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Title details for Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory - Available

Pandemonium

A Novel

by Daryl Gregory
ebook
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It is a world like our own in every respect . . . save one. In the 1950s, random acts of possession begin to occur. Ordinary men, women, and children are the targets of entities that seem to spring from the depths of the collective unconscious, pop-cultural avatars some call demons. There’s the Truth, implacable avenger of falsehood. The Captain, brave and self-sacrificing soldier. The Little Angel, whose kiss brings death, whether desired or not. And a string of others, ranging from the bizarre to the benign to the horrific.
As a boy, Del Pierce is possessed by the Hellion, an entity whose mischief-making can be deadly. With the help of Del’s family and a caring psychiatrist, the demon is exorcised . . . or is it? Years later, following a car accident, the Hellion is back, trapped inside Del’s head and clamoring to get out.
Del’s quest for help leads him to Valis, an entity possessing the science fiction writer formerly known as Philip K. Dick; to Mother Mariette, a nun who inspires decidedly unchaste feelings; and to the Human League, a secret society devoted to the extermination of demons. All believe that Del holds the key to the plague of possession–and its solution. But for Del, the cure may be worse than the disease.

“Look out, Lethem! Daryl Gregory mixes pop culture and pathos, flavoring it with Philip K. Dick. Pandemonium possesses every quality you want in a great novel, and the good news is it’s only his debut.”
–Charles Coleman Finlay, Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated author of The Prodigal Troll

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 26, 2008

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780345509697

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780345509697
      • File size: 763 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 7, 2008
      Believable characters, a multilayered plot and smooth prose define Gregory's darkly ambitious debut novel. In this fascinating alternative time line, thousands of demon possessions have been carefully recorded by scientists each year since the 1950s. Each case is always the same: a recognizable, named “strain of the disorder” possesses a person, wreaks havoc and then jumps on to its next victim. Del Pierce's case is unique: when the Hellion possessed him at the age of five, it never left. Now an unhappy 20-something, Del undertakes a dangerous quest to exorcise the Hellion as it fights him for control. The trim prose keeps the pace intense and the action red hot through some emotionally disturbing scenes and heavy backstory. Absorbing psychological discussions of possession abound, from Jungian archetypes to the eye of Shiva. Readers will delve deeply into Gregory's highly original demon-infested reality and hope for a sequel.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from August 15, 2008
      In Gregory's alternate world, the 1950s saw the emergence of a new phenomenon in which ordinary people began to be possessednot by demons from Hell but by archetypes straight from the collective unconsciousness. Among these are the Kamikaze, who drives its hosts to spectacular acts of suicide or assassination; the Truth, who destroys liars; and the Little Angel, a young girl in a nightgown, who visits the dying and whose kiss speeds them to their inevitable end. Since he was five, Del Pierce has been possessed by the Hellion, a creature part Dennis the Menace, part total destructive mayhem. To all appearances, Del is now free of the "demon," and his family simply believes that he has been mentally ill. But Del knows that the Hellion is still trapped within his body, always on the edge of breaking his host's eroding control. Rising sf/fantasy star Gregory, winner of the Asimov's Reader's Award for his novelette "Second Person, Present Tense," demonstrates his skill at full-length storytelling in a debut novel that breaks new ground while paying homage to some of the genre's most iconoclastic authors, A.E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick. Most libraries should introduce sf fans to this bright new voice of the 21st century.

      Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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