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Demonworld #1
Demonworld
Demonworld is the first in a ten-book series that chronicles the life of Wodan, a son of laborers and heir to an amazing destiny. Wodi grew up hearing tales of the outside world. Living in an isolated, technologically advanced city, it was hard to imagine that the rest of humanity suffered at the hands of sadistic, godlike monsters called flesh demons. Then Wodi finds himself exiled into the wasteland, victim of a death sentence handed out for no reason that he can understand. Moving boxes in his father’s store and attending the local university did nothing to prepare him for the horrors that lay ahead. Unfortunately for the ones behind his exile, the wasteland turns Wodi into a force to be reckoned with. His journey through baking, wind-tortured deserts and poisoned oases wakes something up inside of him, and Wodi learns that the human spirit has strength that few can imagine… and also comes equipped with terrifying weapons that those who crossed him cannot even begin to comprehend.
365 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 11, 2012
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171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 23, 2012
Demonworld by Kyle B. Stiff is a highly imagined Lovecraftian tale that combines science fiction, fantasy, and horror in a way I've never seen. It's dark and dystopian, but with elements of humanity that hint at a hopeful future in the books to come.
The world is dominated by monsters called “flesh demons." Most human tribes appease the flesh demon “gods” by offering them human sacrifices. But a small hope for humanity exists in a technologically advanced city called Haven. It has survived and thrived by staying isolated on a small, bleak island in the middle of a vast ocean, hidden for hundreds of years from the flesh demons and aggressive human city-states.
Wodan, a gifted teenage boy from Haven, finds himself mysteriously exiled from his home for no reason he can comprehend. Wodan has to battle flesh demons, their twisted minions, and humans just as warped and evil as the demons, to return home to Haven and discover who kidnapped him and dropped him into the middle of the wasteland.
Demonworld was a book of extremes for me.
Many times I was floored by beautiful prose or a brilliant plot twist. The story and setting were intriguing and kept me turning the pages. I was also impressed with the editing, since I didn't find one typo or grammar mistake.
But the next moment, I was jarred out of the fantasy world by 21st century American slang uttered by supposedly primitive tribesmen (I saw “ding-bat,” “nit-wit,” and “weirdo;” one primitive referred to his biceps as “cannons”). The events in the book were far removed from our own time, so I would liked to have seen dialogue with slang and speech patterns that evolved from this strange world, not our present day.
Another issue I had was character “monologue-ing.” A villain went on for pages on how slavery was the natural state of humanity. Later, a good guy went on for pages on why humans had the potential to be more powerful than they imagined. These speeches were interesting in a philosophical sense, but they brought the action to a hard stop. I tended to skip most of them. I think their content would've been more dramatic if presented as an argument between two characters.
It was Demonworld's setting and mysteries that saved the book for me and set up a solid foundation for the projected nine additional books. As long as the author works through these craft issues in future installments, I think the Demonworld saga will be a highly entertaining series.
The world is dominated by monsters called “flesh demons." Most human tribes appease the flesh demon “gods” by offering them human sacrifices. But a small hope for humanity exists in a technologically advanced city called Haven. It has survived and thrived by staying isolated on a small, bleak island in the middle of a vast ocean, hidden for hundreds of years from the flesh demons and aggressive human city-states.
Wodan, a gifted teenage boy from Haven, finds himself mysteriously exiled from his home for no reason he can comprehend. Wodan has to battle flesh demons, their twisted minions, and humans just as warped and evil as the demons, to return home to Haven and discover who kidnapped him and dropped him into the middle of the wasteland.
Demonworld was a book of extremes for me.
Many times I was floored by beautiful prose or a brilliant plot twist. The story and setting were intriguing and kept me turning the pages. I was also impressed with the editing, since I didn't find one typo or grammar mistake.
But the next moment, I was jarred out of the fantasy world by 21st century American slang uttered by supposedly primitive tribesmen (I saw “ding-bat,” “nit-wit,” and “weirdo;” one primitive referred to his biceps as “cannons”). The events in the book were far removed from our own time, so I would liked to have seen dialogue with slang and speech patterns that evolved from this strange world, not our present day.
Another issue I had was character “monologue-ing.” A villain went on for pages on how slavery was the natural state of humanity. Later, a good guy went on for pages on why humans had the potential to be more powerful than they imagined. These speeches were interesting in a philosophical sense, but they brought the action to a hard stop. I tended to skip most of them. I think their content would've been more dramatic if presented as an argument between two characters.
It was Demonworld's setting and mysteries that saved the book for me and set up a solid foundation for the projected nine additional books. As long as the author works through these craft issues in future installments, I think the Demonworld saga will be a highly entertaining series.
June 2, 2018
I started reading this on a whim and actually it’s super interesting! Wodi or Woden, is the main character. He is from the secret island Haven, in which they are living free hidden from Demons (flesh eaters) and have a free democratic society. Wodi truly believes that Haven is the stuff dreams are made of and the people who live there are free to be, to do, to want, to achieve, and to believe. Unfortunately as our main character grows up and learns about heros and life things aren’t all that they seem to be. 3 people Rule Haven in the background and plot to bring about a new way of life by creating a person who can usher in the new age.. but their plans also run afoul. I love the philosophy, the parallels between real life politics and peoples, and the story is just awesome! I’m actually on book 4 but I haven’t taken a breather from Woden’s mighty adventures till now lol. I’m so glad I found this book, and although at first I thought the writing was kind of weird while I was reading now I’m used to it. I think that book 3-4 the story stumbles a bit but it’s picking up again.
May 9, 2018
This was almost too comical. Seriously, it's like a bad movie script with so much flowery words, overdramatic scenes, and overacting characters.
"I’ve killed him! Wodi thought. I’ve done it! I am a god of death! I am a god of destruction!"
The man’s charisma was overpowering." How is this possible? Is charisma a scent???
I'm not really sure about how the descriptive words are used either. Some doesn't make sense, and some are just like that one. As I said, overdramatic. I mean, if I hear someone use that phrase anywhere, I would be laughing.
But I liked the ideas that were discussed here, and the debate, the rest though... let's not talk about the rest.
These are all my opinion, maybe others would think differently.
"I’ve killed him! Wodi thought. I’ve done it! I am a god of death! I am a god of destruction!"
The man’s charisma was overpowering." How is this possible? Is charisma a scent???
I'm not really sure about how the descriptive words are used either. Some doesn't make sense, and some are just like that one. As I said, overdramatic. I mean, if I hear someone use that phrase anywhere, I would be laughing.
But I liked the ideas that were discussed here, and the debate, the rest though... let's not talk about the rest.
These are all my opinion, maybe others would think differently.
February 2, 2014
Reading Demonworld is almost like being thrust into an action packed nightmare full of devilish creatures one would never want to face in real life.
When Wodi wakes up in a place full of darkness, he doesn’t know how he got there or why he is there. As he starts exploring, he runs into other people from Haven just like him who were dropped into the same place for seemingly no reason. They team up to try to get back home, but encountering demons and ghouls puts a damper on their progress.
After finally feeling a little sense of relief, Wodi is separated from his only remaining partner and wakes up amongst a group of slaves. They are led by the Ugly, and Wodi (turned Wodan) has decided the slaves need to fight back against the Ugly so that they can live in freedom. It takes a lot of work and a lot of convincing, but eventually he gets a good number of people on his side, and it is time for action.
The ending of this book offers a lot of action. There is a huge gun fight. Only the strongest will come out alive.
I feel this book may have worked better being broken up into two parts. If not made into two separate books, maybe having a book 1 and book 2 within it. Book 2 should begin after Wodi (then Wodan) gets mixed up with the Ugly and takes leadership over the slaves. I feel these are two separate story lines that should be split up, otherwise it is a little hard to soak it in all at once.
The attention paid to detail in the writing is very good. It is easy to imagine the scenery even though it is far beyond what any of us have seen except for maybe in movies or dreams. The beasts are also well described. This book is very visual, except it has no pictures. If the author had not paid as much attention to detail, it would completely fail as the reader would have no idea what was going on.
That being said, some of the chapters were a bit long and it was a little hard to soak in all at once. In some, there were chapter breaks where it would switch to a different story line involving Haven guardians and scientists. It was a little difficult to see how they meshed together at points, and the idea of the Project was only relevant during those short chapter breaks. I suppose that is because this is a book one and it is setting up for the rest of the series, but I would have liked to have gained a little more knowledge of the Project earlier in the book.
What I take away from this is it was a book about good against evil; A play on heaven and hell – demons and angels. The whole book had religious undertones, and it really becomes apparent at the end.
It was an interesting story. I feel some of the chapters and sections were drawn out when they could have been shorter. Once I reached the end, the whole first have seemed a bit irrelevant except for the fact Wodi draws his strength from what he went through at the beginning.
Wodi is developed well as a character, but I feel like the rest didn’t have much time to develop in this one. But being the first in a series, that can happen.
There were also a lot of horses killed in it. Didn’t like that factor too much.
3.5/5 stars.
When Wodi wakes up in a place full of darkness, he doesn’t know how he got there or why he is there. As he starts exploring, he runs into other people from Haven just like him who were dropped into the same place for seemingly no reason. They team up to try to get back home, but encountering demons and ghouls puts a damper on their progress.
After finally feeling a little sense of relief, Wodi is separated from his only remaining partner and wakes up amongst a group of slaves. They are led by the Ugly, and Wodi (turned Wodan) has decided the slaves need to fight back against the Ugly so that they can live in freedom. It takes a lot of work and a lot of convincing, but eventually he gets a good number of people on his side, and it is time for action.
The ending of this book offers a lot of action. There is a huge gun fight. Only the strongest will come out alive.
I feel this book may have worked better being broken up into two parts. If not made into two separate books, maybe having a book 1 and book 2 within it. Book 2 should begin after Wodi (then Wodan) gets mixed up with the Ugly and takes leadership over the slaves. I feel these are two separate story lines that should be split up, otherwise it is a little hard to soak it in all at once.
The attention paid to detail in the writing is very good. It is easy to imagine the scenery even though it is far beyond what any of us have seen except for maybe in movies or dreams. The beasts are also well described. This book is very visual, except it has no pictures. If the author had not paid as much attention to detail, it would completely fail as the reader would have no idea what was going on.
That being said, some of the chapters were a bit long and it was a little hard to soak in all at once. In some, there were chapter breaks where it would switch to a different story line involving Haven guardians and scientists. It was a little difficult to see how they meshed together at points, and the idea of the Project was only relevant during those short chapter breaks. I suppose that is because this is a book one and it is setting up for the rest of the series, but I would have liked to have gained a little more knowledge of the Project earlier in the book.
What I take away from this is it was a book about good against evil; A play on heaven and hell – demons and angels. The whole book had religious undertones, and it really becomes apparent at the end.
It was an interesting story. I feel some of the chapters and sections were drawn out when they could have been shorter. Once I reached the end, the whole first have seemed a bit irrelevant except for the fact Wodi draws his strength from what he went through at the beginning.
Wodi is developed well as a character, but I feel like the rest didn’t have much time to develop in this one. But being the first in a series, that can happen.
There were also a lot of horses killed in it. Didn’t like that factor too much.
3.5/5 stars.
October 14, 2013
Struggled to finish - just not my style of book.
Mostly a 'travel' novel, but I was unsure about what the point of the plot was, other than to expose the main character to the outside world, , and
I didn't feel there was a lot of character development, and the world is unceasingly bleak, with no bright spots to relieve the mood.
While the world is inventive and the demons graphically horrible, I have no interest in reading another 9 books to finish the series.
Mostly a 'travel' novel, but I was unsure about what the point of the plot was, other than to expose the main character to the outside world, , and
I didn't feel there was a lot of character development, and the world is unceasingly bleak, with no bright spots to relieve the mood.
While the world is inventive and the demons graphically horrible, I have no interest in reading another 9 books to finish the series.
September 22, 2013
Wow! Just... wow! I just finished reading and have to say this book far exceeded my expectations. Wodi wakes to find himself far from home and the only place he's ever known. As he battles his way across the Wasteland he endures more than most could handle and gains self-confidence as he loses everything else. All of the characters are easy to identify with (especially Wodan) and the demons are horribly frightening. The entire read is violently, disturbingly beautiful. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!
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July 18, 2012Kindle freebie, 07/18/12
May 30, 2016
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