Books
The Realms Beyond
A View of ‘Heaven and Hell’ that’s Believable
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Preface to a Preface
I’m currently writing a Dystopian Fantasy centered around the Archangel of Mercy and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In this series, the Archangel of Mercy, Tzadkiel, (tZahd-kee-el) has taken human form and come to earth in search of a single person who understands mercy and who exemplifies compassion and forgiveness. It’s a tall order for humans living nearly 2500 years in the future.
Why? Because in the future I’ve created, humans have become heartless, selfish monsters. Governments have deteriorated into harsh feudal dictatorships and justice is a thing of the past. Before the final Horseman rides, bringing death to most of the earth’s remaining population, Tzadkiel has asked for mercy. A stay of execution so he can prove humanity has not completely lost its heart by finding even just one person who still exemplifies mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.
His search takes nearly a century….
World-Building for the Real World
Typically, when writing any sort of fantasy or science fiction, a writer can spend as much time creating the world or realm for the story as they do actually writing the scenes. Even when writing a dystopian piece that takes place right here on Earth, there’s often a lot of time spent world-building. My story is no different, particularly because part of it takes place in ‘Heaven’.
To help readers understand ‘The-why-behind-the-what’, I wrote a preface for book three of the series, since this is when the scenes that take place ‘off world’ come into play. It’s my own view, built upon pieces of scripture, Sunday school classes, church sermons, and various discussions throughout my life.
After completing the preface, I gave it to a few Beta-Readers and their responses surprised me. They told me my description of ‘Heaven and Hell’ helped them understand the concept better than they did previously. That my notion of ‘Heaven and Hell’ made so much sense to them, they believed it. Needless to say, I was as pleased as I was surprised.
A Fantasy for a Fantasy
