To Reign in Hell: A Novel
by Steven Brust
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Book Summary Information
Author: Steven BrustIntroduction: Roger Zelazny
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-07-07
ISBN: 0312870493
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Orb Books
Book Reviews of To Reign in Hell: A Novel
Book Review: Fantastic accomplishment
Summary: 5 Stars
The accomplishments here are nothing short of spectacular.
Imagine writing a book populated with some of the most well known characters in Western history: Yahweh, Jesus, Satan, Lucifer (yes, they are separate), and the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. They all need unique personalities. If they're not, if they're retreads of biblical, Dante, Milton, or others, then the book fails.
Then imagine creating a reason for God to create the Cherubs, Seraph, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, etc. Give all of them a purpose.
Imagine creating Heaven, giving essence to creation itself - a Big Bang, in effect.
Imagine giving reason for the Fall. Not just the reason given in The Book of Revelations, but a rewriting, of sorts, and one that absolutely has to make sense.
This should seem impossible. Only the greatest writers in history have succeeded when touching this material.
I'm not going to suggest that Steven Brust is one of the greatest writers in history, but I will emphatically state that he was unbelievably successful.
And he did his homework. He dug deep into Christian mythology (I'm saying mythology because many characters come from Dante, Milton, or others, and were never seen in the Bible), and must have spent hours upon hours plotting this novel.
It helps if you do your homework too. Luckily, I own a book called THE DICTIONARY OF ANGELS. You probably don't, so I'll help out a bit.
Regarding having distinct Satan and Lucifer characters: there is no biblical evidence that supports the two share identities. I won't go into the various proofs, just take my word for it. If you have doubts, Wikipedia does a fine job explaining the difference between the two.
Brust also does a terrific job with the character of Jesus and the relationship between father and son.
I'm going to quote Wikipedia because they do a better job explaining the theory of creation than I could, and indeed, after I read theirs, I understood better what Brust was writing about. It was fairly complex. "In the beginning, there was cacoastrum, the stuff of chaos. As the flux shaped itself, it occasionally created illiaster, the fabric of order. A being of illiaster was spontaneously created, imbued with self-preservation, and this being fought against the cacoastrum. In the struggle, six more beings were created, and together, the seven created a vast hollow orb that temporarily sealed out the chaos. These were the Firstborn: Yaweh, Satan, Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Leviathan and Belial.
During the Second Wave, the walls of Heaven collapsed, and the Firstborn fought again, rebuilding their stronghold, and in the process, hundreds of archangels were created. This happened yet again, and the ordinary angels were created."
It helps to have information about some of the angels:
(Disclaimer: I am not Christian, and do not believe in either angels or demons. This list is merely composed to help those who don't have access to other materials reference some angels and demons from the book.)
Bath Kol: Never identified as a character, only in passing reference to a supposed relationship with either Kyriel or Sith. "An angel, often spoken of as female, whose name means "heavenly voice." the angel is said among the Syrians to have the voice heard by Cain asking "Where is thy brother, Abel?" after Cain murdered his brother. Bat Qol is also said to have visited the famous second-century A.D. rabbi Simion ben Yohai (the supposed of the Jewish mystical work the Zohar) while he was imprisoned. in the sense of Bat-Kol, the angel can represent the divine voice that announces the will of God."
Kyriel: One of the 28 angels governing the 28 mansions of the moon.
Sith: Angel of an hour (6 to 7 o'clock); a regent ruling a planet.
Leviathan: In the book, the Regent of the West. In the Enoch parables, Leviathan is the primitive female sea-dragon and monster of evil, associated with Behemoth (who is not referenced in this book).
Ariel: The name has many implications, but Shakespeare saw Ariel as a sprite, and to Milton Ariel is a rebel angel, overcome by the seraph Abdiel in the first day of fighting in heaven.
Abdiel: According to Milton, the angel who overcomes Ariel in the first day of fighting in heaven. Brust takes Abdiel and runs with him.
Mephistopheles: Derived from the Hebrew "mephiz", meaning destroyer, and "tophel", meaning liar. One of the fallen archangels, and one of the 7 great princesof Hell.
Michael: One could write for hours. For brevity's sake: he ranks as the greatest of angels, whether in Jewish, Christian, or Islamic writings, secular or religious. He is chief of the order of virtues, chief of archangels, prince of the presence, angel of repentance, righteousness, mercy and sanctification, and conqueror of Satan. Archangel.
Belial: A great fallen angel. From Milton, "Belial came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd/Fell not from Heav'n, or more gross to love/Vice it self."
Asmodai: In Milton, spelled Asmadai. One of the 2 potent thrones. Uriel and Raphael are credited with vanquishing Asmadai. In the book, Asmodai is a builder of sorts, a blacksmith. Asmodeus, a name closely related to Asmodai, is credited with being the inventor of carousels, music, dancing, drama. There may be no connection.
Uriel: Like Michael, one could write for hours. He is one of the leading angels in noncanonical lore, and ranked variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the presence (remember that Michael is prince of the presence), presider over Hades, etc. Archangel. A patron angel of literature and music.
Raphael: The name seems to mean "God has healed". One of the princes of the presence and regent of the sun. This archangel is extremely healing to all living beings. Raphael grants joy, healing, love, miracles and grace. Archangel.
This certainly isn't an all-encompassing list, but it should be enough to get you started. You don't need to know what Milton, the Bible, or Dante said about any of these entities to fully enjoy the novel, but Brust has some good tongue-in-cheek fun that you would miss out on otherwise.
Summary of To Reign in Hell: A Novel
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.
The place is Heaven.
The story is the Revolt of the Angels-a war of magic, corruption and intrigue that could destroy the universe.
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