For my Senior Honors Thesis, I elected to write a young adult fantasy novel that offers a drastically different view of the Biblical creation story. Inspired by the works of Gregory Maguire and Japanese manga, I wanted prove that the young adult genre can contain some works of outstanding quality that challenge the mind.
The novel follows two experimental angels, Mihael and Lucinda, as they search for the meaning of existence in a heaven that is not utopia. Lacking both friendship and love, these two angels find comfort in each other and discover just how powerful such emotions can be and why God does not want his angels to experience them. After being denied the privilege of seeing God’s face, Mihael and Lucinda wander around the upper echelon of heaven and discover a place called Eden. Living at last in a world where they belong, the two angels fall in love and create Earth and its creatures called humans. Their joy is short-lived, however, when a fellow angel discovers them and reports their heinous crimes to the holy triad. As punishment for their sins, Lucinda is to be recycled and Mihael must live for eternity without her. The sentence is too much for Mihael to bear, and in a moment of passion he begins to destroy heaven. Escaping to live on Earth among his creations, Mihael takes the name of Lucifer in honor of his love Lucinda. Through his actions the battle between Heaven and Earth begins with both God and Mihael vowing to kill the other.
This book is the first in a trilogy that I intend to write. It will follow the Bible from the creation story through the Apocalypse.