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kathydavie's review against another edition
2.0
First read March 17, 2011.
Fifth and last, but for a short story, in the Dante Valentine urban fantasy (in an alternate world) series and revolving around a necromance and demon assassin.
My Take
Thank god this is the end, because I am so fed up with Dante’s wishy-washyness. To Hell and Back takes place mostly in Dante's head and is an excellent example of why the author really needs to work in what happened in the past stories. Although I suspect most of the problem is that I let too much time elapse between Saint City Sinners, 4, and To Hell and Back — turns out I didn't even remember having read this the first time.
Saintcrow does provide driblets of backstory, but not nearly enough to bring back memories of what occurred. I felt lost throughout most of this. It probably didn't help that Dante kept whining. Over and over again. It's a recurring theme throughout as she whines about the traitor she released, Japh betraying her, her own pain.
Nor does it help that Dante simply can't make a move (in a dangerous situation) without lots of questions and too much thinking. The one recurring situation in which Dante doesn't bother with questions is whenever she and Japh set out on an action. Wouldn't that be the time to force some answers? Although, I do like this one bit of insight from Dante:
It's possible that all of this disjointed thinking and writing is meant to emulate Dante's emotional state, but Dante has the advantage over us. She knows her past history.
Saintcrow has an interesting perspective on religion in this series viewing Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as Religions of Submission; I’d never consciously thought of them that way but it does make sense. The religion in Dante’s day is more personal with individuals speaking directly to their particular god. Other than that…*eye roll*…it's an interesting world Saintcrow has created with its hovers and magicks.
The Story
Lucifer threw Dante out of Hell when he was done torturing her. Now Japh has plans for her. Plans that depend on Dante escaping the bounty hunters, mercenaries, and demons hunting her down.
Plans that include killing Lucifer.
The Characters
Dante "Danny" Valentine is a a demon hunting necromance, a psion, who was once Lucifer's errand girl wearing his Gauntlet and is now half-demon. Before Saint City Sinners, she had served the god of Death, Anubis, unreservedly. But the most important role Dante plays is as Japh's hedaira. Eve also calls her the Key to the throne of Hell. Fudoshin is the name of her katana.
Eve, a.k.a., Omega and Lucifer's Consort, Aldamrimel, the Morning Star, is Doreen's daughter (Dante also thinks of Eve as her daughter), a demon, an Androgyne. Vardimal Santino created Eve using demon genes. Velokel the Hunter is a demon working with Eve.
Tierce Japhrimel "Japh", a.k.a., Kinslayer and Eldest, is Lucifer's assassin, Dante's familiar, and a Greater Flight demon, who has fallen in love with Dante and yet betrays her over and over. He died and has come back with his full demon Power.
Japh's team includes…
…the Hellesvront agents McKinley with his metal hand; Vann, the agent obsessed with throwing the bones; the gorgeous Tiens, a Nichtvren (vampire) and the primary pilot; and, Leander Beaudry, a Necromance sent to keep an eye on Dante.
Lucas "the Deathless" Villalobos is a powerful psion of whom other psions are terrified. He's also under contract. Anton Kgembe, a Left Hand theorist, is a "dead" Magi and the most powerful one in the world. He formulated Kgembe's Laws, four principles of dealing with Left Hand (blood) magick used by the Hegemony and Putchkin Alliance to deal with miscreants.
Lucifer is the Prince of Hell and was Japh's Maker. Sephrimel was the third Fallen, and his beloved hedaira, Inhana, was assassinated by Japh. The Knife of Sorrow is a weapon, which can kill a demon with but a touch. Anhelikos are sexless pretty spies. An a'sharak is a worm Lucifer implants in a woman to control her. The now-destroyed White-Walled City is in Tibet and was the home of hedaira, women who were beloved of a Lord of Hell — and Lucifer wants them all killed. A Glaive can strip glamour from any demon. The Hedairae Occasus Demonae is an ancient demon-written book.
Demons of the Greater Flight rebelling against Lucifer include Zag and Semma.
Jason "Jace" Monroe had been her boyfriend, before he died. Lewis had been Dante's social worker before he was killed by a Chill junkie. Doreen and Gabe Spocarelli (killed by a traitor) had been Dante's friends while Eddie, Gabe's husband, was betrayed by his sedayeen research partner. Jado was Dante's sensei. Polyamour is a sexwitch transvestite in Saint City who is raising Gabe's little girl. Selene is the consort of the Prime of Saint City.
Hegemony is a world superpower with the Putchkin Alliance the other. I think the Hellesvront might be a joint law enforcement agency of both and all are controlled by Lucifer. The Awakening is when people began to be able to speak directly to the gods they worshipped.
The Religions of Submission include…
…the Gilead Evangelical, led by Kochba bar Gilead, was the previous theocracy which ruled the the North Merican (North America) empire, the Republic. The Gilead was quite Nazi-like in its death camps and persecutions of anyone not them. Christer is the Catholic religion. Islum is Islam.
Hajia Sofya is the Hagia Sophia. Paradisse, Franje, is Paris, France, and had declared itself a sanctuary for psions during the Gilead reign; Notra Dama is a now-buried Notre Dame. Caracaz is Caracas. Sudro Merican is South America. The Vegas Waste was Las Vegas.
Psions collect the power generated by the beliefs of an individual god’s believers. A Magi is a psion who has undergone basic training. A Necromance is an accredited psion who can bring a soul back from the Death. A sedayeen is a healer psion incapable of aggression. Shaman is a catch-all term for a psion who doesn't fall into a particular specialty. Clormen-13, a.k.a., Chill, is a drug. I think flits are ghosts.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a stark black-and-white of Dante's head, her eyes looking off to our left with the title in a gruesome red against the black of Dante's hair. The author's name is also in white.
The title is literally and figuratively where Dante has been, To Hell and Back where "Only a demon can take down the Devil".
Fifth and last, but for a short story, in the Dante Valentine urban fantasy (in an alternate world) series and revolving around a necromance and demon assassin.
My Take
Thank god this is the end, because I am so fed up with Dante’s wishy-washyness. To Hell and Back takes place mostly in Dante's head and is an excellent example of why the author really needs to work in what happened in the past stories. Although I suspect most of the problem is that I let too much time elapse between Saint City Sinners, 4, and To Hell and Back — turns out I didn't even remember having read this the first time.
Saintcrow does provide driblets of backstory, but not nearly enough to bring back memories of what occurred. I felt lost throughout most of this. It probably didn't help that Dante kept whining. Over and over again. It's a recurring theme throughout as she whines about the traitor she released, Japh betraying her, her own pain.
Nor does it help that Dante simply can't make a move (in a dangerous situation) without lots of questions and too much thinking. The one recurring situation in which Dante doesn't bother with questions is whenever she and Japh set out on an action. Wouldn't that be the time to force some answers? Although, I do like this one bit of insight from Dante:
"There aren't any geographical features that can stop you [no mountain so high as…] … the faults, fissures, and peaks inside your own skull that bring you up hard and short."She can't exercise practical caution. She's "trapped" in a fabulous, well-stocked apartment in Paris, dogged by a bounty set on her head by Lucifer, supposed to be staying low to avoid attention, and her only thought is to get out and walk the streets. Uh-huh.
It's possible that all of this disjointed thinking and writing is meant to emulate Dante's emotional state, but Dante has the advantage over us. She knows her past history.
Saintcrow has an interesting perspective on religion in this series viewing Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as Religions of Submission; I’d never consciously thought of them that way but it does make sense. The religion in Dante’s day is more personal with individuals speaking directly to their particular god. Other than that…*eye roll*…it's an interesting world Saintcrow has created with its hovers and magicks.
The Story
Lucifer threw Dante out of Hell when he was done torturing her. Now Japh has plans for her. Plans that depend on Dante escaping the bounty hunters, mercenaries, and demons hunting her down.
Plans that include killing Lucifer.
The Characters
Dante "Danny" Valentine is a a demon hunting necromance, a psion, who was once Lucifer's errand girl wearing his Gauntlet and is now half-demon. Before Saint City Sinners, she had served the god of Death, Anubis, unreservedly. But the most important role Dante plays is as Japh's hedaira. Eve also calls her the Key to the throne of Hell. Fudoshin is the name of her katana.
Eve, a.k.a., Omega and Lucifer's Consort, Aldamrimel, the Morning Star, is Doreen's daughter (Dante also thinks of Eve as her daughter), a demon, an Androgyne. Vardimal Santino created Eve using demon genes. Velokel the Hunter is a demon working with Eve.
Tierce Japhrimel "Japh", a.k.a., Kinslayer and Eldest, is Lucifer's assassin, Dante's familiar, and a Greater Flight demon, who has fallen in love with Dante and yet betrays her over and over. He died and has come back with his full demon Power.
Japh's team includes…
…the Hellesvront agents McKinley with his metal hand; Vann, the agent obsessed with throwing the bones; the gorgeous Tiens, a Nichtvren (vampire) and the primary pilot; and, Leander Beaudry, a Necromance sent to keep an eye on Dante.
Lucas "the Deathless" Villalobos is a powerful psion of whom other psions are terrified. He's also under contract. Anton Kgembe, a Left Hand theorist, is a "dead" Magi and the most powerful one in the world. He formulated Kgembe's Laws, four principles of dealing with Left Hand (blood) magick used by the Hegemony and Putchkin Alliance to deal with miscreants.
Lucifer is the Prince of Hell and was Japh's Maker. Sephrimel was the third Fallen, and his beloved hedaira, Inhana, was assassinated by Japh. The Knife of Sorrow is a weapon, which can kill a demon with but a touch. Anhelikos are sexless pretty spies. An a'sharak is a worm Lucifer implants in a woman to control her. The now-destroyed White-Walled City is in Tibet and was the home of hedaira, women who were beloved of a Lord of Hell — and Lucifer wants them all killed. A Glaive can strip glamour from any demon. The Hedairae Occasus Demonae is an ancient demon-written book.
Demons of the Greater Flight rebelling against Lucifer include Zag and Semma.
Jason "Jace" Monroe had been her boyfriend, before he died. Lewis had been Dante's social worker before he was killed by a Chill junkie. Doreen and Gabe Spocarelli (killed by a traitor) had been Dante's friends while Eddie, Gabe's husband, was betrayed by his sedayeen research partner. Jado was Dante's sensei. Polyamour is a sexwitch transvestite in Saint City who is raising Gabe's little girl. Selene is the consort of the Prime of Saint City.
Hegemony is a world superpower with the Putchkin Alliance the other. I think the Hellesvront might be a joint law enforcement agency of both and all are controlled by Lucifer. The Awakening is when people began to be able to speak directly to the gods they worshipped.
The Religions of Submission include…
…the Gilead Evangelical, led by Kochba bar Gilead, was the previous theocracy which ruled the the North Merican (North America) empire, the Republic. The Gilead was quite Nazi-like in its death camps and persecutions of anyone not them. Christer is the Catholic religion. Islum is Islam.
Hajia Sofya is the Hagia Sophia. Paradisse, Franje, is Paris, France, and had declared itself a sanctuary for psions during the Gilead reign; Notra Dama is a now-buried Notre Dame. Caracaz is Caracas. Sudro Merican is South America. The Vegas Waste was Las Vegas.
Psions collect the power generated by the beliefs of an individual god’s believers. A Magi is a psion who has undergone basic training. A Necromance is an accredited psion who can bring a soul back from the Death. A sedayeen is a healer psion incapable of aggression. Shaman is a catch-all term for a psion who doesn't fall into a particular specialty. Clormen-13, a.k.a., Chill, is a drug. I think flits are ghosts.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a stark black-and-white of Dante's head, her eyes looking off to our left with the title in a gruesome red against the black of Dante's hair. The author's name is also in white.
The title is literally and figuratively where Dante has been, To Hell and Back where "Only a demon can take down the Devil".
mamap's review against another edition
2.0
R-rated for language.
So disappointing. Seriously.
Killing off everyone she's ever cared about? How's that a good book?
And she loves Japhrimel and he loves her and yet they lie and betray and never treat each other kindly. Yea. That's not a relationship.
It's so dark - nothing really redeeming. I don't get it. That's probably why I was so fascinated by the series - and I still don't get it.
They end up together raising Gabe and Eddie's daughter while waiting for Hell to break lose. What is that??
So frustrating.
So disappointing. Seriously.
Killing off everyone she's ever cared about? How's that a good book?
And she loves Japhrimel and he loves her and yet they lie and betray and never treat each other kindly. Yea. That's not a relationship.
It's so dark - nothing really redeeming. I don't get it. That's probably why I was so fascinated by the series - and I still don't get it.
They end up together raising Gabe and Eddie's daughter while waiting for Hell to break lose. What is that??
So frustrating.
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
1.0
At the start of this series Dante was a kickass heroine, now she's like a broken child, she spends the whole book being angry at Japh, she doesn't take a second to think about what's going on and blindly rushes into every situation causing more problems than she sorts. She also seems ready to believe the absolute worst of Japh and yet still claims to love him, I don't really see how she loves him, she doesn't trust him, doesn't take his side, doesn't look out for his interests and they spend a lot of time being horrible to each other.
The ending was a bit of a dud for me and I just found this a disappointing end to what started out as a great series.
The ending was a bit of a dud for me and I just found this a disappointing end to what started out as a great series.
twowhoodles's review against another edition
3.0
I'm torn about this series as a whole - I love the world and system of magic in it, but I just don't get the Dante/Japhrimel relationship at all.
danidoll91's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, this book had tons of action and it kept me up reading late to finish it. We did learn a little more about what Dante is but at the same time I still wished she wasn't in the dark all the time. We learnt little to nothing about Japh which I find is unfortunate. I hate when characters aren't finished*. Furthermore the end left me going what! That's it! Is there another damn book! Very disappointing end because things still felt unresolved and we didn't know much more than we did in the first book but it was one of the better books in the series.
lumberjill314's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. This was a bit better than the other books of the series, mostly because it was so action packed and therefore a quick read for me. Rating closer to 3.5 stars because the main character still can't decide on anything to a level that can be annoying, and everyone is constantly lying so the plot can be difficult to follow, even if the ultimate plot stayed the same.
nyxshadow's review against another edition
3.0
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2017/01/dante-valentine-t5-to-hell-and-back.html
Le début du roman m'a laissé à penser que Dante avait enfin un peu mûri et allait arrêté ses bêtises avec Japh. Echec.
A la moindre allusions du démon aux yeux bleus, elle laisse tout tomber.
Elle refuse de croire et de faire confiance à celui qui a traversé l'Enfer pour elle, mais est capable de faire les quatre volontés d'un démon qui lui a balancé une petite phrase sans rien pour le confirmer... genre pour de vrai ?
Bon et aussi : je ne dis rien à Japh, mais lui a intérêt à tout me dire ou je tente de me tuer. Bravo très mature XD
Le début du roman m'a laissé à penser que Dante avait enfin un peu mûri et allait arrêté ses bêtises avec Japh. Echec.
A la moindre allusions du démon aux yeux bleus, elle laisse tout tomber.
Elle refuse de croire et de faire confiance à celui qui a traversé l'Enfer pour elle, mais est capable de faire les quatre volontés d'un démon qui lui a balancé une petite phrase sans rien pour le confirmer... genre pour de vrai ?
Bon et aussi : je ne dis rien à Japh, mais lui a intérêt à tout me dire ou je tente de me tuer. Bravo très mature XD
a_verthandi's review against another edition
3.0
And yet we come roaring back with this one. Danny's broken, but she's not giving up. Once again. Rough. Tough. Hard to bluff.
reasonpassion's review
urban fantasy without the gloss
Urban fantasy follows a known trajectory most times, particularly the romance variation. There's a connection between a human female and some version of an alien male, sometimes an actual alien and other times simply alien as in other. The male is insufferable, manipulative and abusive. The woman is strong but succumbs because deep down she wants to be held by the strength of a strong man. The abuse and manipulation is ignored for safety. There's variations on this but essentially most cover over the horrific connection with heaps of romantic cliches.
This story take that premise and removes the cliches, at least most of them. Gone is love conquering all. Gone is redemption. Gone is overlooking abuse. This is brutal unmitigated destruction at every level imaginable. What would truly happen in a human/alien union with such a ridiculous difference in power and a lack of understanding? What would happen if the manipulation and abuse were not falsely diminished by emotionalism?
The answer is this series. The sheer scope of the lies and manipulation and abuse are not removed. They come into fruition and death results. Dante is not a strong woman in love with a redeemed hero, she is a strong woman who walks forward despite being shattered. There's a lesson there, perhaps, but it's not one feel good about when reading.
Urban fantasy follows a known trajectory most times, particularly the romance variation. There's a connection between a human female and some version of an alien male, sometimes an actual alien and other times simply alien as in other. The male is insufferable, manipulative and abusive. The woman is strong but succumbs because deep down she wants to be held by the strength of a strong man. The abuse and manipulation is ignored for safety. There's variations on this but essentially most cover over the horrific connection with heaps of romantic cliches.
This story take that premise and removes the cliches, at least most of them. Gone is love conquering all. Gone is redemption. Gone is overlooking abuse. This is brutal unmitigated destruction at every level imaginable. What would truly happen in a human/alien union with such a ridiculous difference in power and a lack of understanding? What would happen if the manipulation and abuse were not falsely diminished by emotionalism?
The answer is this series. The sheer scope of the lies and manipulation and abuse are not removed. They come into fruition and death results. Dante is not a strong woman in love with a redeemed hero, she is a strong woman who walks forward despite being shattered. There's a lesson there, perhaps, but it's not one feel good about when reading.
creolelitbelle's review against another edition
5.0
Constantly heart-stopping excitement that will cause you to not put the book down for a while every time you pick it up. This is a direct continuation of #4, Saint City Sinners, & gives a rocky ride to a satisfying conclusion that simultaneously leaves the reader wondering what will happen for Dante, Japh, and crew next.
I love the world Saintcrow built for Dante Valentine and will miss the characters & their evolutions.
I love the world Saintcrow built for Dante Valentine and will miss the characters & their evolutions.