Name: Pandemonium
ISBN: 9780345501165

Daryl Gregory

In the 1950s, ordinary people of varying ages and backgrounds are possessed by entities that seem to spring from the collective unconscious, that many would call demons. It is believed that the key to resolving this plague pivots around the possessed DelP

Pandemonium

Honestly, I’m at a loss. There were several elements that should have made this book great: I LOVED that demons were just accepted to be part of life, it’s such a unique take for a possession story, and I also loved the other alternate history elements (Nixon succeeding Eisenhower as a result of demons, for example). However, I did not connect with the actual plot at all. The comic book stuff was totally lost on me, and I felt like I was just kind of being dragged through the events. I didn’t understand motivations or what the goals were for much of the book, just “oh ok they’re driving here now.” Perhaps more careful reading would have helped, but the pacing was so weird and I wasn’t connecting with the story, so I just kind of trudged on. Also, the demonology chapters really broke up the plot even more than the pacing did, and I found them wholly unnecessary (besides the aforementioned Eisenhower/Nixon one, but that speaks more to my interests than anything). 

So, A for the setting/world-building, F for plot and execution.

Pandemonium

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