This story brings several things together: war, love, religion and much more! I am discussing about The Seventh Circle, a science fantasy book written by Mike Dixon. There are also several levels in the story, or rather, realms, different worlds that can be reached trough twelve circles. Each circle embodies a different state of the soul. In the book, hence, two friends, Tom and Alison, undertake a fabulous journey among several levels of the Universe.
But who is Tom? The latter is a sort of scientist who is conducting experiments by tying wires on the head of cats! Alison is the curious daughter of best Tom’s friends. During a night of the full moon, both of them find themselves catapulted in a strange realm where a princess, Adrina, and her mother, the Goddess, look for the help of a warrior master. Just appointed to this role, Tom becomes the Sky Warrior or the war master. He, in turn, in his previous life, fought as a war veteran and taught martial arts.
The realm of Adrina and her mother, indeed, is a sort of hell disguised as a heaven, where religion and war are closely merged. The war is fought against cruel Morgon, also known as the Head Master, who punishes his enemies by cutting their heads. The heads have a certain power in this realm, they allow the soul light to enter into another body. This phenomenon represents a sort of rebirth.
I saw a subtle metaphor of reincarnation in this plot, but also another meaning, the cut of the heads resembles the cruel ritual of the ISIS warriors, while another ritual, used in the realm to underscore the ceremony of rebirth chosen for Tom, looks like a metaphor of sex, the girl forming the court of the Goddess are naked and Tom, appointed as Sky Warrior, must enter into the mouth of a female deity to prove his capability to fight and defeat the enemies of the same Goddess. Many blood runs with this story, but also sexual passion, such as the one between Alison and Fury, another character of the story who falls in love with this girl and gets her pregnant.
Said like this, the story seems much confused and misleading but in reality it is a subtle metaphor about war and religion and hence about the religious wars that are bathing blood our world. In the book, some rituals also recall the real catholic rituals about the sacraments and Ascension of Jesus, but here, the meaning is capsized: on the earth, religion is to save the soul. In the realm of the Seventh Circle, it is to start a cruel and creepy war. But, is the meaning of the religion really reversed in this fantasy tale? Or maybe war and religion are also closely joined in our planet?
Surely, the book launches a warning that only a careful reader can catch! Namely: when religion is used to mask any kind of violence, the result is always war or the rise of a fearsome fundamentalism. This stuff has nothing to do with the true religion. At this point, I can say this work left me with an urgent doubt, or rather, a question. What is better: the world of the Seventh Circle or ours? The potential answer could be found through the sequel of the book. Style of writing, suspense and detailed descriptions about hooded women and men dressed with cloaks suggest, indeed, a probable sequel.
Rosalba Mancuso is the journalist, born in Sicily, who founded three online magazines in English. On Advicebooks Book Reviews, Rosalba shows her great passion for books, helping readers and book lovers choose and buy the best books she read and reviewed. She also worked as a contributor to print and online magazines and as a bilingual Italian-English writer. Here, Rosalba also offers room to authors and publishers who want to get their books reviewed through the voice of an avid reader like her. You must also know that this book review magazine lives thanks to your help. Rosalba, in fact, earns a small commission, with no cost for you, when you buy books through the affiliate links you find in her book reviews. This book review magazine is also funded by services of editorial reviews and book press releases.
