Demons: A Novel - Softcover

Shirley, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345446496 ISBN 13: 9780345446497

Publisher: Del Rey, 2003

Synopsis

“An allegory for our time, full of creepy splendorand excitement . . . Demons is a brave and smart book. Read it if you dare.”—San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Demons is funny, outrageous, and frightening, and, as a metaphor for our times, it works frighteningly well.”—Rocky Mountain News

In a future uncomfortably close to the present day, the apocalypse has surpassed all expectations. Hideous demons roam the streets in an orgy of terror, drawing pleasure from torturing humans as sadistically as possible. Ira, a young San Francisco artist, becomes involved with a strange group of scientists and philosophers desperately trying to end the bloody siege. But the most shocking revelation is yet to come. . . .

Praise for Demons

“Barely street-legal, Shirley’s Bosch-like visions mark him out as perhaps the closest thing contemporary American fantasy has to a genuine ‘outsider artist.’”—William Gibson

“John Shirley is an adventurer, returning from dark and troubled regions with visionary tales to tell. I heartily recommend a journey with John Shirley at your side.”—Clive Barker 

“John Shirley writes like a runaway train. . . . Intensely suspenseful, visionary, surreal, and every bit as gritty and immediate and believable as a police report, this book will scare you, dazzle you, and delight you.”—Tim Powers

About this title

Review:

Nightmarish demons terrorize the world in this sharp-edged tale of horror and humanity from award-winner John Shirley. A young artist from San Francisco witnesses the demons' arrival and the world's response--panic, denial, and even cooperation in the slaughter. He joins a group of people who believe that human action brought the demons into the world and that the power of human consciousness--awareness of one's true self--is the only defense against them. Then nine years later, in the face of a new threat, the group must overcome conspiracy and the world's disbelief to battle demons once again.

Themes of wakefulness and sleep--the struggle for self-awareness against the deliberate denial of what's happening around us--form the counterpoint for the terrifying and often brutal events of the story. This is a fast-paced, finely told horror tale combined with a pointed examination of the ways in which people so often conspire in their own destruction. --Roz Genessee

From the Inside Flap:

Writers from Clive Barker to Bruce Sterling and Roger Zelazny have praised John Shirley's searing, apocalyptic visions of postmodern hell on earth. Now this perversely brilliant author, one of the seminal representatives on the cyberpunk movement, unleashes his newest masterpiece.
DEMONS
In a future uncomfortably close to the present day, the apocalypse has surpassed all expectations. Hideous demons roam the streets in an orgy of terror, drawing pleasure from torturing humans as sadistically as possible. Divided into seven clans, these grisly invaders-gnashing, writhing, bloodthirsty monsters-seem horrifically to "belong in our world.
Ira, a young San Francisco artist, becomes involved with a strange group of scientists and philosophers desperately trying to end the bloody siege. Yet through it all, Ira continues to paint-for in his canvasses lie crucial clues to the demons' origins.
Yet the demons draw their strength from an all-too-familiar evil-a deadly malevolence supported by some of the greatest powers on earth, concealed beneath the trappings of status, success, and abused power. Ira and his allies- including a compelling young seeress-come to believe these demons didn't just appear. They were summoned. But the most shocking revelation is yet to come . . .
EXCLUSIVE TO THIS EDITION: The original novella "Demons was published as an acclaimed, limited edition hardcover which "Publishers Weekly called a "mini-masterpiece." Now the terror continues, as the sequel story, "Undercurrents," takes the reader on a macabre journey into the center of the conspiracy that may lay waste to the Earth. "

"From the Hardcover edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0345446496
• ISBN 13: 9780345446497
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384