Roland Hesmondhalgh transforms one of literature’s most recognizable visions of Hell into the setting for a bold fantasy expedition. Tracing Inferno: A Myrmecoleon Novel combines military duty, supernatural peril, and philosophical inquiry. Its pages promise a demanding adventure where every discovery carries consequences.
A Doorway Into Darkness
The Myrmecoleon is dead, yet those who control Endeavor require undeniable evidence. Memories of the man still linger, and his influence remains visible across the world. Certainty rests inside a sealed parcel containing something too terrible to describe. Even Heaven and Hell require proof of death, and Endeavor has been entrusted with providing it.
Corporal Zambrano receives the responsibility of carrying it.
As a young agnostic in Endeavor’s military, Zambrano hardly seems prepared for a mission involving divine judgment and eternal punishment. He’s awakened without warning and ordered to deliver the mysterious box to the lowest depths of Hell. He must go alone. The parcel’s locks and sigils suggest immense danger, while its hidden contents provide absolute proof that the Myrmecoleon has died.
The route takes him through all nine circles of Hell, a place capable of frightening even Angels. Zambrano encounters suffering shades, creatures drawn from mythology, and imposing forces charged with maintaining order in the afterlife. These meetings create explosive conflicts and steadily challenge his beliefs.
Questions emerge as the journey deepens. Zambrano begins examining who possesses power, why suffering exists, and how the human spirit survives experiences designed to break it. Hell contains answers he’d never considered seeking. Each answer twists beneath smoke, ash, and ancient law, leaving him to decide whether certain truths should ever reach the living world.
One question follows every step: how does God determine what truly counts as sin?
A Carefully Engineered Fantasy Epic
Tracing Inferno contains more than 181,000 words and spans 635 pages in its standard 5-by-8-inch edition. Its considerable size gives Roland space to develop a sweeping adventure filled with symbolism, conflict, humor, and layered characters. Readers can interpret events in different ways while enjoying a strong current of action.
Roland’s studies in mythology played an essential role in shaping the setting. His version of Hell follows the structure established by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy with remarkable care. Before the novel’s publication, Roland sent selected excerpts to a Harvard scholar who teaches courses on Dante. The scholar reviewed the material for accuracy and offered an endorsement.
This research gives the fantasy world a convincing classical foundation. It also introduces readers to important elements of historic literature through an engaging story. Lessons arrive through confrontations, landscapes, and character choices, creating an underhanded kind of education that feels entertaining.
Artwork adds another dimension to the experience. Every circle of Hell has a corresponding sketch, and each of the three rings within the Seventh Circle receives one as well. The illustrations provide visual markers as Zambrano moves farther from familiar reality.
The chapter arrangement strengthens the suspense. Odd-numbered chapters take place after the main journey, when Zambrano faces an interrogation about his actions and discoveries. Even-numbered chapters deliver his direct account of what occurred in Hell. Moving between testimony and experience creates a measured pace, giving readers a chance to breathe after especially intense scenes.
Although the novel can be enjoyed independently, it occupies the same literary universe as Roland’s ongoing science fiction and fantasy series, The Myrmecoleon. Both are available on Amazon. The unusual name comes from a medieval bestiary and translates from Greek as “ant-lion.” Traditionally portrayed as an early Christian yin-yang creature, the Myrmecoleon reflects the series’ fascination with dichotomy and conflict between opposite extremes.
About the Author
Roland spent much of his youth moving among military bases in America and overseas as his family accompanied his father on different postings. Life across international locations helped develop his awareness of people, environments, and cultural detail.
His professional background includes journalism for national outlets, broadcast media, and commercial clients. He earned a B.S. in Multiplatform Journalism from the Florida Institute of Technology and an M.P.S. in Communications and Journalism from Georgetown University. He later completed an M.A. in Creative Writing at Harvard University.
Classically trained and self-taught across several formats, Roland calls himself a trained writer, inherent dreamer, and repentant journalist. His brimstone-laced style carries the influence of that varied education. He writes speculative fiction, contemporary stories, and nonfiction, allowing characters to guide each narrative beyond predictable boundaries.
Roland currently lives in Tokyo, Japan. When he’s away from his writing, he continues a valiant struggle against what he jokingly describes as a crippling hirekatsu addiction.
Beyond the Final Circle
Tracing Inferno gives fantasy readers a richly researched world, a tense military mission, and ideas that continue unfolding after the action ends. Zambrano’s passage encourages reflection on guilt, faith, authority, and endurance. For anyone ready to enter a familiar Hell through unfamiliar eyes, this substantial epic offers plenty to uncover.
