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To Reign in Hell

Steven Brust (Goodreads Author),

Roger Zelazny (Introduction)

3.92 · Rating details · 3,505 ratings · 222 reviews

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. ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published July 7th 2000 by St. Martins Press-3PL (first published May 1st 1984)

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Aug 11, 2008 Eric rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of Milton's "Paradise Lost"

Recommended to Eric by: Mike Reineke

Shelves: fantasy, religion

Before you pick this up, you should know that it's blasphemous. Seriously blasphemous. Personally, I loved that about it, but you might not (I'm looking at you, people that picketed Dogma, and you, people that think Harry Potter is the work of the devil). You've been warned.

In general, I enjoy different takes on creation and theology, from classics like John Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante Aligheri's Inferno to contemporary works such as Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens, Christopher ...more

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Jun 05, 2007 Sarah rated it liked it

Recommends it for: People obsessed with The Fall

One of my all-time favorite literary genres/subjects is The Fall from Heaven; I eat that stuff up. So I was really excited about To Reign in Hell. But, honestly, I was disappointed in this book. There is a lot going for it, certainly - it's a very novel approach, and I like how Brust treated a lot of the characters. But, to parrot a review that I read online, I can't stand a plot that hinges on Big Misunderstandings that are based on people not talking to each other. And, yes, that's the root of ...more

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Dec 10, 2008 Becky rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, 2010, disappointing, reviewed

Oh, where to start? I have to say that I was expecting more out of this one. It just didn't really do it for me. The introduction by Zelazny only raised my expectations too, I must say. For him to say that he doubted that Brust could pull off what he set out to do, but found that he was wrong to doubt, and then decided it was good enough for him to write an intro for the story rather than just some cliched blurb for the back cover, that made a change to my expectations.

The beginning started out ...more

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Nov 08, 2014 sologdin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: burns-like-cold-iron, sympathy-for-the-devil, ruling-class-protagonist

Gloss on Milton demonstrates that Hell, contra Sartre, is a self-inflicted wound.

Setting is the formless chaos of Genesis 1, wherein cacoastrum, the toxic stuff of formless chaos is transformed into illiaster. Unchaotic, however, our ability to trace this name through its etymology, which might well be ‘shit of the stars,’ or so. Paracelsus otherwise derived the term ‘yliaster’ from hyle, matter, and astrum--for alchemists in search of the philosopher’s stone, this is prima materia.

“The flux cr Gloss on Milton demonstrates that Hell, contra Sartre, is a self-inflicted wound.

Setting is the formless chaos of Genesis 1, wherein cacoastrum, the toxic stuff of formless chaos is transformed into illiaster. Unchaotic, however, our ability to trace this name through its etymology, which might well be ‘shit of the stars,’ or so. Paracelsus otherwise derived the term ‘yliaster’ from hyle, matter, and astrum--for alchemists in search of the philosopher’s stone, this is prima materia.

“The flux creates the essence of order, which is illiaster, which was the staff of life before bread had the privilege” (11). Is it “Conscious? Sentient? Self-aware? Perhaps these things exist only for an instant, only to be lost before they can begin to understand” (12). But eventually one random formation of illiaster is born with “an instinct to survive,” so it “strives to hold itself together. And as it strives, cacoastrum and illiaster produce more illiaster, and consciousness produces more consciousness, and now there are two” (12). Thus are born Yaweh and Satan, who partner amid the flux of chaos and eventually through their labor produce Leviathan, Belial, Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael in the first wave of genesis.

If the language of this genesis, highlighting struggle and labor and consciousnesses, seems Hegelian, it’s probably something of which Marxist author is keenly aware. The Hegelian stuff is fairly plain: “Yaweh remembered the beginning--how the two of them had perceived each other, almost before each had perceived himself” (59). Despite his proclamation in a propaganda speech that “the beginning was when I came to be,” Yaweh “wasn’t really aware of the very beginning--he couldn’t remember when he had become aware of himself as such” (153).

Basic narrative is that, after the first wave, a second wave of lesser angels was produced by struggle against the cacoastrum (Gabriel, Lilith, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub, Asmodai, Abdiel, and a bunch of others); and then an even larger and lesser group was made in the third wave. Story opens with expectation of a fourth wave, wherein the first wavers debate whether the first wave has the right to coerce the third wave into fighting the cacoastrum in the imminent fourth wave. Satan is “unsure” whether the right to conscript exists (15-16). From Satan’s mere doubt springs the principle conflict, up to and including civil war. Actual rebellion arises, much like the consciousness of the principals, in mutual recognition with inchoate authority, as Yaweh was not the maximum leader initially, nor was Satan (and his eventual seven samurai) more rebellious than mere uncertainty might imply. Authority thereafter increased in direct relation to the increase in rebellion that it perceived from its center, mostly as part of a comedy of miscommunication, whereas peripheral rebellions coalesced as they perceived the enhancement of totalitarian authority, somewhat achieved through deliberate sabotage on the pro-totalitarian side.

Some amusing quirks: Beelzebub speaks Elizabethan, and Ariel speaks only in rhyming verse. Abdiel is presented as a scheming loser (much contrary to Milton’s presentation), whereas the Mephistopheles is more Marvel than Marlowe. Yaweh presented as interested in the universal welfare, but increasingly totalitarian in achieving that end, including the creation of the traditional orders of angels (thrones, principalities, &c.)--in contrast to Satan as uncertain on whether proletarian third order might be conscripted (he is something of a Hamlet, one supposes). Yeshuah is created as an act of state propaganda, at a totalitarian rally, and is, as a presentation of doctrine, heretical to the extent that he is not co-eternal with YHWH (and is apparently homoiousios rather than homoousios--OH NOS arrianism! ). I suppose a close reading could draw out as many heresies here as Milton endorsed in the De Doctrina Christiana.

Hard for me not to like Brust; he’s charming as a writer, and has left politics.

Recommended for those who reject the law of heaven, persons who see that Yaweh will want to be worshipped whereas Satan will be content to be accepted, and readers whose essence of unity meets the essence of sundering, whereupon a transformation occurs and oneness becomes disjunction.
...more

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Oct 25, 2009 Kathryn rated it liked it

Shelves: religion-myth, fantasy

I initially rated this 4 stars but that is not sitting well. I love Brust's originality and his lack of fear to take such a well known story and shape it to his own ideals, which I think I actually agree with. But I thought maybe that was over done. I kept thinking, "really?!, are these characters supposed to be this stupid? Can they really not see what is going on?". The plot moves along due to miscommunications and near misses, by deceit and sheer ignorance. I guess that might have been intent ...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: to-re-read, 1980-1989, retellings-reimaginings-and-mashes, fantasy, angels-demons-heaven-hell, on-deck-next

4.0 to 4.5 stars. A fantastic retelling of the "Fall" of Lucifer from his point of view. An original, intelligent, and very enjoyable novel. ...more

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Feb 08, 2010 colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it it was ok

Recommended to colleen the convivial curmudgeon by: Beyond Reality book group

Shelves: dark-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2 1/2

I was mostly saddened as I read this book. I didn't really get a lot of the light-heartedness or humor that it's purported to have. Some have said that the ending seemed dark compared to the rest of the story, but I started being kind of depressed by what was happening as soon as Abdiel started meddling, and it just got progressively worse from there, and I had no hope for a happy ending, because we all know how this story ends. Though I was more pleased with the ending than I would've bee 2 1/2

I was mostly saddened as I read this book. I didn't really get a lot of the light-heartedness or humor that it's purported to have. Some have said that the ending seemed dark compared to the rest of the story, but I started being kind of depressed by what was happening as soon as Abdiel started meddling, and it just got progressively worse from there, and I had no hope for a happy ending, because we all know how this story ends. Though I was more pleased with the ending than I would've been had it gone a few other possible ways.

I was expecting a lot more wit and snarkiness. Instead of a waffling Satan, I think I was expecting a sort of Al Pacino in 'Devil's Advocate' or Lucifer from 'Sandman' and/or 'Lucifer'. Still a sympathetic character, but one who brazonly chooses rebellion, not one who's half-tricked and half-forced into it.

I did like that he distinguished between Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub since a lot of stories sort of conflate the names, and that always kind of irritates me. And Beelzebub was definitely one of my favorite characters, though it took me awhile to not get annoyed by his speech. I liked Ariel's poetry, too.

So, yeah, I was mostly sad... but I was also happy when Yeshua was destroyed, even though it was sort of noble, I guess - because he was almost as big a douche as Abdiel. I also sort of wish that the falling out happened more honestly, without all the behind-the-scenes machinations. Even if Satan wasn't a willing rebel, it would've been nice if he disagreed with Yahweh, and Yahweh pitched a fit, and then it dissolved from there. I would've preferred to have both sides be sort of wrong and sort of right on their own, without all the string-pulling. It sort of cheapened the story, somehow.

Oh, though I was glad that Michael stood on some sort of principle at the end, since he disagreed with Yahweh a lot but went along with it, anyway.

I was expecting a bit more wit, more snark, more sass... and mostly I was left feeling kind of sad and disheartened. That said, it was a quick read and a bit of a page-turner, so I can't say it was bad - it just wasn't what I'd bargained for. ...more

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Nov 03, 2009 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-owned-paperback

I thought about 3-stars for this, but it honestly had me too captivated for that. TRIH was well written, but not deeply written. The story never really reached its full potential to me. It could have been truly epic in scope, with the material Brust had to write from.

This seemed more like a social comedy. It wasn't slapstick silly humor, though there was the occasional subtle joke that had me laughing. It was written to be very dialogue-heavy, and the shifting scenes made it a quick read.

I wasn' ...more

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Sep 05, 2010 David rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy

Boring, juvenile, prurient, unimaginative, flat characters, predictable plotting, lifeless prose.

But, on the other hand, this work is stacked up against Dante, Goethe, Milton, Blake, and a galaxy of lesser writers that have all taken Xtian myth into new and interesting environments. To even try your hand at this takes moxie.

That it fails miserably is almost to be expected...but then it is just genre fiction...which is never meant to be literary or thought provoking in any significant manner.

But ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

What do they say - history is written by the winners.

I loved loved loved this book about the battle in heaven. We've got it all - Mephistophles, Lucifer, Satan, Yahweh, Michael etc. etc. and if you're not pulling for the devil to kick gods ass by the end of this book then I don't know what book you're reading.

Steven Brust writes an amazing story with larger than life characters that you care about - it's a surprisingly short book that feels like the best of a 1000 page epic fantasy.

Highest possi ...more

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Jan 04, 2019 ambyr rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: authorㅡmale, characterㅡdisabled, acquiredㅡbought-used, genreㅡfantasyㅡsecondary-world, i-am-not-the-right-audience, protagonistㅡmultiple-genders, stand-alone-novel, nyr2019

The story here is too thin to do much to shroud the scaffolding of Brust's politics. Add a pile of misunderstandings grown from people failing to speak with each other (my least favorite kind of plot) and a focus on Christian mythology (a subject of no interest to me), and you get a book that just doesn't do much for me, however smooth the writing. ...more

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Feb 01, 2013 J.W. Griebel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror, fantasy-reads, read-in-2013, dark-fantasy

Rating: 5 stars

Why? It made me think. Seldom do I find a book that makes me think, and allows me to picture heaven in the following way:

description

(Pictured center: Yaweh)

To Reign in Hell took a fictional story we thought we knew, and turned it on its head.

Err... wait, you're saying the bible wasn't fictional? Excuse me then while I go part that ocean over there so that talking, burning bush can get to the other side without getting its leaves wet--whereupon it will still be held in higher esteem than any ...more

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Sep 30, 2007 John rated it it was amazing

Brust is a writer primarily of fantasy and wow is he good. While telling a good story is always foremost, he also seems to enjoy challenging himself and doing things that are interesting. His Vlad Taltos series, about an assassin, is what he's known for, but To Reign in Hell is actually a re-telling of the story of the Fall, of the creation of everything and how Satan got kicked out. Not to give away too much, but in this version it's not really Satan's fault. ...more

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Mar 12, 2008 Jeff rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Christians and atheists alike

Shelves: top-shelf, rereading-my-favorites, science-fiction, 4-nate

This book influenced me so strongly as a teenager that decades later i'm obliged to retain the 5 star rating even though it's nowhere near as great a book as the others i've rated 5 stars. I've probably read it 4 times in my life, but i might never read it again.

I think i identified most with the Mephistopheles character, but boy did i get irritated at multiple instances with various major characters. If we can infer from Brust's characters what he thinks about human character, then we're mostly ...more

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Apr 06, 2020 Keary Birch rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020

It took a while to get going but eventually a good read. What really happened in Heaven and how Yahweh and Satan ended up toe to toe.

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Sep 06, 2010 Greg Heath rated it it was amazing

Perhaps my favorite novel of all time, Steven Brust's "To Reign in Hell" is a novel that humanizes what is quite possibly the most reviled figure in literary and popular history - the Devil, himself. Set just prior to the events that will lead to the war in heaven and subsequent fall of Satan, the story opens with an ominous tone: there is a wave of flux energy coming soon, dubbed the Fourth Wave, that will tear down the walls of heaven and simultaneously create and destroy life indiscriminately Perhaps my favorite novel of all time, Steven Brust's "To Reign in Hell" is a novel that humanizes what is quite possibly the most reviled figure in literary and popular history - the Devil, himself. Set just prior to the events that will lead to the war in heaven and subsequent fall of Satan, the story opens with an ominous tone: there is a wave of flux energy coming soon, dubbed the Fourth Wave, that will tear down the walls of heaven and simultaneously create and destroy life indiscriminately as it has done thrice before. To prepare for this, the firstborn angel, Yaweh, seeks council with his fellow first-wave angel Satan (the secondborn). He proposes a plan to stave off the coming disaster, a plan that involves creating a bigger Heaven with protective shielding - Earth. The problem with this, though, is that its construction will cost the lives of many angels; so, too, however, will the coming Fourth Wave. Yaweh entrusts Satan with charging the angels of heaven to do his bidding, to lay down their lives for the betterment of heaven. Satan questions the morality of this, but before he is able to give a proper response to this plan, a devious, self-serving angel spins a web of lies around the two of them that escalates into an all out war.

It is this bold notion that the war in heaven could, in fact, be the result of a simple misunderstanding that lends "To Reign in Hell" its success in humanizing Satan and his fallen angels. One can't help but empathize with Satan and the other first-born skeptics (one of whom - Lucifer - can be loosely interpreted on a critical level as a spin on the typical suave, slick-haired mustachioed Old Nick). Though perhaps even more importantly, Yaweh is given equally sympathetic handling. Instead of simply flipping the roles or giving Satan a more robust, likable character, Brust has gone to great lengths to ensure that both sides of the argument have their fair representation. In reading, though, one comes to acknowledge that Yaweh's actions - though his character is depicted here as sympathetic and remorseful - are the obvious catalyst for what follows. As such, readers are somewhat biased and are set up to cheer for Satan and his ragtag gang of rebels, though one could argue that this is only fair in context, given that any typical representation of this subject would obviously favor Yaweh in a similar light.

As a writer, there is a wealth of knowledge to be gleaned in reading "To Reign in Hell." Brust has drawn heavily from Christian mythology and Milton's "Paradise Lost" in populating heaven and characterizing its many denizens, and the payoffs of his research and clear influences shine through in the meticulous detail and loving attention to the language and world of the angels of heaven. This is a great example of how to approach a large-scale war in a fantasy setting without making it feel like two faceless entities running smack-dab at each other, two clearly-defined opposing heads towering over a sea of faceless troops, or simply delving into page upon page of small army detail to give the grunts a voice. No, Brust has done all of these things and none of them at the same time, balancing the sense of a vast army and impending war with the intimacy and understanding of a personal conflict, showing no overt favoritism in tone and never quite dulling the intensity between the two head figures - God & Satan. Wholeheartedly recommended, as a writer and a reader. This one is a pure joy to experience. ...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Christina rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Anyone who loved "Paradise Lost"

Recommended to Christina by: sci-fi book club

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, mythology

"To Reign in Hell" is like the movie "Jawbreaker" - or even better, "Saved" with Mandy Moore - in heaven.

Heaven is apparently a great big box floating in space with "cacoastrum" (choas, though I can't ignore how much the first part of that word sounds like "caca") all around it - sort of what high school feels like when you're 15 or 16. Occasionally the cacoastrum breaks in, and some angels die and some new angels are created.

Yaweh, Satan, Lucifer and Lilith are the cool student council kids of "To Reign in Hell" is like the movie "Jawbreaker" - or even better, "Saved" with Mandy Moore - in heaven.

Heaven is apparently a great big box floating in space with "cacoastrum" (choas, though I can't ignore how much the first part of that word sounds like "caca") all around it - sort of what high school feels like when you're 15 or 16. Occasionally the cacoastrum breaks in, and some angels die and some new angels are created.

Yaweh, Satan, Lucifer and Lilith are the cool student council kids of the book. The archangel Michael is the big, dumb jock who just does what the cool kids tell him to. Raphael is the nice, pretty chick who goes along with Yaweh because she doesn't know what else to do. Mephistopheles is that creepy, nerdy kid who listens in on everyone's conversations and knows way too much. And so on...

Yaweh wants to protect the angels from the cacoastrum for ever, and begins planning to build the universe. He knows some of the other kids won't go along with it because they could die in the process. So he asks his best friend, Satan, to make sure they do. Satan isn't keen on the idea, but he knows his friend has good intentions. So he goes home to think about it.

Rumors about "The Plan" and Satan's supposed opposition start floating all over heaven. Yaweh and Satan hear them, but never talk to each other. Instead they send emissaries to relay messages and investigate, and sometimes the emissaries don't make it to their destination.

Yaweh declares himself student council president ("Lord of Lords"), which ticks off the other cool kids. Raphael and Michael go along with it, even though Michael really wants to punch Yaweh in the face. And Lucifer, Lilith and Satan decide Yaweh is a big jerk and they're going to fight him.

And so it goes.

And you've read "The Bible," "Paradise Lost," etc. You know how this book ends.

It drags a little in places. But the interesting twist (Yaweh's a big, fat liar and Satan is all about the truth) and the witty repartee between characters make it fun to read. ...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Mitch added it

Shelves: kill-yourself-first, fantasy

No stars for this one.

Occasionally I run across a book I dislike so much it goes into the recycled paper bin instead of to a friend or to a secondhand bookstore.

This is odd, because I've really enjoyed several other books by Stephen Brust. Additionally, I loved "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny, who wrote an enthusiastic review of this book and whose work it occasionally resembles.

Right in the face of all that, 'To Reign in Hell' was awesomely awful.

So...very...much of it was consumed with chara ...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Duffy Pratt rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

A re-imagining of the fall, but Brust paints Yaweh as Stalin, while Satan is more like Trotsky. And given Brust's politics, that makes Satan the doomed hero. There's much that is clever and likable here, but it wasn't profound, nor (and much worse) was it a lot of fun. There were some wonderful moments, and Brust leans very heavily on history having been written by the side of the winners.

The main problem I had is that none of the characters were very interesting. But I think that's also a probl ...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Ron rated it it was ok

Shelves: maps, fantasy

Trite, sophomoric. It's been done and by better authors.

Good premise: new twist on a (very) old story--you know, turn everything in the original on its head--but it didn't work. Folks who like turning classics inside out (almost a modern genre in itself) may like it. Trades on a well-known "cast" but bends the characters in totally new--and unlikely--directions. Milton ought to feel ripped off.

Technically, it's hard to understand what Zelazny found as "consummate grace and genuine artistry." Is ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 John rated it did not like it

Shelves: sf, utter-crap

When I saw this book, I immediately bought it because the concept seem like a "can't lose" proposition. It started OK, but then just got slower and slower. I kept thinking, "Put this turkey down. But no, what if it gets better?" So I kept reading. Well, guess what? It never gets better.

The primary action in the story appears to be shrugging. It is by far the most prevalent verb. The word shrug is probably used about 80 times (I'm being conservative in my estimate). And that that about sums it u ...more

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Jul 15, 2016 Matthew Bates II rated it really liked it

Interesting take on the christian creation myth and the war in heaven. One trivial thing that bothered me was that Satan and Lucifer were 2 different beings.

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Jul 08, 2015 Michael Battaglia rated it it was amazing

It's a bit of a cliche to point out that in retellings of the fall of Lucifer, the great Lord of Hell and Heavy Metal often comes across as the far more interesting character compared to He Who Was Rebelled Against, since while Satan can be charismatic and charming and devious, most of the Almighty's motivations come down to variations on "Because I said so." Which basically turns him into your mom. And while a book about your mom might be fascinating, without the influence of the one causing al It's a bit of a cliche to point out that in retellings of the fall of Lucifer, the great Lord of Hell and Heavy Metal often comes across as the far more interesting character compared to He Who Was Rebelled Against, since while Satan can be charismatic and charming and devious, most of the Almighty's motivations come down to variations on "Because I said so." Which basically turns him into your mom. And while a book about your mom might be fascinating, without the influence of the one causing all those instances of "Because I said so" it's probably not going to be that exciting a story, unless you find mysterious ways and people doing exactly what they're told to be the best kind of story ever.

The most famous example of this, of course, is Milton's "Paradise Lost", where it seems like Milton went out of his way to make Satan awesome almost against his better judgement, with the greatest "nyah!" line of all time in "Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven" going out to Old Scratch himself, proving even blind poets aren't immune to the heady, tantalizing allure of pure evil, and leading to the title of Steven Brust's retelling of the revolt in heaven, which mostly seems to show that if you switch things around and make Satan the good guy, you don't really improve matters as much as make him just as boring as God can be as a protagonist.

It's a good idea in theory, since the subject matter is ripe for an epic fantasy approach to it, but after reading it I'm not quite clear on what exactly Brust was setting out to do here. Set in the dawn of creation but after lots of things have been created, the host of various archangels are all set up in their particular region of heaven, and anyone who didn't fall asleep in Sunday school or took a course in theology will probably recognize lots of names here like Yahweh, Lucifer, Satan (two different angels apparently), Leviathan, Belial, Raphael, Mephistopheles, Michael, all with oddly relateable personalities as they mill about basically gossiping about each other and worrying if they're going to have to fight back another Wave (the basic primal forces of creation, which keeps breaking through the walls of heaven and must be fought back, but also seems to mess everyone up quite a bit). Yahweh has a Plan to create something that basically sounds like Earth to keep everyone safe but it isn't long before circumstances conspire to set everyone against each other and begin the long path to the Fall.

Maybe I just went in having high expectations because someone was tackling fairly interesting subject matter but for the most part almost none of this seems to come alive. To me the entire book should be steeped in a kind of hazy mythology mirroring the various creation stories of the world, in a time that only rests deep in the recesses of our collective unconscious, conjuring a baroque grandeur along the lines of Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time, where this is the last time when everyone is young and nice to each other before things really go to crap. Instead he tends to make the angels more like regular people, with everyone gossiping like high schoolers in the early chapters about who is dating (or not dating) who, turning it into a weird heavenly version of Hollywood Extra, and in doing so stripping away any overarching sense of inevitable tragedy about the whole affair. It should feel like the greatest schism of all time, with the sense that we lost the potential for a truly wonderful universe and instead are stuck with this horribly imperfect version permeating the entire story. But what we get feels petty bickering that goes way out of control mostly because no one ever learns to how to say "I'm sorry".

In that light, the plot functions less as a consequence of tiny things going wrong and adding up to a much larger tragedy and more like a series of plot contrivances designed to get us to an already predetermined point. To that end, the incident that causes the initial problems more or less comes out of left field, with one angel basically brainwashing another for no reason that is articulated well in the plot, and then a series of stubborn decisions on the part of everyone compounds the issue at hand, when if everyone used their brain for thirty seconds it could have all been talked out in ten pages as opposed to ending up with armies crashing into each other. In the book's defense the story does pick up quite a bit after everyone starts fighting but the motivations become so clotted as everyone dashes back and forth generally assuming the wrong things that it starts to operate on the level of farce. It doesn't help that large chunks of prose are conveyed through pure dialogue and none of the angels (other than Beelzebub, who talks like a refugee from a "How to Write Convincing Shakespeare" workshop) have distinctive enough speech patterns that to make any of them really stand out. For the most part they have one personality and stick to it. But the end result feels more like a first draft than anything else, or some kind of Satanic fan fiction.

As I said, I'm not sure what point Brust was trying to make with this. It never feels like a vaguely subversive take on creation myths, like a Biblical version of "Wicked" and while it may have been innovative for the time, years of stories depicting Lucifer as a shaded and somewhat misunderstood character have resulted in stories like this becoming the norm, to the extent that if he really wanted to be subversive, he would have written a story where God was right all along. Instead, he insists on "The Plan" so often you expect Built to Spill to show up, so a wacky series of misunderstandings results in Satan taking his fiery ball and storming off to Hell in a huff, a completely unnecessary outcome that the book paints as the picture of inevitability. But none of the characters ever seem to come alive in a way that can make their individual tragedies resonate with us, and instead of personifying human emotions and hope writ large (and their continued existence in stories throughout the ages probably points to our ability to create people-shaped metaphors for all the forces of life that we're incapable of explaining, like Batman and the Joker, but with halos) they come across as a bunch of people hanging out in a vaguely mystical zone that happen to share the same names as a bunch of famous Biblical characters. The misplaced arrogance and tragic implacability of those involved comes across far better in other, superior works, like the the Lucifer of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series (and Mike Carey's interesting take in his own solo series), managing to feel both epic and intimate, ancient and contemporary, whereas here it feels tossed off, like an idea that was never fully developed. It's one of those things that you would ordinarily want to avoid recommending to the extremely devout for fear of offending a sensitive nature (unless the title is just a nonstarter) but the truth is there's little here they'd recognize and if you were looking to stir up controversy and trouble at your local Bible study group then you'd probably have to worry less about them chasing you away with pitchforks and more about being accused of not having very interesting taste in fantasy literature. ...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Eveningstar2 rated it really liked it

Frustrating and brilliant.

Like Zelazny, who wrote the foreword to this book, I didn't think Brust could handle it. A story about Satan's rebellion against God? There were so many ways this book could fail. It didn't. It held together with a kind of chaotic intricacy, a huge mess of a plot that somehow holds itself together by virtue of its author's skill and ends with a gratifying finale.

Brust doesn't take any sides here. This book is not a thinly veiled postmodernist attempt to destabilize Chri Frustrating and brilliant.

Like Zelazny, who wrote the foreword to this book, I didn't think Brust could handle it. A story about Satan's rebellion against God? There were so many ways this book could fail. It didn't. It held together with a kind of chaotic intricacy, a huge mess of a plot that somehow holds itself together by virtue of its author's skill and ends with a gratifying finale.

Brust doesn't take any sides here. This book is not a thinly veiled postmodernist attempt to destabilize Christian theological norms, or an attempt at trendy irony by painting Satan as a protagonist. It is a meditation on humanity, and its cast is aggressively human in every possible way. Satan kind but marred by indecision and a tendency toward philosophical meandering. Yaweh loving but blinded by his own love. Raphael kind but passive. Michael strong but lacking vision. Zaphkiel a visionary but lacking purpose. Abdiel a massive bastard.

There is a real honesty to this book, and I respect that. The characters here are honest. The narrator does not smirk at the reader. There is good and bad in everyone.

To that end, Brust's novel--and I hesitate to give it any real label--draws some inspiration from Neoplatonism. Angels are not two-dimensional embodiments of virtue with a natural predilection for playing harps, but archetypes for human beings. They're super-human, saturated in humanity, with all the feelings and passions of you and I, but magnified.

The plot itself is structured like a tragedy of circumstances, almost Greek in its tragedy, driven by epic levels of hamartia in its characters. No one is without fault (save perhaps for Harut, whom I love), not even Satan. And no one is truly wrong, not even Yaweh. It is a meditation on law and chaos rather than good and evil. On bad things from good intentions and good things from selfishness.

I had one issue with the book which kept me from giving it a full five stars: the presence of a kind of mind-control device central to the plot. Can you have a Deus Ex Machina in a story like this without being (intentionally or otherwise) ironic? Either way, it felt like a cop-out to me.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. I was frustrated with it at times. Frustrated because--God, how could these characters be so stupid? How could they not see? But then I realized Brust was taking me along for the ride. Frustration and gratification are intermingled here.

This is not a book about atheism and theism. This is not a book about Satan and God and Jesus.

This is a book about order and chaos, about the Gods of Iliaster who slay the Titans of Cacoastrum. Chaos creates order by rebelling against itself; order resists the encroachment and chaos and grows, but in doing so, sows the seeds of its own disunity. Entropy destroys order and the cycle recapiculates. Saturn devours his children, who then break free of him. Heaven emerges from the primordial chaos, only to break apart, and then rebuild itself.

It is eschatology and creation myth. Recommended. ...more

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May 31, 2019 William rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy

Abandoned at 30%. Naïve and silly. I simply don't understand the plot and motivations of the major characters and how anyone could be quite this obtuse. Maybe angels hadn't invented problem solving or critical thinking skills quite yet?

(view spoiler) ...more

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Apr 15, 2009 D. Logan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This book didn't keep my attention as well as the Taltos Series by this same author, but it was interesting to read. It was definitely a unique take on the war of heaven. All of the ties to what we know where there, but in a unique way that made it into it's own unique story. I imagine there are some who would be offended by the book, but if you read it as the pure fiction it is, it makes for an entertaining read. ...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Flint rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

Disappointing. The heavy use of simplistic dialogue really irked me. It made the "war in heaven" seem like a case of telephone gone awry. The setting was practically nonexistent. The characters all seemed to be naive, like children. ...more

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Jan 23, 2014 Kevin Dobill rated it really liked it

Very cool book... Not what you'd expect exactly... like Animal Farm, but with angels. Great creation story, great concept of how all could come into existence. ...more

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Dec 07, 2019 Gilbert Stack rated it liked it

This is a story of crisis and betrayal, miscommunication and lies, and a brewing civil war. The characters are vivid and the action is filled with tension and quite enjoyable. Written in a different context it would have been a four-star novel. Unfortunately, To Reign in Hell is an effort to retell the story of the war between God (called Yahweh in this novel) and Satan but it accomplishes this by flipping the expectations of who is good and who is evil. Yahweh is described as a dimwitted, small This is a story of crisis and betrayal, miscommunication and lies, and a brewing civil war. The characters are vivid and the action is filled with tension and quite enjoyable. Written in a different context it would have been a four-star novel. Unfortunately, To Reign in Hell is an effort to retell the story of the war between God (called Yahweh in this novel) and Satan but it accomplishes this by flipping the expectations of who is good and who is evil. Yahweh is described as a dimwitted, small minded, easily manipulated, quick to violence fool who surrounds himself with equally stupid angels who are disturbingly quick to agree to attack their fellow angels who they apparently still consider to be their friends. On the other side, Satan and those who will become known as demons and devils, are portrayed as honorable, brilliant people who suffer from naiveite. Whereas Yahweh acts with cruelty throughout the novel eventually becoming genocidal, the demons never do so. It is a bizarre twisting of the story that makes listening to it highly disturbing, even though the basic action is still enjoyable.

In addition, there is a major flaw that greatly weakens the credibility of the story. I’ll leave out names so that I don’t spoil the action, but the angel who is the arch manipulator of Yahweh kills another angel and is caught in the act. This murder occurs well before the breach between Yahweh and Satan has become certain and it is the act that inspires most of the rest of the misunderstandings in the story. Again and again, Satan tries to kill the offending angel and is stopped by forces of Yahweh who do not know they are defending a murderer. But never once does Satan or his allies think of yelling—"He killed (fill in the name of the angel).” Those three words would have ended the immediate threat of violence and permitted the discussion that would have healed the accidental rift between Yahweh and Satan. I realize that the rift is necessary to the story, but couldn’t a believable problem have been created?

Perhaps the real problem is that Brust wants Satan and the “fallen angels” to be the heroes of his tale and Yahweh and the heavenly host to be a bunch of homicidal (in Yahweh’s case, genocidal) maniacs. It would have been a much more interesting story if Satan had actually been the bad guy trying to gain dominance in heaven. There are numerous novels that manage to make the bad guy an interesting protagonist. It’s unfortunate that Brust decided to go in the opposite direction.

I would like to end on a positive note. Narrator Jiraiyah Addams has a wonderful vocal range which permits him to create a large number of individual characters in this audio book. That greatly enhanced the rendition of this tale.

I received this book from Audiobook Boom in exchange for an honest review.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
...more

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Jan 31, 2020 Tracy Poff added it

Shelves: fantasy

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 ...more

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What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Heaven and Hell Satan's character is a dog (I think.) The angels are preparing for some phenomenon to occur that either produces or executes angels. [s]	7	56	Dec 03, 2008 08:51PM

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About Steven Brust

Steven Brust

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Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet) ...more

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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.” — 8 likes

“Or more like them,” said Lucifer. “He won’t want to leave himself undefended. After all, one of us could break in and kick him in the knee.” — 0 likes

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