Customer Reviews

Demon

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Demon" is one of those books that seems to have its own soundtrack, as your mind fills with a swirl of dramatic music repeatedly through this book, which is the cinematic equivalent of a great science fiction adventure movie.

Of course, it's not a movie you're likely to see any time soon: Leaving aside the pop culture obsessed alien goddess' obsession with old movies (including something that the owners of the "King Kong" copyright surely wouldn't want shown on the big screen), there's nudity, budget-busting settings and aliens and, the biggest killer of all for adventure movies, lots of smarts in "Demon."

John Varley is clearly having a ball in this third story of the Gaia trilogy, following up "Titan" and "Wizard." Each slowly built in tempo, until in "Demon" it's almost wall-to-wall war with an alien entity INSIDE the same alien entity.

We get believable flawed heroes battling against impossible odds with intelligence and wit and a mind-bending assortment of memorable alien species.

And while the whole trilogy has discussed the thematic issue, it's in "Demon" that the relationship between man and God is really looked at. Some reviewers have thought that Varley's examination of matters of faith in previous novels was the sign of an unreligious or anti-religious author. Apparently, more than two millenia of theological discussions are somehow anti-God for these people. I find Varley's examination of faith in this trilogy, "Steel Beach" and "Millennium" to be bracing and, if anything, to turn my thoughts Heavenward much more than any sappy "Touched by an Angel" story could do. (Of course, I also like Morrow's "Towing Jehovah," so maybe I'm already damned from the get-go.)

I've read far more books over the years than I care to count, but every few years, I dig out my old Science Fiction Book Club copies of Varley's classic trilogy, including the hardback version of "Demon" with the giant naked Marilyn Monroe (!) on the cover and revisit Gaia.

The trilogy is a masterpiece of characterization, setting, plot and theme, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Herbert's "Dune," in my opinion.

A must-read series for fans of science fiction and science fantasy. (And not a bad read for lovers of pop culture, either.)

Strange in the extreme is the conclusion of John Varley's Gaea trilogy. You had better read the other books first or you will probably be too bewildered to get beyond the opening scenes!
The story is worth every page, and Cirrocco Jones is one of my favorite heroes in any fiction. She is flawed but commanding and capable, exceedingly determined, charismatic, inspiring and frightening all at the same time. Very much like Ripley from the Alien movies.
Hordes of familiar characters return, having grown and changed in surprising ways from their last appearance in Wizard or Titan. You will marvel at their differences!
Conflict is the operative word in Demon, as this book finishes the saga in a blaze of glory. Although Gaea has lost some of her charm as a virgin territory, having been overrun with refugees from Earth, Titanides still sing and this time Cirrocco's made them into a force to be reckoned with.
Oh, and Gaea's got a new makeover and an entourage that will send you into paroxysms of laughter. Pandaemonium is brilliant!
Please do yourself a favor, and read all of these books. Demon is just the diamond cap on the golden pyramid.

Demon, the conclusion of the Gaean trilogy, is in my opinion the most satisfying of the three. In the first two books, I frequently got the feeling that Varley had bitten off more than he could chew, character-wise, and so filled in the gap with gratuitous sex scenes and fetishistically detailed descriptions of alien genitalia and reproductive modes. In constrast, Demon confines itself to being an epic adventure and does very well in this role.

Demon is more "stylistic" than the others. It is set up as a triple feature from the pre-cineplex days of motion pictures, broken into pieces like "Newsreel," "Short Subjects," "Feature One," etc... This affectation works well given Demon's subject matter. Gaea's godhood has finally driven her completely insane, and she has decided that all the world should be a film of her devising, that she is the arch-villain, and that it can only end with a hero coming to kill her.

In his descriptions of the insane deity, Varley uses all his considerable resources of imagination and humor. She has taken the incarnate form of a fifty-foot tall Marilyn Monroe and constructed an enormous movie studio / theatre / theme park called Pandemonium, where she and her lieutenants, mostly undead reconstructions of humanity's major religious figures (Martin Luther, Buddha, L. Ron Hubbard), await the coming of a hero and commit various atrocities.

Varley spares none of his imagination in constructing Cirocco's allies for this final conflict, either. The best-constructed of these is Snitch, a small reptilian imp surgically extracted from Cirocco's own brain and a direct link to the mind of Gaea. Many of the characters from the first two novels also return, although in a changed form. For example, Gaby has become a ghost in Gaea's brain, Chris is in the process of turning into a Titanide, and Nasu the anaconda has grown to several kilometers in length.

In short, in the long tradition of epic heroism, Demon places an array of unlikely characters against a self-proclaimed Pure Evil, and in the end, they triumph. It stretches a bit long in places, and many of the inter-character interactions are more than a little thin, but that isn't the point. This is a book about being a hero, and a fairly good one at that.

The final act of the Gaea Trilogy (which never officially got that name, as far as I know) is total action, concerning the revolt led by Demon Cirocco Jones against Gaea, Goddess of Everything and insane Marilyn Monroe fan. Gaea has brought forth legions of her most twisted monsters yet, and dumped her previous "bag-lady" incarnation for an enormous Marilyn replica, mainly so she can duke it out with Cirocco more dramatically - and she wants it all on film. There are zombies, enhanced buzzbombs, armies of hapless humans armed with prop weapons, and one of the greatest duel scenes ever. And of course, there is a Golden Child at the center of the action, a child who may be the Titanides' only hope for a decent future. The assault on Heaven has begun... If you can't understand any of this review, it's because you can't even hope to work this book out without reading the first two first. There isn't as much sex in this book as the others, as almost every paragraph is dedicated to the action. Varley's new "offensive favourite" seems to be dissing religion. Just about every human religion gets a swipe or two. But, unlike some of the other reviewers of this series, I didn't find the trilogy to be anti-God. Quite the opposite - most of his explorations are in the theme "what if God was a really nasty piece of work?". So, if you're a fundamentalist, you might have issues with this book. Otherwise, it's a classic.

All three books (Titan, Wizard, Demon) were fabulous. Without a doubt, one of the best series (or stand alone books) I have ever read. I had pretty much avoided science fiction for over a decade and a half until I read Varley's Steel Beach recently. Because of that book I was curious about what else the author might have written so I tried this series. Wow. The wit, insight and imagination combined with multiple characters that you really care for. And the love between the two main characters transformed this from an adventure to something great. Few characters in literature have been more heroic and tragic than the character of Gaby (my favorite character in the series). My only complaint- I want a fourth book!

this is without doubt one of the most brilliant ideas in SF ever and furthermore, it is excellently written. the world inside the wheel comes completely alive, the characters are brilliantly created and the titanides are the most fascinating and beutifully conceived alien race i have ever encountered. both TITAN and WIZARD are great and should of course be read to get the whole story, but the climax in DEMON is by far John Varleys best writing ever.

Though not quite as good as Wizard, this is a satisfying and pleasing resolution to the story line. Though the conclusion is telegraphed 3/4's through the book if not earlier it still was not disappointing.

This is the most plot driven, character intensive of the three books. Exploration and discovery of Gaea are minimal and thus the wonderment of the previous books is lessened.

The plot is developed naturally from what we knew before, the Hollywood obsessed ancient goddess is losing more of her faculties and needs to be dealt with. A plan is hatched and carried out.

As with Wizard, the beginning sees the introduction of a new character who becomes a major companion of Cirocco as well as the reappearance of some of the original crew for the conclusion of the book.

Like all the best endings, it is merely an ending, not the ending with many questions created and possibilities revealed for the future of Gaea, and the characters.

This and the other two books in the trilogy are my very favorite books "period". I've read all three at least 10 times; I never tire of them in the least although I practically know them by heart at this point. These books are masterpieces without a doubt.

I see other reviewers complain that the writing itself is not that great. As a published author of supernatural horror, sci-fi, Lovecraftian horror (and humor-horror), I'm simply amazed at Varley's talent as demonstrated in these books; he's an excellent writer. If I could write a trilogy like this or even a single novel that's close to being this good, I'd feel I'd accomplished something very, very special, a legacy. As it is, I'm downright envious of Varley for having written these books. I like some of his other work, especially his early tales, but I have trouble relating to his work after this trilogy. It's my intuitive feeling that he put so much love into these books that they are just too good to follow-up with anything as good or better, at least in this genre. His later books are too intensely sci-fi and therefore not as wildly creative, imaginative or endearing as this trilogy.

There's no point in providing a synopsis here as other reviewers have already done so, thus my focus is on the wonderful characters (I feel like I know them personally), the vivid imagination of the author, the scientific accuracy and speculation and, above all, the fantastic storyline.

These books are a mix of heavy-duty sci-fi, unbelievably innovative imagination, inventive and original fantasy, excitement, heartfelt philosophy that isn't overdone, and an outrageously hilarious sense of humor (especially in the third book -- picture a "goddess" in the form of a 30 foot Marilyn Monroe in a fight to the death with a King Kong look-alike!).

I can't recommend these books enough! I love 'em and cannot believe they have not received the acclaim these definitely deserve! They are treasures!

I'll admit that I don't normally read SF books, so that has probably colored my opinion a great deal. I found a lot of all 3 books just boring. There was just too much repetitve descriptions, I can happily live the rest of my life without reading the words cable or spoke again. That said, what I really wanted to write about is the ending. After I finished it, my first thought was "that's it?", it felt like the ending was incomplete. We've been reading about these people for 3 books, but we never find out what happens to them after the battle. Some things I would like to know are, did Chris become a full Titanides? It got mentioned a little & then we never heard about it again. What does Adam grow up like? He sounded like he was on his way to full blooded brathood, what happened once Gaea was gone? What happened to Nova? Does Gaby stay the new God? Does she go crazy too? What happens when the Titanides start having babies whenever they want? I have a ton more, but you get the idea. Varley goes into so much detail in all 3 stories, I don't understand why he just dropped the ending.

I purchased this book as one of the three in this series. I had these books long ago and was so very happy to not only locate the books, but to purchase them at reasonable rates and in new book condition.