Ashes and Angel Wings

ASHES AND ANGEL WINGS is a World of Darkness novel by Greg Stolze, meant to accompany the roleplaying game DEMON: THE FALLEN. Greg Stolze wrote the narrative part of DEMON, making him an excellent choice for the accompanying fiction. Besides writing the trilogy of which ASHES is the first, Greg has also written two fiction novels for VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM. He is an excellent novelist, able to write compelling and sympathetic characters with good pacing in his story-telling. ASHES AND ANGEL WINGS is a story about a demon who escapes from Hell to possess a human body, and his conflicting desires between serving the demonic authority over him and following his own selfish interests. On the one hand, I feel sympathy for the demon; he loves his host's daughter and tries to protect her and others in his life. On the other hand, he is ruthless in pursuing his own interests, to the point of torture and murder. The demon is a complex character, as are most struggles to determine what is right and what is wrong. The tension between the human host's desire to follow some moral code and the demon's desire to assert its ability to exert unrestrained power is an interesting one.

I never had a high regard for RPG fiction. Overall, I thought this kind of book ranged from OK to just plain bad, stuff that only gaming fans (like me) should read. That's because these books are usually very nice if you want to immerse yourself into the setting feeling and follow your favorite game's canon plots, but they fail to deliver as literature a little bit too often. I changed my mind thanks to Greg Stolze. Greg Stolze's writing is golden in every sense. He is able to portray ancient supernatural creatures without sounding artificial, nor plain. Stolze's favorite trick is to build several plots and then intertwine them in one big sick picture. He pulls that trick incredibly well. I was hooked from the beginning. Demon: The Fallen is a very good game, that deals with difficult, heavy themes, and has a great dramatic potential. Ashes and Angel Wings succeeds in capturing that mood, and, here is the thing, is also very entertaining reading.

I don't normally read game fiction, but I really loved White Wolfs 'Demon: the Fallen' setting because it appealed to my love of dogma. I first read 'Lucifers Shadow' and it's short story 'A Legitimate Obligation'. When I found out that there was a whole book dedicated to Hasmed, I had to have it. I'll have to admit, the book isn't ALL about Hasmed, but the side stories work their way into the main plot in such an amazing way, it makes it all worth it. 'Ashes and Angel Wings' tells us how Hasmed came to control the body of Harvey Ciullo, how he works to gain influence in the mortal crime sydicate for his own and his masters gain, and how, most importantly, he looks out for his daughter Tina. While there is definitely a climax at the end, it doesnt really wrap things up and it leaves you wanting to know more. It's not enough of a let down to ruin the book, though. Just enough to urge me to buy 'The Seven Deadlies'.

This book blew me away. Greg Stolze is an extremely good author. I especially liked the way he made the conflict between the main characters' dual natures come to life in your mind. You /felt/ the conflict of the demons' torment and memories versus what their vessels wanted them to do. It was fantastic.

I must admit to being an avid fan of Mr. Stolze but would like to add the caveat that he deserves the high praise that I give his novel. I find that many times a product driven novel usually loses sight of one of the most important goals of any piece of literature: Simply, to tell a good story. Ashes and Angel Wings is a great story, with well rounded and interesting characters. Even if you aren't a fan of White Wolf's game systems I heartily recommend picking up Mr. Stolze's finely crafted novel, you won't be disappointed. My only warning is to be prepared to buy the next two books in the series because you will definitely want to continue down such an engaging road.