Daryl Gregory

"Spoonbenders" by Daryl Gregory earns a solid five stars, overcoming a sluggish start that initially left me uncertain. As the narrative gained traction, however, the story transformed into a captivating tapestry of emotions. Gregory's skillful storytelling weaved together heartfelt moments, clever humor, and poignant tragedy, creating a rich and multifaceted experience.

The novel's ability to elicit both laughter and tears showcases Gregory's narrative prowess. The characters, once seemingly show more ordinary, evolved into a cast that felt like old friends by the final chapters. The blend of humor and tragedy provided a nuanced exploration of the human experience, making the journey through "Spoonbenders" both engaging and profoundly impactful.

In the end, "Spoonbenders" proved to be a masterfully crafted narrative that transcended its initial pacing challenges. The emotional resonance, coupled with a perfect balance of wit and poignancy, left me with a lasting appreciation for Gregory's storytelling prowess. This is a book that lingers in the heart and mind, earning its well-deserved five-star rating. show less

Something strange has happened to Del Pierce. As a child, , he lost control of his own self and fell under the spell of some sort of power which, while temporary, changed the course of his life. He is not the only person who has suffered from these "possessions". However, as he returns home to Chicago after a self-appointed stint in a psychiatric hospital, he is the one most determined to find their cause and get the voices out of his head.



Pandemonium is set in a world just a hair's breadth show more removed from our own. On Del's Earth, there is a long history of people being possessed by sudden and unexplainable behavior; behavior attributed by many to so-called demons. These incidents follow a number of trends, as if there are numerous entities flying about, each with their own pattern: the Painter makes its host create works of art out of whatever material is available, the Truth dresses in black and seeks justice with the help of a pair of .45's, the Little Angel gives young girls the ability to end the lives of the old and sick with a kiss. There seem to be many of these spirits, archetypes, or powers among us, and no one can agree on what they are or what they are doing.

Mr. Gregory does not give his readers a moment to grow accustomed to the strange new traits of his alternative reality, opening his story in the middle of an airport as the protagonist, Del, watches a possessed man follow out a demon's strange but harmless script. We must catch up with the rest of the book's characters who find these incidents frightful but almost routine, with their own branches of study, theory, and fan bases. Deftly, he avoids exposition, working explanations as to what the heck's going on in the character's dialogue. Interspersed through the story are what might be called case files of individual demons, revealing more of his world and the alternative history he has created. If you are anything like me, you'll be disappointed by how few of these are included, leaving the rest of the possessive cohort as little more than names casually mentioned and never explored.

The subtle little changes Gregory has made to the world, and his ability to integrate them into what we know, reminds me of Michael Chabon, as does Gregory's trend of giving his characters and his prose a realistic and clever level of pop-culture awareness. Though, for the most part, this book has a stable sort of magical realism, the author was more than willing to throw in a touch of absurd, a bit of action, and a dash of alien horror to satisfy most any pallet. At times, Pandemonium can sound ridiculous, but they all make sense in the world of the book. Gregory weaves in an excellent subplot of identity and personal understanding as Del travels across the country to try and understand what happened to him. As he and the reader find out, some answers hurt. Overall, the writing is not only humorous and engaging, but very aware of aware of the challenges of simply understanding what it is to be human. I have not read any of Gregory's short stories, but I will certainly be on the lookout for them and, if we're lucky, another novel out of this excellent modern author. show less

Revelator sounded intriguing from the first, but I didn't know if I'd particularly enjoy it...and yet, I'm so, so glad I picked it up. Gregory's talent for writing, for storytelling, for character creation...all of it came together to make for a powerful and haunting story that had so many nuances, I was entranced. Most telling of all: I've read so many books that go back and forth between two timelines, especially lately, and I don't remember a time when I didn't have a favorite timeline, show more to the extent that it was something of a let-down to go back to one of them, and a relief when I got back to the other...until now. The two timelines here were equally compelling, and they fit together flawlessly. I was always excited to get back to the other, and from page to page, I simply wanted to keep going. Gregory's writing of female characters was especially impressive, and combined with the surprising reveals, the nuanced look and tongue-in-cheek conversations regarding religion/religious thought and understanding, and the simply fascinating story, I just couldn't get enough. He also did a fantastic job of writing a younger and an older version of the same character in such a way that the maturation made sense, and you could tell from the voices that one was older and one were younger--they were clearly a mature and less-mature version of the same character. Written like that, it sounds simple, but if you've read books where you saw a writer go back and forth between two versions of the same character at different ages, you know it's far from a simple thing to pull that off believably.

In short, this is a fantastic horror novel, and will be one of my favorites of the year. I can't wait to check out more of Gregory's work. show less

Gregory seems endlessly inventive; this novel is set in a world with irrefutable proof that we live in a simulation, including Impossibles, which are phenomena that can’t be explained using physics (as well as a weekly text reminder that we are living in a simulation beamed to everyone’s brain—not clear what happens if the recipient can’t read). Some have responded with nihilism, considering everyone else (except perhaps fellow gun-toting, Matrix-loving incels) to be bots. On a tour show more of seven American Impossibles, a pregnant influencer, a rabbi, a nun (and accompanying novice), two German tourists, a would-be right-wing podcaster and his feckless son, a comic book writer, and his best friend, a retired engineer, join an inexperienced tour guide and seen-everything bus driver. But the trip gets more complicated when a fugitive joins them. Her mission is mysterious but urgent. Each of the characters has a distinctive perspective—the Engineer (“The thing is ridiculously oversized and out of scale, like a Koons Balloon Dog. He also doesn’t know how he feels when he looks at a Koons Balloon Dog.”), the Realist’s Son (“Why was anyone shocked that the world was not in our control, and that nothing we did mattered? The Simulators could hit reset at any time. Or climate change would kill us all. Same difference.”), and so on. I loved it. show less