Q. By Luther Blisset. Translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside. New York: Harcourt, 2004. xi and 750 pages. Cloth. $26.00.

A laborious historical fiction about Europe's more obscure sixteenth-century religious and political power struggles ... sounds like a gas, right? It is. Q's

Two nameless antagonists find themselves the only survivors of a long war for European bodies and souls. From Muentzer's Peasant Wars to the inner intrigues of papal politics, these men do the dirty work of establishing the kingdom of God on earth, learning that one either embraces the struggle or gets swept away. That one of them goes by the name "Q"--for Qohelet [the author of Ecclesiastes]--inspires one to wonder how much of the grand endeavor is simply vanity.

As social commentary, Q does not descend into allegory. The reader does not need to impose current events into a bygone era; rather, our questions today automatically insert themselves into the story. Is firm faith a blessed virtue or a catalyst for fanaticism? For what would we die? or kill? At what point do we open negotiations on our souls? Q, like Ecclesiastes, asks us to consider what is worthwhile and just about our own living.

A warning: Q is R rated. Where The DaVinci Code excited audiences through little peeks of the scandalous, Q offers a full frontal view of all that is beautiful and hideous about our humanity. It is The DaVinci Code for connoisseurs of moral chaos.

Martin J. Lohrmann

Epiphany Lutheran Church

Toledo, Ohio