The Day After Judgement

Rating:
Summary: What Stale Hell is This?
Review: This sequel to Black Easter (or second-half of a single work, if you prefer to look at it that way) is especially disappointing. The first volume was brief, and ended just as things were about to get interesting ... which in this volume, they rather failed to do.

Here's the premise: God is dead, and Satan has taken over the earth. The plot then consists of army officers in an underground bunker plotting an ineffective attack, alternating with scenes of Black Easter's protragonists discussing matters, then eventually travelling to Satan's stronghold without incident.

It seems almost incredible to me that given the plot outline (Satan takes over the world, magicians travel to his stronghold) nothing interesting happens--this must be intentional on the part of Blish, it's clearly a choice--so for anyone in the mood for a less lethargic novel, this will likely not satisfy. It's Hell on Earth meets My Dinner with Andre, with duller conversations.

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually fairly good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

Rating:
Summary: What Stale Hell is This?
Review: This sequel to Black Easter (or second-half of a single work, if you prefer to look at it that way) is especially disappointing. The first volume was brief, and ended just as things were about to get interesting ... which in this volume, they rather failed to do.

Here's the premise: God is dead, and Satan has taken over the earth. The plot then consists of army officers in an underground bunker plotting an ineffective attack, alternating with scenes of Black Easter's protragonists discussing matters, then eventually travelling to Satan's stronghold without incident.

It seems almost incredible to me that given the plot outline (Satan takes over the world, magicians travel to his stronghold) nothing interesting happens--this must be intentional on the part of Blish, it's clearly a choice--so for anyone in the mood for a less lethargic novel, this will likely not satisfy. It's Hell on Earth meets My Dinner with Andre, with duller conversations.

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually fairly good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.