''Inside / Outside'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American writer

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...

. Originally released in 1964, the novel explores the question of what happens before souls inhabit human bodies, and how they are created.

Plot summary

Jack Cull (a pun on the word "

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

") finds himself in a bizarre location called "

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

". A huge sphere with a

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

in the center, Hell's population consists of deceased humans and

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s; the humans have the same mind and body as when they died, there is no disease or famine, and deaths are reversed within hours.

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s are frequent occurrences. Humans have taken control of Hell, and they have replaced the traditional inscription (as imagined by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

), "Abandon all hope..." (written in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

) with a new one: "Do not abandon hope" (written in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

). Cull goes to his workplace, and hears that the mysterious "X", an analogue of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, has been killed by an unruly mob. Along with Phyllis and Fyodor, based on

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

, Jack investigates his death. Travelling into a sewer, they find out that "Hell" is in fact a massive spacecraft, controlled by hyper-moral, ultra-powerful alien beings with the means of capturing many if not most of the souls they come upon, incorporating them in immortal bodies (provided they are fed regularly). However, the capturing of souls is an imperfect process, and many souls are lost to the void. Although the bodies are more or less immortal, there comes a time when the aliens destroy them when they feel the souls have progressed to an acceptable level. Even then, not all of the bodies are destroyed, and some continue on with the spaceship as it travels about the galaxy.

Music

Inside / Outside is the inspiration for Kevin Healey's song, "Automatic Prophet" (lyrics by Charlie Weber).

References

External links

*
''Inside Outside''
at Farmer's official website.

at Farmer's official website. Novels by Philip José Farmer 1964 American novels American fantasy novels Ballantine Books books {{1960s-fantasy-novel-stub