Peck has published many scientific articles on ecology and ecological simulations in his work as a professor of biology at BYU. The topics of his literary works include evolution and religion.
Terryl Givens stated that Peck's work is "full of theological and metaphysical insight and probing". In a book review of
Wandering Realities published in
BYU Studies, Scott R. Parkin described Peck as maybe "the most important Mormon fiction writer producing today." He wrote that Peck's works are by people who identify with Mormonism to the extent that they no longer question their own identity as a Mormon, and react to conflict based on that identity. Doug Gibson at the
Standard Examiner wrote that a hell that contains an "eternity of the mundane" was a "pretty effective hell." Derek Lee at
Rational Faiths wrote that the novella encouraged reflection on the nature of the afterlife and what living forever would mean. The short story collection
Wandering Realities (2015) contains stories set on other worlds and this one, and many are "just plain weird" featuring "odd characters driven by peculiar demons, with each tale told in a different voice and structured in a unique way," as described by reviewer Scott R. Parkin in
BYU Studies. In a summary of Peck's book,
Evolving Faith (2015), Michael Austin wrote: "Because all knowledge incorporates subjective assumptions, both religion and science require an element of faith." Literal interpretations of scripture cheat "both religion, by ignoring what the author of the text was really trying to tell us, and science, by setting up unnecessary oppositions between important religious principles and easily testable facts." At
By Common Consent, Steve Evans said the book was "not for beginners" and uses terminology that is difficult to understand, and that the two parts of the book were not well-connected. In conceiving the main character for
Gilda Trillum (2017), Peck wrote vignettes for a fictional main character and her relationship with writing and the Association of Mormon Letters. Several readers believed her to be real. Peck stated that he enjoys mixing fictional references with real ones in his fiction. Rachel Kirkwood, writing in
Dialogue felt that the various narrative fragments did not achieve the "characterization and depth for which the book seems to reach", but acknowledged that "the insufficiency of the fragments has its own charm." In another
Dialogue review, Shane R. Peterson wrote that the book's strength is in its meditations on Mormon theology, and that its weakness was its presentation through the frame story of another character's dissertation, which gave Gilda a "strange distance" from the reader.
The Tragedy of King Leere, Goatherd of the La Sals (2019) received a starred review in
Publishers Weekly, where its setting was described as a "fascinating world of technological solutions to global warming". In
Dialogue, Kylie Nielson Turley noticed how the book was difficult to categorize, wondering if it was better to call it "a modern-day ecological interpretation of the famous Shakespearian familial tragedy" or "a dystopian novel that will haunt the reader with visions of a post-apocalyptic future". She concluded by praising the book as "a well-written and thought-provoking tragedy that can stand solidly on its own."
Awards and honors Peck's novels and short stories have received multiple awards.
The Scholar of Moab won the award for best novel from the AML in 2011, and was a finalist for the Montaigne Medal in 2012. "A Strange Report from the Church Archives" won second place in the
Irreantum fiction contest in 2012. Peck received the
AML award for short fiction for "Two-Dog Dose" in 2014. His non-fiction essay, "Five Wagers on What Intelligent Life Elsewhere in the Universe Will Be Like", received second place from the 2015 analytical laboratory reader's awards.
Gilda Trillum received the 2017 AML award for best novel. In 2021, Peck received the AML Smith-Petit lifetime achievement award. The award citation praised his unusual fiction: "If Peck’s works are medicine, they are strong, strange, and sometimes bitter-tasting. But perhaps this dose is what we need. Peck’s unpredictability confronts both the casual and scholarly readers, both the faithful and faithless, forcing them to question stereotypes, simplistic binaries, and straightforward reversals." ==Views==