Why Call Them Back From Heaven?

This book is one of the greatest dystopian novels I have ever read, but where other books are political, this one is spiritual. Its terseness comes from conciseness and not paucity of ideas. The author covers the ground that he wants to cover with masterful conciseness without sacrificing his usual lyrical prose. For this reason, I find it quite superior to all the other classics (except for We... maybe). But, CS was a sci fi writer, so he never got the recognition he deserved despite his superior ability as a writer compared to the "real" writers. If you have not read this book, you do not know what you are missing.

I had thought that I had read every single published work of my favorite science fiction author, Clifford D. Simak, and then I found this one. A faulty reference lists this as an alternate title to one of his other novels. It is not, this is a totally original work. It is also the work where he perhaps gives human society, and human existence, his most profound examination. Imagine a world where cryonics, the preservation of the human body by freezing, has become not only the norm, but also the primary reason for human existence. Imagine that one single corporation is in charge of freezing and preserving every single person in the world, until either a cure for their disease- or outright immortality- is discovered. Imagine that people work their entire lives to scrape together the money that the corporation demands for the trust fund to look after their bodies after death. Imagine that some people choose "early death" so that they can be frozen before they eat into their trust fund. Now, imagine that this is all one giant scam- that no one has ever been revived and no one ever will be. Finally, imagine that you have unwittingly stumbled over this fact- and the corporation knows that you know! Simak does no less than examine the fundamental obsession of western society with the cult of materialism, science, and progress. The belief in eventual immortality and "paradise" through freezing is analogous to the average westerner's unshakable belief in physical science. In Simak's tale the vast majority of mankind have abandoned any belief in God or an afterlife because with scientifically induced immortality they feel that they don't need it any more. That is except for a few mavericks and rebels on the fringe of the corporate mega-state- and the system does everything it can to either round up or eliminate them. A frightening look at what Simak saw coming- a world totally run and ruled by the Corporation.- a world where God and heaven have been eliminated because they stood in the way of increased corporate profits.

First of all, does writing a review for an inexcusably out-of-print book assist in getting it republished?Clifford Simak was a giant in sci-fi, with a grand output of classics and duds (but there's always another Simak book you haven't read...), and most of his books are fascinating, fleshed-out premises, but well done. This one is another in a series of understated "what if" books, and deals with the readjustments society makes after everyone starts getting cryogenically preserved to be reawakened in the future. The upshot is, they all become pennypinchers and start looking at everything as an investment, not for old age, but for 200 years in the future. Classic Simakian themes of economic craziness in a society where everyone starts living for tomorrow and tricksters, swindlers and so on run amok selling postage stamps, future antiques, worthless swampland and so on. Plenty of spooky futuristic images that are even more relevant today than when he wrote this. And fun to read!

Death is really just a moment. New corpses are stabilised and conveyed to vaults for eventual certain resuscitation. People are keen to stay within range of medical/cryogenic resources, and aware of the need to invest for their (unlimited) future life, when they will be brought back from the dead. Unsurprisingly, the corporation/organization that is in charge of the cryogenic preservation of the bodies has become the most powerful force in the world. In fact, it has pretty much taken over the world.Fortunately there are still some nutters prepared to take on "the man". Religious groups still exist, much to the chagrin of the "Forever Center" cryogenic organization. The religious believers doubt that unfreezing can be achieved, and doubt the wisdom of calling the dead "back from heaven" anyway. Which is a risky view to hold, since those who interfere with the important work of freezing get the ultimate punishment: they are indelibly marked on the head, and when they die, they stay dead, they are denied freezing and therefore have no chance of resuscitation. When a Forever Center employee discovers cover-ups at the heart of the organization, the game is on, and a ragtag band of resisters risks ostracism or worse in a search for the truth.

While I don't know that fast-paced is the best description of this book, the action keeps things rolling along. The characters have a decent amount of meat to them and overall, I thought the storyline was a good one. Well worth reading, especially since I got it for free from my public library's withdrawn books.