God's Demon

I have to say, that although the author did not intend this, this book affected me in spiritual ways. The prospect of demons fighting a war in hell, just sounds cool and its what encouraged me to read the book in the first place. However, because I am religious, I had some issues getting through the book. The fighting and the battles, and the different descriptions of hell itself were fascinating. I guess my problem was in for periods of the reading, I found myself thinking that hell was "cool" and perhaps a place I wanted to see. Nevertheless, during the second part of the book, there are two scenes involving the main character that nearly brought me to tears. I am a strong man, and I do not cry. However, this profoundly affected me and brought me to realize something about myself, the universe, and the nature of God. This book is not for everyone. Being set in hell, there are obviously scences in the book that are vile, repugnant and disgusting. I am glad for this because that is proper hell. to have made it endurable would not have made it hell. This book embodies lust, love, hatred, anger, war, hope, and many other themes all at once. I really found it to be a good read, but with some minor flaws. The writer's style does not appeal to me, but the creative work itself, and the personal epiphanies that I experienced, more than made up for these imperfections and editing issues.

LOVED God's Demon from start to finish. Sargatanas, Eligor, Lilith, Beelzebub, the Soul who I won't name because of spoiler issues...all of these characters had true depth to them. I loved the Lilith backstory and how Mr. Barlowe dropped bits and pieces of it throughout the novel. Loved the details of each Hellish city, the politics, etc...All in all an amazing story that I wish I could write half as well as Mr. Barlowe has. Crossing my fingers a sequel is written and is as engaging as God's Demon. Highly recommended for any horror/fantasy/dark fantasy fans.

First of all, being a VFX Supervisor and Technical Director in some of Hollywoods biggest FX laden movies and Television series I must say that this is one of the most VISUAL books I have ever read. Not since DUNE have I ached to see a book made into a movie. The stories of THE FALL and the building of HELL are vivid and descriptive to perfection. Barlowe has done his homework and it shows. Of course being one of the best concept artists for the film and TV industry makes it even that much more of a treat. It is one of those books that once hooked, forget about anything else for a while, all you will want to do is read. For his first foray into writing Wayne has done a splended job of describing HELL like I have always imagined it must be. The political heirarchy, the cities, the way souls are torchered, I mean what can be worse than being turned into a brick FOREVER and having to watch as life goes on eternaly? Beelzebub is just as sleazy as you would think, but it is in Sargatanas that we indeed find hope springs infernal. From the war in heaven that begat Hell, to the hope of a return of a Seraphim back to the Above to meet again with his lord and be forgiven for ever falling for Lucifer's BS in the first place the book will enthrall you endlessly. One of the best reads since Frank Herbert's DUNE series of books. My hope is to see, first, this made into a HUGE block buster, and with people Like Guierllmo Del Toro and James Cameron as fans, both would be perfect to direct such an epic. Both are more than well adapt at the art of using Visual FX to enhance the story which this book calls for if it is to be made into a movie. I can find no higher praise for a book. It has been a long time since an author has literally grabbed me from my soul and taken me someplace that I have always wondered about, and feared and lived to tell about it! 5 Stars all the way.....Now come on you big desicion makers in Hollywood, BUY THE RIGHTS TO THIS BOOK and MAKE IT A REALITY!!!! Weinstein Bros, are you listening? I would pray that I would be able to work on just even one shot of the Visual FX of this movie, and I would dare say do it for free just to see it made!

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 Brus

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.