Under The Suns by Ches Smith

Under The Suns by Ches Smith

Kindle Edition

Published August 2014

Review by N. E. White.

As a reviewer, I’m an equal opportunity reader. Meaning, I’ll read traditionally published works right along with self-published tales. While there are drawbacks to including self-published works in my to-be-reviewed pile (quantity versus quality conundrum), today I’m happy to be presenting one of the latter.

Ches Smith’s religious satire novel opens with an apt quote from the Christian Bible:

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” ~Ecclesiastes 1:9

Under The Suns takes this quote to heart, and is about an alien scribe, Nodi, losing his faith. Along the way he manages to hook up with a foul-mouth atheist, ruin a religious icon, find friends in unexpected places, lose the woman he loved, get the last of a species killed, and leaves it all behind when he finds a spaceship.

It’s a wild ride, folks. Hang on!

Nodi has just acquired a position in the temple scriptorium dedicated to the teachings of God, named Tim. Of the three sentient species on Akigol (planet in an unnamed solar system), Nodi belongs to the P’Aanian variety, meaning he is blue-skinned with a mass of tentacles for hair and bulging purple eyes as opposed to being slightly larger with red-skin (Ixaquoi) or a giant.

However, lucky for us, they all speak English because the Lord God Tim visited them some time ago and taught them the sacred language of Tim – which happens to be English. However, there are many languages on Akigol and someone has to translate the word of Tim.

And, you see, this is really where Nodi’s problems start. Several generations ago, Tim arrived and changed everything on Akigol. He upturned the entire planet’s existing religions, created a new power structure, and inadvertently set down a moral system that is as bizarre as anything you might read of on Earth.

When a long-lost letter written in Judas’ blood lands on Nodi’s desk for archiving, Nodi wants to find the truth behind that letter. At the same time, an ixaquoi named Mal is determined to start trouble at the temple. Together, the unlikely duo manage to kill what’s left of Tim’s body and then embark on a journey to find a truth that leads to a religious revolt, the discovery of a past betrayal so great it ruined a nation, and an intergalactic-traveling species neither could have guessed might exist. In the end, while Nodi does find out a different version of the events that brought about the religion of Tim, he is no closer to the truth he searches for, but at least he has an idea of where to go look for it.

Nodi’s tale oscillates between the bizarre and absurd to the profound, and is interspersed with passages taken directly from the Akigi Bible (written in the style of the Christian Holy Bible). These passages are often intentionally inadvertently funny – and horrifying because of its familiarity. As I read Under The Suns, many times I thought to myself, “That’s exactly how miscommunication happens!” Or, rather, how the ignorant interpret the world. We all move through life with our selfish agendas. When those collide with others’, mayhem and religions are born.

Ches Smith’s has written a science fiction religious satire reminiscent of works such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams or anything by Terry Pratchett, but with a lot more bite (and blood and gore and religious fervor I thought got left behind in the 1300’s). While this story is not for everyone, its well-paced plot and many instances of humor will find fans around the globe and maybe even on Akigol. I recommend this book to anyone who might be getting a little annoyed right now with all the holiday music invading our public spaces.

N.E. White, November 2014.