|
What would life be like if technology could guarantee us an afterlife?
Will Nature ever allow humankind to outgrow Her or are we and will we always be a part of her over which she has ultimate control? The Hereafter looms at the centre of everything, a mysterious artificial afterlife constructed one hundred years ago. It has quieted many of the questions that humankind have asked themselves through the ages, healed the divisions of religion around the world, and global society is showing signs of utopia. A sudden epidemic of natural disasters is claiming hundreds of human lives at a time and gives some people cause to ask heretical questions that others refuse to hear. An unlikely group of characters from conflicting ideologies find themselves on the same path to restoring the natural balance in the middle of growing apocalyptic devastation: Malaya, a strange street girl with mysterious friends; Krysta who has an empathetic link with Nature; Malachi, an Agent of The Hereafter lured from his training by Krysta's convictions; Agent John, a militant Agent of the Hereafter who believes in little more than doing his job; Terry, a detective sick to the soul of feeling like a pawn in other people's games and Kaylamarr Cromwell, a man hell bent on restoring the threat of divine retribution to people’s lives. |
FINITE MISERY - the extended prologue of The Hereafter
Cover image thanks to www.freeimages.co.uk
The Hereafter is an artificial afterlife sitting at the centre of a society 100 years in the future. Like many human inventions though, it interferes with mankind's Balance with Nature but this may be the final straw.
The Hereafter is a book about life after death and the effect that life has on this one. There are two key themes in this book – one is mankind's need for life after death and how that influences life on earth. The second theme intertwined with the first one is mankind's relationship with Nature.
The Hereafter is a book about life after death and the effect that life has on this one. There are two key themes in this book – one is mankind's need for life after death and how that influences life on earth. The second theme intertwined with the first one is mankind's relationship with Nature.
What would life be like if technology could guarantee us an afterlife?
Life after death features in most mythology if not all and is used to set the morality of our time on earth, what then would happen if the big question of 'Is there an afterlife' was taken away and a certainty of what lies beyond death took its place? The certainty of which I speak is a digital afterlife put in place by a human authority called the St Peter Squad so what conditions would need to go in place to maintain the importance of and the proper living of life?
A common theme in life after death beliefs is that your actions in life echo in eternity – that you are judged somehow and rewarded or punished appropriately. This takes the forms of heaven and hell, reincarnation as a lesser or greater being, or your consciousness is laid to rest with your bones or wandering the earth for eternity in a state of unrest – your belief of what happens after death must have an effect, either subtle or huge, on the way that you live your life.
In The Hereafter, Alex Vrettos, as the author, has placed the St Peter Squad in charge of managing this. They are the gate keepers of The Hereafter and carefully assure that the rules have been adhered to before admitting the captured mind after a body dies. People can choose not to abide by the rules and they are then left with no guarantees, facing oblivion as every generation before them.
There is a character in the book who is not satisfied with this, he feels that evil doers are left to get away with it and sets up a secret global network dedicated to guaranteeing an alternative after life for evil doers – a digital hell to counter the digital heaven of The Hereafter.
A common theme in life after death beliefs is that your actions in life echo in eternity – that you are judged somehow and rewarded or punished appropriately. This takes the forms of heaven and hell, reincarnation as a lesser or greater being, or your consciousness is laid to rest with your bones or wandering the earth for eternity in a state of unrest – your belief of what happens after death must have an effect, either subtle or huge, on the way that you live your life.
In The Hereafter, Alex Vrettos, as the author, has placed the St Peter Squad in charge of managing this. They are the gate keepers of The Hereafter and carefully assure that the rules have been adhered to before admitting the captured mind after a body dies. People can choose not to abide by the rules and they are then left with no guarantees, facing oblivion as every generation before them.
There is a character in the book who is not satisfied with this, he feels that evil doers are left to get away with it and sets up a secret global network dedicated to guaranteeing an alternative after life for evil doers – a digital hell to counter the digital heaven of The Hereafter.
Will Nature ever allow Humankind to outgrow Her or are we and will we always be a part of Her over which she has ultimate control?
The human relationship with Nature changes depending on the culture that you are in. In The Hereafter, Alex's mythological model is that we are all part of Nature – when we are living we are part of her body, and when our body dies we are reunited with Her mind.
Imagine the problems then that artificial afterlife presents in the world of the story. The main plot thread follows a small group of people who come together to try to save the human race from itself, before Nature destroys mankind in order to protect Herself.
Alex is not preaching in the story, but he is exploring the idea that in current discussions in the world of the real there is a lot of talk about killing the planet, but we will never do that, Nature is a delicate balance of everything around us on which we rely to survive. If we tip that balance even slightly we will kill ourselves off and Nature has no more problem. We will never kill the planet – we are a part of Nature and therefore at Her mercy.
Imagine the problems then that artificial afterlife presents in the world of the story. The main plot thread follows a small group of people who come together to try to save the human race from itself, before Nature destroys mankind in order to protect Herself.
Alex is not preaching in the story, but he is exploring the idea that in current discussions in the world of the real there is a lot of talk about killing the planet, but we will never do that, Nature is a delicate balance of everything around us on which we rely to survive. If we tip that balance even slightly we will kill ourselves off and Nature has no more problem. We will never kill the planet – we are a part of Nature and therefore at Her mercy.
The novel is about balance, about our constant pursuit of it despite the fact that it is always there or we would not exist.