Heaven

The One Book #1

by Robert Boyczuk

"The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." —John Milton, Paradise Lost

In the beginning, the Church ruled all the Spheres of the Apostles. But that was millennia ago, before the origins of this massive, artificial realm were forgotten. Now, drought, plague and war afflict the Spheres that make up the world of Man, fragmenting society into antagonistic sects that carry out ruthless pogroms.

A young orphan, Thomas, is thrust into the midst of this upheaval and embarks on a journey to the highest of all Spheres, Heaven. As he struggles through his chaotic, crumbling world, Thomas witnesses cruelty and violence beyond measure—and chances upon unexpected moments of courage and self-sacrifice. In this turmoil, his belief becomes doubt as he is forced to make soul-rending choices between what his faith tells him he should do, and what he must do to survive.

The Book of Thomas: Heaven is the unflinching, deeply affecting tale of the battle that reason and religion wage for a boy's soul.

Genres: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Robert Boyczuk (that's me!) lives in Toronto. In former lives I was a technical writer for IBM and then a Professor at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, where I taught programming, IT security and the occasional English course. I've attended far too many workshops and courses in creative writing, including the Humber School for Writers, Second City workshops in script writing, and the Clarion West Workshop. Over the years, I've published six books and several short stories in various print and online magazines and anthologies. Often, I'm irritable for no apparent reason.

"Robert Boyczuk is a supremely talented short-story writer."
–Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing

"Boyczuk's memorable debut offers 19 horror stories that accentuate the emotional-and often horrid - upheavals men and women suffer from while searching for love....Boyczuk's stories are uniformly excellent...."
-Publisher's Weekly

"[Boyczuk] has a real knack for creepy... (His) stories all have a twist—a turn of the screw—that breathes new life into some of the old forms and results in fiction as clever as it is entertaining.”
-Alex Good, Quill and Quire

“Certain to outrage snowboarders and pro-lifers of all stripes. Infantovores, however, will find a powerful and articulate advocate in Robert Boyczuk.”
—Peter Watts, author of the Rifters Trilogy and Blindsight.

"Well-punctuated with dramatic set pieces and thrills that are often sharp and bloody, the whole thing culminates in a spectacularly messy, and thoroughly satisfying, finale....this is an ambitious novel that delivers on all its promises."
—Alex Good, GoodReports.net

"The stuff of an epic nihilistic hangover."
-Publisher's Weekly

“The Book of David is an odyssey through realms of science fiction, fantasy, and sheer mind-bending madness. Robert Boyczuk has crafted an epic. Creation mythology and dystopian fiction might not ever be the same after this collision.”

Laird Barron, author of Occultation and The Imago Sequence

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Dark Speculative Fiction
Reading Level: While the characters are MG to YA, this book is definitely written for adults
Recommended for: Fans of dark speculative fiction, those who like having a riddle to solve, philosophy, comparative religions, etc.
Trigger Warnings: rape (m/m, m/f), pedophilia, violence, bullying, killing

My Thoughts: The last book I read by Robert Boyczuk was one of only three books in my entire life to give me nightmares. So I had high expectations. This book surpassed them. On its surface it appears to be about the boy, Thomas, and his attempts to survive after his father is killed as a heretic. But if you pay attention, the story is much deeper. I don't want to spoil things, but when I had my epiphany I was so excited I started babbling like a crazy person about this book.

“It is not those who are unashamedly evil that we need fear the most, for their intentions are plain; rather, our fear should be reserved for those equivocators who would allow evil to flourish, and name it good so they might sleep better at night.”

As is often the case in this sort of story, religious authorities are shown to be thoroughly human and fallible, despite the dogma that says otherwise. The idea of this... world? Planet?... that is made up of 14 level of spheres one inside the other, from Heaven down to Hell, is interesting. I spent a lot of time early on in the book trying to figure out when it was set, because mention is made of Napoleon, Shakespeare, and city names that currently exist, but the population is much less, and the technology medieval at best, except for a few “magical” artifacts. I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but I have my suspicions about when and where this is taking place, and I can not wait for the next book in this series. Unfortunately there is no word on when that might be. To Robert Boyczuk I say, “Write! Write like the wind!” That is two series by this author that are on my must-read list for the future.

If you like dark speculative fiction, stories that give you riddles to solve, philosophical thoughts and theories on religions, you should enjoy this story. It is not a pretty world, and some fairly awful things happen to some of the characters, but it's a really good story. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this novel from ChiZine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: "The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." — John Milton, Paradise Lost

In the beginning, the Church ruled all the Spheres of the Apostles. But that was millennia ago, before the origins of this massive, artificial realm were forgotten. Now, drought, plague and war afflict the Spheres that make up the world of Man, fragmenting society into antagonistic sects that carry out ruthless pogroms.

A young orphan, Thomas, is thrust into the midst of this upheaval and embarks on a journey to the highest of all Spheres, Heaven. As he struggles through his chaotic, crumbling world, Thomas witnesses cruelty and violence beyond measure—and chances upon unexpected moments of courage and self-sacrifice. In this turmoil, his belief becomes doubt as he is forced to make soul-rending choices between what his faith tells him he should do, and what he must do to survive.

[Sylvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning for discussion of rape and child sexual abuse.

This book was a major disappointment. I was compelled to purchase it after reading about it on John Scalzi's blog (part of his Big Idea posts), and, for roughly the first half of the book, thought I'd made a sound purchase. There were so many things to love about the world-building, Thomas's/David's transformation from a boy with solid faith in the Church that controls his world to a very young man starting to doubt everything he's been told.

And then at about the midway point Thomas/David rapes someone.

There were so many issues I had with the rape, the first being that it made absolutely no sense to have Thomas/David rape Ali. If it was to make her hate him, well, we later learn she prefers women and possibly has reason to be distrustful of any man. If it was to make him feel guilt and fear for his mortal soul so that he'd ultimately choose to help the Angels, he had oodles to choose from such as how he felt responsible for his father's death to the men he helped Kite kill in order to save Ali and Lark's lives.

As for why Thomas/David would rape, that he'd been raped himself falls flat after how quickly his dismissed being raped by the boys at the orphanage and made it seem like something all the boys experienced. Literally just minutes earlier he'd "spilled his seed" for the first time and we the reader knows he's entering the very first stages of puberty. Out of blue, while watching Ali (who he just learn was a girl disguised as a boy) bathe and then masturbate, he jumps on her from behind. Thomas/David, who's blessed with the gift of remembering pretty much everything he ever sees, hears, and experiences, tells us it's all a blur and that Ali, who has proven herself to be an excellent fighter, beats him soundly afterward. (Later, to answer the question of why Ali couldn't fight Thomas/David off during the rape, it's because the Angels made her be raped so Thomas/David would have reason to seek forgiveness and want to journey to Lower Heaven.)

Thomas/David says he raped Ali because he was in love at first sight, which again makes little sense. You don't rape people you love, or at least you don't believe you love someone you violate and harm in such a fashion unless you're a sociopath.

What's worse is that I can't tell if Boyczuk means for Ali's hatred of Thomas/David to be the real tragedy or if we're supposed to realize what bullshit Thomas's/David's supposed guilt and continual navel-gazing is. Oh, he's in love with Ali, but it's ruined because he raped her, woe is he. Thomas/David keeps telling us that he's in love and it hurts to know that Ali will never love him back (and can't because, you know, she's gay on top of the fact she's been *raped*).

I, a woman who has experienced sexual assault, couldn't bring myself to care what happened to Thomas/David after that, and really I wanted to find out what Ali, a far more interesting and multi-faceted character. Thomas/David might be the protagonist who Boyczuk intends to save his world (or worlds?), but I kept waiting for him to die or to suffer some horrible punishment befitting of his crime. We see someone else killed for only attempting to rape Ali (and perhaps blow her cover as a boy seeking admittance to the choir in Rome), but Thomas/David must only suffer with his guilt and Ali's hatred.

Ali is forced to help her rapist as the Angels order her to. While she supposedly has free will, her soul has made the choice to allow an Angel (Raphael in her case) to possess her and her body can be compelled to follow. And at the end Thomas/David seems to think maybe Ali doesn't hate him, specifically, so much as Raphael who forced her to not fight off Thomas's/David's attack, as if the fact she could have fought him off makes his decision to rape fine.

And it's not just Thomas/David raping Ali, both of them go on to be raped by Meussin (the pope's secret daughter), though we're told it's consensual (and indeed, Ali isn't affected by Meussin's attentions). I call it rape because we're told both Ali and Thomas/David have just entered puberty and are, therefore, beneath the age of consent. We're not told at what age people in Thomas's/David's world are considered to have reached majority, but for me it was a major squick factor to think of a child entering puberty around the age of 12 or 13 (or even 14 and 15) and suddenly be able to consent to sexual relationships with no repercussions felt. No, puberty is not the determining factor of a person's ability to handle all the emotional, physical, and psychological weight that comes with sexual relationships. Ali, who is recovering from rape, is especially vulnerable, and no one seems to address this fact at all. We're just meant to except all this behavior as perfectly normal and acceptable and everyone emerges from their month in Meussin's prison just fine.

We're also told by Meussin through Thomas/David that Meussin, upon having her first menses, seduced the bishop who'd been assigned to guard her. She learned of this via reading books, which is a bit of a flimsy premise considering she was raised inside a prison and has never been allowed contact with anyone aside from her bishop and the armed guard near her at all times. Yes, because upon entering puberty a child who is well-read is wise in the ways of seduction and can tempt men into her bed so she might use them for her own ends. (Sorry, I couldn't control my sarcasm there.)

It's not that authors can't write about rape, it's that when they do, they need to consider the implications. If you wish your audience to sympathize or even just like your protagonist, don't have them commit rape. Murder is one thing, and can be argued to be justifiable (in the defense of his life/a friend's life, for example). There is no way a rape can be or should be excused, despite Boyczuk's attempts. (And no, a rapist doesn't accidentally rape, nor can they not keep themselves from raping. Boys/men are not uncontrollable animals who must obey the desires of their penis.)

Jim C. Hines has some excellent words of advice on writing about rape: http://jimhines.livejournal.com/43729...

Also, it's important that if you're writing about rape that you educate yourself about rape culture. It just might save an otherwise wonderful book from utter failure.

[Bracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Bob Boyczuk's other work (Horror Story and Other Horror Stories and Nexus: Ascension) and so was very anxious to dig into his Bildungsroman slash road-novel, The Book of Thomas. Like Nexus, this novel is deliberately-paced sci fi soaked in Boyczuk's trademark uncompromising melancholy. Unlike Nexus, where Boyczuk leaned heavily on the established language of post-Alien/Blade Runner sci fi (to great effect, I might add), "Thomas" contains an entirely unique world at once ancient and futuristic that will definitely satisfy fans of A Canticle for Liebowitz.

My only problem with the book: it's the first part of a bleedin' trilogy! By the time the book ended, I was so invested in Thomas and Ali that I would have read the whole (planned) trilogy in a single marathon. Oh well. The pain of the loyal sci fi reader is now mine.

Four and a half stars.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

when I first picked up this book and read the back, my thoughts went straight to A Canticle for Leibowitz and Anathem, two books I greatly enjoyed and admired. When I got about 100 pages in, I had to add revise my assumption, and add The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever to the mix, which I neither admired nor enjoyed. I thought long about whether I should continue this Thomas, but I was actually already invested and intrigued, so I decided to carry on. The big mystery has not been fully revealed yet -- saving it for book 2 I suppose -- but I have an inkling of where things are going. Nevertheless, I find that I want to see how it turns out.

[Normalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. It was well-written, great plot (part 1 of a trilogy and I can't find out when the next one is out), characters - Thomas, Kite and Ali are dark and mysterious but in a good way. I loved the world-building with an artificial world with Dyson-like spheres with the outermost being Heaven and inhabited by winged angels and the innermost being Hell, and several earthly spheres in between, controlled by the Catholic church. Great use of language with just enough description to keep the story grounded, but not so much that it drags. Intrigue, betrayal and politics blend to make the story interesting and create tension as the earthly realms and the church want to invade Heaven because they have been under a decades long drought. Which side is Thomas on? Who will help him and Ali? Read it and find out.

[Karl]

This is copy 32 of 150 signed numbered copies.

[Dean Italiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book.

But you can't sit back and just let it come at you like a Stephen King novel. Boyczuk challenges the reader a little more, but it's well worth the effort.

One of the first things I had to figure out, was the timeline, when does this take place? Amidst stone roads, phrases like "breaking our fast" instead of breakfast, and the hints of castrati, I figured the late 1800s. However, there were terms such as son-on and sun-off that piqued my interest. Robert also has a very broad vocabulary and he's not afraid to use it. You may not take the time to look up every new-to-you word, but it's worth it to pain the proper picture.

I also had to wrap my head around the Spheres, as it wasn't a "regular" adventure across a countryside. There were recognizably countryside scenes, but the characters kept moving up or down through elaborate entrances to new levels. We also don't get a "regular" hero. A young boy, a pre-teen and everything that comes with that age, is hardly the Percy Jackson type to lead the story. I like Thomas better, he's complicated, struggling, growing, and breaking. The fact that his faith and religion echo him as a person makes it more interesting to see where and how he falters along the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, and I'd like to read part two, The Book of David. The only part I am still unsure of is the Spheres, I don't know if I like the structure that Boyczuk set up. The literal take on Hierarchy and moving up levels in a religious setting, although creative, seemed a little forced to me - or completely brilliant I'm still undecided. (And yes, I get the point to reach Lower Heaven, which *by itself* is a really cool thing.)

We've had this book on our shelf for a while, and I'm so glad I finally picked it up despite my already giant TBR pile. Some of that credit goes to the cover artist, Erik Mohr, as well.

This is a definite yes if you're looking for something with dark and heavy religious plotlines, a messed up pre-teen travelling through levels of heaven and earth, and some absolutely exquisite imagery.

[Remigijus Jodelis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost dropped this one, somewhere in the first quarter. But now I'm glad I didn't do it and I have read it through to the end. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in the trilogy. The story is nice, the world building too, and it kind of grows on you.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic world-building (literally!). Author's style reminds me so much of Gene Wolfe. Pure genius.

[Tobreth Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting if cynical world. And yet for all that cynicism, angels and God are real and He uses His blood to protect us.

[Butch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to see a third book on Thomas / David.

[John Hanscom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. It is the first of a trilogy, and I will not read the others. Though full of religious themes, it is all Roman Catholic, and the author cannot decide whether he is for or against it. This leaves the book lukewarm, tepid. In addition, ever since Canticle For Leibowitz, it seems half the "science fiction" books dealing with these feel necessary to go medieval. It is tiring. Finally, I guess [SPOILER ALERT] I am supposed to feel interest in or sorry for a person whose first real and independent act is one of rape, because the author, late in the novel, wants to discuss the issue of free will [it is either that, or the editors told the author he needed some gratuitous sex].

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A purposefully problematic book in some ways; but, deeply engaging, dark, and strange. The images and subtext worked well for me as a now atheist veteran of Catholic schools.

I had nearly forgotten it was the first of two, and when I reached the end I nearly yelled in outrage that I had to wait for the next one to be written. (Disclaimer: I work for the publisher of this novel.)

[Paddy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. Crisp writing, driven characters, a great world and a large serving of twisted Catholic mythology. Seriously, if you like SF or just aren't an idiot, read this. The best book I've read in years.

[D.]

It was on an e-reader during said gadget's untimely demise. Intriguing and worth completion when I get another copy.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off really great, but once it got to the angels and their secret mission it just became dumb. Disappointed in the direction it took.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rape apologist garbage.

[Bevan Boychuk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish, nothing was happening and no hints or teases to keep me going