Saturday, October 20, 2007

GOD'S DEMON by Wayne Barlowe

One of Tuesday's debuts is GOD'S DEMON (UK) by Wayne Barlowe, published in hardcover by Tor Books. This novel is being compared to literary luminaries like Milton and Dante. Here's the blurb from Tor's website.

Lucifer’s War, which damned legions of angels to Hell, is an ancient and bitter memory shrouded in the smoke and ash of the Inferno. The Fallen, those banished demons who escaped the full wrath of Heaven, have established a limitless and oppressive kingdom within the fiery confines of Hell. Lucifer has not been seen since the Fall and the mantle of rulership has been passed to the horrific Prince Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies.
The Demons Major, Heaven's former warriors, have become the ruling class. They are the equivalent to landed lords, each owing allegiance to the de facto ruler of Hell. They reign over their fiefdoms, tormenting the damned souls and adding to their wealth.

One Demon Major, however, who has not forgotten his former life in Heaven. The powerful Lord Sargatanas is restless. For millennia Sargatanas has ruled dutifully but unenthusiastically, building his city, Adamantinarx, into the model of an Infernal metropolis. But he has never forgotten what he lost in the Fall—proximity to God. He is sickened by what he has become.
Now, with a small event—a confrontation with one of the damned souls—he makes a decision that will reverberate through every being in Hell. Sargatanas decides to attempt the impossible, to rebel, to endeavor to go Home and bring with him anyone who chooses to follow . . . be they demon or soul. He will stake everything on this chance for redemption.

There's lots of Bible-inspired fantasy these days! The author has another website for the novel, which includes an excerpt. Robert, the Fantasy Book Critic gave it a stellar review. Other than the Publishers Weekly review, I can't find much else so if you are reviewing this novel, please let me know!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh, oooh, a redemption story! I'm so there!

But based on the excerpt I think I'll skip the prologue and just go straight to the story itself. Sorry, Wayne.

Tia Nevitt said...

I'll have to take a look at the excerpt, myself.

Anonymous said...

Hey, look at that! Blogger is letting me leave a comment today! Anyway, this sounds like it has potential to be awesome. I'll have to check it out someday.

Tia Nevitt said...

Hey! Welcome! Long time no see! (Superwench is an old buddy of mine from my other, somewhat neglected blog.)

The reviews of this one look great.

Robert said...

I definitely recommend the book! Very vivid and powerful...

As always Tia, thanks for the linkage!

Carole McDonnell said...

I like redemption stories but am not sure i can go through a lot of dark evil stuff to get there. Read the excerpt. It was really good. -C

Tia Nevitt said...

I'll have to read the excerpt before I render an opinion, but I wouldn't be surprised if I were of the same mind.