Pandemonium

For fans of the new age in weird fiction, Daryl Gragpry delivers a riotous read with this debut novel. The story is literally a mash-up of styles, with a fairly basic horror story twisted up with pop culture references and a reverence for old sci-fi and comic books. In fact, a familiarity with Golden Age comics and the works of authors Philip K. Dick and A.E. van Vogt would be an advantage, as would a yen for geeky conspiracy theories. Gregory's plotline twists and turns from the heartfelt to the hilarious to the surreal to the terrifying, all while following unique characters and an epidemic of bizarre demonic possessions. One minor quibble is that Gregory added some alternate history elements which seem tacked on and don't really go anywhere. But otherwise, Gregory's got everything that the fan of speculative/weird/pulp fiction could ask for, in an incongruous alchemy of styles that really works, and the plotting and dialogue are superb. Daryl Gregory has captured the demonic muse of his favorite creators of the weird and fantastic, and he's well on his way to joining them. [~doomsdayer520~]

The language, plotting, and characterizations in this novel are brilliant. The two brothers have such a rapport, such a natural flow of language between them that I wanted their scenes together to go on and on. I'd like to have a novel where it's just Del and Lew sitting around goofing off together for 50,000 words. The rest of the characters have their own distinct identities-- you don't confuse Del for Del's mom, or any other character in the novel. Everybody has their own character, and the dialog takes things from our lives today like the prevalence of the Web and our general shared knowledge of pop culture and thoroughly integrates them into the conversations. This novel *owns* the present, while being set in an "alternate" timeline. The plot is a mix of the supernatural and archetypes from classic pop culture, but to identify any in particular would spoil the discovery of each, so I'll refrain. The author uses descriptive prose like Monet used brush strokes-- using only a few swipes of description, the reader is given only what's necessary in order to understand what's going on. You might not understand in any particular sentence what just happened, but you will in the next. He does this with everything in the book, not just the supernatural aspects-- it's a very consistent style and I think it works well. Kinda reminds me of a less-hard-boiled Charlie Huston. I will definitely be reading more by Daryl Gregory.

Disclosure: I know Daryl Gregory and read an earlier draft of Pandemonium. This is a book that rewards breadth of knowledge. If you're comfortable wallowing in the past eighty years of American popular culture, you'll feel right at home. And if you're not, you'll want to learn more just to appreciate the mashed-up wonder that is Pandemonium. Read it. If you dig comics, Harlan Ellison and Americana weirdness, you'll find a lot to love in this book.

Pandemonium is fricking brilliant. Here's the plot summary version: As a child, Del was possessed by a demon, the Hellion, known for targeting young blond haired boys. There are many demons in this version of the US, archetypes from classic stories, comic books, etc. Del got better. Except now he's an adult and beginning to realize that the demon never really left. Something inside of him is trying to break out and take over. He has to chain himself to his bed at night to prevent himself from destroying his home or hurting other people in his sleep. So, he goes on a quest to find a doctor who can help him, then one of the most messed up priests you could ever imagine. He runs into other demon possessed people. Almost gets killed multiple times... And finds out that things are much worse than he ever imagined. Here's the gushing stream of consciousness version: Demons! Comic books! Possession! PK Dick! PK Dick as a demon! The nature of narrative! Reality/truth. Comic books! The Shug! Archetypes! Creative unconscious! Jung! Daryl Gregory does something with Pandemonium that I forgot you could do with fiction. He talks pretty intense philosophy without ever once making it feel like that's what he's doing. The narrative is just so strong that you don't notice you're going over really intellectual and dense territory. Del is a strong main character, the events are completely improbable but you don't even notice it until after you've read the whole book and been utterly seduced by it.

Pandemonium is Daryl Gregory's first book-length work to be published, and to my thinking it's the single best debut novel I've read in years. The back cover blurb doesn't even begin to do this book justice. This is the story of Del Pierce, a guy who dreamed of being an artist and whose dreams haven't worked out quite as he planned. Del lives in America, but it isn't quite our America. This is a world in which, for at least sixty years and possibly quite a bit longer, various individuals have, for varying lengths of time, been "possessed." By demons? Possibly. By telepathic mutant "slan" who control them at a distance? Unlikely, but not impossible. By free-roaming personalities dredged from Carl Jung's "collective unconsciousness"? Just maybe. But what does it mean that these demons/personalities/etc. so often appear in the forms of heroes from comic books and pulp novels? The Captain, shield-wielding super-soldier; the Truth, a grim avenger in fedora and trench coat, with twin .45s and a menacing laugh; the Boy Marvel, a hero in red tights and a white cape with a boyish smile. Or that another of the "demons" is called Valis and possesses an elderly science fiction writer named Philip K. Dick? Gregory's short fiction displays certain central obsessions--a keen understanding of cognitive sciences; an interest in families and questions of relationships and maturity; and an obsession with popular culture, in the form of science fiction, superhero comics, pulp novels, etc. All of these factor into Pandemonium, to great effect. To give much more than a broad summary of the plot threatens to spoil too many of the surprises, so I won't bother. (Should I admit that the ending was so affecting that I actually teared up in Starbucks while reading it? No, perhaps not...) I can say, though, that the writing is accomplished and polished, employing a first-person voice that is deceptively conversational and familiar, but which is capable of spinning out devastatingly clever turns of phrase when needed, laugh-out-loud funny in places and knuckle-whitening-terrify in others. Pandemonium is simply a stunning debut, and I for one can't wait to see what Gregory does next. Highly, highly recommended.