"An original fantasy"
One by one five humans from Earth are taken naked to a
deserted beach and it is only as each one regains their
wits that they realize they have died and gone to Heaven.
However, Heaven is not the place of their dreams but a
battle zone where demons are in control and pockets of
angel resist trying to stem the tide of defeat. Nowhere
in the realm is the Creator and the demon armies are very
well organized making slaves out of humans. The five humans find an underground tunnel that will take
them into the woods near Cibola, the citadel of angels,
now run by varying demon armies. While in the tunnels
they find perisceptors, weapons of light that can kill the
demons but only one of the humans can wield that weapon
with skill. When the angels see perisceptors they begin
to believe that the humans are part of the prophecy that
will restore the true order in the Heavens. The angels resent the humans and blame them for the
present situation. This is not a typical good vs. evil
work of speculative fiction but a case of wishing for the
lesser evil is to triumph and win the war. The five
humans all have a specific role to play and are the true
stars of THE SHIVERED SKY because they are willing to
fight for the light no matter how much they are hated and
reviled. The demons will remind readers of the enemy in
wartime. Matt Dinniman is one hell of, make that
heavenly, fantastic storyteller. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted October 18, 2003
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Cibola, city of the angels, grand metropolis of Heaven. But
now this once-fine city is overrun with demons, destroying
the beautiful structures, worshipping their cruel gods, and
indulging in their desire for human slaves. Such is the
state of Heaven when five humans arrive on a forgotten
Beacon. For Indigo, Dave, Hitomi, Rico, and Gramm, death is
more dangerous than life. They mistakenly unearth the
periscepters, powerful weapons of legend, sought by angels
and demons alike. With such an incredible discovery, the
surviving angels, hidden underground, fueled by an ancient
prophecy, begin to regain the hope they thought was forever
lost. But the demons have their own plans, and another war
in Heaven is brewing, a great storm with the strength of a
thousand choirs and the undeniable power to shiver the sky.
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