58th out of 90 books
—
65 voters
Escape from Hell (Inferno #2)
Allan Carpenter escaped from hell once but remained haunted by what he saw and endured. He has now returned, on a mission to liberate those souls unfairly tortured and confined. Partnering with the legendary poet and suicide, Sylvia Plath, Carpenter is a modern-day Christ who intends to harrow hell and free the damned. But now that he's returned to this Dantesque I...more
Hardcover, 332 pages
Published
February 3rd 2009
by Tor Books
(first published January 26th 2009)
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Why I Read This Book: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are well known for several bestselling collaborations: Lucifer's Hammer and The Mote in God's Eye to name two. My favorite of their collaborations, though, is Inferno. When I read (on Pournelle's website) that a sequel was on the way, I was cautiously hopeful. I was cautious because sequel to Mote consisted of a terrific novelet glued to a really tedious novel, and I've enjoyed very little of Niven's work of the last 25 years. I was hopeful b...more
Nick
rated it
Not so much as a sequel as an updated revision, or extension, of Inferno. There were no major new concepts, i.e. any reader of Inferno, if asked to predict the plot line of Escape from Hell, would have described the plot actually used. It extended the existing ideas, and did not expand them. Enjoyable, with some moments of brilliance, and some equal moments of literary haziness. If you have not read Inferno, read that first. There were no significant new concepts in Escape from Hell. This is a c...more
With a name like that how could you go wrong! The premise of this book is a super cool idea that I have wanted to read for a long time. What if Dante's trek though hell was real. This is a sequel to a another book with the same premise. It is about a science fiction writer (our Dante) who finds himself in hell. In the first one Benito Mussolini plays his Virgil, and it ends with Mussolini escaping and our hero being re-judged. In this one, our protagonist has escaped his punishment and ear...more
Brian
marked it as to-read
Also my Amazon review:
I've known Jerry for a long time, and met Larry a few times. I've not ever held back when I told Jerry privately what I thought about something he wrote. I was also taught that if you can't say something good about someone, it's better to say nothing at all. So, if I didn't love Inferno 2 ... errr, Escape from Hell, I'd not be writing this today. You won't get negative reviews from me, usually.
I enjoyed this book immensely when I read it before it we...more
I've known Jerry for a long time, and met Larry a few times. I've not ever held back when I told Jerry privately what I thought about something he wrote. I was also taught that if you can't say something good about someone, it's better to say nothing at all. So, if I didn't love Inferno 2 ... errr, Escape from Hell, I'd not be writing this today. You won't get negative reviews from me, usually.
I enjoyed this book immensely when I read it before it we...more
Back in 1974, I read -- and re-read, and re-read -- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell's Inferno. Inferno has been described as "a cakewalk through Hell," but there is a great deal more to it than is suggested by that blurb: as shown by a number of intensely moving moments in the novel, the authors had clearly caught the spirit of Dante's immortal classic as well as the sheer adventure of it. This is no less true of Escape From Hell, which updates, elucidates, and climaxes the story of ...more
Allen Carpenter is still in Hell. Those who have read Niven and Pournelle's Inferno, one might have expected him to at least be somewhere in Purgatory by this time. For everyone else, Escape is Niven and Pournelle's follow-up on their updated prose adaptation of Dante's Inferno. That first effort proved, if nothing else, a catalyst in renewing interest in Dante.
As unseemly as it may sound, Hell is better the second time around. Inferno dealt with two questions, what does it take to get...more
As unseemly as it may sound, Hell is better the second time around. Inferno dealt with two questions, what does it take to get...more
The sequel to Inferno. While Inferno read like a parody, this one seemed at times (mostly during the parts of the storyline involving Sylvia Plath) more like a thoughtful exploration of the idea of hell, and also an opportunity for the authors to assign some celebrities to what they felt was the appropriate circle, concentrating on people who had something to do with the Katrina disaster and recovery. The unrelenting violence in the book seemed kind of Tom and Jerryish. Way too many cameos, but...more
Niven & Pournelle's "Inferno" is a minor classic of SF, a 70s-era fantasy update of Dante. "Escape From Hell", as others have pointed out, is nearly the same book--similar characters, similar story--but with one subtle but important difference: this one acknowledges the post-Vatican II and Pope John Paul II-era changes to Catholic doctrine.
As with the older book, Niven & Pournelle took the opportunity to put several famous people they disliked (and a few they admire...more
As with the older book, Niven & Pournelle took the opportunity to put several famous people they disliked (and a few they admire...more
Niven & Pournelle are writing mostly sequels these days: they've published six novels in the last twenty years, of which four were sequels.
The book is oddly structured - the first third (or so) is a series of flashbacks, glued together with brief conversations between Allen Carpent(i)er and Sylvia Plath. (When Niven & Pournelle turned in their manuscript, the publisher sent it back for several months' additional work; now that I think about it, this part reads like one or two chapter...more
The book is oddly structured - the first third (or so) is a series of flashbacks, glued together with brief conversations between Allen Carpent(i)er and Sylvia Plath. (When Niven & Pournelle turned in their manuscript, the publisher sent it back for several months' additional work; now that I think about it, this part reads like one or two chapter...more
The sequel to 'Inferno', with it's cheap looking Sci-Fi Channel cover, sees dead science fiction writer Allen Carpenter return to Dante's nine circles of hell to help free as many captives as possible. You see, hell isn't a one way ticket in this book and those condemned to it's circles can escape from their own torture if they truly desire. However, the catch lays in the fact that their sins on earth hold them back in hell. For instance if one was gluttonous in life they will be tempted with th...more
Can't say I was all that impressed here. I liked Niven and Pournelle's Inferno quite a bit, but the sequel mostly seemed to cover the same ground. Moreover it spent a lot of time on "Who's Who" territory that the previous book largely avoided (though that's something to which Dante's Inferno certainly wasn't immune.) Ended so abruptly that I actually had to flip back to make sure that I hadn't missed a section.
The Niven/Pournelle collaboration has been very productive; at i...more
The Niven/Pournelle collaboration has been very productive; at i...more
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I enjoyed it, but I was disappointed in the end. There is a gesture towards justice, yet I felt like their were veins of ethnocentrism and homophobia. For instance we meet no Buddhists in hell.If there were one God and he had a personal dungeon, why wouldn't all people be there? and the characters don't even want to talk to the homosexuals in the second circle. The authors say the characters are only bumping into people in hell who have special meaning to their lives, so it can be surmised that ...more
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"Escape" is pretty much just "Inferno" all over again, with similar characters, situations, morals, limited philosophizing etc. The adventure was dimmed as you pretty much knew what was going to happen, and most events and realizations were fairly boring and uninspired. There are highlights, and if read first (as it could be due to large reprints of the last book's dialogue) it's not a bad story - key detractor though, on top of anti-climactic situations, the dialogue for muc...more
(Original review: http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2009/10/23/...)
Overall: Fair
Story: Fair
Characters: Fair
Re-Readability: Good
I love their mid-70s "Inferno" (it’s a book I regularly revisit). This sequel rightfully tries to be something different, but muddles it by trying to be too philosophical, too complex, too political, too preachy, too meditative, too many big ideas. The original was a mysterious tapestry; this one becomes one part puzzle box, one p...more
Overall: Fair
Story: Fair
Characters: Fair
Re-Readability: Good
I love their mid-70s "Inferno" (it’s a book I regularly revisit). This sequel rightfully tries to be something different, but muddles it by trying to be too philosophical, too complex, too political, too preachy, too meditative, too many big ideas. The original was a mysterious tapestry; this one becomes one part puzzle box, one p...more
With Inferno fresh in my mind, I set off to read Escape from Hell, the book that initially attracted my attention. I genuinely enjoyed a good deal of Escape from Hell. However, it never strays far enough from the original book's premise to escape Inferno's shadow.
I like Sylvia Plath as Carpenter's companion better than Benito, just because she's a better companion. I'm not sure how well Niven & Pournelle (henceforth known as N&P) portrayed her, nor do I really care. Unfortunately...more
I like Sylvia Plath as Carpenter's companion better than Benito, just because she's a better companion. I'm not sure how well Niven & Pournelle (henceforth known as N&P) portrayed her, nor do I really care. Unfortunately...more
This makes me want to pick up Dante's Inferno again... beautifully researched, it will piss off a lot of people with some of its modern additions to hell, and the logic needed to get through it. Nothing comes without a cost, and this is reinforced. This particular book was a loaner, but we have its predecessor, Inferno, in both hardcover and paperback in our home library. A fantastic book!
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Decided after six chapters to re-read Inferno first. Actually, I was five chapters in. Have gotten back into it after completing Inferno and scanning those first five chapters. So far I'm quite enjoying it. I was even before the re-read. But as I got to the point in Escape where he was going to be progressing through the various levels, I thought I'd like a fresher memory of his first journey.
Better concept than book. I wish writers would stop churning out books and spend more time to make the best book possible. I'm not sure you would find many people with the strong opinion expressed on DDT use. A lot of Katrina stuff. A list of characters denoting whether the person was fictional or not would have helped.
I like Dante, and this does that justice - but it doesn't rise to the level of the first work.
Its clever in the characters you meet, the random tidbits of history all juxtaposed... but it fails to become a coherent STORY.
It might make a good play though.
Its clever in the characters you meet, the random tidbits of history all juxtaposed... but it fails to become a coherent STORY.
It might make a good play though.
Amblingbooks.com
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
available-on-audio,
science-fiction
"This well-constructed tale will inspire many readers to seek out the original Divine Comedy...." - Publishers Weekly
Listen to Escape From Hell on your smartphone.
Listen to Escape From Hell on your smartphone.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have surpassed Dante by adding a circle of hell for writers that are out of ideas and need money. I read the first Inferno book in high school in the late 70s and wrote a book report on it, the writing of which I feel surpasses the quality of this sequel. My high school teacher was a crusty old war bride from Liverpool who said in her finest polished cockney and I quote "science fiction is not a legitimate field of literary endeavour" (I spelled that the...more
Ivy Reisner
rated it
This was an unworthy sequel to the first. There were a few moments where I wished it were a print book so that I could throw it against a wall. The moment when they ran into a child condemned for "seducing" a priest comes to mind.
Ketan Shah
added it
Poorly written with unengaging characters and a plot that doesn't seem to go anywhere. I had fond memories of Inferno but this sequel has ruined that goodwill.I'm surprised I managed to finish it. A waste of time.
I wasn't sure what I was getting in to, but finished the book in two days... very pleasant, interesting and persuaded me to investigate The Inferno (shich somehow, I have never read)... this is a book I should own!
Inferior sequel to Inferno, after a 30+ year wait. Hell is basically a literalist, vaguely-libertarian nightmare, the attempt to escape it rather dull and one-dimensional compared to the original.
An excellent follow up to Inferno. Extremely enjoyable. I'm one of those people who think that the total of a Niven & Pournelle book are greater than the sum of their parts.
Disappointing. Doesn't really compare with "Inferno" (although that would be tough to do!) and it just seemed to stop rather than come to any particular conclusion.
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Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths...more
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