Scooter Chronicles

Yesterday afternoon I finished reading “To Reign in Hell” by Steven Brust.

As you may be able to see from the picture of the book cover, this is a fictionalization of the revolt in Heaven. That intrigued me, coming for a popular fantasy writer such as Brust (though I have not read any of his other work). How would it be handled?

First for the aspects of the book itself. It’s a fast read. As you can tell, I just finished reading a book a week ago, and since Nigel was born my reading has slowed down quite a bit. The prose is average, with the exception of the way two characters speak. I’ll get to that later. As for the character depth, there is a lot missing. It was about the story more then anything. Though really, how do you draw up God, or Satan, or Michael, showing the depths of their feelings and emotions? In some ways you really can’t do that. It makes for one of the most challenging projects any writer can tackle, whether Christian or not.

The story takes on a serious nature, but it has it’s fair share of humor. At times there is conversation between two angels, Kyriel and Sith, that gives it a very Terry Pratchett feel to the book. Some of the lines characters say do to, especially when angels utter famous lines that Jesus is attributed to saying in passages of the Bible. But overall, it’s a serious take. However, it’s not for the die-hard Christian. Some, I am sure, would be appalled by how some of the characters are portrayed. God is always referred to as Yaweh. And the story comes across that the angels were created out of something called the Flux that surrounds Heaven, a volatile nothingness. However, only the Flux existed when Yaweh came to being. He then pulled Satan out of the flux, and they pulled out the other five that make up the Firstborn. Then those seven made Heaven. Yaweh is seen as the unofficial leader of the angels, with Satan a close second, but no one really thinks of Yaweh as The Creator. It is only later that Yaweh assumes that position after thinking and realizing that he was indeed first.

The revolt itself is handled with both that Pratchett feel and seriousness. Basically Satan’s disapproval of “The Plan” Yaweh has is parallel with the modern media these days, blown out of proportion. Eventually Satan and Yaweh talk to discuss these problems and find that neither do want to fight or oppose each other as much as each was led feel. But one angel has been pushing the right buttons leading both sides to this battle, wanting to unseat Satan as Yaweh’s second in command in putting “The Plan” into action. But given Yaweh’s position, through his first son Yesuah’s pushing (and yes, I did say First son), they force Satan to either bow to his power or leave to prepare for the battle.

Maybe I gave too much away for those that might have any interest in reading the book. But you all knew that Satan and God have a falling out, and who ended up where they did. Don’t you?

Another Pratchett like aspect were some of the characters. Beelzebub is a Elizabethan-like speaking Golden Retriever who is very loyal to Satan. Satan himself is a deep thinking, mild mannered angel that has a hard time making decisions. The angel poetic taking Ariel owl. After Leviathan says she is tired of his doublets (and yes, Leviathan is a she), Ariel starts getting more complicated in his rhyming. And Mephistopheles is an all black wardrobed angel that is playing both sides to see who comes out on top. It did add some fun to the story, and even more interest after reading it and looking up info on these angels/demons.

Overall, it was an interesting read, being a Christian that tries to have an open mind. (And that is in no way a slam against more conservative Christians either … I do understand why some would not want to read this book.) Since it had me going back and looking up information on those involved, it did have some impact on me. But from a faith standpoint as a whole, it didn’t have any effect. I know that it is not the only fictionalization of this event, and I would be interested in reading others.