Okay, this was all very good and charming and then “Hell Is the Absence of God” absolutely floored me.

The line “And God sent him to Hell anyway” was such a wonderful breakage of the rules of this world. It is the one time I have seen rules established and broken in a way that doesn’t leave me feeling cheated. Cannot emphasize enough the effect of that line, which is, in my opinion, the best in the entire collection.

“Story of Your Life” is also really great, though I’ve heard a lot about it. It was super hyped up and it wasn’t surprising when it was good.

All of these are stories of religion and science and the intersection of the two. Most of it uses science to give credibility to religious tales in a speculative fashion, though “Hell Is the Absence of God” is fun, outright satire, making natural disasters and medical anomalies of angels. Different tone, same idea. The stories can get a little heavy on the world-building—I found it hard to follow at points—but it tends to come together.