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Hell Can Wait
In a bid to claim his soul, an angel and a demon argue over the fate of an ancient Roman soldier. The decision is made to bring him back to life, not in Ancient Rom, but in modern day Colorado. Here he must complete the seemingly impossible challenges laid out before him, under the watchful eyes of the celestial duo. Without a sword and shield to protect him, the warrior must rely on his new-found ability to read, and a little bit of divine inspiration in this humorous tale of the power of a second chance.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 4, 2020
Several interesting snippets about the life of an Ancient Roman Centurion intersperse a tale of angels and devils quarrelling over Maternus who had died eighteen hundred years earlier. Despite his bones remaining entombed in Rome, he has somehow gained a corporeal body that he’ll keep until tested to see where he’ll end up. There appears to be no consistency regarding who goes to Heaven and who to Hell, and no logical reason for the centurion to be the only one tested.
If this was intended as tongue-in-cheek satire written to make a point about supernatural beliefs and contemporary middleclass USA, then I missed it. Everything is sweetness and light, Americans are basically gentle and kind, if a bit effete, and my intelligence wasn’t challenged. If the intention is to discuss good and evil and the possibility of character change, the story raises no controversial issues, and comparisons between cruel Ancient Roman society and middle class U.S.A. only made me think about the horrors resulting from all the wars in which the U.S.A. and its allies are and have been involved.
The book is well written, but I finished it depressed by the author’s apparent approval of infantile supernatural beliefs including a mawkish heaven where women rule the roost, and by too many typos that any competent proof reader would have picked up.
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July 14, 2024It was interesting to see just how different someone's writing style can be. The entire book was clever, dry, (so, so, very dry) tongue in cheek, British style humor. It was not my cup of tea at all. It was a little like J.R. Ward's Fallen Angel series. Maternus had mistakenly been in hell for 800 years. He was about to get a second chance into heaven from an angel named Mr. Worthy. The other side needed to be represented too, so a demon named Mr. Banewell was also there during his trials to ensure fairness. He successfully accomplished all 3 trials and was allowed to enter heaven and be reunited with a long lost love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2011
Hell Can Wait
by Theodore Judson
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy; 1st edition (October 15, 2010)
Have you ever wondered what happened to Maternus, a Roman soldier who led a failed rebellion against the Emperor Commodus in 186 AD? Well, neither have I, but fortunately for readers Theodore Judson did and has written a brilliant, humorous fantasy about the bonds of friendship and the eternal nature of love.
Maternus has literally gone through Hell. A bureaucratic screw up kept him in this most undesirable place for close to 2,000 years. Eventually the mistake was caught, and Matt finds himself in the 21st Century where Mr Worthy, an angel, has decided that even though Matt was a thuggish, brutal Roman soldier he had also shown qualities of decency - like sparing the innocent and feeling a special love for a saucy young lady. It's therefore possible, says Mr. Worthy that Matt can earn redemption. The demon adversary Mr Banewell, not wishing to lose a resident, challenges this assumption. With some acrimony the two finally agree that Matt must pass three tests before entering the pearly gates.
As for locale these are the parameters:
"He has to be among the unfamiliar, in some nation that could not have existed in his lifetime. There have to be independent women who are able to stand up to him, and lots of bothersome children to distress him. Put him in an affluent place, somewhere that would not know or pardon his type of violence.”
Mr Banewell suggests Aurora, Colorado, just outside Denver. Mr Worthy agrees.
To help Maternus (now known as Matthew August) make his way in this new world he is given the gift of literacy, however, his references are still to the 2nd century. Thus Mr. Worthy shows him a building with a cross on it and Matt assumes it must be a place of execution. While applying for a job as janitor at a middle school he is asked about previous employment. Matt answers honestly that he was in the army. His numerous scars attest to combat. Where did he fight?. Mesopotamia he answers and his educated audience nod in understanding. Matt is surprised to discover that war still rages in the area.
Because of his strange mannerisms and odd way of speaking Mr Worthy advices him, if asked, to say he is from Montana. This works.
It's tough going at times but Matt, with the help of a library card, educates himself, by reading all the great books. He even makes friends which is a new concept for him. These friends unwittingly help him with the difficult tasks assigned by his supernatural watchers.
This was a thoroughly delightful book that believably portrays Matt's fish-out-of-water experience in a modern day American suburb. Judson gets everything exactly right. I can't recommend this book highly enough!
May 1, 2011
This modern-day fantasy story is about a soldier from ancient Rome who has been given a second chance.
Maternus (mentioned in Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") has spent the last 1800 years in Hell because his file was lost. When it is retrieved nd processed, he gets a chance to prove that he is not just a killing machine. When he was alive, there were a number of instances where Maternus would kill only those who deserved to die, and spare the innocent. But Mr. Worthy, and angel, and Banewill, a demon, make the stakes very clear to Maternus. If he loses his temper, and lets out his inner warrior, even once, a new, and very permanent, level of Hell will be created just for him. Is Maternus sent back to the days of the Roman Empire to show that his soul has not totally vanished? He is sent to present-day Aurora, Colorado.
Mr. Worthy sets up Maternus (now Matthew August) with an apartment, and a janitor job at the local middle school. Maternus is also given the ability to read, and he is introduced to the local public library, where he spends much of his time. There he meets Stephen and Shen, both residents of a local rooming house. Stephen, who is white, is one of those who is constantly writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper about some Major Crisis (next week it will be some other Major Crisis). Shen, who is black, is very handsome, and attracts the ladies like flies to honey. He is also a poet, performing at local poetry nights, which Maternus attends.
Mr. Worthy and Banewill give Maternus several seemingly impossible tasks to perform. They inlcude bringing some joy and companionship into the lives of Edith Pink, a student at the school where Maternus works, and Margaret Lambkin, a resident at a local nursing home. Both Edith and Margaret are the sort of people for whom the description "mean, rotten and nasty" is much too generous. Through it all in this strange new world, Maternus is comforted by the memory of Maria, a woman he met during his soldier days, and whom he has never forgotten.
This story is surprisingly good. It's got heart, it's got intelligence and it says a few things about present-day America. The reader will not go wrong with this one.
Maternus (mentioned in Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") has spent the last 1800 years in Hell because his file was lost. When it is retrieved nd processed, he gets a chance to prove that he is not just a killing machine. When he was alive, there were a number of instances where Maternus would kill only those who deserved to die, and spare the innocent. But Mr. Worthy, and angel, and Banewill, a demon, make the stakes very clear to Maternus. If he loses his temper, and lets out his inner warrior, even once, a new, and very permanent, level of Hell will be created just for him. Is Maternus sent back to the days of the Roman Empire to show that his soul has not totally vanished? He is sent to present-day Aurora, Colorado.
Mr. Worthy sets up Maternus (now Matthew August) with an apartment, and a janitor job at the local middle school. Maternus is also given the ability to read, and he is introduced to the local public library, where he spends much of his time. There he meets Stephen and Shen, both residents of a local rooming house. Stephen, who is white, is one of those who is constantly writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper about some Major Crisis (next week it will be some other Major Crisis). Shen, who is black, is very handsome, and attracts the ladies like flies to honey. He is also a poet, performing at local poetry nights, which Maternus attends.
Mr. Worthy and Banewill give Maternus several seemingly impossible tasks to perform. They inlcude bringing some joy and companionship into the lives of Edith Pink, a student at the school where Maternus works, and Margaret Lambkin, a resident at a local nursing home. Both Edith and Margaret are the sort of people for whom the description "mean, rotten and nasty" is much too generous. Through it all in this strange new world, Maternus is comforted by the memory of Maria, a woman he met during his soldier days, and whom he has never forgotten.
This story is surprisingly good. It's got heart, it's got intelligence and it says a few things about present-day America. The reader will not go wrong with this one.
June 3, 2013
...this is an interesting review, since i'm really quite disappointed in this book in ways that don't relate to the book itself.
Hell Can Wait is charming, and Judson's voice is in no way dulled since last I read him. It's brisk, and charming, and likeable, but it's not what I'd expected from the author. Fitzpatrick's War and The Martian General's Daughter set me up to expect wide range and scope as the author's knowledge of ancient Roman history was writ large across a huge, exciting science fiction setting. This is not that book, much that I might expect it. It's a small, personal tale about an individual seeking redemption in the modern age, and, while it's handled extremely well, the religious overtones and willingness to "go small", while not faults in themselves, made me wish I were reading the author's previous books.
By which I mean; This author is tremendous and I really ought to re-read his previous books. The fact that this one's themes did nothing for me doesn't diminish his prose style in any way. Do you like personal redemption tales and Christian redemption themes? Then this book is tremendously satisfying. I, however, want something else from Judson, and as such will re-read his first two books and eagerly await his new material and hope it's more in-keeping with my personal taste...
Hell Can Wait is charming, and Judson's voice is in no way dulled since last I read him. It's brisk, and charming, and likeable, but it's not what I'd expected from the author. Fitzpatrick's War and The Martian General's Daughter set me up to expect wide range and scope as the author's knowledge of ancient Roman history was writ large across a huge, exciting science fiction setting. This is not that book, much that I might expect it. It's a small, personal tale about an individual seeking redemption in the modern age, and, while it's handled extremely well, the religious overtones and willingness to "go small", while not faults in themselves, made me wish I were reading the author's previous books.
By which I mean; This author is tremendous and I really ought to re-read his previous books. The fact that this one's themes did nothing for me doesn't diminish his prose style in any way. Do you like personal redemption tales and Christian redemption themes? Then this book is tremendously satisfying. I, however, want something else from Judson, and as such will re-read his first two books and eagerly await his new material and hope it's more in-keeping with my personal taste...
December 3, 2014
Another excellent and thought-provoking book by Judson. I have read three of the four published novels and can heartily recommend them all. In 'The Martian General's Daughter' and 'Fitzpatrick's War' he tells stories of Imperial Rome in more modern settings, both in the near future. In this one, a soldier of Imperial Rome has a chance to change his eternal home by how he does . . . 1800 years later in suburban Denver CO. Judson gives an incisive, critical look at modern life through the eyes of this soldier, but not without charity toward the characters he encounters. Great book.
November 30, 2010
I loved this book, a tale of a Roman soldier destined for hell who is given a chance to redeem himself in the modern-day world. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I expected, and he completed his assigned tasks mostly through chance and reliance on his friends. Still the book is worth reading for the dialog and for humor of watching Maternus trying to navigate 21st-century America.
January 13, 2013
Enjoyed it, I suppose. But I really enjoyed his book Fitzpatrick's War a lot more. This book is lighter, with some amusing moments, but does still feature some of the philosophical bent that he worked into his other stuff. And though I was fairly sure before, Judson is revealed here as a bit of a romantic.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews