Hell Is Under New Management

Dante Aligheiri's magnificent Inferno has ruled for centuries as literature's most imaginative depiction of the fates of the damned. As a masterwork of allegorical fantasy, it stands unequaled. As a survey of the true causes of human misery, it fails utterly, built as it was upon a medieval religious worldview divorced from reality.

S.A. Alenthony's The Infernova is the new book that rectifies this error by turning the classic vision of Christianity's hell upside-down. Retelling the epic poem from an atheist's perspective, the story parallels Dante's descent through nine infamous circles where increasingly pernicious sinners endure their symbolic punishments. The highest circles house the minor offenders: those who lacked clarity or peddled fallacious arguments. The middle levels incarcerate those who preyed upon-and profited from-irrationality: paranormalists, conspiracy theorists, astrologers, and their ilk. Lower and yet darker realms are reserved for religion's criminals, such as televangelist-frauds, pedophile-priests, and terrorists, while at the pit's nadir reside the legions of the world's prophets and a virtual menagerie of the countless gods born of their fevered imaginations.

Dante was famously accompanied on his journey by his revered hero, the Roman poet Virgil. In The Infernova, it is the satirical and irreligious gadfly Mark Twain who takes the role of guide and companion. As their odyssey continues, the dangers of irrational and mystical thinking only grow more clear, and their dialogues and encounters with hell's residents provide a unique tableau on which to set out the arguments against supernaturalism.

Mythological traditions have long exploited narratives and parables as vehicles to get their messages across, and the preponderance of specialty bookstores and an entire genre of Christian fiction illustrate that this approach is effective. While secular writers have produced a steady stream of quality non-fiction recently, works of fiction and poetry are more rare. The Infernova aims to directly address the paucity of explicitly atheist imaginative writing, and will be of interest to all manner of freethinkers, humanists, and skeptical persons looking for a different kind of deconstruction of the world's superstitions. 

The book is now available through online stores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and will be distributed by Lightning Source, a division of Ingram.

"If you've read Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld or Niven and
Pournelle's Inferno, you'll almost certainly like this fresh new work
that offers a startlingly new perspective on the question `Why are we
here?'  The author tackles, successfully, what few would attempt -- a
near perfect rewrite of the original Inferno, in terza rima, in a
strictly modern rational frame intended to illuminate some basic
philosophical arguments in a painless way in the middle of a story that
is surprisingly readable and enjoyable.  Going into it, I had serious
doubts about a prose novel's worth of verse, but the verse never gets in
the way of the story and somehow ends up being a fitting medium, adding
just the right aura and rhythm to this fascinating work.  The preface
alone is worth the cost of the book.  I strongly recommend it for those
who like their reading to carry meaning as well as plot." -- Professor Robert G. Brown, author of The Book Of Lilith


"What an impressive book! The verse is wonderful." -- Professor Michael Martin, author of The Impossibility Of God


"I enjoyed and appreciated every page. Your book was ingeniously conceived and masterfully executed and I can readily commend it to other secular readers."  -- Harry Greenberger, President, New Orleans Secular Humanist Association

"It's an ingenious idea... and well done." -- Philip D. Appleman, winner of the Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, author of Darwin's Ark

"If you've read Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld or Niven and Pournelle's Inferno, you'll almost certainly like this fresh new work that offers a startlingly new perspective on the question `Why are we here?'  The author tackles, successfully, what few would attempt -- a near perfect rewrite of the original Inferno, in terza rima, in a strictly modern rational frame intended to illuminate some basic philosophical arguments in a painless way in the middle of a story that is surprisingly readable and enjoyable.  Going into it, I had serious doubts about a prose novel's worth of verse, but the verse never gets in the way of the story and somehow ends up being a fitting medium, adding just the right aura and rhythm to this fascinating work.  The preface alone is worth the cost of the book.  I strongly recommend it for those who like their reading to carry meaning as well as plot." -- Robert G. Brown, author of The Book Of Lilith

"What an impressive book! The verse is wonderful." -- Michael Martin, author of The Impossibility Of God and Atheism: A Philosophical Justification

"I enjoyed and appreciated every page. Your book was ingeniously conceived and masterfully executed and I can readily commend it to other secular readers."  -- Harry Greenberger, President, New Orleans Secular Humanist Association

"It was a fantastic read. Very enjoyable and thought-provoking.  I plan to recommend to educational activities like Camp Quest and AEU Society programs." -- Jason Torpy, President, Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers