Did you ever notice that, at the end of Lewis’s last Narnia book, The Last Battle, the “good guys” disappear into the stable and that’s the end of the story. At least from the perspective of Narnia itself, there is no final redemption of the world, no great victory over deception. What if an “end-times” novel took seriously this possibility of deception and the perspective that, in the end, the Christians lose?
The Rapture of Michael Pryor (TROMP)is an end-times novel that considers the deception of religion itself, the possibility that in an age of “spirituality,” religious peace of mind is itself the temptation to conformity. Trying to adopt writing styles of introspection a reader finds in Charles Williams’s novels or the “romance” books of George MacDonald, TROMP follows the spiritual questioning and uncertainty of those who are willing to be unhappy. It poses ultimately the suggestion that we must learn to want more than we want, even if what we want is the peace we hope to find in the presence of God.
Michael Pryor is an intelligent, atheistic investigative reporter whose impatience with pleasant self-deceptions makes him suspicious of all religion. His brother, Daniel, is a Christian who struggles with the fact that God often denies us truly good and beautiful blessings. Marta Sanchez is a classically trained, philosophical believer who experiences both the wonder of truth and the sorrow of loneliness. We follow their questions and concerns in a not-too-futuristic world where scientist and spiritual master Dr. Richard Gesar has created a way to create spiritual experiences that lead to peace of mind and peace on earth.
The Rapture of Michael Pryor is forthcoming from Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf & Stock.