AudioBook Review: Heaven

Heaven

By:  Mur Lafferty

Publish Date:  2006

Format:  Podiobook

Genre:  Fantasy

Series: 1st of The Afterlife series

Recommendation:  Oh yes. Quick listen with an interesting adventure in Heaven.

Synopsis:
Is perfection really an attainable goal? After their deaths, best friends Kate and Daniel learn that perfection is, well, boring.
Heaven is not their cup of tea, so to speak, so they leave and begin visiting the afterlives of other religions, other times, even other species. But turmoil keeps churning back on earth, and the friends discover secrets between themselves, and secrets about the world they left, and they begin to wonder if their wandering wasn't aimless after all, but part of a much bigger design.

Heaven is the first book in the epic Afterlife Series that began as a free podcast and remains one of the top five most downloaded podcast books. It will be followed by Hell, Earth, Wasteland, and War.

First Sentence:
My best friend Daniel and I died when we were twenty-four.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles

Listen For Free:
PodioBooks  /  iTunes

*I listened to this story for my own enjoyment.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Kate and Daniel, best friends and roommates, come to an untimely end. They wake to find themselves in their Heaven, with what they most want. But when they start to question things they see more. Needing more God gives them a pass to travel the different Heavens. As travelers they come across different settings, and learn more than they expected. Yet, there is more behind the driving force of their journey. A mission.

We have two main characters, Kate and Daniel. They are the best of friends, and have been so for years. We start with seeing things through Kate's eyes. Getting to know her well. I like the questions she asks of Heaven and the illusions she feels here. Then about half way we get Daniel's view and journey. There is a reason for this, you have to listen so you get the affect. The things that drive Daniel to do what he does. Who he thinks of and why. It's interesting how the story comes to light as we go. As Kate's is a more lighthearted fun, Daniel has a bit of a different journey. He goes through some trials and tribulations to fulfill his assigned mission. Both have their stories to tell, and story to live out in the afterlife.

What they see in the different Heavens we visit. LOL! Oh my. We see different Gods and worlds. We also get to visit a dog heaven. Yes, dogs do go to heaven. And the fun humor Mur is so great at seeps through the journey. It's fun, yet as we go we learn there is more to the journey than meets the eye.

There is much, MUCH, more happening here than a simple journey. In the shortest episode we learn much that is a huge pivot point in the book. Interesting. Souls are going missing and mission bestowed upon Daniel is more than he knows. Maybe a way of putting things into order, after the chaos? We have to keep going to find out. Once I hit this episode, a little bit past half way, I was hooked. As much as I enjoyed the fun, the drop of what was happening cinched it for me. I will be following through this series to learn what is going on.

This is a fun glimpse at different thoughts of Heaven. This is a neat journey through Heaven. There are different thoughts conveyed and even through what Kate and Daniel go through. You'll feel the touches of Religion, but in no way feel as you are swayed to any specific aspect.

Mur does make me smile with her characters comments and happenings, even when things seem to get a bit dire.

I'm on to the next stories in this series. I want to see if Kate and Daniel can complete their next mission, to find the missing souls. And what Mur has in store for us in other aspects of the world she's created.