Review: Enok and the Womb of Gods by A. SkoroBogáty

In the richly woven fantasy, Enok and the Womb of Gods by A. SkoroBogáty, a character named Enok living in a pre-Creation time will make discoveries that presage Biblical events.

The story begins at the isolated home of Eyda, now in her four hundred and eighty-seventh year, having given birth to thirty-eight children. On this day she is surprised by a visit from Sess, her youngest. On a trading boat he has brought a large figurine. To her horror, Eyda sees it is a miniature statute of the goddess-god who condemned her to death as a burnt offering, a fate she managed to escape in her long-ago youth. As her large extended family gathers, she realizes it’s time for her to relate the family history, beginning with Enok, their father and her departed spouse.

Her tale begins with Enok being held slave to mysterious, serpentine creatures called Zmees. His duties are not onerous; with one Zmee he gazes at the stars through her invented spyglass. But he believes that the stars are “heralds of the ages of grace yet to come,” whereas to the Zmee, there is no “design” in the heavens. This simple disparity hints at Enok’s coming role in the evolution of a new earth.

In the apochryphal biblical book on which, to some extent, SkoroBogáty has based his fantasy, Enoch was a self-described descendant of Adam and father of Methuselah. Though the Book of Enoch was removed from the standard Bible, Enoch is mentioned elsewhere in accepted scripture. He is said to have lived righteously and did not die, but was taken up by God. In this tale, he demonstrates early signs of his superior character.

In a key episode conceived artfully by the author, Enok has a waking dream in which, on a hidden island, he encounters an avataric, bearded figure who appears both powerful and humble. As Enok watches in awe, the avatar creates a man out of mud and breathes life into him, a clear foresight of future happenings in the Garden of Eden. Later Enok will remember this vision and breathe life into a dying companion.

SkoroBogáty, a world traveler whose interests span science and theology, has created this fascinating fable as the first in a series “indulging antediluvian myth.” His writing is notable for his accurate, fluid use of language and his inventive construction of meta-languages conveying, among other details, the genderlessness of certain characters. Basing much of Enok’s saga on pre-Biblical lore, SkoroBogáty has assembled a vast cast of distinctive beings, giving them and their species unusual names, so that readers may feel at times overwhelmed, though the engaging action scenes nicely reset the pace.

In a unique aid to his audience, he has devised a scheme of denoting different segments of the narrative to allow for “abridged reading” – skipping certain portions of the whole. His work will appeal to fantasy lovers and as much, one suspects, to those who respect the Bible, but may have speculated about a pre-Biblical timeframe that SkoroBogáty has so vividly fashioned.