As it turns out the afterlife is more complicated than any single religious view accounts for. Souls are transported to places that coincide with their beliefs from their living days. Heaven, Hell, and Nirvana all exist with their populations growing daily. As Lana says of the world’s religions “They’re all right. We just sort you humans by how well you measure up to your individual beliefs.”
As simple as her work sounds, things are not always simple for Lana. Transporting her harvest of souls on a ship that is said to have once belonged to the pirate Grace O’Malley, the sailing is not always smooth. Increasingly Lana and her co-worker Josie find their ship under attack by demons. Doing their best to protect the souls they are responsible for (without losing any to demon attacks), Lana and Josie must battle an assortment of creatures and temptations while going about their labor.
Not to be limited by their working lives though the two also shop, date, and take vacations. Thrown into this strange mix are underworld figures ranging from the archangel Gabriel to the Hindu goddess Parvati and a dog food for hellhounds called Cerberus Chow.
Wildly creative and whimsical, the story takes a refreshingly lax attitude towards the afterlife. Lana’s work can seem dismal at times but it is never without surprises. With new souls and afterlife figures always turning up, this novel approach to what happens after you die is full of minor details worth noting. What, for instance, about afterlives like those of the ancient Egyptians that no one really believes in anymore? How do the Gods of ancient Egypt stay relevant in an afterlife increasingly populated by atheists and agnostics? The answer can be found amongst Lana’s more trivial concerns, concerns that can at times dull an otherwise inventive tale.
Shopping events and coffee shop dates with the angel Maalik can be slow. While it may seem nice to some readers that Lana has an active social life, there must certainly be more interesting things going on with all the afterlife figures of all the world’s religions amassed into one general area. That these figures operate like average people can be both satisfying and disappointing. Gabriel, for his part, is a lush always trying to avoid the scrutiny of Peter. It is a joke that can get old quickly, much like Lana’s vacation to hell which involves statements such as “Was that a tear in Lucifer’s eye? Huh, who would have thought? The Devil may care.”
A light and creative look at the afterlife, readers who enjoy their stories of angels and devils mixed with shopping and regular-girl witticisms need look no further.
Reviewed by Collin Marchaindo for IndieReader