Deus Irae is a post-apocalyptic sf novel by Philip K. Dick & Roger Zelazny. Deus irae means God of wrath in Latin. The name is a play on Dies Irae, meaning Day of Wrath or Judgment Day. This novel is based on Dick's short story The Great C. He began the book but realized he didn't know enough about Xianity to finish. He asked Ted White to collaborate on it with him, but White never got started. Zelazny discovered the ms in White's home in early '68, read it, contacted Dick & agreed to work on it with him. Work proceeded sporadically as each author forgot about it in turn (& Zelazny's cat urinated on the original ms). But they finished it quickly in the spring of '75 when the publisher demanded the ms or repayment of an advance paid to Dick. The editor discovered Zelazny had sent photocopies of some pages & demanded the originals as per Doubleday's policy; much to Zelazny's chagrin, he had to send in the urine-stained pages & he always wondered what editors made of them. In the years following WWIII, a new powerful faith has arisen from a scorched & poisoned Earth, a faith that embraces the architect of world wide devastation. The Servants of Wrath have deified Carlton Lufteufel & re-christened him the Deus Irae. In the small community of Charlottesville, UT, Tibor McMasters, born without arms or legs, has, thru an array of prostheses, established a far-reaching reputation as an inspired painter. When the new church commissions a grand mural depicting the Deus Irae, it falls upon Tibor to make a treacherous journey to find the man, to find the god & capture his terrible visage for posterity.
Description:
Deus Irae is a post-apocalyptic sf novel by Philip K. Dick & Roger Zelazny. Deus irae means God of wrath in Latin. The name is a play on Dies Irae, meaning Day of Wrath or Judgment Day. This novel is based on Dick's short story The Great C. He began the book but realized he didn't know enough about Xianity to finish. He asked Ted White to collaborate on it with him, but White never got started. Zelazny discovered the ms in White's home in early '68, read it, contacted Dick & agreed to work on it with him. Work proceeded sporadically as each author forgot about it in turn (& Zelazny's cat urinated on the original ms). But they finished it quickly in the spring of '75 when the publisher demanded the ms or repayment of an advance paid to Dick. The editor discovered Zelazny had sent photocopies of some pages & demanded the originals as per Doubleday's policy; much to Zelazny's chagrin, he had to send in the urine-stained pages & he always wondered what editors made of them. In the years following WWIII, a new powerful faith has arisen from a scorched & poisoned Earth, a faith that embraces the architect of world wide devastation. The Servants of Wrath have deified Carlton Lufteufel & re-christened him the Deus Irae. In the small community of Charlottesville, UT, Tibor McMasters, born without arms or legs, has, thru an array of prostheses, established a far-reaching reputation as an inspired painter. When the new church commissions a grand mural depicting the Deus Irae, it falls upon Tibor to make a treacherous journey to find the man, to find the god & capture his terrible visage for posterity.