Here Be Demons

[Caveat: I know Ms. Friesner a little, though she probably doesn't remember me. I worked with her husband in New Haven decades ago. I don't think this influenced my reactions to her books, other than to have given a few of them a try in the first place.]

This is an enjoyable humorous fantasy that manages to do more with its premise that you'd guess from the blurb or the awful cover. A handful of demons are stuck in the desert until they can make up for the ineptitude and finally bring some human souls back to hell. Given the fact that they're in the middle of nowhere, many centuries pass between opportunities. Into their clutches comes a band of amateur archaeologists on a cheap commercial tour. Then they find the tomb of Saint(?) show more Quintus, the very first failure the demons had, and things rapidly ratchet out of control. No spoilers here but the story holds up to the very end and even ties nicely back to its opening.

This is the fourth Friesner novel I've read and as I was finishing it, it struck me that she is probably the closest there is to an American Terry Pratchett, and I'd like to emphasize "closest" and "American." To my tastes, she's better than the Pratchett of Strata and Colour of Magic, but not to the level of Small Gods, Mort, Nation, or dozens of other Pratchett novels. I can't think of any other American writer of humorous fantasy or SF as consistent as Friesner. And her voice is solidly American, not a useless attempt to mimic Pratchett, Wodehouse or Adams. She can slip in the wry characterization or poetic scene image with the best of them. This isn't my favorite Friesner -- for that, so far, I'd pick Temping Fate or Yesterday We Saw Mermaids. But it's a perfectly respectable comic fantasy. show less

I liked this humorous fantasy about demons and people. I look forward to reading the next book, Demon Blues.

I have had this series for a very very long time unread. I may have waited too long and am too old to appreciate the story. Might be timing. Brain is a bit scattered. Why do I always feel I have failed the book rather than the other way around.