Michelle Morrell's Reviews > Pandemonium

When I read genre books, I tend to lump them into what I call the X-Files Categories. A book is either a monster-of-the-week novel (adventure and action and not a whole lot of substance), or a mythology read (slower, deeper, more cerebral). Reading through the first half of Pandemonium, I was ready for a monster-of-the-week ride. In here, demon possessions are real, accepted and fairly routine. The lead, possessed as a child, is hearing noises and seeing things that have led him to seek out answers.

However, my assumptions were wrong, so wrong. I know from experience that Daryl Gregory can write an engaging novel, some pretty fun romps through contemporary science fiction. But instead of a superficial made-for-tv story, I was very pleasantly surprised at the depth that I found. Some really cool ideas about possession, archetypes, collective unconscious, the power of the mind and Jungian theory, and even an homage to Philip K Dick. (Dang it, I’m going to have to finish Valis one of these days, aren’t I?). It wrapped up quite satisfactorily and my estimation of Gregory as a storyteller went up quite a few notches.