What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Future
Demon Download
It's the day after the day after tomorrow and the civilized world fights hard to maintain its façade. Religious cults are growing more powerful by the day, the government is in the pocket of big business and shadowy forces control the corporations. Sister Chantal Juillerat, Vatican black operative, is sent to the USA to unravel a demon-driven plot that could bring the Western World to its knees.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
4 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Jack Yeovil
21 books61 followers"Jack Yeovil" is a pseudonym used by author Kim Newman.
Newman's pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Newman's pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Read
March 1, 2025Enormously entertaining cyberpunk Western nonsense from Kim Newman's pulp(ier) alter-ego, all sexy Vatican assassins, cyborg road-gangs and, as the title suggests, diabolic computer viruses. Whether the short-lived game to which it ties in had so many outright supernatural elements, I don't recall; I don't think so, but then I only played it a couple of times, finding that as always seems to be the way with attempts to recreate Mad Max on the tabletop, it couldn't quite get the mix of speed and customisability right. I'm also not sure whether it was ever made so explicit that, the title notwithstanding, the timeline was clearly a different one back at least as far as the sixties: Ronald Reagan starred in Get Smart, Mandela was Pope, and Jean-Marie le Pen President of a united Europe. But then Newman always did enjoy his little in-jokes, which range from this geopolitical stuff through MR James character cameos to "Trooper Charlie Stross, in the guardhouse for mouthing back to Sergeant Quincannon after a twenty-mile forced march through the desert". This in a book from 1990, mind, well before Stross was famous. And even though it's long since worn thin for me in his Dracula stuff, here it worked, maybe because it was being done at such a gallop. Which might also help explain why I so thoroughly enjoyed a book whose dystopian territory of social and environmental collapse I'd normally run a mile from these days. Besides – yes, there were occasional eerie echoes, like a wall along the Rio Grande, or computers learning to make up outrageous lies – but as against the usual problem where I'm reading an old nightmare future and thinking it sounds like an improvement, this disastrous late nineties makes me think...well, Hell, we got at least two more good decades compared to them (OK, and then a distinctly iffy one, and half of an absolute shitstorm – but still). Gratitude for not actually being the darkest timeline – who'dathoughtit? Plus loads of shit blowing up and lovingly gruesome demises. Now I just need to find the sequels for not silly money. Especially the one with bounty hunter Elvis as the lead.
February 14, 2016
Excellent post-apocalyptic pulp from Jack Yeovil (aka film critic Kim Newman) about a demonic computer virus unleashed on the Americas' datanets via the US Cavalry's Fort Apache. It was written in the 1980s "pre-internet" heyday of cyberspace/cyberpunk science fiction and has aged remarkably well. The 1999 of Demon Download strikes me as a credible alternative timeline, and it's fascinating to revisit how the future looked from the perspective of the late 80s!
The novel is peppered with entertaining popular and political culture references from the 80s, which is great for nostalgia but may pass by readers who didn't live through that decade... The 80s world view, focused on small wars in Central America was also quite interesting. US presidents included Oliver North and Charlton Heston.
The demon of the title provides for effective horror, as it takes over buildings and machines, using them against the people that try to stop him. The demon was unleashed by Elder Nguyen Seth, the Josephite leader, and this provides the central link to Jack Yeovil's other Dark Future novels, along with a few appearances of common characters. I liked the return of the US Cavalry. Meanwhile, the central hero is the nun Sister Chantal, sent by the Vatican, which brings quite a strong theological theme to the book. It was sometimes hard to decide how serious the church aspects were. At times, it was a bit "Exorcist."
All in all, worth re-reading. In my youth, this was my favourite Jack Yeovil Dark Future novel, but now I'd be inclined towards Comeback Tour. I was also surprised to find upon re-reading the Jack Yeovil oeuvre that I prefer his fantasy novels Drachenfels and Beasts in Velvet, which wasn't necessarily the case in the early 90s when I read them first time around.
The novel is peppered with entertaining popular and political culture references from the 80s, which is great for nostalgia but may pass by readers who didn't live through that decade... The 80s world view, focused on small wars in Central America was also quite interesting. US presidents included Oliver North and Charlton Heston.
The demon of the title provides for effective horror, as it takes over buildings and machines, using them against the people that try to stop him. The demon was unleashed by Elder Nguyen Seth, the Josephite leader, and this provides the central link to Jack Yeovil's other Dark Future novels, along with a few appearances of common characters. I liked the return of the US Cavalry. Meanwhile, the central hero is the nun Sister Chantal, sent by the Vatican, which brings quite a strong theological theme to the book. It was sometimes hard to decide how serious the church aspects were. At times, it was a bit "Exorcist."
All in all, worth re-reading. In my youth, this was my favourite Jack Yeovil Dark Future novel, but now I'd be inclined towards Comeback Tour. I was also surprised to find upon re-reading the Jack Yeovil oeuvre that I prefer his fantasy novels Drachenfels and Beasts in Velvet, which wasn't necessarily the case in the early 90s when I read them first time around.
October 31, 2014
Technically the first book in the Dark Future cycle, set in a dilapidated decaying alternative United States, most of which has been reduced to scorching desert, plagued by roving bands of armed gangs, with only the reconstituted US Road Cavalry keeping the highways open. There are dark forces at work, ushering in the end of the world, and as part of their plans, they unleash a demon virus on an unsuspecting Cavalry patrol. Satire, ultra-violence and lots of in-jokes follow in a fast-paced, tightly-plotted well-written chunk of sci-fi horror.
July 14, 2022
Crude and violent at times, this book is not for everyone. However, I have to think, it is a certain reader that is gonna track down a Dark Future novel from the late 80s/early 90s and this is prob exactly the kind of read that person would be looking for.
The book delivers. It's funny and weird, and the story moves right along. Even 30ish years after it was written, I found the premise of the imagined future from back then to be totally entertaining. I found it made me think of the book as a sort of yang to a yin that might be Ready Player One.
Demon Download is low time and energy commitment and packs a big entertainment punch. Pretty fun stuff.
The book delivers. It's funny and weird, and the story moves right along. Even 30ish years after it was written, I found the premise of the imagined future from back then to be totally entertaining. I found it made me think of the book as a sort of yang to a yin that might be Ready Player One.
Demon Download is low time and energy commitment and packs a big entertainment punch. Pretty fun stuff.
April 5, 2021
This, my friends, is what we call a paycheque.
It was fun, certainly, but man, this is total movie-theatre-popcorn: tasty, but you’ll feel gross for a few hours afterwards, and you’ll never get that one kernel shell outta your teeth. 5/10 might eat here again. MIGHT.
It was fun, certainly, but man, this is total movie-theatre-popcorn: tasty, but you’ll feel gross for a few hours afterwards, and you’ll never get that one kernel shell outta your teeth. 5/10 might eat here again. MIGHT.
August 11, 2025
Kim Newman knows how to deliver a fun as hell campy demon post apocalypse novel, with juuust enough meat on the bones to make it a compelling all around read.
September 8, 2025
satanic virus
possesses car; starts destroying
can it be debugged?
possesses car; starts destroying
can it be debugged?
February 25, 2013
Bei der Macht Gottes - ich treibe Euch aus, Loveletter, Stuxnet und DNS-Changer!
Heutzutage kommen Viren und Trojaner per Mail auf die Rechner von unvorsichtigen Mailanhang-Klickern. Was passiert? Im schlimmsten Fall sind ein paar Daten weg oder Passwörter ausgespäht. In Jack Yeovils Vision einer nahen Zukunft sind die Konsequenzen einer solchen Computervirus-Infektion deutlich gravierender - ein paar Dutzend Tote, gesprengte Gebäude und amoklaufende Panzerfahrzeuge mit schweren Waffen sind noch das kleinste Übel, denn der geheime Cyberkrieg zwischen einer Scientology-ähnlichen Sekte und dem Vatikan führt zu einer weltweiten Anspannung, die sich in einem Feuerwerk von Gewalt mitten in der Wüste Arizonas entlädt...
Die "Dark Future"-Reihe bildet die Hintergrundgeschichte eines Brettspiels aus den 80ern ab, die viele Elemente aus Cyberpunk, Postapokalypse à la Mad Max und religiösen Endzeitszenarien miteinander verbindet. Wie bei praktisch allen Games-Workshop-Szenarien ist letztlich die Mischung der von überall zusammengeklauten Elemente das Reizvolle - bei "Dark Future" ist das Ganze nicht besonders kreativ, aber durchaus unterhaltsam, und einige recht verrückte aber atmosphärische Ideen peppen die Mixtur deutlich auf.
Jack Yeovil (aka Kim Newman) hat einen erkennbaren, verqueren Schreibstil: Nicht ganz einfach für Nichtmuttersprachler zu lesen, da er viele Wortspiele, Klangbilder und komplexe Satzstrukturen benutzt. Die Sprache ist aber letztlich schon für mich das Spannendste an diesem Roman, der inhaltlich eigentlich nur eine einfache Geschichte und flache Klischeecharaktere zu bieten hat. Newman kann das deutlich besser, ist aber wohl bei dieser Reihe in der Erwartungshaltung der Leser und der Verleger gefangen.
Das "Black Flame"-Taschenbuch ist mit billigem, rauhem Papier, einem etwas verwaschenen Druck und einem sehr mittelmäßig gelungenen Cover ausgestattet. Da das Buch ursprünglich 1990 erschien, und bis zur Neuauflage 2005 sich doch einiges getan hat, wurden einige Referenzen auf Personen oder Jahreszahlen aktualisiert: Für mich ist das eine sehr gewagte Sache, die eigentlich kein Künstler mit sich machen lassen sollte. Da zwar die Referenzen aktuell sind, aber die ganze "geek speak" über Computer, Programme und Technik immer noch auf dem Stand von 1990 ist, entsteht dadurch eine sehr krude Mischung, die heute teilweise recht peinlich wirkt. Da hätte man das ganze besser im Originalzustand gelassen und dann das unter "Retro" verbucht.
Unterhaltsam, gegen Ende äußerst actionreich und spannend, sprachlich durchaus interessant, trotzdem keine hohe Literatur: Ein Actionsnack für Zwischendurch. Freunde von düsteren Zukunftsszenarien können sicherlich bedenkenlos zugreifen.
Heutzutage kommen Viren und Trojaner per Mail auf die Rechner von unvorsichtigen Mailanhang-Klickern. Was passiert? Im schlimmsten Fall sind ein paar Daten weg oder Passwörter ausgespäht. In Jack Yeovils Vision einer nahen Zukunft sind die Konsequenzen einer solchen Computervirus-Infektion deutlich gravierender - ein paar Dutzend Tote, gesprengte Gebäude und amoklaufende Panzerfahrzeuge mit schweren Waffen sind noch das kleinste Übel, denn der geheime Cyberkrieg zwischen einer Scientology-ähnlichen Sekte und dem Vatikan führt zu einer weltweiten Anspannung, die sich in einem Feuerwerk von Gewalt mitten in der Wüste Arizonas entlädt...
Die "Dark Future"-Reihe bildet die Hintergrundgeschichte eines Brettspiels aus den 80ern ab, die viele Elemente aus Cyberpunk, Postapokalypse à la Mad Max und religiösen Endzeitszenarien miteinander verbindet. Wie bei praktisch allen Games-Workshop-Szenarien ist letztlich die Mischung der von überall zusammengeklauten Elemente das Reizvolle - bei "Dark Future" ist das Ganze nicht besonders kreativ, aber durchaus unterhaltsam, und einige recht verrückte aber atmosphärische Ideen peppen die Mixtur deutlich auf.
Jack Yeovil (aka Kim Newman) hat einen erkennbaren, verqueren Schreibstil: Nicht ganz einfach für Nichtmuttersprachler zu lesen, da er viele Wortspiele, Klangbilder und komplexe Satzstrukturen benutzt. Die Sprache ist aber letztlich schon für mich das Spannendste an diesem Roman, der inhaltlich eigentlich nur eine einfache Geschichte und flache Klischeecharaktere zu bieten hat. Newman kann das deutlich besser, ist aber wohl bei dieser Reihe in der Erwartungshaltung der Leser und der Verleger gefangen.
Das "Black Flame"-Taschenbuch ist mit billigem, rauhem Papier, einem etwas verwaschenen Druck und einem sehr mittelmäßig gelungenen Cover ausgestattet. Da das Buch ursprünglich 1990 erschien, und bis zur Neuauflage 2005 sich doch einiges getan hat, wurden einige Referenzen auf Personen oder Jahreszahlen aktualisiert: Für mich ist das eine sehr gewagte Sache, die eigentlich kein Künstler mit sich machen lassen sollte. Da zwar die Referenzen aktuell sind, aber die ganze "geek speak" über Computer, Programme und Technik immer noch auf dem Stand von 1990 ist, entsteht dadurch eine sehr krude Mischung, die heute teilweise recht peinlich wirkt. Da hätte man das ganze besser im Originalzustand gelassen und dann das unter "Retro" verbucht.
Unterhaltsam, gegen Ende äußerst actionreich und spannend, sprachlich durchaus interessant, trotzdem keine hohe Literatur: Ein Actionsnack für Zwischendurch. Freunde von düsteren Zukunftsszenarien können sicherlich bedenkenlos zugreifen.
September 25, 2014
More clever and entertaining pulp from Kim Newman. Heavy doses of delightful political satire and countless in-jokes leaven the vivid, fast-paced action.
These novels, originally published in the 1990s, were set in the period in which we are now living. When the publisher decided to reprint the books this was evidently regarded as a problem, and some bungler has dealt with it by simply moving the story's events forward in time by about twenty years. This results in grotesquely protracted longevity for some of the real life pop culture figures and politicians whom Newman references. I doubt Newman himself would have done such a sloppy job, and I hope someday he is in a position to issue revised and corrected editions of all of his "Jack Yeovil" entertainments, much as he is doing at Titan Books with the rest of his oeuvre.
Also, the book is most definitely third in the series, despite what the back cover (and Goodreads) tells you.
These novels, originally published in the 1990s, were set in the period in which we are now living. When the publisher decided to reprint the books this was evidently regarded as a problem, and some bungler has dealt with it by simply moving the story's events forward in time by about twenty years. This results in grotesquely protracted longevity for some of the real life pop culture figures and politicians whom Newman references. I doubt Newman himself would have done such a sloppy job, and I hope someday he is in a position to issue revised and corrected editions of all of his "Jack Yeovil" entertainments, much as he is doing at Titan Books with the rest of his oeuvre.
Also, the book is most definitely third in the series, despite what the back cover (and Goodreads) tells you.
November 28, 2012
Not as good as "Comeback Tour." Interesing enough in its own way, but somehow anticlimatic after having read the third part and seeing the characters allude to this book's events. I expected a bit more, I guess.
October 13, 2010
Pretty entertaining... interesting twist on viruses and demons... kinda sounds like the cyber papacy from the RPG Torg... Liked it, was interesting and fun. Four out of Five
Want to read
December 14, 2010La verdad que no pinta muy interesante que digamos, pero esperemos que al menos valga los 10$ que me salió.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews