Review

From the depths of Heaven: Serious Pink and Satin Yellow

By Zak B. Tjewels

 This is the first of four books that tell an apocalyptic story that takes place sometime in the future. The society depicted is something like that in George Orwell’s novel, “1984,” except it appears to be a lot worse. The story follows the experiences of Thorlainen, a middle-aged man who is on the lowest rung of the social ladder and having a difficult time hanging on there. His life is strictly dictated by the government, which uses sophisticated monitoring devices to watch everything he does day or night. He knows any infractions, like his black market activities, the contraband hidden in his basement, or his collection of unapproved books could cost him his life, or worse.

 The government and society appear to be so rotten and corrupt that one would expect the whole system to eventually collapse under its own weight. However, God chooses to give it a big push. A strange, dense interstellar dust cloud moves across the earth’s orbit, and soon the world goes into the middle of it. God uses this event to “separate the sheep from the goats.” The title of the book refers to how the color of the dust varies, depending on what the lighting conditions are.

 At the beginning of the story, our hero is walking alone at night through a purple blizzard of snow-like material, wondering why it killed off everyone in town except him. He eventually makes it back home, and sits there, trying to decide how he is supposed to deal with this new situation. All communications are dead, and for the first time in his life, there is no one there to tell him what to do. As the story progresses, he learns that there are other survivors who were unaffected by the dust, but for some time it is unclear to Thorlainen, as well as the reader, why they are alive.

 Unfortunately, for these survivors, the top echelons of the government and much of its military are still alive, protected in sealed underground compounds designed to withstand nuclear, biological or chemical attack. They realize quickly that they are not going to be able to control a population living in an environment that is deadly to them. Their solution to this dilemma is simple and logical: kill all of them. So with this, the war of good versus evil begins. Thorlainen has to flee for his life.

As he proceeds on his journey to an unknown destination, he joins other survivors, who are also fleeing. They meet up with Nathan, an old man who seems to be only person with any understanding about what is happening and what the survivors must do. Thorlainen agrees to take the first woman he met on his travels to be his wife. By the end of the book, we see a large group of survivors join up with them. With the addition of some defecting soldiers who have discovered they are also immune to the dust, and a passenger ship with some remaining crew, we begin to see the beginning of organized resistance against a power structure whose days are numbered.

 This is more than just a story of survival. It also tells about how Thorlainen grows as a person. He has to overcome his disorientation from the sudden total freedom shoved on him, and he has to learn how to be responsible for watching out for the welfare of others. He has to reconcile himself to former enemies, who are now unexpectedly on his side. Lastly, Nathan tells him that he is expected to develop a close relationship with God. But he has virtually no understanding of what God is, or what God requires of him. Any talk of religion or God has been banned for generations. This may turn out to be his most difficult journey of all.

 The book is very well written, telling about a whole collection of interesting people on a quest for not only survival, but also for a more meaningful life. It gives a vivid and detailed picture of their world, and the unusual and unexpected situations they must confront. I look forward to reading the next instalments of this intriguing story.

 Ed Perley