by Larry Niven
First published 1976
Allen Carpentier plummets from his apartment window and awakens at hell's entrance. The science fiction writer recognizes his bizarre predicament as prime material for a novel. He decides to map his journey using Dante's classic guide through the underworld. Benito Mussolini becomes his unexpected companion, leading Carpentier deeper into the Nine Layers of Hell. Together they navigate updated versions of eternal punishment designed for modern sins. Carpentier encounters physical torments and psychological trials that challenge everything he thought he knew about damnation. His goal remains fixed on reaching Satan himself, but each layer presents new obstacles and contemporary interpretations of classical punishments. The writer must survive increasingly strange and brutal tests while maintaining his sanity and his mission to document this infernal expedition.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, survival
Setting: Hell
Period: Modern
237 pages · Paperback · Pocket
Content warnings: violence