to set off the Apocalypse. Ragnarok. The end of the world.
Oops.
(It maybe be cheesy, but my favorite of the heavens that they travel to has to be dog heaven, where everything is in grayscale, and there are fields of rotting carcasses to roll in.)
Next up, Hell.
June 20, 2008
What if heaven weren't enough? I can't exactly call this a light-hearted look at the metaphysics of the afterlife, but it's certainly not heavy handed. What if heaven were a bore, and you had to go looking for more? What if all the concepts of the afterlife were true?
There's a thought or three here, but it's entertainment, not something to change your life.
There's a thought or three here, but it's entertainment, not something to change your life.
May 4, 2011
Here's the thing about Heaven: for reasons that have nothing to do with the story itself, I'm having a hard time giving this ebook a hard review.
I'm a fan of Mrs. Lafferty's podcast, "I Should Be Writing". I like her as a human being. I understand the context in which "Heaven" was published: it's an independent, self-published ebook based on a series of podcasts by Mrs. Lafferty. It's innocent fun and not meant to take itself seriously. Not only that, but the ebook was gifted to me by a good friend of mine, and friend of Mur Lafferty.
But then I thought of Hollywood movies, and how I hate when a review says, 'It's just mindless fun' as if that excuses shoddy writing, poor characterization and poor plotting. So in the interest of fairness, and hoping such a critique will be constructive to the author, I'll speak my mind.
Simply put, "Heaven" isn't very good. It's very short, not very well-written, and the action is all over the place. I know Mur Lafferty wrote it as a serial, and unfortunately it shows: the story starts as a bittersweet exploration of unrequited love in the aftermath of one's own death; then moves on to 'afterlife tourism'; and finally takes on absolutely insane ambitions of grandeur as our heroes play a pivotal role in heavens of various mythologies. The characters just get swallowed up by the events.
The character of Kate is, I'm sad to say, a Mary Sue. She is not defined much, beyond her unrequited love for Daniel. When the events hint at her playing a spectacular role in Heaven, I was left puzzled as to why this would happen to someone like her. Worse still - when the narrative POV changed halfway through the novel to Daniel, I kept forgetting who was narrating the story: I kept assuming it was still Kate, because nothing distinguished their voices.
I take "Heaven" as something of a warning for self-publishing online. Yes, it's a marvelous alternative to the crippled publishing industry. But at the same time, it can bypass the very critical need of a good editor, who can sit down the author and help him or her fix some broken parts of her story. What's even more frustrating is, as a rough first draft, "Heaven" isn't bad. It's got good ideas that need to be fleshed out more. It's got an outline of a plot. But unfortunately, it went straight to publication without reaching its full potential.
If the novella had characters that were more fleshed out with unique character voices; if the mythologies were given real character and depth instead of being simple pop culture props of mythology; if the cosmic events were dialed back to focus on the characters and the implications of what Heaven is on their relationship: then this would be a pretty decent way of spending an evening of reading.
I'm a fan of Mrs. Lafferty's podcast, "I Should Be Writing". I like her as a human being. I understand the context in which "Heaven" was published: it's an independent, self-published ebook based on a series of podcasts by Mrs. Lafferty. It's innocent fun and not meant to take itself seriously. Not only that, but the ebook was gifted to me by a good friend of mine, and friend of Mur Lafferty.
But then I thought of Hollywood movies, and how I hate when a review says, 'It's just mindless fun' as if that excuses shoddy writing, poor characterization and poor plotting. So in the interest of fairness, and hoping such a critique will be constructive to the author, I'll speak my mind.
Simply put, "Heaven" isn't very good. It's very short, not very well-written, and the action is all over the place. I know Mur Lafferty wrote it as a serial, and unfortunately it shows: the story starts as a bittersweet exploration of unrequited love in the aftermath of one's own death; then moves on to 'afterlife tourism'; and finally takes on absolutely insane ambitions of grandeur as our heroes play a pivotal role in heavens of various mythologies. The characters just get swallowed up by the events.
The character of Kate is, I'm sad to say, a Mary Sue. She is not defined much, beyond her unrequited love for Daniel. When the events hint at her playing a spectacular role in Heaven, I was left puzzled as to why this would happen to someone like her. Worse still - when the narrative POV changed halfway through the novel to Daniel, I kept forgetting who was narrating the story: I kept assuming it was still Kate, because nothing distinguished their voices.
I take "Heaven" as something of a warning for self-publishing online. Yes, it's a marvelous alternative to the crippled publishing industry. But at the same time, it can bypass the very critical need of a good editor, who can sit down the author and help him or her fix some broken parts of her story. What's even more frustrating is, as a rough first draft, "Heaven" isn't bad. It's got good ideas that need to be fleshed out more. It's got an outline of a plot. But unfortunately, it went straight to publication without reaching its full potential.
If the novella had characters that were more fleshed out with unique character voices; if the mythologies were given real character and depth instead of being simple pop culture props of mythology; if the cosmic events were dialed back to focus on the characters and the implications of what Heaven is on their relationship: then this would be a pretty decent way of spending an evening of reading.
July 11, 2009
This was a good listen. I haven't listened to the rest of the series yet, so hopefully some of the things that made me go "huh?" will be resolved later on. I think the concept is well suited to the novella format, and I'm looking forward to the next book, Heaven - Season Two: Hell. Lafferty's a great storyteller, and I liked that she read the parts from Kate's perspective and Jim Van Verth read the parts from Daniel's perspective.
August 12, 2014
Pro tip for authors: don’t kill off your heroes on page one, then destroy heaven and earth 3 ways before page 150 in the first book of a series. Unless, of course, you happen to have the talent and imagination to pull off something that audacious.
Which is what Mur Lafferty does successfully in Heaven, the first book in her “Afterlife” series, now available as a Creative Commons licensed ebook on Unglue.it (CC BY-NC-SA). The first 5 books in the series are all available; “Thanks for Ungluing” contributions for these books will help Mur keep the lights on while she finishes the sixth book in the series, entitled “Stones”.
Which is what Mur Lafferty does successfully in Heaven, the first book in her “Afterlife” series, now available as a Creative Commons licensed ebook on Unglue.it (CC BY-NC-SA). The first 5 books in the series are all available; “Thanks for Ungluing” contributions for these books will help Mur keep the lights on while she finishes the sixth book in the series, entitled “Stones”.
not-for-me
October 2, 2022DNFed at 49%. It’s one of those books that’s more about the life of ideas than the characters.
May 16, 2012
Book number 24 to my 2012 Reading Challenge is Heaven by Mur Lafferty. Heaven is the first installment of the series also entitled Heaven, which consists of five parts. This series cannot be found in a physical novel format; however, can be downloaded as a podiobook.
Several years ago, in 2008, even before my husband and I were engaged, my husband strongly recommended this podiobook to me. After listening to two or three "seasons" himself, he continuously urged me to give it a try, guaranteeing that I would love it --especially the part about dog heaven. At the time, I brushed him off, snootily stating over and over again that my preference was to visit real books, ones with little more physicality. It was not until our long drive from Toronto to Mont Tremblanc that I finally open up to the idea. After listening to the first episode, I was immediately addicted to Mur Lafferty's story telling and characters.
This year, I decided to finish up the series and listen to the fifth installment. Upon listening to it in my car, I realized that I no longer knew any of the associating characters. So here I am at the starting point once again and enjoying myself just as much as I did the first time around.
Heaven divulges on a story about two best friends, Kate and Daniel, who die at the young age of 24. And that it just the beginning. Luckily, both end up in heaven and they learned that heaven isn't all that it is cracked up to be ...and ironically, there are some parts that are exactly the way that priests and religious figures from Earth describe it. They wander through several heavens from different religions as travelers. Little does Kate know, they are on a mission from God --a specific mission that only they can be en-tasked with.
My favourite part in the book is the section about
Mur Lafferty is creative in her adventures and allows the reader to really empathize with the fictional characters. She reads her work with much care so one could really understand where Mur was coming from as she wrote it. And within all of the adventure and affection, Mur adds several bits of quirky humour.
Overall, I am giving this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm very excited to read/listen to the next installment Hell and get used to the characters and the story again.
Until next time!
JFab
Several years ago, in 2008, even before my husband and I were engaged, my husband strongly recommended this podiobook to me. After listening to two or three "seasons" himself, he continuously urged me to give it a try, guaranteeing that I would love it --especially the part about dog heaven. At the time, I brushed him off, snootily stating over and over again that my preference was to visit real books, ones with little more physicality. It was not until our long drive from Toronto to Mont Tremblanc that I finally open up to the idea. After listening to the first episode, I was immediately addicted to Mur Lafferty's story telling and characters.
This year, I decided to finish up the series and listen to the fifth installment. Upon listening to it in my car, I realized that I no longer knew any of the associating characters. So here I am at the starting point once again and enjoying myself just as much as I did the first time around.
Heaven divulges on a story about two best friends, Kate and Daniel, who die at the young age of 24. And that it just the beginning. Luckily, both end up in heaven and they learned that heaven isn't all that it is cracked up to be ...and ironically, there are some parts that are exactly the way that priests and religious figures from Earth describe it. They wander through several heavens from different religions as travelers. Little does Kate know, they are on a mission from God --a specific mission that only they can be en-tasked with.
My favourite part in the book is the section about
Mur Lafferty is creative in her adventures and allows the reader to really empathize with the fictional characters. She reads her work with much care so one could really understand where Mur was coming from as she wrote it. And within all of the adventure and affection, Mur adds several bits of quirky humour.
Overall, I am giving this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm very excited to read/listen to the next installment Hell and get used to the characters and the story again.
Until next time!
JFab
February 6, 2016
In my recent days I've found myself to be far more forgiving on things in regards to fiction that I decide to spend time reading. Maybe it's from learning more about the craft of writing that has given me more insight. Perhaps one day I hope to be given some mercy whenever I manage to get something published myself?
This week I finished Mur Lafferty’s “Heaven” book one of the Afterlife series and I must say I'm impressed. The story follows Kate and Daniel as they die and find themselves in heaven and bored. The two get sent out to visit other versions of heaven in search for lost souls. While faffing about these Stereotypical 21st century representatives inadvertently kick off doomsday in various different belief systems.
The story is very well written, characters exhibit growth, and it was a very easy read. I really loved the Faulkner first person approach with the first chapters just to become third person on the last chapter. I've seen plenty authors craft confusing dribble by switching voices between protagonists but Mur pulls off the trick beautifully.
I also enjoyed the dialogue in this work. Having been a fan of Ditch Diggers –Mur’s podcast- I could hear the honest banter as the author’s true persona came through. The authenticity of the truth within the lie of fiction was an ideal blend and a tribute to a well rounded writer.
There were a few thing I saw that could have been better. I think that the book of Kate spoke more fluidly than the Book of Daniel. Whenever he took over narrative It seemed that he bled a lot of the spirit from the journey. It was almost as if he wasn't as well known to the author as Kate was.
The action stayed at a really good pace and I'm glad that details didn't lag, however, some diversity to the stage would have been nice. It seems heaven is very grey dull. Even Elysium seemed less spectacular with the exception of the colosseum.
The concept of the book was great but it rung a lot of bells that reminded me of “Seasons of the Mist”. It's as if Mur simple picked up where Neil Gaiman left off with that set. I saw so many opportunities to make changes to the characters of various gods instead of the tried and true routine. I guess given the subject matter the safer bet would be such method.
Despite the minor issues- which are more based on my personal precepts- this book was remarkable done, and a addictive read. There was so many deep set hooks I'm willing to fork over rent money to see what happens next.
This week I finished Mur Lafferty’s “Heaven” book one of the Afterlife series and I must say I'm impressed. The story follows Kate and Daniel as they die and find themselves in heaven and bored. The two get sent out to visit other versions of heaven in search for lost souls. While faffing about these Stereotypical 21st century representatives inadvertently kick off doomsday in various different belief systems.
The story is very well written, characters exhibit growth, and it was a very easy read. I really loved the Faulkner first person approach with the first chapters just to become third person on the last chapter. I've seen plenty authors craft confusing dribble by switching voices between protagonists but Mur pulls off the trick beautifully.
I also enjoyed the dialogue in this work. Having been a fan of Ditch Diggers –Mur’s podcast- I could hear the honest banter as the author’s true persona came through. The authenticity of the truth within the lie of fiction was an ideal blend and a tribute to a well rounded writer.
There were a few thing I saw that could have been better. I think that the book of Kate spoke more fluidly than the Book of Daniel. Whenever he took over narrative It seemed that he bled a lot of the spirit from the journey. It was almost as if he wasn't as well known to the author as Kate was.
The action stayed at a really good pace and I'm glad that details didn't lag, however, some diversity to the stage would have been nice. It seems heaven is very grey dull. Even Elysium seemed less spectacular with the exception of the colosseum.
The concept of the book was great but it rung a lot of bells that reminded me of “Seasons of the Mist”. It's as if Mur simple picked up where Neil Gaiman left off with that set. I saw so many opportunities to make changes to the characters of various gods instead of the tried and true routine. I guess given the subject matter the safer bet would be such method.
Despite the minor issues- which are more based on my personal precepts- this book was remarkable done, and a addictive read. There was so many deep set hooks I'm willing to fork over rent money to see what happens next.
June 7, 2012
Many of the reviews of this book are for the audiobook version and many reviewers talk about their fondness for the author's voice, her podcasts, and things other than this work. I came to this serial through the ebook version, so I have none of that other stuff to influence me (for better or worse). It reads like a YA book with its teen characters and their continual befuddlement at virtually everything around them. I'm not sure if that was the author's intention but having great a lot of YA in recent years I'm comfortable considering this book alongside that material. As it was written as a serial and as there are now an additional four volumes that have been released in the six years since this first book was released I am put in mind of Jim Butcher's first Dresden book, written for a class challenge. There is a lot to build on in this first book and I feel like rating it with kindness that many things other reviewers saw as flaws in the story or characters will be smoothed out through the follow up works. In any case, Heaven was interesting enough to bring me back to he series looking for the next installment.
May 16, 2012
It all started like an essay about life, short life, and death, quick and sad. What it then morphed into was something similar to Philip José Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies Go of the Riverworld series. It became an adventure book with a mythological theme.
I liked the writing, as it was engaging and I could really connect with it. The characters weren't that complex, but I have a feeling this story wasn't as much about characters as it was about their journey and mission.
Most definitely a most peculiar read, in comparison with my usual books, but one that I somehow was able to enjoy. The only downside I can find would be the almost complete lack of action-packed scenes. It is a bit too peaceful for my liking. Hoping Hell will change that for the better.
I liked the writing, as it was engaging and I could really connect with it. The characters weren't that complex, but I have a feeling this story wasn't as much about characters as it was about their journey and mission.
Most definitely a most peculiar read, in comparison with my usual books, but one that I somehow was able to enjoy. The only downside I can find would be the almost complete lack of action-packed scenes. It is a bit too peaceful for my liking. Hoping Hell will change that for the better.
February 17, 2012
I have been aware of this book, and this series for quite a while. I know Mur is a great writer, it just didn't seem like something I would enjoy, but I was SO wrong! As a fan of Playing For Keeps, I really wanted to check out something else by this author as I am a fan of her podcast as well. So, I chose to start this series. It is incredibly well-written, decisively well constructed, and incredibly entertaining. Seeing the heavens of other cultures is quite a new thing for at reader, at least in my experience, but Mur handles it deftly. Wonderful job! Can't wait to dig into more of the series.
March 7, 2015
The whimsical tale of a boy and a girl... who die. Heaven may not be all it's cracked up to be, and for our jaded youths it's just too fake. Seeing heaven for the facade that it is, they set off on a journey to see if the grass is greener in any of the other afterlives from cultures and religions around the world. On their way they'll meet new and old friends, face numerous perils, explore several "heavens" of religion and mythology, and maybe even save a few souls along the way... I deeply enjoyed the story and I am already working on Season Two, great book!
January 26, 2009
What happens when you die? The age old question troubling humanity for thousands of years.
The two main characters die and go to Heaven. They decide no one really wants to live with perfection for eternity so God says they can travel round and see all the various heavens out there. As they travel to the heavens of the Greeks, the dogs, the Norse... adventure awaits. Turns out the afterlife can be pretty exciting after all, especially when you start setting off wars between gods.
The two main characters die and go to Heaven. They decide no one really wants to live with perfection for eternity so God says they can travel round and see all the various heavens out there. As they travel to the heavens of the Greeks, the dogs, the Norse... adventure awaits. Turns out the afterlife can be pretty exciting after all, especially when you start setting off wars between gods.
May 10, 2012
I read the Afterlife series of novellas back to back as if it were one novel so this is is my rating for the series overall. I liked it but it didn't knock my socks off. I liked Kate a lot, but Daniel...ugh. I kept thinking he would grow as a person (god) but he pretty much remained a self-absorbed, whiny, pain in the ass the entire time. I like stories where gods are characters and Lafferty did a good job of creating something different with that premise.
August 12, 2016
Listened to the podiobook (a 12 part presentation).
I rather enjoyed it. It is not high literature, but it is far above most of the drek out there.
The author managed to surprise me several times - not an easy feat in my humble opinion (I am an arrogant prig, but I am smarter than the average bear).
Acquiring the rest of the podiobooks in the series.
I rather enjoyed it. It is not high literature, but it is far above most of the drek out there.
The author managed to surprise me several times - not an easy feat in my humble opinion (I am an arrogant prig, but I am smarter than the average bear).
Acquiring the rest of the podiobooks in the series.
September 28, 2012
I listened to this podcast when it first came out and enjoyed it, but upon reading it several years later in ebook form I am struck with just how clever this series is. I'm really enjoying the re-read. Good job, Mur!
August 21, 2008
Mur is so much fun to listen to. I flatter myself by thinking that my writing is similar. But the best part of her work is her amazing voice. I love to listen to her.
February 11, 2009
I LOVE the Heaven series! I have listed to all of Mur's books through Podiobooks.com, and she is AWESOME! Love all of the mythological references. She must really do her homework!
February 23, 2011
Comical & refreshing. Loved getting into the mind of someone who sees dying as the beginning.
March 17, 2011
An incredibly original take on afterlife and what Heaven could be like :)
August 11, 2011
This is such a great story! The concept of multiple heavens is so unique, from there it gets better. The first book in the series ( Heaven, Hell, Earth, Wastelands
April 29, 2012
Overall quite an interesting book, with an interesting view of the afterlife.
September 13, 2012
the most important book series in your life brilliance
July 7, 2013
Very interesting. Different religious gods, and afterlife heavens portrayed. Unique story idea.
June 11, 2017
Good and very fast summer read. Not for fundamentalists.
January 1, 2018
Seems to be s good intro book of s series
The three star rating isn't a bad rating for i found the book to be good. The story is enough to make me read the next. I just felt that at times the writing was juvenile and then other it to be I the upper college edge. It made to be confusing in as much to have to stop reading to thumb through my mind over my mythology courses to reestablish the characters it referred. Now onward to Hell/Hades. Happy Reading and Peace
The three star rating isn't a bad rating for i found the book to be good. The story is enough to make me read the next. I just felt that at times the writing was juvenile and then other it to be I the upper college edge. It made to be confusing in as much to have to stop reading to thumb through my mind over my mythology courses to reestablish the characters it referred. Now onward to Hell/Hades. Happy Reading and Peace
February 24, 2019
Took a pretty clever idea but got too ambitious. The basic set up: when we die, we go to a customized heaven based on our own preconceived notions of the afterlife. A few special "travelers" can travel between their heavens and other peoples'. So far so good, but then slides into an end-of-the-world storyline that I quickly lost interest in.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews