Hellblazer: War Lord

John Constantine Hellblazer Novels #2

by John Shirley

Englishman and amoral occultist John Constantine has been out of sorts lately, disconnected from himself...and this time not from another bender, but quite literally, as his soul is cast adrift during a fouled-up spiritual quest in an Iranian monastery. Now rescued and recruited by an agent for the Hidden World -- the supernatural realm that exists far beyond everyday mortal awareness -- Constantine and his extraordinary allies are forcibly dragged into a globe-spanning conspiracy. For the secret cabal known as the Servants of Transfiguration has set in motion a horrifying plot to raise the ancient demon god known as the War Lord -- and bring about a last great war that will annihilate everything on Earth....

Genres: Horror, Comics, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 31, 2006

About the author

John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.

He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.

His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.

He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.

John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.

John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

War Lord manages to be shockingly dark and laugh out loud funny in various parts. John Constantine is an amusing and fascinating fellow in this book. He gives out this vibe of the bumbling ineffectual, who could give a flip about anything. However his ability with magics and the arcane is inestimable. A drunk, chain-smoker, and a bit of a lecher. His sense of morality doesn't seem to fit into the boxes that you might usually ascribe characters. However, he does have a sense of honor, just believes in doing things his own way. All in all, hard to pin down and not one to be taken for granted.

The storyline itself is very harsh. It's about war, and the fact that many use war to profit. That's no secret, but seeing it written down on paper emphasizes the wrongness of glorifying in human suffering, causing it for one's own ends. In this case, a dark cabal is stirring up violence to awake an ancient War Lord to bring about the apocalypse, so they can rule. However, that's not going to go over well, not with Constantine on the opposite side (even if he dislikes the fact that he has to choose sides).

I found myself laughing at some of the admittedly coarse humor. But it was very funny. I loved the side joke in which Constantine remarks about the parallel worlds that exist, one in which he has black hair and wears a black coat, and lives in Los Angeles. That might sound familiar to some folks.

Some parts are off-putting, even repulsive. The dark magics are rather disturbing (in the fact that some folks might choose to go down those roads). However, those who like reading fiction about the arcane and esoteric might appreciate this book. There's even a cameo by a descendant of Aleister Crowley. Some stuff went over my head as far as the Hidden World, but I'm okay with that.

I can't give it a high rating because it has a very slow start and the pace was too uneven in parts. Not to mention the fact that the atrocities committed to see the dark purposes of the cabal to fruition didn't sit right with me (even though they make sense for this book). However, it was a good read and I enjoyed it. So it's easily 3.5/5.0 stars.

[Sana Zameer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the novelized version of Constantine but this was a huge let down. The plot was all over the place and badly written. Too many bland characters and not enough focus on Constantine himself. Not a worthy sequel.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice and gritty book for those who like modren occult stories.

The character portrayed here is much more darker and human than the one potrayed in the movies.

A good read I can recommend.

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read John Shirley's first novel in the Constantine universe (the film adaptation novel) recently, I am struck by how much better a writer he is when not confined to the tropes of the cheesy (but still wonderfully amusing) Keanu Reeves film. John Constantine is back with full acerbic force, along with a new crew of magically inclined individuals (gone are the oddly gangster and desperate Chas and the damsel-in-distress psychic Angela in lieu of more interesting characters), trying to save the world again - but this time from a group of magicians trying to resurrect the father of all war gods, N'Hept, and bring about a new world order. The story is far from unique (Constantine has gone up against the anti-Christ for god's sake, and N'Hept is really just a primitive/original version of his oldest foe, the demon Nergal), but it's sufficiently entertaining and adds some interesting twists to the Constantine canon. We get a confirmation of the Laughing Magician's reincarnated nature with his flashbacks to a Stone Age character ("Konz") as well as some additional magicians from his past and another failed love affair. The oddest (and most frightening) twist that Shirley used to give the story some true terror (the world won't end kids, Constantine always saves the day) was the inclusion of the bottled but conscious remains of Josef Mengele, Nazi doctor of horrors at Auschwitz. I'm sure that anyone who has any knowledge of the Holocaust has heard of Mengele and the horrific experiments that he performed during his tenure, and will be equally horrified with the idea that his evil persona lived on within the dark magic community.

[shean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really disliked this. I do remember loving the comic though so don't let this discourage you from that.

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in 2006 when it came out, but saw it on the shelf last week and decided to give it another spin as I re-read several Constantine Graphic novels in the last year. At the time when this was released I was very excited as Shirley is my favorite author and Constantine is my favorite comic book character. Shirley was a great choice to bring this character into the prose world as they have a lot in common. Vets of 70’s punk bands, Shirley fronted Sado-nation and Constantine fronted Mucus Membrane. Both are masters of dark arts. I think it is clear quickly in the book that Shirley relates to the aging dark magician who has cheated the devil and fought demons for decades in the pages of DC comics since he was introduced by Alan Moore in the pages of Swamp Thing.

Shirley really went to great length to honor the cannon, and respect the timeline. Even though the book takes place away from Constanstine’s native England there is a neat prologue that cameos major Hellblazer characters like Chaz. There are many excellent references to back story which add depth and ground you to the world Constantine lives in.

The novel starts with Constantine astral projecting from the middle east, you see he has been on a spiritual quest in an Iranian monastery. His guru is a two hundred year mystic named the Blue Shiek, who is murdered in front of him. Constantine stumbles on to a plot by forces from the hidden world who are bent on starting a world war.

There is a chapter early in the novel that explores the effect of war through a lens on the Iraq war. Considering that this novel was written in 2006, it has a time capsule effect that brought me back to the feelings we experienced watching the Iraq debacle unfold on the news. This chapter is powerful and intense – really could stand alone as an intense look at the conflict. It raises the bar beyond base nature of your average media tie-in.

The characters and settings are really strong. Some already existed in the back story, but several are new including Spoink. This character an astral projecting surfer mystic who has taken over the body of a former terrorist in coma is a very Rudy Rucker-ish character. Shirley has Spoink even give a nod to Rucker by name in the narrative. Perhaps my favorite aspect is the disturbing presence of Dr. Mengle being kept alive as a disembodied brain in a jar. The scene that introduces this concept on page 104 is great great.

Overall I think this novel is a must-read for Constantine fans in general. Warlord is a great John Shirley novel with a subtle message and as a Constantine novels it expands the character and canvas of the story very well. Great stuff.

[Zally (ZenithMeridian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before anything else I want to get two things out of the way. 1 I rated this book a 3.5 and 2. I am bias as HELL for Hellblazer. Also, if you do not have a good foundation in the comics then this book is NOT for you. It dumps you in the deep end of Hellblazer and expects you to be able to swim.

This book follows Constantine through the Middle East to stop the world from ending. Nothing too shocking there, and it was nice to see Mercury again, it has been awhile since I have seen that girl and it was kind of great. What makes this book curious, however, was that it was set during the Iraq War (book came out in 2006) and the author often switches from writing a Constantine style brooding pseudo noir story to a 'Blackhawk Down' style war narration. Both styles are great on their own but mashing them together made me feel like I was suffering from whiplash a wee bit.

This break up of the narration also meant that there were large chunks of this book where Constantine was nowhere to be seen. Yes, there needs to be some world building so you know, a couple of chapters doing that makes sense but there are 20page + chunks where our main protagonist is just off somewhere else. There was something jarring about not following our main point of view throughout the whole story and to be honest, it made me a little pissy. Constantine stories are told through his perspective of events so suddendly swapping perspective was...rough at times.

In addition, and this is an odd one for me. I felt that there was something fundementally missing from the writing style of this book when it comes to Hellblazer. In the comic we get these beautifully written passages of narration from Constantine (monologues) and his language is full of surprisingly stunning metaphors for the world around him and the people he encounters. Sadly this is completely missing from the narrative. Constantine is only shown as his more crass outer shell and I felt like by cutting the beautiful language out the audience lost something fundemental to the character.

I am planning on reading the second book but my hopes are not high. I would suggest sticking to the comics if you want some Hellblazer love.

[Colin Oaten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel featuring my favourite comics character,John Constantine the Hellblazer. Nice to get mentions of other characters and places from Johns history along the way and a tidy ending. You can hear the voice of Matt Ryan,TV's Constantine in the dialogue as the character is well written by John Shirley in true Constantine style.

[Emery Demers · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this amazing first John Constantine novel by writer John Shirley we are shown the true nature of our favorite trench-coat clad magus as well as come face to face with an old war god. At the beginning of War Lord, John Constantine is unknowingly having and out of body experience but is traveling too far from his mortal shell. During Constantine's "spiritual" time at a London pub he is approached and recruited by the ghost of a soldier into helping him and other spirits of war to prevent an upcoming World War III in the making. Meanwhile in Afghanistan the war in the Middle East is somehow strangely changing and evolving into something much more sinister. Once Constantine's spirit is returned to his body which has been laying at a Tibetan monastery overseen by a powerful mage known as the Blue Sheikh, the Sheikh informs Constantine that he must indeed help these spirits of war in their quest to prevent the march of the War Lord and an approaching World War III. The Blue Sheikh ends by predicting to Constantine that he (The Sheikh) is soon to be assassinated and that Constantine must also watch for his own sign of death to come later in his adventure. Constantine attempts and fails to prevent this final revelation of the Blue Sheikh's death from coming true and after the assassination decides to begin his journey that will ultimately lead him to many more ghost, a terrorist big shot who's body is possessed by the spirit of a stoner Californian named "Spoink", and eventually face to face with the demonic entity that is the War Lord. This great adaptation of the comic book character is truly amazing to the John Constantine characterization and the essence of him, it is followed up by John Constantine: Subterranean.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but not quite Constantine enough, for my tastes. I think Shirley does a good job of writing Our John as a character and properly capturing his voice, but the overall plot and scope of the story seems a little...off. A little less Hellblazer and a bit more...Mission: Impossible?

That said, I really appreciate Shirley's restraint with John's magic use. No laser beams or crazy spellcasting like often seen in the animated, and some comic book, iterations of the character. The nuance of it all is preserved, here. Magic is not a super-power and the best Hellblazer stories stay far sway from using it in that way.

I genuinely wish War Lord was more to my tastes but, you know, it is what it is. Here's hoping that the next book in the series, Subterranean, manages to fill that Constantine shaped hole in my dark, reader's heart.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read a Hellblazer comic in what must be close to 20 years but this novel was pretty fun and John Constantine's characterization was almost perfect. It did really feel like reading a text-only version of the comics and did allude to many events from the comic's story-line such as John's past with the demon Nergal, him outwitting Lucifer, and having gotten lung cancer and managed to overcome it. A nice easter egg is that at some point John comments on the existence of a multiverse and that there is a version of him that has black hair, lives in L.A., and had cancer and managed to cure himself too but did it a different way, which is a nod to the Keanu Reeves "Constantine" movie, whose novelization this author also wrote. There's a second volume of this series, so I'll read it along with the movie tie-in.

[Celea · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an introduction to the character, not too bad. Mr Shirley's writing stands out with twists, creative antagonists and compelling side characters. However, with this read I was more interested in the side characters than the main character, John Constantine. With so much traveling around in this book, there should have been more focus on setting. Instead, it was action action action. I feel like this would have translated better on screen or in a comic book. You have to have a good idea of what the locations in the book already look like already before tucking into this one, cause the book is not going to set the scene for you other than announcing the names of the places- Iran, Carthage, ect. That doesn't set the scene, tell me whats around!

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant surprise. This novel is better than many runs on Hellblazer. John Shirley is quite clearly a big fan of the comics, and he nails Constantine’s voice. He adds to the character’s backstory in new and interesting ways. The story is pretty unique and gets pretty big. The cast, including a surprising return, is varied, and everyone has a pretty disto voice. He touches on some pretty touchy subjects here, and I think he did so quite deftly.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I expected. I read about 25% before giving up and not much had really happened. I mean there was some action but none of it felt really important. I dunno. This just didn't grab me and Constantine's dialog seemed like it was written by somebody pretending (poorly) to have a british accent. This just didn't work for me.

[Jill Rebryna · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? Infuriating and yet fun for a girl who's read the graphic novels ( and seen that awful movie...) and... real. I like him, that's why I like him.

[Loki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best John Constantine story out there, but better than anything being foisted on us in the tv version. Its biggest problem is simply that Shirley doesn't seem to have his own vision of JC, instead writing one that sounds now like Delano, now like Ennis, now like Carey, now like Azzarello - while he's clearly read all the comics, it feels like he hadn't finished digesting them before he started this book.

[Marian Weaver · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the Hellblazer franchise. I like a lot of John Shirley's work.

But dear God, who thought it was a good idea to have Shirley novelise John Constantine?

It's horrible. Cliched and boring. That's the best I can say about it.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts of this book are the ones not dealing with Constantine; when Shirley isn’t tethered to the licensor’s image of their bad-boy street sorcerer, things get weird, poetic, and interesting.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://greenmanreview.com/book/book_s...

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up 100 pages in. Too little focus on the protagonist.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read. Though, I don't think a person new to Hellblazer would get much out of it.

[Hazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Raul Mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Constantine is one of my favorite fictional characters, and this book gave me exactly what I wanted - a cocky drunkard excorcist fighting demonic powers in gritty, dark tale.

[bluetyson]

War Lord (John Constantine Hellblazer) by John Shirley (2006)

[Viết Thanh]

it's good