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Into The Abyss

(Demons of Astlan #1)

J.L. Langland (Goodreads Author)

4.19 · Rating details · 2,743 ratings · 115 reviews

Turns out: "The Demon Weed" really is a Gateway Drug!

Who knew?

Tom Perkinje certainly didn't. He had never smoked anything in his life, but as the new kid in town trying to make friends, he'd gone to a party and had foolishly let his new buddy Reggie talk him into trying a joint that he'd picked up from a new dealer.

Before he knew it, Tom was having a seriously bad trip; Turns out: "The Demon Weed" really is a Gateway Drug!

Who knew?

Tom Perkinje certainly didn't. He had never smoked anything in his life, but as the new kid in town trying to make friends, he'd gone to a party and had foolishly let his new buddy Reggie talk him into trying a joint that he'd picked up from a new dealer.

Before he knew it, Tom was having a seriously bad trip; a total out of body experience where the world had dissolved around him. A few puffs in and he'd gotten this massive case of tunnel vision where the entire party seemed to be happening at the other end of a long tunnel; soon it was like he was having this weird out of body experience looking down at himself.

The next thing Tom knew, there were these deranged myopic wizards from some place called Astlan calling on him in some sort of pig Latin mumbo jumbo. They had somehow mistaken Tom for a demon! He tried to flee but the wizards were relentless and were determined to conjure him into their world and bind him as their demon slave for all of eternity!

Oh, yeah, and those crazy wizards? Turns out they were going to war and planned to use their new demon slave as a secret weapon to obliterate the enemy!

_______________________________________________

Jenn was a journeyman Thaumaturge at Lenamare's Academy of Wizardry. School was a living hell. Oh, she was learning a lot, thanks to Master Trisfelt, but the Head Master and Head Mistress were insufferable egomaniacs. Head Mistress Jehenna seemed intent on making Jenn's life a living hell.

If this wasn't bad enough, the Head Master, Lenamare, had gone and got in a squabble with another wizard, Exador and now Exador was marching his army on the school.

And to top it off, during what was supposed to be a routine classroom demonstration on demon summoning, Lenamare and the class had stumbled upon what they thought was a minor demon and tried to bind it.
But unfortunately it wasn't a minor demon. It was a Greater Demon, something so powerful and Evil that they were almost never conjured onto the Planes of Man. Naturally being an egomaniac, Lenamare insisted on trying to bind it to his will and use it to destroy Exador and his army.

So the question was: Would Exador's army ravage and kill her, or would the school's newest defense consume her immortal soul? ...more

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Kindle Edition, 522 pages

Published March 29th 2014 by Council of Wizardry

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Jun 29, 2018 Gavin rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, ya-books

This was an enjoyable coming of age fantasy that lived up to the promise of its super fun sounding blurb. This was set in a fun fantasy world and was a character driven story packed with action, humor, and great characters.

The story was fun. In a attempt to seem cool and fit in with the crowd 16 year old Tom Perkinje decides to try a joint offered to him by his new friend Reggie. Big mistake as it turns out the new weed really is a gateway drug. A gateway straight to the Abyss! The new drug cau This was an enjoyable coming of age fantasy that lived up to the promise of its super fun sounding blurb. This was set in a fun fantasy world and was a character driven story packed with action, humor, and great characters.

The story was fun. In a attempt to seem cool and fit in with the crowd 16 year old Tom Perkinje decides to try a joint offered to him by his new friend Reggie. Big mistake as it turns out the new weed really is a gateway drug. A gateway straight to the Abyss! The new drug caused Tom's spirit to cast into the astral plain. Which seems pretty cool at first but becomes a lot less so when wizards from the far off reality of Astlan mistake him for a demon and cut his souls cord from his regular body and bind him into the form of a demon. As if being stuck as a demon in a world straight out of a crazy fantasy tale was not enough poor Tom finds that his masters intend to enslave him for all eternity and that when he is not at their beck and call he is cast back to the Abyss!

The whole book was a ton of fun. Tom was an easy guy to root for. He was mostly a good guy but was often left with little choice but to take action in ways that he disliked either due to wizards compelling his obedience with magic or because he had to defend himself or his friends from those who attacked him on sight! We got a mix of drama and humour as Tom had to deal with how all the various characters he encountered reacted to him. Even the demons were not sure what to make of him. There was also plenty of plotting as the complicated politics of both Astlan and the Abyss meant that various different factions and players were all causing chaos that Tom got caught up in.

The characters were neither overly good or bad. There were good and bad guys in the story for sure but all were very human in their motivations and desires, even those who were not actually human in appearance! I felt like that believability gave the story that bit of depth it needed to help me invest emotionally in the characters.

We met a lot of fun secondary characters over the course of the story and they all played a part in making this 24 hour audio an engaging listen from start to finish! J. L. Langland's writing had a slightly simplistic and YA feel to it but the story itself had enough depth and Langland's writing was still super engaging. All in all I was quite happy with this one.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a good job with the audio. He got the tone of the story and did a good job with the character voices. It took me about an hour to warm to him but once I did I enjoyed his performance a lot.

...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Harry White rated it it was amazing

Shelves: demons, fantasy, dragons

Great Story

Despite the many typos this is one of the best books I've read for some time now in terms of story and characters. It would be good to see some romance in the next book, but this was thoroughly entertaining and very fast paced. There was a good combination of humour and more serious elements. The characters were interesting and well thought through.

All in all I would definitely recommend reading this book and I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

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May 22, 2014 Lord rated it it was amazing

Shelves: demons, paranormal, absolutely-must-read

I have to admit, there was a point at which I was considering dropping the book. It was one specific part where I felt like the protagonist had just chosen to make a huge mistake about something (no spoilers here so don't bother) and he absolutely knew it would come back to bite him. It came at a bad time, I prefer a bit of a romantic interest in books I read and this book has very little in that regard (nearly non-existent).

But then I sort of pushed through it, I dislike leaving a book behind, ...more

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Nov 30, 2016 Phoebe Prince rated it really liked it

Into the Abyss by J.L. Langland

I pulled this book from a recommendation thread on r/Fantasy, and the premise was entertaining. Tom, a normal boy in our world, goes to a party and gets summoned into another world–as a powerful demon. Tom’s soul is effectively ripped from him, he dies, and he’s bound as a demon slave in Astlan. Being a powerful demon yet a slave is a contradiction, and this story is riddled with uncomfortable moments for Tom while he comes to terms with not being human (yet still Into the Abyss by J.L. Langland

I pulled this book from a recommendation thread on r/Fantasy, and the premise was entertaining. Tom, a normal boy in our world, goes to a party and gets summoned into another world–as a powerful demon. Tom’s soul is effectively ripped from him, he dies, and he’s bound as a demon slave in Astlan. Being a powerful demon yet a slave is a contradiction, and this story is riddled with uncomfortable moments for Tom while he comes to terms with not being human (yet still obviously remembering and thinking of himself as human) and with being a pawn in a magical war where both sides (there are 2 powerful wizards at war) are afraid of him.

The story turned out not to be clunky, either, which was a fantastic surprise. It gets a bit unwieldy as it goes on by adding too many uninteresting POVs but most of the characters in Into the Abyss matter (at least in the first 3/4 of the book…the army generals and wizards that get introduced as POV characters later are forgettable and boring). Tom as the main character is definitely interesting, and he has to deal with the duality of being a human and a demon, and he finds himself slotted into the default ‘evil hell spawn’ role rather he wants to be or not. The wizards of Astlan don’t understand where demons come from (aka normal souls from other dimensions). When Tom becomes a demon, he has trouble with controlling his master’s missives and his demonic impulses. Jenn, a young wizard, starts out as a more interesting character, but she becomes a less interesting character as she (a supposedly intelligent and otherwise compassionate woman) is played as a bit of a fool when she irrationally and instinctively distrusts Tom. This is maybe my biggest character complaint–there are characters that do act irrationally For The Plot. Jenn is the biggest violator, but even the better characters like Tom and Rupert get in on the action. The maligned and traitorous wizard, Gastrope, is maybe the most rational character because he has a reason to distrust Tom (he almost murdered him and scared the shit out of him), but Gastrope is the character that makes active attempts to come to term with Tom and (spoiler) Rupert being demons.

Now, let’s get to the MVP character of the story–Rupert. I would’ve read a story 1/2 this length that was just about Tom and Rupert, and their big brother/little brother relationship is seriously sweet. Rupert was a born demon, and he appears to be a major exception to the ‘ripping souls from other dimensions’ rule of how demons are made in Astlan. Rupert disguised himself as a wizard when he started to turn into a demon, and it’s Rupert that teaches Tom to shapeshift from demon to human. There’s a truly touching scene where Rupert reveals his demonic self to Tom, who realizes he and Rupert are the only two people in Astlan who really understand each other. Rupert talks about how he ran away when he started to become a demon, and then Rupert drops a bomb–he thinks Tom is his father because they do look exactly alike. (If you think about it, there’s a magical in-story reason this could be, even if the book doesn’t address it.) This adds levels of questions and confusion to the plot, and Tom, being somewhat sympathetic and simultaneously spineless, decides to let Rupert believe he’s Tom’s son.

After a series of okay-but-sometimes-boring plot developments, Tom & Co. find themselves in Freehold, where the political situation has spiraled out of control. The two wizards are still at war, but there are archdemons involved, too. There’s also a McGuffin book, which doesn’t figure too much into the early plot but the wizards are really interested to open it and control the astral planes. The most interesting development is that the Rod of Teirnon, a religious army of a literal warrior God, converge on Freehold to route out the demons. The Rod is led by Talerius, their Knight Rampant, and there’s a truly climactic battle at the end of the story between Tom and Talerius. As with much of this story, there’s a bit too much padding around the fight, but it’s amazing, and unlike with some books I’ve read recently, the ending doesn’t disappoint.

Rating: 4 stars for the story, even when it does feel a bit unpolished and a bit unwieldy. ...more

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Apr 12, 2014 Joe rated it it was amazing

Wow this book was amazing. Definitely one of the best purchases I've made.

Note: MC is 16 yo. and while YA can read it, it really seemed set up for an adult/new adult demographic (which I think allowed the author to write a better story).

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Oct 07, 2015 Darkd rated it it was ok

The positives in this story are almost as frequent as the negatives. The story has a few plot holes, a few two-dimensional characters, and a tonne of useless exposition that does nothing other than make you read mountains of boring information that is completely useless to the reader. The story has an absolutely terrible beginning that will scare away most readers at the first chapter. Finally, the protagonist is probably one of the worst parts of the whole story.

There's one plot hole at the st The positives in this story are almost as frequent as the negatives. The story has a few plot holes, a few two-dimensional characters, and a tonne of useless exposition that does nothing other than make you read mountains of boring information that is completely useless to the reader. The story has an absolutely terrible beginning that will scare away most readers at the first chapter. Finally, the protagonist is probably one of the worst parts of the whole story.

There's one plot hole at the start of the novel. The head mage makes mention that if the enemy army travelled constantly to get to his fortress without resting then his army would be too exhausted to fight and no sane commander would do it. Well when the enemy commander does exactly that, he benefits like crazy and no one mentions how strange it is. No one tries to capitalize on what should be an exhausted army. They just turtle up and make the whole thing meaningless.

The exposition in this book is somewhat terrible. There are entire chapters dedicated to dryly instructing you in the definitions of the authors made up fantasy bs. I'm all for developing a detailed world, but that doesn't mean you tell every detail of it to the readers. What you do tell them should be built into the story in such a way that you don't notice it. Yes you should find a way to drop a lot of information on the reader, but you need to do it carefully and in a way that won't bore the readers to tears. This is what writers frequently call "show don't tell". Where you show the reader how your world works through the plot line rather than dryly explaining it like a school textbook would.

The first chapters are truly some of the worst in the book. The author would have done well to rewrite them. It starts getting better at chapter five. A few of the problems were the protagonists constant whining about everything. The protagonists weird personality really clashes with the fantasy elements of the story. His personality starts changing for the better as the story progresses, but it takes awhile. Book 2 is much better in that regard.

The good on the other hand are that a large array of side characters actually have interesting personalities, a few of them are actually three-dimensional characters amazingly enough. The overall plot of the story is very interesting and develops really well at a good pace. The overall concept of the story is a terrific gimmick that would actually make up for a lot of the novels flaws by itself.

The gimmick is that the protagonist is turned into a demon. He's been enslaved by some crazy warlocks and he now has to run errands against his will for them. He's incredibly whiny and his personality feels poorly written. He recovers in the second half of the book, becoming a decent character with a purpose, but at the beginning he was just awful. I think it's because he just spent all his time whining and doing things he didn't want to do obediently. His pushover personality really hurt him in the likability section.

There's this really weird country of strict laws. They encounter the protagonist halfway through the story, needless to say the protagonist thoroughly pissed them off. Since then, they secretly followed the protagonist and started making incredibly annoying dialog. I think the author was trying for an interesting character, but he got carried away with it and just made an incredibly annoying one instead. Entire pages filled with descriptions of all the tedious legal terms and laws the protagonist break described with really big and fancy sounding legal words. I would have been fine with a couple paragraphs of this, but they literally go on for PAGES and PAGES with it.

...more

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May 17, 2014 Rosver rated it it was amazing

This book hits my fancy in many ways. A really fun read with lots of humor and silly things but still have those serious weighty and memorable stuff. The characters especially our protagonist, Tom, are solid and you could sympathize. I had read it almost non-stop.

The premise is quite unusual (and what attracts me in the first place) and we are given a story that is just as unusual. From the beginning we have a disparity of Tom being an ordinary boy and Tom being a powerful demon. This disparity This book hits my fancy in many ways. A really fun read with lots of humor and silly things but still have those serious weighty and memorable stuff. The characters especially our protagonist, Tom, are solid and you could sympathize. I had read it almost non-stop.

The premise is quite unusual (and what attracts me in the first place) and we are given a story that is just as unusual. From the beginning we have a disparity of Tom being an ordinary boy and Tom being a powerful demon. This disparity creates a level of complexity to the story that makes it interesting and at the same time gives ample opportunity for humor that the author is able to use to the fullest.

Still, given the unusual premise and the humorous silly events, there are still ample amount of serious and weighty matters abound. One is the final fight between Tom and Talarius, the knight. Here the mater of fair play and honor comes up, the author give it a proper weigh it needs and make the fight a commentary of the virtues instead of flinging it off for a laugh. That makes it memorable to me. It also kinda reminds me of Charlie Chaplin's works, which even when they are works of comedies are infused with sentimentality, of hardship and strife, of pain and suffering that makes it greater and deeper, instead of being another Tom and Jerry remake.

Tom is one of my favorite characters I ever encountered. Being a powerful demon makes him a interesting character but his ordinary young boy side, being moral strong and honorable, makes him memorable to me. He also reminds me greatly of another of my favorite character: Sulley of Monster Inc. of Pixar. They share a lot of similarities like:

> They are both 'monsters' that are imposing and strong but are still good and softies inside. Sulley being a top scarer and Tom a powerful demon makes them rather out of the ordinary, still they are respectful and friendly towards their peers. And of course their object of affection, Boo for Sulley and Rupert for Tom that creates some heart warming tender moments.

> Their asexuality. Sulley doesn't have the interest towards girls like his partner Mike has, and Tom isn't interested in sex and the like when many around him are doing it. I don't know if the author do it intensionally or not, but Tom's asexuality greatly contrast and compliment him. It contrast him from other characters, especially the villains, making him different (or you could say special) and unique among them. It also compliments his personality especially his paternal relationship with Rupert. This also works the same way with Sully. It contrast him from Mike, who wants to get rid of Boo so that his relationship with his girlfriend won't be endangered. Sulley's lack of female interest also makes it possible Boo not to compete for affection from Sulley. The same thing happens to Tom. Imagine what would it be with a female demon for Tom's love interest, Rupert won't have a chance being young and half-demon and all. The dynamics and relationship between Tom and Rupert would all be gone.

> Their heroism. Sulley had faced obstacles, danger and banishment to save Boo and stop the evil plans of the villain Randal. Tom also had also go through same challenges to help and protect his friends. They do extraordinary things for the sake of others.

I don't know if the author is inspired my Monster Inc. in this story but it works quite well and make it both success to me.

A great and grand story with interesting characters, humorous and silly but still respects the weighty stuff that we all face. A book that really speaks to me. ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Stephen rated it did not like it

Not awful, just boring.

Issues;
Our protagonist is a little too caught up in emotional turmoil for me. He's also strangely uninterested in females which is a bit weird for a 16 year old male.

The other characters all seem quite one dimensional and some are incredibly dim. a good example is the female support. she seems incapable of thinking past her prejudice despite consistent exposure to opposing evidence. this is especially strange as she is a wizard which involves some fairly complex theoretica ...more

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Oct 15, 2014 Kaz rated it it was amazing

A very fresh and well thought out approach with a very interesting world. I love the comedy, but it was also a very exciting story and I can't wait for the next book. Of course that's partly because it ends on a huge cliff hanger.

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Jul 22, 2017 Troy Neenan rated it did not like it

This book could have been terrific. It had a good concept, the author had a good start, he could have made a good fantasy seller. But he screwed up on the editing.
The problem with this book is it's length. I don't see how people can keep stuffing up the simple fact that just because you stuff a lot of pages together they think it makes for a more enjoyable book. It does not work that way Langland.
One main problem is that Langland is constantly repeating the same scene multiple times from several ...more

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Mar 08, 2018 DJay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: action-adventure, fantasy, another-world, drama

This book is pretty damn good. The whole start to finish was on point. It's on of those taken to another world type stories, but it's told from the viewpoint of the unwilling demon. It's interesting to see how they think and the way things play out. The "REAL" reason demons are so evil and etc. That and the story has plenty of colorful characters all throughout the book. Nobody is really evil, but there are set biases that need to be overcome. The end of book one sets up one hell of a whopper fo ...more

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Sep 13, 2014 Jason Stevens rated it it was amazing

Comedy Fantasy Epic.

Events are often told multiple times through multiple viewpoints which creates very funny situations when we, as readers, understand that these outrageous events are all results of misunderstandings.

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Sep 22, 2019 Steven Naylor rated it really liked it

Rating 4.0 stars

This is a hard review to write because I have conflicting emotions. There are aspects of this book that I thought were awesome. There are other aspects of the story that I absolutely hated. Most books are either good or bad, I am having a hard time reconciling one book being both great and terrible at the same time.

The story mainly follows Tom, a 16 year old who just moved to a different town. In order to make friends he went to a party and tried a joint for the first time. So Rating 4.0 stars

This is a hard review to write because I have conflicting emotions. There are aspects of this book that I thought were awesome. There are other aspects of the story that I absolutely hated. Most books are either good or bad, I am having a hard time reconciling one book being both great and terrible at the same time.

The story mainly follows Tom, a 16 year old who just moved to a different town. In order to make friends he went to a party and tried a joint for the first time. Something was funny with the joint and he ended up in an out of body experience. While he is "out of body" he hears/feels a call and is compelled to check it out. Worst mistake of his life. The people calling are wizards and they are trying to subjugate Tom. He fights back and tries to escape but the more he fights the harder they try to keep him. He tries to go back to his own body but the wizards sever the link. Next thing Tom knows he is 12 feet tall and looks like a demon. He is now a bound demon! (view spoiler) There is a good debate on the concept of evil and demons. Since the demons are bound and have to follow their master's orders which is more evil? The one who performs the act or the one that orders it? It is a fun ride with Tom while he tries to understand what it means to be a demon, having everyone terrified by his presence while at the same time knowing he is/was a 16 year old kid. He is treated with so much distrust even when he helps people.

My favorite part of the story is following the exploits of Tom, Jen, Rupert and Tom's demon friend Tizzy. When the story is told from Tom's, Jen's or Ruperts point of view I was very engaged. My biggest problem with the story is the other points-of-views.

There is also a political war going on in the back ground (or foreground depending on your point of view). The Wizard who enslaved Tom is named Lenamare. He is a major asshole and is being attacked by another Wizard named Exador. Exador is attacking Lenamare's school, with the hopes of getting a magical book that Lenamare has in his possession. The school is destroyed but Lenamare and some of his students escape. The book is accidentally left in the hands of a journeyman wizard student named Jen. She is one of the few survivors of the attack along with a 10 year old boy named Rupert. (view spoiler) With the help of Tom, Jen and Rupert are brought to a far away city to be safe. They now need to travel a long distance to get back to a Town called Freehold to meet up with Lenamare. Along the way even more political issues come up. They make enemies of a group called the Rod of Tiernon. They make enemies with another group called Oorstemoth. Then there is the council of Wizards and the other demons. There is so much distrust between the groups there ends up being a comedy of errors. (view spoiler)

I hated all the political talk. I hated everything with the Rod and with Oorstemoth. I especially hated the talk about that Damn book. It was talked about throughout the entire story and even at the end I have no idea what it does or why it was so important. By the time I found out Exador's secret I didn't care anymore (view spoiler) There were too many moving parts in the political drama that weren't explained until almost the end and by that time I was very frustrated because I didn't know what was happening. The ending was awesome and it made me think about getting the next book. That is, until I read some of the reviews for the next book. All the things I loved in this book it seems are nowhere to be found in the next book. Tom, Jen, and Rupert are given a backseat in the next story so the author could focus on the political aspect of the story ( You know, the part that I absolutely hated!) So while I really like Tom and want to read more about him, I don't think it is worth it based on the reviews I have read. ...more

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Jan 27, 2020 Douglas Debner rated it liked it · review of another edition

I just blew through the first three books of this series so I'm giving them all the same review.

These books are worth reading, but they have one big flaw. They don't tell stories. When I finished book one I was a bit confused- the book was long enough that it was time for the book to end. Then I realized the author didn't resolve any story lines. It felt a little like there was some resolution because the book ended after a big fight but a moment's reflection reveals that the outcome of that fi I just blew through the first three books of this series so I'm giving them all the same review.

These books are worth reading, but they have one big flaw. They don't tell stories. When I finished book one I was a bit confused- the book was long enough that it was time for the book to end. Then I realized the author didn't resolve any story lines. It felt a little like there was some resolution because the book ended after a big fight but a moment's reflection reveals that the outcome of that fight raised more questions than it answered. The author then goes on to repeat this process for books 2 and 3. Which leads me to the two main points of this review:

1. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THESE BOOKS WAIT FOR BOOK 4 TO COME OUT. I have to believe there will be a book 4 since nothing is resolved in book 3 but then it has also been 3 years (at the time of writing) since book 3 was published. DON'T READ IF THERE IS NO BOOK 4- I was able to enjoy these books but if there is no book 4 this is just a long walk to nowhere for no purpose.

2. YOU ARE 100% JUSTIFIED IN MOVING ON NOW. After all, story resolution is pretty much job one for an author and any author that fails that test does not deserve to be read. Still, the author tells a good, if incomplete, story.

The MC in this book is pulled from Earth by a spell that also turns him into a demon. Fortunately he is a powerful demon and he manages to makes friends and have amazing adventures along the way. The MC also gets caught up in the reincarnation of a demon prince (or god, depending on who you ask) who was murdered 4,000 years earlier by a conspiracy demons and gods. Along the way the author throws in the occasional pop culture reference and turns some standard story lines on their heads. For example, orcs may be brutish but they also say what they mean and stick to it unlike the conniving elves who leave what they mean unsaid, use words to distract and then wage a PR war to claim their poo don't stink.

Bottom line: These books would easily be worth the read if the author provided any amount of resolution. As is they are well written and imaginative reads with zero resolution. ...more

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Sep 03, 2019 Abravi Akotsu rated it it was amazing

Love it! I can't tell you how many times I have read and reared these trees books, waiting for next instalment!

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May 27, 2020 Nikola Gaić rated it it was amazing

This was refreshing read,

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Jun 26, 2018 Sam rated it it was ok

Shelves: dnf

Full disclaimer I only read half-way through before I lost intrest. I wanted to finish it, if only so I could add it to my reading challenge, but sunk cost only goes so far. This book suffers from death by a thousand cuts with a lot of little things that add up for me. Also, mild spoilers ahoy.

My biggest little problem with this book, which maybe it gets explained in the later half, is that nobody in Astlan is aware of where demons come from, or atleast aware of the story they tell. You'd think Full disclaimer I only read half-way through before I lost intrest. I wanted to finish it, if only so I could add it to my reading challenge, but sunk cost only goes so far. This book suffers from death by a thousand cuts with a lot of little things that add up for me. Also, mild spoilers ahoy.

My biggest little problem with this book, which maybe it gets explained in the later half, is that nobody in Astlan is aware of where demons come from, or atleast aware of the story they tell. You'd think every new binding of a "demon" would tell a similar story. "Hey, I'm a human from another world. What's going on?", but apparently it doesn't happen or its so rare, it never gets mentioned.

Second, the magic system is not that interesting. That's fine, the you could make up for it in other ways, but the book spends an inordinate amount of time going on about how it works, with interludes every couple chapters detail one aspect or another, that I don't care about and doesn't add to the story. Paticularly in the early chapters, a lot of the dialouge is magic babble or psudeo latin spells.

Tom, also isn't particularly bright. At least up to where I read, he hadn't figured out that obviosuly not human Rupert, isn't human. To be fair, no one else seemed to have either.

He also for also for little reason decided to play the part of an evil demon to the hilt for the first hundred or so pages. He doesn't even try to explain himself, even after he stops acting the part, the closest he gets is beating around the bush. Seems like the book would be a lot shorter is he stopped and explained his situation at any point.

Also, Tom, you know that if someone learns your true name they have power over you and can enslave you for life. Maybe saying going by Tom is alright, but when you needed to a pseudonym, going by your middle name isn't a great idea. Apparently he isn't the only demon to do this though so, maybe its a common problem.

Tonally, it jumps around a bit. One moment they are making a fourth wall joke, the next Tom is trying to deal with his sudden inability to feel bad about murdering all dozens of people, the next Lenny is making innudeno with his his girlfriend

The next two are knit picks bu they bothered me.

"Trisfelt pulled off the cork, snapped his fingers to conjure a wine goblet (actually it had been up his sleeve), and poured." Why would you keep a goblet in your sleeve? Just for a parlor trick? Seems pretty uncomfotable.

"Maelen cursed his luck to be on this ship. Luck, no—he cursed fate. He knew the only luck was that which he made for himself." That feels contradictory.

I couold go on, but suffice to say there were a lot of small problems I had with the book that started to add up.

Things I liked.

I liked the idea, being thrown out of your world and being enslaved in a demonic body is an interesting concept? What's the psychology of someone who is enslaved more truly than anyone in our world could ever without even death to free you from their bonds? Maybe these questions get a satifying answer later in the book. ...more

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Aug 24, 2017 Hamda rated it really liked it

Shelves: humor, fantasy

A demon named Tom

This one has an interesting twist on an old idea, what if Demons were actually people just ones from a different plane. their souls got twist not by evil or torture in hell but by what they thought demons should look and act like and had this conformed by the thoughts of those around them.

One such case is our MC who is a 16 year old kid that got high on a bad patch of weed and died.

The book is action filled with an interesting perspective on things, is it the demon that is bad ...more

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Jun 27, 2017 Koffe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-books, dark-fantasy, demons, epic-books, fast-paced-action-packed, the-stuff-of-legends, high-fantasy, mind-blowing, my-favorite-books, plot-so-good-you-can-hardly-belive

Amazing just amazing standing ovation!!! This is a solid 5 star book it was a great first installment. This book had it all. A lot of world building while simultaneously, being packed with action without sacrificing any of the plot development.

I cannot remember the last time I saw book this good with these elements in it. It has demons, it has angels, it has pipe smoking crazy demons. It has several Laughing out loud moments where you can't help yourself. It has such an amazing narrative and pl ...more

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Mar 01, 2015 Oneeyed rated it liked it

Shelves: humor, first-in-series, fantasy

I was surprised... This was actually quite good fantasy.

The premise seemed cheesy, and the start of the story a bit boring, but after a while I was smiling and enjoying it a lot. The turning point for me was when the protagonist is summoned by the priest, I was laughing out loud. Action and mystery also started to really become interesting.

There are a lot of clues (Heward ?!) hinting at what will happen in the following sequels, a bit too obvious to me but I will gladly buy the second in the ser ...more

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Mar 01, 2016 Milan rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 14, 2014 Jason Mitchell rated it it was amazing

Amazing book -- I can't wait for the next one!

The author has created a wonderfully detailed universe here. it was too much detail to take in on the first read. The characters were well fleshed out, the different magical elements well described. I was on pins and needles reading the final scene! All and all, I highly recommend this.

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Mar 20, 2018 Lukas Lovas rated it really liked it

Well written and quite enjoyable. Some of the characters were a bit too stereotypical for my own preferences, and the ending left me feeling a bit disappointed - I want some closure, but I'm not willing to read another book in the series just to get it. As much as I liked the book, it wasn't a perfect fit for me and I don't plan to continue the series despite it being quite promising :)

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Mar 27, 2018 Paps rated it it was amazing

Shelves: demons, fantasy

Great book, loved the protagonist, and even more the world thats its builded in it, a lot of interesting characters and a dynamic adventure. Is great how the author is preparing our protagonist for big things in the future. The best thing on this book is how complete the world feels, the diferent species their dinamics and relationships even the celestials and Gods.

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Aug 15, 2018 Billy Munich rated it it was amazing

This definitely did not disappoint. When I see that a book has such a crazy/funny/unique sounding premise the execution isn't always as great as I would hope. My second worry was that it would get whiny, but it certainly did not. It was funny, and seemed to move quickly. There were enough twists to keep things interesting and characters were likable.

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Sep 25, 2014 Larry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: magic-school, fantasy, magic, epic-fantasy, demons, lacks-romance

Really enjoyable and fresh approach aimed at adults despite the lack of romance. Perhaps we'll see some romance in the next book. Comedy moments were great and often achieveded through misunderstandings. Looking forward to the next book. Hope it is soon!

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Sep 10, 2014 Jeremy rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: magic fantasy/comedy fans

Shelves: demons, fantasy

I really enjoyed this book. A very funny and interesting read

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Sep 13, 2014 N. rated it it was amazing

yess, found another superb book!

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Oct 22, 2017 M Hamed rated it did not like it

Shelves: abandoned

500 pages is a great sacrifice to give .the story it self can't be taken seriously with shallow and weak writing .it becomes impossible to continue

stopped at page 100

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Nov 13, 2017 Tommi rated it did not like it

Shelves: series-i-dropped-in-the-middle

Utter trash.
Full of "Deus ex machina" moments, characters whose description constantly conflicts with their actions" and incredible stupid actions from these characters.

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About J.L. Langland

J.L. Langland

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J. L. Langland has been obsessed with science fiction and fantasy since Junior High. Upon hearing the job description "High Energy Astrophysicist" in 8th Grade Physical Science, he set out to become one. His express goal to develop trans-warp capability, patent it, license patent rights, make money, build spaceship, go to the stars.

OK, well, he got a B.S. in Astrophysics, then his M.S. and Ph.D. i ...more

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Demons of Astlan (3 books)

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Quotes from Into The Abyss

“The whole place was a rather chaotic jumble of science-fantasy and cyberpunk. The sort of place where the ideas of a lot of really bad authors came together, or perhaps drunken game designers.” — 2 likes

“Trump Tower?” Tom asked incredulously. Well, at least he got that one right, thought Antefalken, shuddering at the thought of its namesake Archdemon. ” — 2 likes

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