Review: Age of Satan, James Lovegrove

“In another e-novella exclusive from Solaris, James Lovegrove adds to his New York Times bestselling Pantheon series – which has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide – where gods are made real and men have to contend with their rule.

The latest stand-alone title in this action-packed military SF series brings you a world where Lucifer is all too real and after an ill-judged cry for help, one man is caught up in the morning star’s machinations.

1968. Guy Lucas, son a murdered British diplomat, is sent to an old-fashioned boarding school, where he is bullied and abused. A fellow student persuades him to perform a black mass and plead with Satan to intervene, with horrific consequences. For the next ten years, the shadow of Satan is cast across his life; he flees, across the sea and into obscurity, but tragedy follows him. Eventually, he must confront the Devil, and learn the truth about himself…
Lovegrove takes his ‘godpunk’ series to its next logical next step in a sinister new e-novella that will delight readers of the Pantheon series as well as fans of classic films such as The Omen and The Exorcist.”

Well now, for someone who doesn’t normally bother with novellas, I’ve got to say this was a rare treat. I’ve had my eye on this series for a long time now, but somehow never got around to cracking into it. I enjoyed Age of Satan so much that I’ll be rectifying that over the weekend 🙂

It’s absolutely brilliant, don’t be put off by the randomness of the scary eyes on the cover. It’s one of those reads where just a couple of sentences in you know you’re not going to be putting it down. Obviously as a novella it’s a quick read, took me just a little under a hour but it was an almost-hour in which I was completely entranced, and wholly immersed in Lovegrove’s world.

Style-wise it reminds of me of Scott K Andrew’s writing, in the sense that it’s fast paced, entertaining and exciting, but with that deeper layer of meaning underneath that turns out to be unexpectedly thought provoking. Age of Satan is the full package, Blockbuster-esque entertainment growing over some really interesting conceptual roots. This was my first experience of Lovegrove, and it definitely won’t be my last.

I loved the depth he gives the reader here, and also the breadth of his story. Nothing is how I anticipated it from reading the blurb, and I LOVE it when that happens. Genre-wise I’m not sure where it fits, horror/fantasy/alternate history? Not that it matters, it should just be filed under ‘F for ‘Five star read’. Hugely recommended if you fancy something a little different.

A PhoenixFantasy Five Star Read

[Age of Satan is published by Solaris Books and is due for release on 14th Feb 2013]