God's Demon By Wayne Barlowe

 God's Demon

By Wayne Barlowe 

Wayne Barlowe was born on January 6th, 1958 in Glen Cove, New York to Sy and Dorothea Barlowe, both of whom are well-known natural history artists. He attended the Cooper Union for the Advancement of the Science and Art starting in 1976 and in 1977, he also apprenticed in the Exhibition Department of The American Museum of Natural History. It was during this that he collaborated with his parents on what would be the first of many book assignments, the Instant Nature Guide to Insects (I think I used to have this book.). In 1979 he also old his first self-created book, Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, written in the same style as a field guide for wildlife, it received mixed reviews, I suppose it was a bit ahead of its time considering that we devour books like that these days. This didn't slow Mr. Barlowe down, however. He went on to illustrate over 300 books, creating a second book called Expedition, which formed the main inspiration to the Discovery Channel's docufiction special Alien Planet (Holy shit, it’s this guy?!  Yaaassss!) and more. He married noted science fiction editor and agent, Shawna McCarthy, on Jun 26, 1983, I was unable to find out how long the marriage lasted, only that Mr. Barlowe remarried Laura Hansen in 2013. Mr. Barlowe has also been involved in the artwork for movies and films ranging from Babylon 5 Thirdspace (AKA JMS Meets Lovecraft), Hellboy, Harry Potter movies (which did have some really good creature design), and Pacific Rim. God's Demon published in 2007 is his first prose novel however and that's what we'll be focusing on today. 

Now a friend recommended this novel after listening to my low-key grump on how modern fantasy tends to avoid religious themes and issues. Now it is not my intent to say that secular fantasy is bad. Nor is it bad to have secular or atheist characters in your story, although if you're in a setting where the goddess of farming can literally show up for the harvest festival, being an atheist might be a challenge (But notably, not impossible.  What distinguishes things claiming to be gods from other powerful beings that don’t?  And then there are the Chaos Gods, who Good People Don’t Worship.). Of course, you can absolutely write that Iron Age fantasy which is devoid of any real religion or gods, just be prepared for me to ask what takes the role of religion in those societies? My issue is when writers create societies that deeply reflect our own medieval or classical societies, often adding in, active gods and... No one has any real religious or theological concerns or urges? This tends to end up with characters feeling like 21st century first worlders dropped into another world instead of characters that actually grew up in a completely different society which is a whole another gripe that I'm pretty sure my editor and many of you have memorized at this point (Oh yes.  Very much so.). God's Demon however places a theological concern dead center of the story and makes themes of faith and religion unavoidable. Because God's Demon takes place in hell, as in the place you go if you die in a state of sin, the place where the Fallen Angels of Lucifer's Rebellion were exiled and became Demons. 

The Demons are not comfortable in Hell, because hell is a savage and brutal environment and even Demons can be injured just by traveling exposed to its infernally hot winds (I would be annoyed…). They responded to this by rallying around their old leaders from the rebellion and building cities and fortresses from which to rule fiefdoms they carved from the deeply hostile surroundings (Demonic feudalism… Marx’s Beard…{There are also natives that pre-exist them and the Demons treat them as something to hunt for sport} Ugh.). By the time of the novel, just about every Demon is enmeshed in a complex feudal hierarchy leading from the least overseer to the Prince of Hell himself Beelzebub, who rules from the twisted city of Dis (Otherwise known as Phoenix.{our streets are too wide and straight, plus we don’t light the city by burning people} No, but getting in your car feels like a burning coffin.{That’s just because you refused to fix your bloody AC for years you goof!} That was before the car was even started!). The Demons power their lifestyles through the use of human souls. The cities are built of bricks made out of human souls, they create beasts of burden and war from them, books, weapons, just about everything  (So when Faust sold his soul to the devil, he was destined to become… a hammer.{you stop that} What?  I was just thinking of a random tool!  Honestly!). This is done because it's honestly easier than using Hell's natural resources and the Demons justify it by not only considering themselves a superior lifeform to humanity (which was also the justification for their Rebellion in the first place) and arguing that any human who shows up in hell deserves it. As well as some Demons suggesting that spending eternity as a wall brick is frankly getting off light for some of them (Like Giles de Rais!  Most prolific serial killer of children ever.  Hundreds of child-bodies were excavated from the castle walls of Joan of Arc’s BFF, and the judge at his trial begged the prosecution to stop presenting evidence because it damaged his faith in a benevolent God.). Of course, humans who stand out in their depravity get worse punishments. Most humans are just stripped of their identities and memories and turned into a workforce that can also serve as building materials if there is any shortage. On top of that Hell has native lifeforms and peoples that the Demons battle with, hunt, and exploit. While these are dangerous creatures that are frankly better adapted for the dangers and conditions of Hell, they cannot match the Demon's abilities to use magic or the Demon's exploitation of souls to create fortification and weapons. So even the sapient natives of Hell have been pushed to the margins and are hunted. 

However, not all is settled in Hell, Beelzebub the Lord of flies is not Lucifer but instead his chosen regent. The arch rebel himself has not been seen since the early days of the fall. Beelzebub's laws are simple, Demons may war upon each other but the Demon Lords are not allowed to conquer or kill one another, only to constantly trade territory back and forth. There is to be no grace, no generosity, no beauty, nothing but reveling in their debased and debauched state (Ugh.  Come on demons, at least try to better yourselves.  Prove to YHWH that you are better…). Above all else, there is to be no hope of betterment and certainly no thought of redemption or repentance (Oy veh). The city of Dis, a twisted warren of ugly alleys and crooked streets, is a reflection of this. The souls trapped in this city are inflicted with torment after torment and the Demons who live here do not fare much better. The court of Beelzebub being a pit of paranoia and self-serving social climbing for the sake of it. If you are not careful, the Lord of Flies will dictate your punishment himself. Trapped in this court is Lilith, the first woman (She did not deserve this for wanting to be on top…{You’re missing a chunk of the story there, see when she and Adam had that argument, she left Eden and God… Did nothing to her. Given the argument was basically over who outranked who, the fact that God yanked a rib out of Adam could be read as a rebuke to Adam. Lilith meanwhile hooked up with a Demon or Angel (there’s debate because this is basically Jewish folklore we think is adapted from Babylonian folklore during the captivity [Which is probably is, but that’s a non-negligible portion of the Tanakh.  Of course this whole story is primarily taken from medieval Jewish literature as opposed to anything in Genesis or even subsequent rabbinical texts.]){She's in the dead sea scrolls, also I don't think 8th century counts as medieval!} and gave birth to monsters who attacked people in their sleep.  That pretty much got her tossed into hell.  Lilith was also believed to attack pregnant women and cause miscarriages as well as being responsible for sudden infant death syndrome .  Most of this gets glossed over or ignored in modern takes because then they can’t use her as a cool edgy pseudo feminist figure}), the consort of Lucifer, who before he disappeared, basically sold her to Beelzebub.  Which makes her Beelzebub’s consort whether she likes it or not.  Lilith is not content to suffer however, she plots to escape and more than that to create a society where she can be more than just someone's property. She has to advance her plot by inches as she is under constant surveillance because Beelzebub's greatest law is that he will share Lilith with no one. Not with the souls of her fellow human beings, not with his fellow Demons, and not even with her own hopes and ambitions. Lilith is not the only rebel in hell though (Good). 

The Demon Lord, Sargatanas creator and master of the city Adamantinarx, the closest thing the demons have to a city of beauty and culture has been troubled of late. While he has built a grand city that is the model of government and art and wealth, he is not pleased. When a chance encounter with a soul, forces him to realize that everything he has built is on a foundation of exploitation (Please be the soul of Marx, please be the soul of Marx…{*stares in American*}). It also forces him to realize that the souls he's been using as nothing more than raw materials are in fact people, who aren't that different from him. While Adamantinarx is perhaps the mildest place for a soul in Hell to end up, it's still Hell. Human souls are still at best well-treated slaves, raw materials at worst. This turns Sargatanas to asking himself if his behavior since the war has justified his rebellion or his punishment? And he realizes that his punishment has been justified but he also realizes that there is no reason that his punishment should be eternal (I would say that perhaps the punishment wasn’t justified, but is now…). Sargatanas resolves that he is going to go back to Heaven and find a path to redemption or die trying. This conviction becomes a threat to the very underpinnings of Hellish society and the pursuit of this conviction will overturn every law in Hell. Because Sargatanas’ message of hope and redemption finds a willing audience in the Demons and Souls of Hell and that strikes at everything Beelzebub stands for (Which is… what?  Mean-Spirited hedonism-botery? {No, the idea that only pain and punishment are allowed in Hell.  No relief, no mercy, no grace.  That the Demons are not allowed to even attempt to be better people} Maybe this is a failure of mental imagery on my part.  But from what I see Beelz is like “There is no talk of grace or redemption in hell, we’re stuck here so make the best of it and exploit the damned souls”. Because he does have a rape victim/consort...). 

This story is told through a first-person narrative mostly told through the eyes of Eligor, a Demon Minor and officer in Sargatanas army. While not one of the Demonic Lords, called Demon's Major, he does occupy a privileged position as leader of Sargatanas flying guard. He also often serves as a personal bodyguard and sidekick to Sargatanas giving us a good view of the progression of the rebellion at least from the top down. Another viewpoint is the human soul Hani, who through Lilith's plotting is empowered to confront Sargatanas and strike a deal that might lead to freedom for himself and even possibly all the humans of Hell (Not Marx, but good!). This gives us a more bottom-up view, although it misses out completely on the bottom rungs of demonic society. We also get chapters from Lilith's viewpoint but she's not on the front lines, operating at a bit of a remove. For the most part, she is giving us an outsider's view and the view of a woman trying to create her own future and it's rather compelling. Mr. Barlowe does a good job of giving each of these characters their own voice and combining these voices and viewpoints to give us a fully realized story. It's a story that takes place in a strange, fascinating and excitingly scary world, the characters are interesting and honestly fairly sympathetic. Additionally, it's an action-packed story because the only way Sargatanas can really pursue his redemption and create a space for others to do so is to militarily overthrow Beelzebub and tear down the city of Dis before the Lord of Flies does the same to him. The military confrontations are well done and often nail-biting and the final confrontation is frankly amazing (Excellent!). 

That said, because the story doesn't give us a voice among the lower orders of Demon, we have no idea how the average demon on the street views this. Is Sargatanas quest for redemption something that will actually take hold among them or are they forced to simply march along with the orders of their superiors regardless of their own thoughts and feelings? Another issue I have is simply how human all the characters are. I mean Sargatanas and Lilith certainly carry baggage from their former lives but it ends up being played out via very human reactions and emotions. Now I can't go after Mr. Barlowe too harshly for that because if he made the characters too alien, the readers would be unable to connect to them. However, I think he erred on the side of making them too human and would have liked to see a bit more of a divide between them and human beings. I mean for example we get romantic and sexual behavior in this book from the Demons and I find myself asking... Why? Demons are immortal, they don't age and they don't reproduce, there are no baby Demons running about. So why do Demons have the physical equipment for sexual behavior and the urges to engage in it? (The Lord works in strange and horny ways?) Because we see Demons on all sides engage in it. Now romance is a different matter but it would have been an interesting difference to see Lilith, who was a human being fully capable of romantic feelings and behavior, and the other Demons not so much.  Now, this is balanced out by Hani and other souls having viewpoints that wouldn't fit in well in the modern-day.  They feel like people who have been trapped in an awful situation and now see a way out.  They just don't get as much screen time as the Demons because this isn't primarily their story.  I should also note that theology is a bit basic, you won't see complex or involved arguments here. The problem is that everyone accepts Sargatanas premise that the Demons were wrong to rebel without any debate with the counterargument from Beelzebub about why redemption has no place in hell, get back to your place below me in the pyramid. While I agree with Sargatanas, I would have liked to see someone at least argue with him a little. As it is, it feels like everyone in his feudal domain falls into line with his reasoning way to easily. Despite that, I really did enjoy this book, it's the quest of a single person to create the possibility of something better for himself and the people around him. Sargatanas isn't just trying to get to Heaven but trying to create a path of redemption out of Hell itself. The quest to create some hope, even in the darkest of places is a powerful one and Mr. Barlowe isn't afraid to treat it as the epic action it is. A quick note before giving my grade, this book does take place in Hell, so there are a lot of scenes that could be disturbing. While Mr. Barlowe avoids being explicit or graphic there are disturbing scenes and a good number of them. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone easily troubled. With that warning, I'm giving God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe a B+ and I do recommend it. 

    So this is our last review of the year, we will be returning in January on the 22nd. If you would like a vote on what the first review of the year will be, consider joining us at https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads where a dollar a month gets you a vote on upcoming reviews, themes, and more. The vote for the first review of the month will close on January 12th. Until then from your editor and myself let me say Happy Holidays, may you and your loved ones stay safe and as always Keep Reading.

Red Text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen Black text is your reviewer Garvin Anders