They’re cute, cuddly, and otherwise adorable, and if everybody you knew, and everybody you also didn’t know, was a rabbit person instead of a people person, well, that would just be about right, wouldn’t it? No more wars or even arguments; just hugs and friendship forever.

Of course, that’s just a fantasy; anybody who has read Richard Adams’ well researched, though still fantasy, “Watership Down” knows that rabbits are just as capable of committing atrocities on each other as humans are capable of committing atrocities on other humans. But rabbits as peaceful beings is a hard ideal to kill; Phil Geusz’s “The Book of Lapism” posits a near future where a few people have taken this ideal and applied it to themselves, becoming Rabbits as an act of what can best be described as a religious experience.

The book is actually a collection of four short novellas; “Drama Class” tells the story of Blueberry, grandson of the founder of Lapism, and his travails as a high school senior as a Lapist. “Full Immersion” tells the story of Bluegrass, a young man gengineered into a Rabbit to star in a rundown tourist attraction, despite not strictly belonging to the faith at the time. This story serves as a sequel to “Drama Class,” as it features Blueberry’s younger brother, Digger, in an important role.

The final two stories, “Schism” and “In the Beginning” detail the history of the Lapist religion more fully; the stories are presented out of in story chronological order. They are presented in the order they were written. Some readers may prefer the chronological approach, but the information presented in the last two stories flows better in the way they are presented.

“The Book of Lapism” is a rare science fiction work that deals with religion in a direct way; it is about a religion that can only exist in the future. Scientists have found a way to “gengineer” people into the form of animals; the first story clarifies that this has mostly been outlawed, as gengineering people often brings out inappropriate animal side effects. However, Lapists are still allowed to change into Rabbits, because it is essentially a part of their religion.

In this way, Geusz sidesteps a lot of questions that pop up in any story in which science is used to explain talking animal characters. Why turn people into animals? Because Lapists believe it will make them better people. Lapists also believe being a rabbit makes them more peaceful; there is really no proof one way or another that rabbits are actually more peaceful, but Lapists believe it to be so. They take it on faith; perhaps their faith is based on a little more science than other faiths, but not much.

Lapist characters narrate most of the stories that make up the “First Book of Lapism.” They claim that being a Rabbit does make them more peaceful, or at least less aggressive. But many characters also point out that in becoming a Rabbit, they become a living symbol of their faith. Other people know that they are trying to become better people. As one character puts it, becoming a Rabbit is like wearing a clerical collar that can never come off; people expect a Rabbit to act differently. So, Rabbits have a further reason to strive for their ideals.

Though the Lapist religion was invented by Geusz as more a means to a storytelling end, a simple way to have a future full of talking rabbits with a more or less plausible explanation, it allows him to tackle the issue of what purpose religion serves in human society. Lapists do not worship a “bunny God;” nor is Lapism really concerned with a possible afterlife. Lapists are more concerned with becoming the best possible person (or Rabbit) they can be in this life.

How various characters live up to this (or occasionally fall short of) the ideal of the Rabbit is the driving drama of the stories. This is not the hardest of hard science fiction, but it does have an interesting take on the little explored area of possible future religions, which makes it a worthwhile read in and of itself.

Highly recommended for science fiction fans with an interest in religion, as well as, of course, fans of talking animal stories, especially rabbit fans. Even if you do not fit those two above descriptions, the stories also serve as more than adequate examples of just plain stories, as well.