Will Sargent reviewed Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory
Review of 'Pandemonium' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Good. This is a story about "demons" and "possession" but more in the voodoo sense of the word -- only not quite, because American archetypes like Captain America possess people instead. And the book starts off with someone being possessed in Airport Security.
It's well written. Daryl Gregory has much in common with Matt Ruff in his overall balancing of viewpoint, action and misdirection. More than that, the book is well edited -- it doesn't waste time inflating the plot, and instead goes right for the essence of the book. Everyone is always doing what is most important to them, and no-one's doing anything that's against their nature (although to be fair, some of them are doing some pretty stupid things sometimes).
It is clearly written by someone who loves science fiction (Philip K. Dick shows up as a character!) and as such, people who don't read SF probably won't …
Good. This is a story about "demons" and "possession" but more in the voodoo sense of the word -- only not quite, because American archetypes like Captain America possess people instead. And the book starts off with someone being possessed in Airport Security.
It's well written. Daryl Gregory has much in common with Matt Ruff in his overall balancing of viewpoint, action and misdirection. More than that, the book is well edited -- it doesn't waste time inflating the plot, and instead goes right for the essence of the book. Everyone is always doing what is most important to them, and no-one's doing anything that's against their nature (although to be fair, some of them are doing some pretty stupid things sometimes).
It is clearly written by someone who loves science fiction (Philip K. Dick shows up as a character!) and as such, people who don't read SF probably won't get a number of references. That being said, it's good, not too long, and you should read it.