Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a fellow Milton fan, November 17, 2007
Let me first say that like Mr. Barlowe I am also a fan of John Milton's masterpiece Paradise Lost. I read Paradise Lost for the first time a few years ago and it instantly became my favorite piece of literature.
God's Demon is a fictional story inspired by Paradise Lost. It involves a high ranking fallen angel in hell who decides to struggle for redemption after many millennia of exile away from "the Above."
One must not assume, however, that the ideas in God's Demon are necessarily in line with Paradise Lost. For example, one of the ideas brought across by Milton in Paradise Lost was that "devil with devil firm concord holds," meaning that fallen angels do not fight amongst themselves. In God's Demon the fallen angels, from the beginning, set up fiefdoms in hell and are constantly warring with one another to enlarge their domains. Of course this is also not in line with Biblical ideas, as Christ once said that "if Satan were divided against Satan, his kingdom could not stand." This is just one of a number of incongruencies between God's Demon and Paradise Lost.
That said, anyone interested in a story that involves supernatural forces of good and evil owes it to themselves to read this book. As I see it, the best fantasy and sci-fi works explore one of the most important questions in the history of human philosophy: WHAT IF? In God's Demon Barlowe does an exemplary job of considering the implications of a fallen angel who truly repents for having followed Lucifer in his rebellion against heaven.
There's a lot I want to say after having just finished reading this book, but I'll just share what amazes me most about God's Demon. This book is extremely powerful emotionally. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes in the scene where the character Lilith sees Lord Sargatanas's heavanly murals for the first time. That scene does indeed evoke a sense of divine beauty.
Anyway, to sum it up this is definitely a book worth reading by anyone who is into fantasy fiction. It has vivid descriptions of a hellish landscape, it has suspence, it has romance, and it has some phenomenal action scenes. I highly recommend it.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very few flaws in an astounding work, November 20, 2007
Outstanding. Truly, truly outstanding.
I will preface this review by admitting a bias. I have a certain penchant for the subject matter, having been fascinated by Dante, Milton, and others who have dealt with Hell before. Given that, I can say with confidence that this is the most "personal" treatment of Hell that I've ever read.
Barlowe captures the essence of supreme sorrow that most typifies what I envision to be the greatest anguish in Hell. By humanizing the protagonist (a Demon) to a certain extent, Barlowe allows the reader to share in the sense of loss and pain that came with the Fall. Nevertheless, Barlowe is eloquent enough with his text that the "alien" nature of the characters is never lost.
There are very few flaws in the work (and I reviewed an Advance Review Copy, so some of them may have been altered in the production release), but I will try to touch on them.
The timeline of the piece can be a bit confusing at times, with the passage of time too often going unsaid (or, at best, loosely implied). Now, it may well be unfair of me to make that statement, as it is true that there is the notion that time itself (at least to the Damned) becomes meaningless in Hell... and Eternity is more than just a "very long time"... Still, as a reader, reading a book with a plot, there were times that I felt that I'd "missed" something and had to flip back (sometimes several chapters) to double-check the timing of an event or discussion. That said, the immersive nature of the narration far outweighs any minor inconvenience in being momentarily confused.
There are many characters, of major importance to the plot that have "similar" names. Again, in all fairness, the nature of the characters requires a certain creativity in naming... but as a reader, sometimes I found myself having to remind myself which demon was which... particularly the ones whose names start with the letter 'A'.
There is a "reveal" at one stage in the novel that, while certainly not obviously telegraphed, was not quite the surprise to me that I felt it ought to be. I do not wish to spoil the plot for the readers, but it revolves around a main character and his/her past. That said, the fact that it wasn't a surprise did not spoil the PLOT any nor ruin my overall enjoyment of the work. I almost feel silly for complaining about it... in fact, it's not even really a "fault" in the work.
Lastly, I did find that there were times when the text seems to take for granted that the reader has specific knowledge of the history/culture/mechanics of Hell that I do not feel are adequately set out beforehand. I understand that this is actually a legitimate literary technique and (to a certain extent) is even REQUIRED by the frame tale of the narration, but it still can be a bit jarring when the reader is forced to read several pages without fully understanding what is happening until later. I think that this might be somewhat obviated by perusing Barlowe's "sister" works Inferno and Brushfire, which deal with similar subject matter, but I did not do so prior to reading the novel.
Regardless of the fact that I've taken up the bulk of the review by discussing flaws in the novel, I've given the work 5 stars. I feel that there are few works in human history that are without any flaws, and the minor flaws here are WELL outweighed by the beautiful and moving text. Barlowe has really created something special in this novel. I hesitate to call it a "masterpiece"... only history should make that judgment. I do not, however, hesitate in saying that the Commedia and Paradise Lost find themselves in excellent company with God's Demon.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Life in Hell, December 3, 2007
Let's face it, there is an inherent fascination and curiosity about the afterlife, particularly Hell and it's Eternal Damnation, the rivers of fire, the torture of the souls... It's always been a popular hit in the past, what with Dante's _Inferno_, Milton's "Paradise Lost"... And visually, I know I can remember details from Hieronymus Bosch's hell panel better than his depiction of Paradise.
So here we have almost a classical portrayal of Hell, replete with fallen Seraphim, now Greater Demons, lording it over the lesser demons and using souls as bricks for buildings or pieces of clothing or flayed skin for decoration--their torment almost negligible, just a part of everyday life in Hell.
And it is only natural to wonder if those who have once lived in Heaven ever have regret over that disastrous War, ever think of going beyond their role as the Punished and the Punisher, the Eternally Damned Lords of the Damned? Aren't such thoughts, dreams, hopeless? There is no Hope in Hell.
Yet, Sargatanas, one of the great Lords of Hell, still hopes and dreams. He has gone beyond despair and resignation and decides upon action--to dare another War, hoping it is not as doomed for him and his followers as was the one led by Lucifer in Heaven.
Barlowe's Hell is pretty much as you would expect. It is horrific, but mundane even in it's grandiosity. The denizens are also what you would expect-- Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies, rules in the absence of Lucifer (which was unexpected, but makes sense... Lucifer has a gorgeousness and dark nobility that is almost Sargatanas' role in this tale; Beelzebub is gross and nasty and a suitable Demon Lord to despise and hate as an antagonist). There is an emotional distance to the writing that oddly suits the tone of this story--how much can you really care for the Damned, after all? The driving question is, of course, will Sargatanas have a hope in hell of succeeding? Does the Divine forgive the Unforgivable??? THAT is not at all in any tales, cannon or no. So much here is as expected, and yet, there's that fascination, still.
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