Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Garden at the Edge of Beyond | 1998 | Michael Phillips | Buy |
| 2 | Hell and Beyond | 2013 | Michael Phillips | Buy |
| 3 | Heaven and Beyond | 2014 | Michael Phillips | Buy |
The Beyond Trilogy is Michael Phillips’s most theologically ambitious fiction project. Spanning from 1998 to 2014, the three books use allegorical storytelling to explore Christian perspectives on the afterlife. The Garden at the Edge of Beyond came first, with Hell and Beyond and Heaven and Beyond following more than a decade later to complete the trilogy.
The series reflects Phillips’s deep engagement with the writings of George MacDonald, whose unorthodox views on universal reconciliation influenced Phillips’s own theological thinking. The books are more philosophical than his historical novels, trading period settings for imaginative landscapes that serve as vehicles for spiritual exploration.