A review by geofroggatt
God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe

3.0

I discovered this book in the Books of Horror Facebook group (the only reason I use Facebook these days) when I was asking for recommendations for books that follow Demons or books that explore the world of the Christian Hell as a physical place. Inspired by Christian demonology, this book tells the story of Sargatanas, a Fallen Angel who participated in Lucifer’s rebellion but has since repented and now seeks God's forgiveness so he can return to Heaven. As much as I am an agnostic and heavy critic of the Christian organized religion, I’ve always loved Christian mythology and art. I loved this book and its exploration of the Christian Hell, and I loved Sargatanas as a character and protagonist. I loved this cast of demonic characters. I loved the mythology and history of Hell as a place and I loved seeing the governmental and political structure of the cities of Hell. I loved hearing about Hell as a world and the unique visions the author has about its architecture and machinations. I loved hearing the histories of the characters and how they related to each other, and I loved the grand infernal and divine scope given to the world of this story. As a reader it was easy to see how the artist/painter turned author focused on lavish descriptions, and I can see how this book would be even better had the author chose to focus more on plot and dialogue, but personally the beautiful and haunting descriptions more than made up for the other parts of the story that were lacking. I loved the feeling of sadness and regret that came with Sargatanas lamenting his existence after coming to regret his decision to participate in Lucifer’s rebellion. The atmosphere was so vivid and it was easy to imagine the slow centuries passing as Sargatanas lived his lonely existence. I loved the idea of Lucifer abandoning Hell and his followers and the mystery surrounding his absence that permeates the story. I loved the parallel between Lucifer’s rebellion in Heaven and Sargatanas’s rebellion in Hell. The politics of Hell were very interesting and I liked the way that different cities of Hell were depicted and interacted with each other with different governmental structures. The author's vision of Hell is outstanding with a great attention to detail. As can be expected, it is a brutal domain, but it's also a cold and unfeeling Hell. Hell existed with its own denizens before the Fall and the arrival of the cast out angels and condemned human souls transforms the landscape. Beyond the well-crafted setting there's the core story of the search for redemption with one of the Demon Lords wanting to return to Heaven. It's a grand quest and one that involves the first true war in Hell. The campaign follows a familiar path, however there are some twists and turns and imaginative use of the demons and souls abilities to keep things interesting. The tale is told from a few different perspectives, each carrying a different theme. While all these different characters offer important pieces to the overall story, Lilith was the standout character for me and I found her to be the most interesting and sympathetic character. I loved these characters and this world, but by the end I do feel like this book was missing something plot-wise, as if there was one small storytelling element missing that would have elevated this story into something great, however I do think that that missing piece of the story that I wanted will be incorporated into the sequel novel, and I’m excited to read it and find out. I loved the ending, but I do feel like it could have been more impactful had the characterizations been stronger. Overall, this book wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been, but I did enjoy it and would love to see an animated movie or television series adaptation using the author’s own art style.