Accidental God
by Aleron Zemplin
http://www.anaccidentalgod.com/
I read the book a while ago and liked it a lot. It has a very fine and cute narrative. Both stories, Yehhi's and Abram's, are
engaging and "make sense" - in parallel and in contrast to those in
the Bible. Characters are well done: Yehhi intelligent and polished, Abram
awkward, kind and devoted, Ismael smart and practical, Alina loyal and
hot-tempered, and her husband hot-headed... And all of them live in a
believable ancient world of strange, brutal, and often comical rituals and
habits. The writer's subtle, humorous
treatment of those poor souls here and there further adds to the fun of
reading.
With the extensive and opinionated preface in mind, I was happy to see that the author's own philosophy is woven into the story in a
non-intrusive and fairly charming way.
As for the important message the author aspires to convey
via the stories, which he has done very concisely and forcefully in the
preface, the scope of the book appears a little too narrow to carry. In fact,
it only apparently shows up on one occasion when Yehhi has to spell it out. It
would be more effective if the story had continued a little further down the
"historical road" to complete Yehhi's eventual success in becoming
God. This way, the reader, with the help
of the author (as he appears in and out of the story in creative ways), could
get a complete picture how this "fat chance" has eventually played
out. At one moment, I wondered whether
this book was only the 1st installment of an ambitious trilogy. I would
certainly look forward to it.
The main book aside, I also enjoyed the author's elegant
lengthy introduction of the theory of "Fluctuation", presented to
encompass everything that matters. As a
preface to a fiction though, it could be a little fancier. I can imagine fictionalizing it a little to
satisfy both readers with technical and science training, and those with a
literary bend.
The double triangle on the cover is a rather interesting
symbol. The way I look at it, the top
triangle is one's heritage of the past (knowledge or genetics) while the bottom
triangle how one passes on his essence to others; with neither, one becomes the
infinitely diminishing dot in the middle, with no existence or significance.
All in all, a fun read with some good food for thought.
