Qualia

There is a (possibly apocryphal) tale of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost being read in a rural pub somewhere in 19th century England. At the conclusion, one of the listeners stood up and said "I don't know who that Lucifer fellow is, but he sounds like a great guy".Whether you feel the same about various archangels and demons after reading Qualia would be interesting to note. The book follows an immortal human, Joe, who runs various errands for the Angels to try redeem a mortal sin he committed during his lifetime (though which he cannot remember).Set in modern day Britain, the first half follows Joe go about his business, with the threat of Armageddon looming. The second half, sees the action transferred to Purgatory and Hell, if you could imagine Dante's Divine Comedy done in reverse.The ideas in this book are big, and lots of ambition is shown in taking Heaven, Earth, Purgatory, Hell, Fae and alien races and combining them in one book. Delightfully, Hell is updated and no longer the medieval torture pit, that has persisted for so long in popular imagination.Its the ideas and the want of a conclusion that keeps you to the end of the book. However the writing doesn't always quite match up to the vision conjured. Though as at debut novel (I guess, I cannot find any other Marie Browne's works on Amazon), it is more than decent. I look forward, hopefully, to future works. It will be interesting to see what the author comes up with to underpin her next book.

This is a fantastic romp through Heaven, Hell and everything in between as we follow our slight anti-hero Joe (whose true identity is a mystery to him but, as the story progress, is amusingly obvious to the rest of us) as he tries to atone for his sins by carrying out one last task for Metatron. In doing so he (and we) rapidly discover that demons are not really demons and aren't always evil (in fact they're only really evil on special occasions), angels are not as sweet and innocent as they're made out to be (in fact some are downright evil!), that God has a great sense of humour and can be really quite vicious when required and that Lucifer not only has a wicked sense of humour but is not that bad a chap after all. The writing is brilliant and really brings the various worlds to light and although we're hit with the devastating news that Dante's work is not quite as accurate as it once was due to unforeseen circumstances we muddle through with our intrepid hero until the story's finale, which is worthy of the superb build-up and grand location. A greatly amusing read that shows that all is not as it seems that is well researched and witty as hell!!

I really wasn't expecting the way Hell was being presented...won't give too much a way but it was really refreshing and the demons actually quite likable. You have portrayals of certain Angels of being psychopaths, certain Demons having a more human and likable mischievous qualities rather than evil and destructive. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it was a real imaginative adventure through Hell. Still dark in places but I really enjoyed the diversity of characters and the twist towards the end. Give it ago if you enjoy fantasy and adventure. I'm not religious and this book was preaching, so don't assume it will be.

I was hooked within the first few pages of this book - intriguing set-up and some elegant writing.It's soon clear things aren't exactly 'normal' and events soon move to another level again. After a while the action is fairly non-stop and at a truly epic scale, building to a truly apocalyptic climax.My main complaint with this book was that I didn't feel the writing stayed at the same level throughout. There was nothing wrong with any of it but the first chapters contained some gorgeous imagery and eloquent phrasing, whereas most of the 'action' chapters were much more simply written. (Either that, or there was so much going on I no longer noticed the quality of the writing!)I also soon had a fair idea who the narrator was but I found parts of his character a bit unconvincing, including the relationship with Carly - it wasn't clear to me why she would fall for him.But those, relatively minor gripes aside, this was a very good read.

I don't normally bother to write reviews, perhaps I should, but I enjoyed this book so much that I want to encourage others to read it.Marie Browne manages to turn everything I thought I knew about religion on its head. The book spans from heaven to hell and stops off at every point in between. The author must have done a great deal of research as it is hard to dispute any theological argument she portrays. The mention of theology is not meant to imply that this book is dry, far from it. This book manages to display the very best and worst of humanity while remaining funny and light hearted.The main character, Joe, is very likeable and has a persistent humorous, and very human, outlook through every trial he faces. The supporting characters are vivid, well-rounded and believable. A trait so many books lack. You really find yourself caring what happens to the people within the story.I hope the author releases the second book as soon as possible, because I need to know what happens next.

It's difficult to say much in the way of specifics about Qualia without spoilers creeping in. It's even a bit spoilery to say that after helping set the scene in the first few chapters the book's central character, Joe, rapidly finds circumstances and plans spiralling out of control...but that said a book which had everything going to plan and no surprises at all wouldn't be very engaging, and engaging's what Browne's book most definitely is!From the dark streets of urban Britain to the pits of Hell and beyond, Browne tells a tale of plots, lies and mysteries, maintaining an exhilarating pace throughout. All in all thoroughly recommended to both old hands and newcomers to the genre!