What if possession was an epidemic? What if the same demons kept taking
people over for short intervals, over and over? What would they be? Are
they demons? Is the cause religious or scientific? And what would it do
to you to be one of the possessed?
These are the central questions of Pandemonium,
which was an assured first entry as a science fiction novel. I found
little of the first-time stiffness, the over-explanation, the clunky
prose. Nope, this one is deftly written, and twists and turns in
entirely logical but surprising ways - and I never saw those twists
telegraphed. I am impressed.
This skirts the line of fantasy and
SF, in part because no one really knows what causes the demons to
possess people. And the idea of recurring demons showing up with
recognizable M.O.s all over the world is fascinating, from the Painter,
who possesses people and causes them to make recognizable pieces of art,
to the Captain, who possesses soldiers in the line of fire and causes
them to do heroic but often deadly things, to the Truth, who possesses
people in order to kill those who are perpetrating lies, to the Little
Angel, who kisses sick people on the lips and kills them, somehow. And a
whole lot more.
Add to that the idea that most demons have a
type, like the Little Angel, who only possesses young girls with long
blonde curly hair. Or the Hellion, a Dennis-the-Menace type that only
goes after young boys.
The main character, Del, has been
possessed once or twice himself, but now fears that the demon he was
possessed by as a boy never really left - he just managed to contain it.
This shouldn't be possible. What does it mean for his sanity? What does
it mean for his future? And can he ignore the increasingly loud
rattling of the cage in his head?
I really don't want to give
away more than that, but I highly recommend this one. It has the
self-assurance of an accomplished writer, and interesting things to say
and fascinating ways to get there. I love the inventiveness. And the
Philip K. Dick cameo.
No comments:
Post a Comment