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In this alternate America, demon possession is a rare but known occurrence, though it's debated whether it's possession by actual demons or some form of mental illness. Occasionally, people are possessed for brief periods by archetypal personalities who use their bodies to do specific actions, then vanish, leaving the people with a gap in their memory. For instance, the Artist uses people's bodies to draw pictures – always the same picture, of a farm with a silo. The Captain borrows soldiers to do heroic acts. The Truth is a vigilante who kills liars.
Del was possessed once when he was a young boy by the Hellion, a Dennis the Menace-esque mischievous boy archetype, and once again when he was a teenager. Supposedly he was cured. In fact, the Hellion never left, but was only trapped. Del can feel it rattling the bars of his mind, trying to get out.
In a desperate attempt to get rid of his demon, Del visits various people and organizations that he thinks might help, from a scientific demon convention where he meets Valis, an intellectual demon who possessed Philip K Dick to save his life, to the world's worst hotel with a roadside attraction featuring Shug, a Creature From the Black Lagoon-esque demon.
The demon-related worldbuilding is fascinating and we get a lot of it. In a Daryl Gregory trademark, many of the mysteries have satisfying answers, but those answers tend to raise new questions. I didn't like this book as much as Revelator, but I liked it more than The Devil's Alphabet. I'd put it at a similar level as Afterparty and We Are All Completely Fine. It's very nicely put together and the premise is great, but it doesn't have quite the richness of supporting characters that some of his other books do. Del's road trip companion, a nun, feels more like a cool idea for a character then an actual character.
While the climax is great and I generally liked the way things were resolved, there is an odd missed beat at the ending. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be left ambiguous (if so I have no idea why) or whether I missed something.
( Read more... )
This was Gregory's first book. It's a very good start.
Del was possessed once when he was a young boy by the Hellion, a Dennis the Menace-esque mischievous boy archetype, and once again when he was a teenager. Supposedly he was cured. In fact, the Hellion never left, but was only trapped. Del can feel it rattling the bars of his mind, trying to get out.
In a desperate attempt to get rid of his demon, Del visits various people and organizations that he thinks might help, from a scientific demon convention where he meets Valis, an intellectual demon who possessed Philip K Dick to save his life, to the world's worst hotel with a roadside attraction featuring Shug, a Creature From the Black Lagoon-esque demon.
The demon-related worldbuilding is fascinating and we get a lot of it. In a Daryl Gregory trademark, many of the mysteries have satisfying answers, but those answers tend to raise new questions. I didn't like this book as much as Revelator, but I liked it more than The Devil's Alphabet. I'd put it at a similar level as Afterparty and We Are All Completely Fine. It's very nicely put together and the premise is great, but it doesn't have quite the richness of supporting characters that some of his other books do. Del's road trip companion, a nun, feels more like a cool idea for a character then an actual character.
While the climax is great and I generally liked the way things were resolved, there is an odd missed beat at the ending. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be left ambiguous (if so I have no idea why) or whether I missed something.
( Read more... )
This was Gregory's first book. It's a very good start.
