Demons [Paperback]

John Shirley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

Writers from Clive Barker to Bruce Sterling and Roger Zelazny have praised John Shirley’s searing, apocalyptic visions of postmodern hell on earth. Now this perversely brilliant author, one of the seminal representatives on the cyberpunk movement, unleashes his newest masterpiece.

DEMONS

In a future uncomfortably close to the present day, the apocalypse has surpassed all expectations. Hideous demons roam the streets in an orgy of terror, drawing pleasure from torturing humans as sadistically as possible. Divided into seven clans, these grisly invaders–gnashing, writhing, bloodthirsty monsters–seem horrifically to belong in our world.

Ira, a young San Francisco artist, becomes involved with a strange group of scientists and philosophers desperately trying to end the bloody siege. Yet through it all, Ira continues to paint–for in his canvasses lie crucial clues to the demons’ origins.

Yet the demons draw their strength from an all-too-familiar evil–a deadly malevolence supported by some of the greatest powers on earth, concealed beneath the trappings of status, success, and abused power. Ira and his allies– including a compelling young seeress–come to believe these demons didn’t just appear. They were summoned. But the most shocking revelation is yet to come . . .

EXCLUSIVE TO THIS EDITION: The original novella Demons was published as an acclaimed, limited edition hardcover which Publishers Weekly called a “mini-masterpiece.” Now the terror continues, as the sequel story, “Undercurrents,” takes the reader on a macabre journey into the center of the conspiracy that may lay waste to the Earth.



From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nightmarish demons terrorize the world in this sharp-edged tale of horror and humanity from award-winner John Shirley. A young artist from San Francisco witnesses the demons' arrival and the world's response--panic, denial, and even cooperation in the slaughter. He joins a group of people who believe that human action brought the demons into the world and that the power of human consciousness--awareness of one's true self--is the only defense against them. Then nine years later, in the face of a new threat, the group must overcome conspiracy and the world's disbelief to battle demons once again.

Themes of wakefulness and sleep--the struggle for self-awareness against the deliberate denial of what's happening around us--form the counterpoint for the terrifying and often brutal events of the story. This is a fast-paced, finely told horror tale combined with a pointed examination of the ways in which people so often conspire in their own destruction. --Roz Genessee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

To a novella of the same title, Shirley (...And the Angel with Television Eyes) adds a lengthy aftermath that, though it couples clunkily, offers a crafty elaboration of the dark metaphysics in the original parable about corporate greed. Nine years after the benevolent Conscious Circle group exorcised the ravenous demons who arose in response to toxic disaster, it's business as usual in America. Stephen Isquerat, a na‹f climbing the corporate ladder at the West Wind company, is convinced like most everyone else that the past demonic convergence was a hallucinogen-induced exercise in mass hysteria. Little does he know that his company's interest in "psychonomics," the manipulation of the spiritual power of business, is laying the foundation for a demon resurrection, or that his work marketing Dirvane 17, a potent neurotoxic pesticide, is making him the perfect vessel for their second coming. The first part of the novel is a fascinating if talky take on clinical demonology that greases the wheels for escalating events in the second part. Though the author conceived the two halves of his story as variations on the same theme, their differing approaches seem out of synch, a problem most notable in the perfunctory relationship of Conscious Circle members to Stephen's experiences. For all the narrative gear grinding, Shirley succeeds in fashioning an over-the-top occult thriller solidly anchored in a bedrock of social consciousness. (Mar.)July 24, 2000).
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345446496
• ISBN-13: 978-0345446497
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his latest, new from Simon & Schuster, the urban fantasy novel BLEAK HISTORY. He is a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He will be in Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, this year, and his story collection IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY from Underland Press has been getting rave advance reviews. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE , telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is about to come out from TOR books.

He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.

John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.

Other John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, LIVING SHADOWS and REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WEIRD STORIES.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent short novel from Cemetery Dance folks., September 30, 2000

By 

M. Krzmarzick "knyne" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Demons (Cemetery Dance Novella Series #9) (Hardcover)

When it comes to John Shirley, you have to take your chances. In my humble opinion, I find him a writer of widely varying quality (though one who steadily improves, there is little backsliding in his work). If one goes as far back as CELLARS, there is really not much to recommend; however, Mr. Shirley has produced such excellent work as: IN DARKNESS WAITING; WETBONES; and, most recently, DEMONS. This is a terrific short novel--well-paced, gripping, and solid. Mr. Shirley's mastery of this short form is impressive. A sense of dread is pervasive thoughout, though his prose is lean and to the point.

In this most imaginative premise (though I sense some inspiration from John Ostrander's DEMON WARS arc in the GRIMJACK comics), unstoppable, murderous demons have suddenly appeared on Earth. They can make their presence known anywhere and anytime. With no defenses, humans must make their way through this hell on earth as best they can (this is Shirley's most interesting facet in the book--how John and Mary Sixpack continue about their daily business in this new dystopia).

It was a pleasure to read DEMONS, and I look forward to Mr. Shirley's next work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Horror Novel from John Shirley, August 20, 2004

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Demons (Paperback)

While "Demons" may lack the intense machine-gun narrative of John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth" cyberpunk trilogy, it nonetheless is a splendid example of his fine literary style which has garnered praise from distinguished writers ranging from William Gibson to Clive Barker. I found "Demons" to be a riveting read, especially Book 1, which is a phantasmagorical trek through San Francisco in the midst of a demonic occupation. Book 2 adds some intriguing touches with regards to cyperpunk and environmental disaster fiction thrown into a plot which shows what happens when big business runs afoul of demons. Melissa, the daughter of an obscure college professor, is the main character - and emotional heart - of both books. Shirley's prose has rarely been better. This is yet another fine book from one of my favorite authors of fiction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stylish with a depth not fully reached, April 3, 2009

By 

graphik_persona "g_p" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Demons (Paperback)

I read this book in two spurts- first read through the first volume and a few chapters into the second, grew very, very bored then a few months picked up the book again and finished reading the remaining 100 or so pages. That about sums up the book i think; its got a good storytelling, with some nice hooks, the demons are descriptive enough, and there is a cosmology described(the golden urn, undercurrent, black pearl, conscious circle, etc etc) but the author only makes vague references to each of their meanings. it seemed that the author wanted to test the waters of conspiracy and occult, but was more interested in metaphysical, new age 'feelings' than delving too deeply. at times the righting was too detailed about things that were simply uninteresting, and then left gaps on things that were interesting, but left unspoken. perhaps this was the feel going for...some attempt at 'deeper' symbolism about society and all- but it was a tough pill to swallow given the graphic nature of some of the scenes [which were told well.], but the book bordered on taking itself too seriously and flirting with the harder core of occult genre. add to it that the second volumen severly brought down my opinion of the first- it was too many characters, too much going on, and the writing was begining to loose its prose, that i put it down for months, only to read it later. the verbocity of the author was good, but the details were lacking- the story had good basepoints but should have delved deeper.

it was a difficult read that had started out good.