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To Reign in Hell (1984)

di Steven Brust

Altri autori: Vedi la sezione altri autori.

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1,2492615,356 (3.72)20
The time is the Beginning. The place is Heaven. The story is the Revolt of the Angels--a war of magic, corruption and intrigue that could destroy the universe. To Reign in Hell was Stephen Brust's second novel, and it's a thrilling retelling of the revolt of the angels, through the lens of epic fantasy.… (altro)
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» Vedi le 20 citazioni

What a book.

I have to admit I approached the book with great worry, but I have to say this is a book that does what great fantasy/SF is supposed to do - resonate with our everyday life (unfortunately).

While some might say this is book that looks at big S and his band of rebels with full understanding and sympathy I beg to differ. While it shows how rebellion came on in the first place it also shows how forces of good and evil are part of the same equation and to achieve balance they need to become more destructive to each other until the very grand finale (no matter how you call it). In the end rebels end up as militarized and violent as Heaven and get involved in never-ending cycle of violence (which also gives parallels to another universe with similar topic - W40K).

Story starts in the beginning, literally. Out of the shapeless chaos (primordial soup if you want) intelligence comes about, something able to think and to be aware of itself. Soon another intelligence comes out (I liked how discussion on whether all other intelligence originates from the first one or they are just a coincidence is never completely closed) and they form an alliance and soon more and more various beings come to existence - so called Firstborn. These are almost all of the stronger creatures of the Old Testament - big G, big S, big L (cannot help it, I just like naming them like this :)), Michael (so similar to Corleone namesake, men tasked with protecting the Heaven but ashamed of what Heaven's hosts turned to), Raphael the healer and Lilith, love interest of many of angel. Then we have Leviathan, The Great Dragon and few more high ranking angels.

Their ultimate goal is to fight the entropy and prevent chaos from destroying everything created so united they create the base, Heaven, and split it into areas where each Firstborn is tasked with protection of their land against the chaos. And so three waves pass by, and hosts grow (and many million fall to chaos) but there is always lurking danger of yet another wave that will break through the walls of Heaven and wreak havoc.

So Plan is made to create the world where entropy will be put under control and chaos rendered harmless. But there is a catch - it will take sacrifice of a thousand of angels to build it. It will save the lives of millions but this thousand. So discussion is started are the lives of thousand price Heaven is willing to pay? So when an ambitious (albeit very disturbed) angel decides that Plan needs to move on (for this angel's own glory), events are put to motion that will drive the wedge between angels [that at this point see each other as equals in every way] and soon deaths, suspicions and lies will cause the great rift and destruction, not to mention establishment of the authoritarian regime (which to be honest, every religion and devotion is) and destruction of Heaven as it originally was.

Following events from last two years and after reading comment from the reader from 2009 I cannot but laugh. Were it not for last two years I would also be amused how these mighty creatures could not figure out what is happening.

As is case with all the best myths and legends author portrays all these creatures with human characteristics. And unfortunately humans are not, repeat are not, bright when it matters and are more then capable of moon walking into the disaster.

Everything echoes our world (modern and ages past, unfortunately nobody learns from history): from the crazy angel sowing discord, big G's unwillingness to doubt anyone around him to the point when he starts doubting everyone and starts surrounding himself with the armed angels lead by zealots no longer using old views of the world but devoting everything to their master (think of them as today's activists), to rebels who are as dysfunctional as any political party that is first seen as a possible opposition and ends up being considered The Danger to everyone, steps they take trying to figure out what is happening and then ending up in armed revolt with emotions stirring ever more destruction (big G's cynical comment that Heaven did atrocities and lost some of it support will trigger rebels to do the same and lose their own support is ...... so bloody and unbelievably contemporary).

Rise of authority and division of once equal world to those for the Plan and those against the Plan, lack of communication and trust in the communication intermediaries (net news anyone?) that cause more misunderstandings and lack of actual communication, rise of violence in the world where there were no weapons because of second guessing and rising mistrust, and destruction caused by rise of violence - from burning the yesterday friend's and neighbors homesteads to outright killing them for their stances on Plan or because they just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (poor Herut) - is so soul crushing and so reminiscent of these crazy years we live in...... incredible....... I have to say author (as Zelazny did with his Lord of Light) managed to make the story and conflict in his book contemporary forever.

Hope remains that generations will read it and learn something from it.

Author's style is truly captivating, there is no padding, no unnecessary parts. As we follow the main story line, discussions between everyday angels that get caught in the conflict are beautifully written, starting from what is happening and ending with old friendships lost over politics and burst of emotions due their own insecurities on how to proceed.

Excellent book. Highly recommended. ( )
  Zare | Jan 23, 2024 |
Walking and talking, walking and talking. A lot of walking and talking in this book. Which makes it all more annoying when characters don’t seem to get where they’re going and don’t say what they need to say. This is a book where the entire premise relies in a Big Misunderstanding, where everything could have been avoided if only people had actually talked to each other. I can't lie, I hate those sort of plots unless very well done, and I don't feel that it was particularly well done in this instance - it relied entirely on angle Abdiel wanting to sew discord for... funsies?

I generally enjoy "sympathy for the Devil" type stories, but I think I might be tried of “God is actually the bad guy” narratives. It was probably revolutionary in the 80’s when this was written. In 2019 though I just found it predictable, and compounded with the other things I didn't like about this book, made this a very difficult book to finish.
( )
  Fardo | Oct 15, 2019 |
A reimagining of the revolt of Satan and the creation of the Earth.

In the beginning was chaos--cacoastrum--from which was formed the first Angel, Yahweh. As he fought for his existence, Satan was formed, then five other angels--the Firstborn. The seven built themselves a fortress against the cacoastrum--Heaven. And this was the First Wave.

As the cacoastrum surged, the walls of Heaven could not hold it back, and the angels were once again forced to fight for their lives. Heaven was expanded, and several hundred new angels were formed out of the cacoastrum as they fought--the archangels. And this was the Second Wave.

Once again the cacoastrum surged, and once again the angels fought. Heaven was further expanded, and many thousands more angels were formed. The Third Wave.

Thousands of days have passed since the last wave, and Yahweh presents a plan to Satan, to build a permanent bastion against the cacoastrum, so no more angels need fight and die in the waves. Satan agrees with the plan, but has misgivings about his role: to ensure that all the hosts of Heaven participate, whether they want to or not. He is uncertain that he--or anyone--has the right to force the angels to risk themselves against their will.

These doubts, and the treacherous actions of another angel, lead Satan into conflict with Yahweh, and the fate of all the angels--and the eventual creation of Earth--hangs in the balance.

An excellent book. ( )
  Sopoforic | Aug 27, 2019 |
Like many of Brust’s earlier works, I’ve owned the physical book for many years but haven’t re-read it for almost as long. With an introduction by Roger Zelazny, it certainly bore re-reading.

However, I would say that you need to have some passing familiarity with Milton, given the subject: the ‘revolt’ of Satan. I say ‘revolt’ rather than revolt as the story treats it as a series of misunderstandings and betrayal rather than an active rebellion as most would describe it, and Satan and his allies are treated rather more sympathetically than Yaweh and his allies.

Fans of Brust will enjoy finding the Devera reference, although there is no overt connection to Dragaera (but how cacoastrum and illiaster work may be linked to the Dragaeran Chaos magic, and the references to the artifacts of the senior angels may be a call-out to Dragaeran Great Weapons).

Enjoyable, but probably not to everyone’s taste given the subject.
  Maddz | Dec 10, 2017 |
Points for ambition, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Brust attempts to apply his breezy fantasy storytelling to Paradise Lost, inventing a whole new storyline for how the war in Heaven came about. Unfortunately, there are too many characters, and not even the most important ones are fleshed out in any interesting way. It's all plot mechanics, and the core of that plot is a series of deceptions by a single angel, with some rabbits pulled out of hat from time to time to keep it going. Frustrating. ( )
2 vota ChrisRiesbeck | Sep 2, 2017 |
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Nome dell'autoreRuoloTipo di autoreOpera?Stato
Brust, Stevenautore primariotutte le edizioniconfermato
Hickman, StephenImmagine di copertinaautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato
Marschall, KathyMapautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato
Zelazny, RogerPrefazioneautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato
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Angels and mortals Fight for the right To have a little pleasure And enjoy an easy flight Angels and mortals Sometimes get their way Mark Henley "November Song"
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This book was written for my wife, Reen, whom I love and cherish.
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Snow, tenderly caught by eddying breezes, swirled and spun in to and out of bright, lustrous shapes that gleamed against the emerald-blazoned black drape of sky and sparkled there for a moment, hanging, before settling gently to the soft, green-tufted plain with all the sickly sweetness of an over-written sentence.
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The time is the Beginning. The place is Heaven. The story is the Revolt of the Angels--a war of magic, corruption and intrigue that could destroy the universe. To Reign in Hell was Stephen Brust's second novel, and it's a thrilling retelling of the revolt of the angels, through the lens of epic fantasy.

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