Synopsis of Heaven’s Ant Farm

Here’s a summary of what’s going on in my SciFi novel Heaven’s Ant Farm.

Three thousand years after the Holy Nuclear War nearly destroyed it, Heaven is a sunny and warm place, a place free and open to all. A place where devotion to science and technology has dethroned religion. It’s a place governed by just six rules. And the most important of these laws is the Sixth Rule of Life—thou shalt not interfere in other people’s lives. Thanks to its Great Scientific Universities, Heaven enjoys unlimited clean energy; can produce any desired thing; and explore the galaxy at warp speeds.

But even though most have sworn off religion, not everyone has forsaken their god.

Inside one of the Great Scientific University of Heaven laboratories, we find PROFESSOR YAHWEH TABBRIS, a short, rumpled and stormy physics professor busy at work. He’s interrupted by PROFESSOR LUCIFER DEVILLE, a tall and immaculately dressed man. Immediately, the two argue over the virtues of religion and science. Yahweh believes that science, along with the Loving Free Will Gene—a byproduct of the Holy Nuclear War that’s believed to predispose humans to make more benevolent decisions—has given Heaven peace and prosperity. But Lucifer, the evangelical leader of a resurgent religious movement, believes that only Korbibtor, his god, lord, and savior, is responsible for Heaven’s good fortune and that the Loving Free Will Gene is just a fallacy—“something whipped up in the lab.”

To Yahweh’s chagrin, Lucifer always seems to have the upper hand and he uses it to browbeat, threaten and even temp Yahweh into religious submission. Nevertheless, Yahweh withstands Lucifer’s pressure thanks to a telepathic connection to GWENDOLYN his wife.   It’s an almost magical connection that Yahweh can’t explain but always seeks out.

The quarrel between Yahweh and Lucifer intensifies when an accident in a massive matter-antimatter factory creates a parallel universe where time flows erratically and thousands of times faster than the flow of time in Heaven’s universe. Among the millions of discovered stars and planets, two hold Yahweh’s interest—Gehenna, a hellish place with bubbling volcanos, flying dragons, and arid lands; and Earth, a pearly, blue-green planet much like Heaven.

To prove that the Loving Free Will Gene has helped humankind in Heaven, Yahweh persuades his fellow scientists to implant the same genetic material in animals on Earth that are destined to become humans. “Let’s make them in our own image,” he tells them. But fearful that it might be beneficial and diminish the importance of his religion, Lucifer secretly prevents the Loving Free Will Gene from being placed on Earth. Shame fills Yahweh’s heart as he observes the results—predatory and warlike man-apes on Earth.

Things go from bad to worse when Heaven’s high court, horrified with what has happened, charges Lucifer with treason. But Lucifer escapes to Earth during a gun battle that kills Yahweh’s wife, Gwendolyn and child. So a guilt-ridden and now angry Yahweh decides to lead an Earth mission to banish Lucifer to Gehenna and help the emerging human race.

As he hunts down Lucifer, Yahweh must navigate the conundrums behind the Sixth Rule of Life and relive the very reasons why Heaven renounced religion. Along the way, a villager saves his life, and he confronts Eve and Adam who, incited by Lucifer, have committed mass murder to take control of their village.

While Yahweh will get help from fellow scientist friends, they can’t replace the telepathic calming Gwendolyn once gave him. Now without her comforting presence, Yahweh’s fury is released in ways that creates even more challenges as he tries to fix the problems on Earth.

Yahweh finally sends Lucifer on a fiery trip to Gehenna and receives a hero’s welcome back in Heaven. Still concerned over Lucifer’s continued effect on Earth, Yahweh monitors snippets of that planet’s history through accelerated time and finds a group of samaritan villagers untouched by Lucifer’s influence. So, Yahweh sets in motion his plan to show these “chosen people” Heaven’s peaceful ways.

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Feel free the read the other posting in this blog that provide the backdrop, character motivation and science behind Heaven’s Ant Farm.  Also feel free to click the follow button on this page to read more musings that inspired Heaven’s Ant Farm.  Thanks!