Lucifer Re

About the Book

The protagonist, George Walker, is an astronomer, solitary in his profession and empty as the space between stars. He is trapped on one level of the American dream (similar to Dante's Hell). When his world disintegrates around him—he loses his job, house, and possessions—he goes on vacation. Desperate when his money runs out, he resorts to stealing, with unfortunate consequences: imprisonment and humiliation. He discovers that the universe is not only stranger than he can imagine, but more dangerous than he can tolerate.

Walker fills his loneliness with fantasy. Pursued by blank dreams and the disappointments of everyday life, he comes to identify with the fallen archangel, Lucifer. He sees himself as a child of the sun. He sees other humans as puppets driven by blood, who have profaned everything under the sun. He prods other prisoners with ideas and teases the prison chaplain with his interpretation of the bible.

On his release from prison, Walker is tortured by the cruelty and indifference of humanity. He takes a part-time job and goes back to school. Goaded by pain, his body awakens; goaded by failure, his mind awakens. His violence is a secret life. He educates himself on the human situation, taking, then teaching classes in psychology.

Two sides of his personality struggle: one to lead an ordinary life; the other to pursue the strangeness of change. His encounters with a Coeur d'Alene woman shaman lead to mystical experiences and physical transformation; he can become an eagle, for instance. Dizzied with power, captive to the illusion of action, he sets out to punish those who violate the property of the lord of the earth: Satanists, Idaho nazis, greedy hunters, greedier industrialists, and careless scientists. He identifies himself now with the whole of the nonhuman domain. But, he finds wickedness to be more engrossing than goodness, revenge to be more satisfying than understanding. His power, though, is magic play without consequence or responsibility.

When Walker's violent actions have the opposite effect—increased destruction—he leaves to start over. He turns to religion to change people. Through his own radical church, he renounces violence and tries to persuade. He outlines a new mythology of the earth in his sermons. In spite of the smallness of his successes, he attracts the attention of traditional churches and law enforcement agencies. Catholic priests try to exorcise him. After a violent confrontation with the law, he flees eastward, crippled and powerless.

Walker establishes himself a third time. He learns to be slow and contemplative. Having discovered his identity and its contradiction, he finds reconciliation. He explores the science of light and makes a holographic device for recording movies. He creates wealth. He becomes content to set an example by living well. Through circumstances and friends, though, he is lead to try once more to change people. He seeks a political office to legislate behavior, rather than to force or persuade it.

His platform is based on reason; he proposes rational limits to development and new ways of sharing resources. He identifies with a local place and also with the whole planet. He recovers his power to change into animals, but uses it only for enjoyment. His enemies, officers of the church, state, and system, find him however. During his campaign for office, he participates in a shuttle mission, his placed earned by his work in astronomy and holography. Even there, his enemies hound him into a final mythical confrontation that concludes this cycle.

This novel is a fantasy, extending the themes of good and evil, dream and reality, death and renewal. It unfolds an archetypal quest—for identity, place, and purpose. Like D. H. Lawrence’s novels, this novel is symbolic and moral. It offers a teaching, as well as some entertainment. Like Lucifer, the author is not trying to shock or convert, but like all

About the Author

Marcus Ryan is a self-educated, self-employed naturalist working in Florida. He created his own program of academic and nonacademic courses, then created a unique position to express his interests, which currently include scrub jay habitat restoration and panther trails. He is a principal in a regional ecological design firm, RE-Design. This is his second novel, after The Thesis.