Tales From The Vatican Vaults

Edited by David V. Barrett

Unfortunately Tales From The Vatican Vaults is not available in the U.S.. But you can order it from the links below!! To get the paperback order from The E-Book is currently not available to U.S. customers.	Category: SciFi-Fantasy-Alternative History	Publisher: Robinson	ISBN-10: 1472111656
	Pages: 576	Copyright: August 6, 2015	ISBN-13: 978-1472111654
	*28 science fiction and fantasy stories based on an extraordinary alternative history.*
	About the book A compelling collection of original stories based on a startling alternate world premise: Pope John Paul I did not die a month after his succession in 1978, but lived on for more than 30 years, becoming the most reforming pope of all time. In addition to relaxing the rules on birth control and priestly celibacy, he throws open the most secret archives of the Vatican Library, containing documents suppressed and hidden away for years . . . These accounts, hitherto fiercely guarded, shed shocking new light on the history of the world. If true, much of what has been commonly accepted about the past will have to be radically rewritten. The documents expose not just the undercover involvement of the Catholic Church in world affairs, but provide detailed accounts of what really happened in disputed historical events and reveal the true lives of saints and popes and a world of miracles, magic and alien encounters. This anthology includes the short story by KristaLyn Amber called "The Will".
	Excerpt of "The Will" God has a plan for all of us. Is that not what they say? I was certainly not of that opinion when the book found its way to me. I was young. Too young to understand much of the world, but old enough to know that there was no God in the Great War, at least none that I could see. Between the years of 1914 and 1918, war had come to Hooge too many times for me to believe that it would ever leave us, and now it had come again. It was November in Belgium, I was thirteen, and our home had already become a memorial to what we all had thought would be the War to End All Wars. If only, yes? The battles had taken much from my family, because they had taken much of my family – cousins, grandparents and my father earlier that same year. Having lost my mother years before to an illness, I had resigned myself when I heard the thunder return that, this time, I would follow them. Not by choice, but by inevitability. To be fair, this mentality did help to numb the fear. I was completely indifferent as I watched from the window of the church that we always took shelter in. Bullets flew, soldiers cried out to a maker whom I had not witnessed the mercy of in years, and I watched, feeling only just enough interest to continue taking in the absurdity of it all. What was the point, these men from so many nations shooting and shouting? Half of them could not hope to know what the others were saying, though I imagine the words were not so different in meaning. And all this simply because no one would be the first to say, ‘No more’. It was the mindless plight of fools, in my opinion, and I had no respect for it. The priest of the church tugged on my shoulder, telling me it was urgent that I keep away from the windows, but I did not agree. He left me to fate when my younger sister began crying. Save the ones you still can, Father, I had thought to myself. Take care of her. This world is done with me, and I am certainly done with it. A particularly loud shot brought me to attention, and I settled my eyes to the street where I saw a man stumbling away from the fighting. Normally, I would not have blamed the man for choosing to desert the fight, but he displayed no signs of running from anything, rather he seemed to be seeking something out. And then his eyes settled upon me. I nearly ducked away but I remembered that I did not care if he took my life, so I remained. The man squinted at me and then looked down to consult the pages of a thin book in the palm of his hand. Then he looked at me in an entirely new way. It seemed he had found what he was looking for, and I wondered if God was real and was personally attending to my decision to forgo life. Suddenly I was nervous.
	Reviews Tales from the Vatican Vaults, edited by David V Barrett (Robinson, £9.99), must feature the most bizarrely obscure concept for a collection of alternative history short stories ever devised. The idea is that Pope John Paul I didn’t die suddenly after a month in office, but survived to become a radical reformer. His greatest anti-establishment act was opening the notorious secret archives of the Vatican to historians — and this volume presents a selection of the aliens, time-travellers and magicians hidden within. Bizarre or not, it’s a fascinating anthology of Forteana. Not one of the 28 stories is a dud and several are excellent. --- Mat Coward, The Morning Star U.K. 4/5* Simple premise; ask a couple of dozen fine sci-fi and fantasy writers to imagine that the Pope didn’t die in 1978 but became a great reformer, opening the Vatican’s vaults and revealing all their secrets. What would they find? In this hefty book the stories behind these miracles are told, real lives of saints are exposed, we meet aliens, angels and more. Imaginations run wild here. ---Weekend Sport U.K.