Rating: 
Summary: Good, but...
Review: I certainly enjoyed this novel well enough. It was a very clever idea and Brust pulls off this fantasy version of the Revolt in Heaven with some wit and charm. But it isn't a major work of fantasy by any stretch. A hefty percentage of this novel is dialogue... probably more than 70%. So, while I could recommend it as a fun read, I'm not in the glowing "five-star review" camp.
Rating: 
Summary: Sympathy for the Devil...a daring and memorable effort
Review: For the longest time after I read "To Reign...", I didn't know exactly what to think of it. My first impression was this: "This guy is taking angelic biblical figures and turning them into Marvel comics characters...Lucifer has his wand, Yaweh has the ability to see any physical place in Heaven, Asmodai can forge any physical item, Raphael has healing powers, Michael has his sword, etc." But the story is so damn good that I find myself thinking "damn, it may have actually happened this way!".Here's the premise: In the beginning, there was Chaos...a maelstrom of "coacostrum" with life forms randomly forming and then quickly being destroyed and reformed into myriads of other mindless forms. By chance, one such form acquires consciousness and reason and developes the urge to survive. This individual was Yaweh (God, Jehovah, Providence, Jove, etc.) and he finds himself fighting to preserve the existence of other beings forming around him. These struggles result in the creation of a substance called "illiaster", or raw life-force, a building block of permanent being that can be manipulated or controlled by those skillful enough. Yaweh saves six other beings (Satan, Michael, Raphael, others) and, from pure illiaster, they form a haven/shelter from the violent maelstrom of Chaos and they call this place Heaven. But the walls of Heaven are not totally impervious to the howling might of chaos, and the wall is broken on a couple occasions by the force of deadly entropy. The struggles of the second "wave" result in the creation of numerous lesser angels (Beelzebub, Ariel, etc.), as do the struggles against the third "wave". A long time passes without any coacostrum waves. Yaweh conceives a plan...the angels will build an even stronger haven, but in order to do this, thousands of angels will have to leave Heaven and face raw coacostrum, a force that can severely deform or totally destroy them. Yaweh, out of love, believes that the few should take risks to insure the safety of the many...not all of the angels are thrilled with this prospect, so the root of the struggle here is a conflict between the instinct for self preservation and the concern for the general welfare of one's fellow creatures. Satan is enthusiastic about "the plan" at first, but he begins to have reservations when he realizes that he may be pressured by Yaweh to force unwilling angels to participate in the new, impervious Heaven's creation. Other angels (Asmodai, Lillith, Leviathan, Mephistopheles, Belial, etc.) also share Satan's reservations. Meanwhile, a scheming, power hungry angel named Abdiel begins a series of intrigues that will ultimately result in a War in Heaven between the Plan and Anti-Plan factions... Brust never really takes sides here...Satan's party at times comes across as totally reasonable in their sentiments, but, at the same time, Yaweh's Plan also makes sense (permanent security can only be gained through sacrifice). So, this is more of a Republican vs. Democrat struggle than an all-out war between good and evil (and, for this very reason, even lax Christians will probably hate this book...Lucifer really isn't EVIL here!) I won't give away too much of the story's plot, but let's just say that about half of Heaven's angels end up building their own Paradise after they are ejected from Heaven after the Fourth Wave and the War...Yaweh's Plan is executed as Satan's crew build Hell and plot Yaweh's overthrow. In short: If you like thought provoking fantasy/speculative fiction, you should definitely read this book... but if you dig those dreadful Lahaye/Jenkins books and you think Harry Potter is satanic, "To Reign In Hell" will not be to your liking.
Rating:
Summary: a fine, ignored chronicle
Review: This short, well-written novel, with its deathless themes and strong characters, remains clear in mind though I read it 2 years ago. Hard SF fans will not be pleased if that is what they seek, but those enjoying fine fiction will be rewarded. Highly suitable travel book.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe the reviews
Review: I have read several of Steven Brust's books and have never found him to be a good fantasy writer - if you want a good fantasy writer read Katherine Kerr or Stephen Lawhead. [...]It left too many questions unanswered (or ignored). For example, WHY did the First Wave appear? Why were the more complex and powerful angels created first? How could beings who could barely hold Heaven together create suns, planets, and galaxies while simultaneously getting rid of the chaos that had threatened Heaven? Suspension of disbelief is one thing; suspension of intelligence is another.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly my Favorite Novel
Review: I simply cannot recommend this novel enough to any of my friend. I wouldn't recommend it to any hardcore Believers...aw hell, you guys read it too. Anything that shakes an unreasoning belief is a good investment.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection in less than 300 pages.
Review: Have you ever read anything that didn't need anything added at all? A book that you never once said "Hey, i'd do X here", or "This could use a little more Y?" To Reign In Hell is one of those books. I bought it on a whim, and because I didn't have anything I hadn't read 20+ times, and i have to say I'm massively impressed. I have read some of Brust's Jhereg series so I trusted the guy, but this exceeded all of my expectations. It is pure gold from the first chapter to the last, (the whole discussion of the cacoastrum is brilliant, and the actual Uprising was incredibly well written) and every friend i've foisted it off on has loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Brust - 20 years ahead of everyone else 10 years ago
Review: What if God and Satan were people you actually knew and worked with? This is one of those books you wish they had let you read and discuss in college or high school instead of making you read Shakespeare because your treacher's teacher teacher teacher teacher 150 years ago thought it meant something.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Ideas Of Creation
Review: When I first read this book, I was left speechless. This story moved me. It gave me a whole new outlook on the "Creation". It may be true that Steven Brust wasn't "divinely inspired"; however, he surley made me think thrice about all the accepted dogma surrounding God in Christianity. Steven wrote a good point in the final pages of the book: "Yahweh would want to be worshiped. Satan would be content with being accepted." Fiction, it seems, can have a degree of truth in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Huh?
Review: I'm more than a little taken aback by the gushing reviews over this book. At best it's a mildly diverting fantasy story -- an attempt at constructing a mythology that falls more than a little short of the classic old myths. Yet many readers seem to view the book as a life-altering experience. Well, I guess you "get it" or you don't. I don't.
Rating:
Summary: Subtlety hiding in plain site
Review: To Reign in Hell is deft and subtle in weaving a tale of conflict among friends -- the Firstborn of Heaven. Satan and Yaweh, archangels, and lesser angelic minions populate an Eden like Heaven. Conflict comes among them unbidden and grows. The heroes are not necessarily whom you expect from among familiar names. The basic premise of the book is pure genius, executed with dialog that infers far more and features some wonderful phrasing and playful language. I'm Catholic and an avid science fiction/fantasy reader. I rate few books worth as much thought or moral contemplation. When you are through you can ask yourself would you choose Heaven, Hell or Earth? At minimum you should ask Brust's question, how some of the angels come to fall from Heaven? To Reign in Hell is engaging and thought provoking long after you finish. Highly recommended even though it offers more challenge and less resolution than many longer tales.
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