Because your people have made me the name of evil." The Angel's voice is steely and at the sme time wounded. "But even with all my imaginations, with all my time, I could not dream up the cruelties that you and your kind inflict on one another every minute of every day. The worst evils are the ones you justify with your religions and laws and piety. But then there are evils so terrible you can't justify them, even with your most twisted logic, even with your most absurd religions, and those evils are the evils that you blame on me."

Oh, Lord. It was ridiculously exciting to find out there was a sequel to The Descent. In all honesty, the mix of archaeology and themes of mythology and religion as well as the amazing character that is Allie... I would've read it no matter how good or bad it was. But thankfully, Long did not disappoint. We dwell deeper into the lore, and I'm all for it.

But as interesting the story and its themes are, I felt there was so much more I wanted to know. Not just as "fun facts" but I also felt it lacked a satisfactory amount of answers, even as I feel like the lack of answers in other aspects are fitting. During the first book, I wanted more because it was so interesting and so good, but during this one, I wanted more mostly because this time it felt like another book was needed. Although, that might just be because I wouldn't mind another five books. ( )

I didn't love this book they way I loved it's prequel [b:The Descent|239065|The Descent|Jeff Long|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309288419s/239065.jpg|231578]. The first book was more of an adventure/exploration story, going down into the earth and discovering the Hadal's civilization. This one delved more into the identity of "satan" or the being trapped in the earth. He apparently has supernatural powers, but is unable to leave his prison. So he lures travelers and pilgrims to his lair, where he either tortures and kills them, or takes them on as a temporary disciple.

The story criss crossed between the evil down below, and a hunt for some children that were abducted and taken into the earth. While the beginning of the book was interesting, towards the end it became more metaphysical, and more about the torture inflicted upon the people. The underworld, which was so believable in the first book, became more and more unbelievable to me. So I felt a little let down by this one. ( )

Overall,this book was rather excellent.
Perhaps not quite as good as the first one, since the first one was "lets jump in and explore this brave new world!" and the second one is "let's explore the aftermath and the consequences and the new arriving threat."

It was good to see old characters again. Not too thrilled with how they turned out in the end, but hey, we might get another sequel?

I want to read more by him, definitely. He is terrifying. ( )

I was very excited about this book as I really loved The Descent but I found this book to lack the depth and intrigue that I found in the original.

Similar to the original "The Descent" this story jumped around to different groups and areas but I found this one much harder to follow. All the added paper clippings and news reports I found somewhat unnecessary as they didn't add to the plot.

The story had some good twists and turns and some favorite characters as well as new ones that really had you wondering with each turn of the page what the outcome would be but as I got closer to the end I found I didn't like the ending as much as I was hoping to. Overall a good read but not very fluid with the previous in the series. ( )

Sequel to Long's 1999 novel, The Descent, which I also loved, this strange novel concerns the subterranean "hadals," creatures who live in tunnels and caverns deep below the surface of the earth. Long ago, the hadals captured and enslaved humans, but now they're believed to be destroyed, and humans are beginning to encroach on the subterranean territory, with often violent and grotesque results. ( )