''Death into Life'' is a 1946 novel by British writer

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) – known as Olaf Stapledon – was a British philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures ...

.Stapledon, Olaf
In ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' (4th edn) (12 September 2022) Not strictly

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

(the genre into which Stapledon's works are usually classified), the novel is described as "an imaginative treatment of the problem of survival after death". It deals primarily with the soul of a

rear gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or auto ...

who is killed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and who finds himself surviving his apparent death - first as part of a spirit bomber-crew, then as part of the spirits who were killed in the battle, and so on until finally his soul becomes part of a 'cosmical spirit'. The book was the second to last work of Stapledon's fiction to be published during the author's lifetime.

References

1946 British novels 1946 speculative fiction novels British philosophical novels Novels set during World War II Novels by Olaf Stapledon Methuen Publishing books {{1940s-WWII-novel-stub