The senior pupils of St Peter's High School are on retreat to a secluded outdoor activity centre, coming to terms with the murder of a fellow pupil...
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Aug 10, 2011
Brookmyre has two types of book, satires and parodys. Both are consistently well written, and often extremely funny. However, his parodys often feel a little pointless, as if he's bashed them out while waiting for inspiration to strike for his next satire. Never bad, but never as good as, for instance, his Jack Parlabane books.
Pandaemonium falls, to my mind, into the parody collection. However, it commits the cardinal sin of not actually being terribly funny. There's the odd moment that made me More...
Pandaemonium falls, to my mind, into the parody collection. However, it commits the cardinal sin of not actually being terribly funny. There's the odd moment that made me More...
Aug 03, 2011
Even when venting off, Christopher Brookmyre is poetic. When hard man Kirk is taken aside by Mr Kane, the schoolboy expects a mild telling off, only to be ripped apart: “Do you know how many bright Scottish boys from places like Gleniston end up making the least of themselves, just because they’re afraid getting the head down and scoring good grades would clash with their hard man image? Too fucking many.” Christopher Brookmyre’s memories from his own school days in the Scottish town of Barr
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Jan 12, 2012
Kell
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When it comes to Christopher Brookmyre, I adopt the reading equivalent of “shoot first, ask questions later”: Basically, I don’t read the synopsis or any reviews before jumping in and reading it for myself and he has never disappointed me. Anyway, this goes towards explaining how unexpected this latest novel was to me!
As usual, I just picked it up and started reading – the “main” story starts off in the usual way for a Brookmyre novel with a bunch of Scots in a normal situation. On thi More...
As usual, I just picked it up and started reading – the “main” story starts off in the usual way for a Brookmyre novel with a bunch of Scots in a normal situation. On thi More...
Oct 07, 2011
Alex
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Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre was literally a page turner. This read started out a bit slow for me, but the pace picked up towards the end and I literally couldn't put it down. I had a few irritations with this novel (such as the overuse of the word 'literally'), but is was an exciting and very quick read.
A group of students travel into the great Scottish outdoors on a weekend trip meant to help them deal with the stabbing death of one of their classmates. Their pain and suff More...
A group of students travel into the great Scottish outdoors on a weekend trip meant to help them deal with the stabbing death of one of their classmates. Their pain and suff More...
Feb 26, 2011
eggophilia
rated it:
The key to enjoy a Chris Brookmyre's book is: don't sweat it for the first 2-3 chapters because a) You will get there eventually, and b) You just want to get back to the first page just as soon as you finish the last. At least I do.
Pandaemonium is a messy mixture of science fiction and teenage horror flick, with quantum physics, religious arguments and blood splatter all over the pages. I think it's a cross between A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil and Attack of the Unsink More...
Pandaemonium is a messy mixture of science fiction and teenage horror flick, with quantum physics, religious arguments and blood splatter all over the pages. I think it's a cross between A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil and Attack of the Unsink More...
Nov 23, 2010
Ian
rated it: 
Brookmyre really strecthes credibility with this one. I've said before that you know what you are going to get before you even read it - great turns of scottish phrases, anger against something wrong in society (although toned down in this one), cracking pace and plotting - and with this one - so great science fictions explaining how the back story could come about.
Group of school kids are off to a recreational centre in the wilds of scotland - after one of their class has been stab More...
Group of school kids are off to a recreational centre in the wilds of scotland - after one of their class has been stab More...
Sep 07, 2009
DC
rated it:
Most of Brookmyre's books fit in the crime (with a dark sense of humour) category. This one is a slightly new direction, more horror gore-fest yet ultimately SF — with a dark sense of humour. Yet it still reads like a crime novel.
Take a coachload of Paisley schoolkids heading for a retreat to deal with the emotional effects of a recent violent incident at their school, an underground military base where physicists are working on a top-secret project, a Cardinal leading a Vatican team More...
Take a coachload of Paisley schoolkids heading for a retreat to deal with the emotional effects of a recent violent incident at their school, an underground military base where physicists are working on a top-secret project, a Cardinal leading a Vatican team More...
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Mar 17, 2010
Debbie
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I really enjoy Christopher Brookmyre's novels, so when his latest was recommended by another of my favourite authors (Diana Gabaldon) I wasted no time in reading it!
Brookmyre's novels are a paradox in that they are full of certainties and uncertainties. The certainty is that they will involve violence and lots of blood, humour, satire, entertaining characters, red herrings and plot twists and a great dollop of Scottishness. The uncertainty involves those plot twists. The only thing y More...
Brookmyre's novels are a paradox in that they are full of certainties and uncertainties. The certainty is that they will involve violence and lots of blood, humour, satire, entertaining characters, red herrings and plot twists and a great dollop of Scottishness. The uncertainty involves those plot twists. The only thing y More...
Jun 17, 2010
Ally
rated it:
I just finished reading this and I really enjoyed it. I found it easy to get into, although the pace picks up a lot about 3/4 of the way through and after that I just couldn't put it down. The characters are fairly well-developed, for the most part believable, and they nearly all had something thoughtful or funny (or often both) to say. Pandaemonium has some similar themes to Brookmyre's other books I've read, including rational thought/science vs. the supernatural/religion. It's certainly no wo
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Jul 25, 2011
Malcolm
rated it:
Not Brookmyre's best, I'm afraid. It is in format a pretty standard 'spam in a cabin' (with apologies to Joe-Bob Briggs) horror story – although the sharp and sardonic style does redeem that quite a lot (as does the repeated explicit and implicit references to Scream, which are nicely done: does that make it meta-referentiality?). The kinds of digs I'd expect at political power, corruption and so forth are not as cogent as usual for Brookmyre, and the dual deus-ex-machina type-shifts in the doub
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Jan 27, 2011
Bernadette
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I have been reading pretty solidly for 39 years and by now I have a fairly good idea of the kinds of books I like and the kinds of ones I don't. But not wanting to be entirely predictable I occasionally try something that I think will not be my sort of thing. Just in case. Usually this works out as expected. For example I thought Eat, Pray, Love would be utter pants and it was. But there was a slim chance that it might not have been so I gave it a go. For another example I didn't really expect t
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Jul 25, 2010
David
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An interesting book. Not quite what I was expecting from reading the cover blurb but enjoyable nonetheless. Basically a bunch of Scottish schoolkids are taken on an outing to an adventure centre in order to help them all come to terms with the death of one of their friends at the hands of another pupil. The adventure centre in question is based not too far away from a secret military base that is experimenting with technologies to move between worlds - of the quantum many worlds type, i.e., othe
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Oct 28, 2011
Catherine
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Pandaemonium follows two seemingly different themes at the outset; the first tracks a group of pupils from St. Peter’s High School who, after the murder of one of their friends and fellow pupils, have gone on a spiritual retreat to help them come to terms with the tragedy. Of course, being teenagers the retreat is an opportunity for more than just prayer and contemplation and is frought with sex, drugs, alcohol and the occasional foray into the minds of young people and the struggles they face o
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Feb 07, 2011
SwelterTheChef
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A little bit of a departure from normal Chris Brookmyre. Whereas all his previous books are firmly rooted in the here and now, and could easily take place, this one stretches the bounds of believability to breaking point or beyond.
To be honest for the first 30 or so pages it was a bit of a struggle, there didn't really seem to be any characters to love or feel for, in fact they all were on the obnoxious side. However bear with it. In the end it is a very uplifting book ( honest!) about fri More...
To be honest for the first 30 or so pages it was a bit of a struggle, there didn't really seem to be any characters to love or feel for, in fact they all were on the obnoxious side. However bear with it. In the end it is a very uplifting book ( honest!) about fri More...
Apr 14, 2010
Rod
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This has got to be one of the best books I have read in years. I had high hopes for it after reading Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks and I was not disappointed. I found the best part of this book the totally enthralling characterisation of the kids - he 100% nailed it. Yes, it was a fantastical plot, but he managed to get away with that and keep it pretty grounded through the wonderful and utterly believable teenagers - all with their own problems, neuroses, hopes, fears, loves and hates.
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Jul 29, 2011
As ever from Brookmyre, an entertaining and compelling read, with some cute aspects to his latest dig at organised (and particularly, Catholic) religion.
But in some respects it's a little formulaic, with the main item of suspense for the regular Brookmyre reader, being the question of exactly who is being scammed and how, as apparently demonic creatures appear, and behave as certain religious groups might expect them to. As usual the clues are there, but the plot and writing are strong enough f More...
But in some respects it's a little formulaic, with the main item of suspense for the regular Brookmyre reader, being the question of exactly who is being scammed and how, as apparently demonic creatures appear, and behave as certain religious groups might expect them to. As usual the clues are there, but the plot and writing are strong enough f More...
May 10, 2011
Gordon
rated it:
I'm always hesitant to recommend Brookmyre to audiences outside of the west of Scotland as I think so many of the subtleties that make his writing so enjoyable may not translate. However, the re-immersion in the culture of secondary school effortlessly brings back the insecurities and paranoia of that age. This book, whilst a slight departure from his usual subject matter, bringing slasher horror into the mix, makes light of the juxtaposition of church and science. If this is your first foray in
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May 09, 2010
Jo
rated it:
Initially, it's not the easiest book in the world to read, it's quite complex and a little bit chaotic, but then that fits in well with the title, as the definition of pandemonium, is in fact = a place or scene of riotous uproar or utter chaos.
Following a violent incident at school, a group of senior pupils are taken to a retreat, in order to come to terms with what happened to one of their classmates.In an underground bunker not far from the retreat, lies a secret which, when discovered, More...
Following a violent incident at school, a group of senior pupils are taken to a retreat, in order to come to terms with what happened to one of their classmates.In an underground bunker not far from the retreat, lies a secret which, when discovered, More...
Feb 10, 2012
Reuben
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Reads like a cross between eighties Degrassi Junior High and Attack the Block. Starts out heartfelt and crass with a large group of teenagers headed off on a healing retreat after one of their own is stabbed to death at school. Ends in a hyper violent splatterfest as extra dimensional demons attack the teenagers and their teachers.
This book isn't for the faint of heart, but I really enjoyed it, it was intense, well written, compassionate, heartfelt, very human and at the same time More...
This book isn't for the faint of heart, but I really enjoyed it, it was intense, well written, compassionate, heartfelt, very human and at the same time More...
Nov 23, 2009
Gemma
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The usual Brookmyre themes on display here; the triumph of rational thought over religion and superstition, unsympathetic 'types' who turn out to be better than they look, funny lines and lots of action. This one ia about a group of school children apparently attacked by demons; it's a real bloodbath and I actualy found it a bit too violent for me. Also it covers ideas done before, and I 6think better, in be My Enemy and A Tale etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil. Having said that, it's a pacy
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Dec 11, 2010
Coren
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I read this and couldn't believe that I had never encountered this author before. He really is brilliant. I immediately ordered his entire back catalogue from Amazon and read them all one after the other. Only one was a so-so book and even that one was better than a lot of stuff published these days.
I've now read Pandaemonium three times and will probably read it again soon. Extraordinary plot and characterisation. It assumes a certain familiarity with Scotland and Scottish idiom, but More...
I've now read Pandaemonium three times and will probably read it again soon. Extraordinary plot and characterisation. It assumes a certain familiarity with Scotland and Scottish idiom, but More...
Jan 11, 2011
Iain
rated it:
I enjoyed this latest from Brookmyre in which he juxtaposes two totally diverse situations and crashes them together to cause - pandaemonium. This outing has a great dollop of ‘Science’ added to the ‘Fiction’ and the pace gathers the more you read and I found that once I got about two thirds of the way through I couldn’t put it down for too long.
There are the usual laugh-out-loud moments and the thoughtful sequences where religion versus science is debated with Brookmyre’s usual fort More...
There are the usual laugh-out-loud moments and the thoughtful sequences where religion versus science is debated with Brookmyre’s usual fort More...
Nov 02, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
I met Mr Brookmyre tonight at a reading of his new book Pandaemonium. What a lovely, intelligent and charming man. He stayed for a long Q&A with the audience and was happy to chat and sign books afterwards. Legend.
This new book is a foray into a different genre for Brookmyre - he classes Pandaemonium as Gothic Horror and is the first of his many novels not to be losely crime fiction. From what I heard tonight, it has the usual humour and pace of his previous works, but is more sc More...
This new book is a foray into a different genre for Brookmyre - he classes Pandaemonium as Gothic Horror and is the first of his many novels not to be losely crime fiction. From what I heard tonight, it has the usual humour and pace of his previous works, but is more sc More...
Nov 17, 2009
Karen
rated it:
Fans of Christopher Brookmyre's dark, black-comedic writing are probably going to do what I did when this book arrived. A bit of dignified happy dancing and a general clearing of the activity calendar to sit down for a jolly good read and, along the way, a lot of very undignified laughing. A lot of readers new to this writer may be stepping away from the book (and this review) in droves. But really - don't. To steal a famous phrase - do yourself a favour (perhaps this needs to come with a st
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Sep 30, 2010
Old-Barbarossa
rated it:
Enjoyable stuff...well, for me anyway.
Like an episode of The Inbetweeners mixed with the movie Aliens and a sprinkling of Vatican related conspiracy thrown in.
Loads of carnage, fart jokes, Scottish slang (the only time I've seen "ronson" in print - for those across the pond: rhyming slang, from the brand of cigarette lighter - ronson lighter = shiter = rectum, again fart related).
Any book that has a ned killing monsters with a chainsaw while singing the Python lumber- More...
Like an episode of The Inbetweeners mixed with the movie Aliens and a sprinkling of Vatican related conspiracy thrown in.
Loads of carnage, fart jokes, Scottish slang (the only time I've seen "ronson" in print - for those across the pond: rhyming slang, from the brand of cigarette lighter - ronson lighter = shiter = rectum, again fart related).
Any book that has a ned killing monsters with a chainsaw while singing the Python lumber- More...
Nov 22, 2010
Godzilla
rated it:
A bold change of direction away from the normal Brookmyre book revolving around a tightly plotted crime.
This one involves demons, teenagers, religious debate and quantum physics: quite a heady mix.
The characters are, as ever, skillfully drawn, and the dialogue crisp, funny and realistic. Some knowledge of Scottish vernacular will help, but the effect is startling.
Two strands of the story gather pace, and then they collide, violently. There are plenty of twists More...
This one involves demons, teenagers, religious debate and quantum physics: quite a heady mix.
The characters are, as ever, skillfully drawn, and the dialogue crisp, funny and realistic. Some knowledge of Scottish vernacular will help, but the effect is startling.
Two strands of the story gather pace, and then they collide, violently. There are plenty of twists More...
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Apr 21, 2011
Jemma
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Chock full of brilliant philisophical commentary around the nature of religion, Pandaemonium is a bit of a slow burner. The first two thirds of the book focusses on character development and discussions about physics, with the last part brimming with the sort of jaw-dropping gore and violence you'd expect from a Robert Rodriguez film. In fact, this would make an absolutely AMAZING horror comedy, just so long as the characters were kept Scottish and not transformed into English or Americans. Ther
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Nov 15, 2009
Cait
rated it:
Really really really enjoyed this. If I could give it 4.5 stars I would, and the only reason I haven't given it 5 is because I like his previous books so much and this one took a little while to get going. Brookmyre has a distinctive voice and style and these are preserved; it's acerbic and sometimes vicious, but always funny. The science elements are a teensy bit nonsensical but surely that's intentional, I get the distinct impression of tongue-in-cheek.
I'll be reading this one aga
I'll be reading this one aga
Oct 21, 2011
Sammie
rated it:
A group of teenagers on retreat in the highlands to recover from a murder+suicide incident involving two classmates. A secret facility housing a portal to another world where snarling, dangerous beasts lurk. Throw the two together with some religious, scientific and military debates on the one side, and some serious growing up to do on the other (and not necessarily the way around you'd expect), and you have a dark and violent story that keeps you hooked to the end.
The book switches n More...
The book switches n More...
Jul 29, 2011
Jen
rated it: 
Not the best Christopher Brookmyre, though some of the writing has flashes of his wit. A group of school kids on a weekend retreat at an isolated Scottish camp become the unwitting victims of a scientific operation which gets out of hand when the experimental subjects, which look like demons from Hell, but which are really creatures from another universe, break free. Lots of blood and guts (literally) and a bit of a stretch of the imagination here.
