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The Devil Delivered
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- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
158 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Steven Erikson
129 books15k followersSteven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. His best-known work is the series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 17, 2018
Steven Erikson flexes his literary muscles here, with an anthology of very experimental writing which will sometimes tax readers’ credulity along with their persistence. It’s extremely difficult to rate, because in some places it works, in others it doesn’t, making for an aggregate whole which is ― to me! ― worth around two stars, though in brief patches it’s worth five. I can’t award more than two stars, because the instances where the experimental nature of the work is simply confusing, or too much of a stretch of the credulity … or just plain boring … outweigh the parts where everything coalesces into a spot of scintillating brilliance. Erikson couldn’t maintain that brilliance over 336pp: no one could, given this material, this experiment.
The volume comprises three stories. It’s worth looking at them individually because they’re three different experiments.
The Devil Delivered is a very dark, almost (not quite) nihilistic tale, around short novel length. The world is radioactive, toxic, poisoned to the point where many (most?) humans hide inside shielded cities and some are trying to get off the planet entirely, with an “elevator to space” being constructed by a rogue industrial company. The colonial exploration of Mars underway. People and animals “unfortunate” enough not to be billeted in shielded cities are dying by droves ― but not all of them. Some are mutating into new species which will be able to live on the blasted Earth … even tolerate the harsh conditions on colony ships in deep space. Those who took shelter are also dropping like flies of long-term poisoning and genetic disease created by their own mess. Those “original humans" will soon be extinct while a new species arises.
These are great ideas: not radical, nor even new, but their fusion into a powerful whole will (probably) keep you reading for 144pp. However, you’ll be halfway through before things start making sense or gelling into the most clarity (and it ain’t a lot!) that you’ll find between these covers. Eriskson delves into deeply experimental writing. Sometimes the prose is philosophical, even poetic, including internalized fantasy (??) meetings with Sitting Bull, in whose ancestral territory the story is set. Often, the novel takes the form of commentary, criticism, retrospective. Other times, lengthy dialogs are delivered in radio script form, being transcripts of conversations taking place in cyberspace.
The scenario (impossible to call it a plot) unfolds in jerks and bumps, “fits and starts,” and the reader must puzzle it together. This is a mystery: not that Erikson is writing a mystery, but the way the reader is presented with information is so abstruse, you’ll need to play Sherlock and John to make sense of it. It’s also very, very dark. Don’t read if you’re depressed or sick unless you have plenty of valium to hand, and/or a good supply ofMy Family dvds.
Revolvo is set in an a/u present day Canada, where Erikson seems to vent his spleen on the arts industry. I’m pretty sure this piece is intended to be funny, but the fact is, some Canadian humor, some of the time, escapes me. Don’t get me wrong: I love a lot of Canadian humor. Red Green, Buried on Sunday, Due South ― pure hilarity. But I didn’t see the joke in Slings and Arrows, which Canadians describe as “the best British comedy not made in England.” Uh, say what? It’s a drama, not even mildly amusing, made interesting by its casting (notably Paul Gross and Rachel McAdams). Revolvo is in the same basket as Slings and Arrows.
I think it’s supposed to be funny, but it isn’t (or, not to me). What it is, is absurd to the point of such silliness, by the end, Erikson comes perilously close to wasting one’s time with self-indulgent filler for the last 106pp. The “plot” involves several groups of unrelated characters going about their business, doing things that seem pointless. I finished this one this saying, “What did I just read?” and “What did I miss?” This entry, I’d give one star. Its main contribution is to bulk up the length of the anthology, make a “thick” for today’s demanding marketplace.
Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie is a hillbilly fairy tale told in the voice of a semi-literate nine year old. Know what you’re in for before you begin. Does it work? Depends on your own ear. You’ll either love it or hate it ― I won’t pass judgment, because anything I say will be purely subjective. The writing style is offbeat, with scores of made-up words that might actually be Canadian hillbilly-speak … or might be Erikson mangling English to come up with a weird new language that (and here’s the thrust of the experiment) you understand 95% of the time, especially in context. It’s actually clever, and for a dozen pages it was very amusing. The downside is, the story runs 80pp, and by the end, the blizzard of mutated-pidgin can be tiresome.
This story is a three-in-one, like the whole collection, where Jock Jr. tells his backwoods fairy tale version of what happened on summer vacation with his obnoxious family, then insists it’s true … and in the end his fantasy spills over into his reality, when teachers and the school GP try to figure out what’s wrong with this kid.
In fact, one glimpses a rather tragic story of a child so bored by his life, aggravated by his family and browbeaten by his teachers, he’s spun an imaginary world, into which he escapes … but that world has become so real, he now can’t tell where it ends and reality begins. On this level, the story is frightening ― which might well be Erikson’s intent. He pulls this rabbit out of the literary hat in the last 10pp or so, after spinning implausible urban fantasy fairy tales about his amphibian grandmother and the denizens of the lake and woods country around the vacation cabin. If the story had wrapped in 40pp, the underlying tale of juvenile mental instability might have been a true chiller. At 80pp, the experiment wore too thin for the sting in its tail to really smart: one is overburdened by a child’s looong fairy tale, which takes on the characteristics of a Canadian backwoods Alice in Wonderland. This was a vastly interesting idea, but (at least for me) Erikson overplays it, leaving the actual gist of his material to be suffocated by the fantasy. Or am I just being way too analytical?
So … for me, this is a two-star read BUT I certainly won’t tag it as “disappointing,” because it woke up my brain, made it work analytically, made me THINK, whereas the mainstream reads one enjoys are like sitting in front of a favorite show, being entertained without ever having to go beyond one-way absorption. Two stars, then, and, actually, a recommendation: for readers who want to give their brains a poke with a sharp stick and start thinking. You might not even enjoy all of it, but you will certainly think about it!
The volume comprises three stories. It’s worth looking at them individually because they’re three different experiments.
The Devil Delivered is a very dark, almost (not quite) nihilistic tale, around short novel length. The world is radioactive, toxic, poisoned to the point where many (most?) humans hide inside shielded cities and some are trying to get off the planet entirely, with an “elevator to space” being constructed by a rogue industrial company. The colonial exploration of Mars underway. People and animals “unfortunate” enough not to be billeted in shielded cities are dying by droves ― but not all of them. Some are mutating into new species which will be able to live on the blasted Earth … even tolerate the harsh conditions on colony ships in deep space. Those who took shelter are also dropping like flies of long-term poisoning and genetic disease created by their own mess. Those “original humans" will soon be extinct while a new species arises.
These are great ideas: not radical, nor even new, but their fusion into a powerful whole will (probably) keep you reading for 144pp. However, you’ll be halfway through before things start making sense or gelling into the most clarity (and it ain’t a lot!) that you’ll find between these covers. Eriskson delves into deeply experimental writing. Sometimes the prose is philosophical, even poetic, including internalized fantasy (??) meetings with Sitting Bull, in whose ancestral territory the story is set. Often, the novel takes the form of commentary, criticism, retrospective. Other times, lengthy dialogs are delivered in radio script form, being transcripts of conversations taking place in cyberspace.
The scenario (impossible to call it a plot) unfolds in jerks and bumps, “fits and starts,” and the reader must puzzle it together. This is a mystery: not that Erikson is writing a mystery, but the way the reader is presented with information is so abstruse, you’ll need to play Sherlock and John to make sense of it. It’s also very, very dark. Don’t read if you’re depressed or sick unless you have plenty of valium to hand, and/or a good supply ofMy Family dvds.
Revolvo is set in an a/u present day Canada, where Erikson seems to vent his spleen on the arts industry. I’m pretty sure this piece is intended to be funny, but the fact is, some Canadian humor, some of the time, escapes me. Don’t get me wrong: I love a lot of Canadian humor. Red Green, Buried on Sunday, Due South ― pure hilarity. But I didn’t see the joke in Slings and Arrows, which Canadians describe as “the best British comedy not made in England.” Uh, say what? It’s a drama, not even mildly amusing, made interesting by its casting (notably Paul Gross and Rachel McAdams). Revolvo is in the same basket as Slings and Arrows.
I think it’s supposed to be funny, but it isn’t (or, not to me). What it is, is absurd to the point of such silliness, by the end, Erikson comes perilously close to wasting one’s time with self-indulgent filler for the last 106pp. The “plot” involves several groups of unrelated characters going about their business, doing things that seem pointless. I finished this one this saying, “What did I just read?” and “What did I miss?” This entry, I’d give one star. Its main contribution is to bulk up the length of the anthology, make a “thick” for today’s demanding marketplace.
Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie is a hillbilly fairy tale told in the voice of a semi-literate nine year old. Know what you’re in for before you begin. Does it work? Depends on your own ear. You’ll either love it or hate it ― I won’t pass judgment, because anything I say will be purely subjective. The writing style is offbeat, with scores of made-up words that might actually be Canadian hillbilly-speak … or might be Erikson mangling English to come up with a weird new language that (and here’s the thrust of the experiment) you understand 95% of the time, especially in context. It’s actually clever, and for a dozen pages it was very amusing. The downside is, the story runs 80pp, and by the end, the blizzard of mutated-pidgin can be tiresome.
This story is a three-in-one, like the whole collection, where Jock Jr. tells his backwoods fairy tale version of what happened on summer vacation with his obnoxious family, then insists it’s true … and in the end his fantasy spills over into his reality, when teachers and the school GP try to figure out what’s wrong with this kid.
In fact, one glimpses a rather tragic story of a child so bored by his life, aggravated by his family and browbeaten by his teachers, he’s spun an imaginary world, into which he escapes … but that world has become so real, he now can’t tell where it ends and reality begins. On this level, the story is frightening ― which might well be Erikson’s intent. He pulls this rabbit out of the literary hat in the last 10pp or so, after spinning implausible urban fantasy fairy tales about his amphibian grandmother and the denizens of the lake and woods country around the vacation cabin. If the story had wrapped in 40pp, the underlying tale of juvenile mental instability might have been a true chiller. At 80pp, the experiment wore too thin for the sting in its tail to really smart: one is overburdened by a child’s looong fairy tale, which takes on the characteristics of a Canadian backwoods Alice in Wonderland. This was a vastly interesting idea, but (at least for me) Erikson overplays it, leaving the actual gist of his material to be suffocated by the fantasy. Or am I just being way too analytical?
So … for me, this is a two-star read BUT I certainly won’t tag it as “disappointing,” because it woke up my brain, made it work analytically, made me THINK, whereas the mainstream reads one enjoys are like sitting in front of a favorite show, being entertained without ever having to go beyond one-way absorption. Two stars, then, and, actually, a recommendation: for readers who want to give their brains a poke with a sharp stick and start thinking. You might not even enjoy all of it, but you will certainly think about it!
November 7, 2023
A short booklet set in a not so near future of climate/ecosystem catastrophe stricken north Dakota, the devil delivered was an un pleasant reading experience in which a few better points do not come close to redeeming it.
My biggest dislike was for the disjointed structure. A few pages of text then followed by computer logs, followed by tv or radio/ podcast interviews then a flashback, back to the logs then the present time again. I get what it was all meant to convey and reinforce the messages brought in all of them but to me it was a really uncomfortable to follow result.
The ideas brought range from reminiscing off lost bygone times both near and distant, memories and mythologized shared memory which I liked, combined with glimpses of the current situation of the world, which is in a poor state. This would have been more then fine for me to read about, a three star easily given, even if I am not fully on board for the mystical talk and interwovenness of myths in reality, I still found this interesting to read about. What I did not like however, was the vague talk about evolution of animals of new humans evolving out of the oppressed pushed aside peoples like the native Americans and Sami with some heave handed commentary on the historical oppression of native Americans. It might have been something interesting but the problem was I felt like I was missing half a book. As an author myself I firmly believe in characters not saying out loud what is obvious knowledge to them but then you have to find a way to bring that information to your reader in a less obvious way. Steven Erikson did not, leaving me confused and just grasping for more context. Lastly at the very end we get thrown in the fact that, in this setting, man came from Mars millions of years earlier? Like what?
I don’t recommend this and to bad this was my introduction to this author, will be hard pressed to give his other work a chance.
My biggest dislike was for the disjointed structure. A few pages of text then followed by computer logs, followed by tv or radio/ podcast interviews then a flashback, back to the logs then the present time again. I get what it was all meant to convey and reinforce the messages brought in all of them but to me it was a really uncomfortable to follow result.
The ideas brought range from reminiscing off lost bygone times both near and distant, memories and mythologized shared memory which I liked, combined with glimpses of the current situation of the world, which is in a poor state. This would have been more then fine for me to read about, a three star easily given, even if I am not fully on board for the mystical talk and interwovenness of myths in reality, I still found this interesting to read about. What I did not like however, was the vague talk about evolution of animals of new humans evolving out of the oppressed pushed aside peoples like the native Americans and Sami with some heave handed commentary on the historical oppression of native Americans. It might have been something interesting but the problem was I felt like I was missing half a book. As an author myself I firmly believe in characters not saying out loud what is obvious knowledge to them but then you have to find a way to bring that information to your reader in a less obvious way. Steven Erikson did not, leaving me confused and just grasping for more context. Lastly at the very end we get thrown in the fact that, in this setting, man came from Mars millions of years earlier? Like what?
I don’t recommend this and to bad this was my introduction to this author, will be hard pressed to give his other work a chance.
October 13, 2017
I thought the Devil Delivered was a pretty good book. In an apocalyptic story set in the near future the main protaganist William is tasked with observing and collecting data about an ozone hole the size of the Great Plains over the Lakota Nation. I think the message the author is trying to convey is that the Earths problems will only get worse overtime if people dont do something about them. I gave the story four stars because I thought the characters were pretty good,and I was able to follow the multiple plot lines.
April 30, 2015
As a fan of epic fantasy, it's always interesting for me to read short fiction pieces from authors renowned for their doorstopper novels. As you are well aware, I'm a huge fan of Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen, and I found all the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas but one to be quite appealing. So when this collection of three Erikson novellas came my way, I was curious to see what the author had to offer, especially given how disparate each tale appeared to be.
And although I did enjoy The Devil Delivered and Other Tales, the book failed to captivate me the way the Malazan installments have done in the past. Each piece features a different style and tone which at times make it hard to truly get into the stories. Of course, Erikson was exploring a number of themes using various types of narratives. But in the end, it doesn't always work as well as it should. . .
Here's the blurb:
Steven Erikson has carved a name for himself among the pantheon of great fantasy writers. But his masterful storytelling and prose style go beyond the awe-inspiring Malazan world. In The Devil Delivered and Other Tales, Erikson tells three different, but captivating stories:
“The Devil Delivered" tells a story set within the near future, where the land owned by the great Lakota Nation blisters beneath an ozone hole the size of the Great Plains. As the natural world falls victim to its wrath, and scientists scramble to understand it, a lone anthropologist wanders the deadlands, recording observations that threaten to bring the entire world to its knees.
“Revolvo” takes place in an alternate Earth where evolution took an interesting turn and the arts scene is ruled by technocrats who thrive in a secret, nepotistic society of granting agencies, bursaries, and peer-review boards, all designed to permit self-proclaimed artists to survive without an audience.
"Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie" is told in the voice a nine-year-old boy, writing the story of his summer vacation. What starts as a typical recount of a trip to see Grandma quickly becomes a stunning fantastical journey into imagination and perception in the wild world that Grandma Matchie inhabits.
"The Devil Delivered" was by far my favorite tale in this collection. It's an apocalyptic science fiction piece in which Mother Nature evolves from the brink of destruction and strange mutations seem to be the only thing that could help save mankind. It's a dark and brooding piece which is hard to understand due to the fact that for the most part the motivations of the principal protagonist are not explained until we reach the end of the novella. The flashback scenes help us understand the present, yet for the better part of the story one keeps wondering where this is going. Using Saskatchewan as a setting was kind of neat. So was incorporating Native Americans and the vision quest concept. It was interesting to go back in time and discover how everything went downhill and why there appears to be little hope for humanity. "The Devil Delivered" may not be perfect, but it's the closest thing to a Malazan tale that you'll find within the pages of this collection.
"Revolvo" is an absurb satire of what is likely the Canadian arts scene. Erikson seemed to have a bone to pick with the government's public founding of the arts and the tale that follows is a veritable tapestry of extremely bizarre plotlines. This novella is so "out there" that it's impossible to summarize it adequately in a few sentences. The narrative and dialogue are often quite witty and, though it's so strange you can never really tell what's going to happen next, the narrative is a lot of fun to read. "Revolvo" is brought to a decidedly weird and brutal ending that doesn't quite make any sense. But since nothing made much sense from the very beginning, it was the sort of unexpected ending this tale deserved.
"Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie" made me think of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Granted, Erikson's novella cannot hold a candle to Gaiman's latest work, but it does explore some similar themes and motifs. The tale is told from a young boy's point of view and that narrative is a joy to read. The Nordic mythology underlying some of the adventures the boy embarks upon with his grandmother adds a bit of depth to what is for the most part a humorous and fun-filled novella. Again, the retelling of those mythological tales occurs in rural Canada. Which is kind of cool for Canuck readers.
Given Steven Erikson's fertile imagination, it is no wonder that the author could come up with such disparate novellas. And for fans looking for something different to read while waiting for the release of the forthcoming Fall of Light, The Devil Delivered and Other Tales will allow you to discover different facets of Erikson's imagination and originality.
For more reviews: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
And although I did enjoy The Devil Delivered and Other Tales, the book failed to captivate me the way the Malazan installments have done in the past. Each piece features a different style and tone which at times make it hard to truly get into the stories. Of course, Erikson was exploring a number of themes using various types of narratives. But in the end, it doesn't always work as well as it should. . .
Here's the blurb:
Steven Erikson has carved a name for himself among the pantheon of great fantasy writers. But his masterful storytelling and prose style go beyond the awe-inspiring Malazan world. In The Devil Delivered and Other Tales, Erikson tells three different, but captivating stories:
“The Devil Delivered" tells a story set within the near future, where the land owned by the great Lakota Nation blisters beneath an ozone hole the size of the Great Plains. As the natural world falls victim to its wrath, and scientists scramble to understand it, a lone anthropologist wanders the deadlands, recording observations that threaten to bring the entire world to its knees.
“Revolvo” takes place in an alternate Earth where evolution took an interesting turn and the arts scene is ruled by technocrats who thrive in a secret, nepotistic society of granting agencies, bursaries, and peer-review boards, all designed to permit self-proclaimed artists to survive without an audience.
"Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie" is told in the voice a nine-year-old boy, writing the story of his summer vacation. What starts as a typical recount of a trip to see Grandma quickly becomes a stunning fantastical journey into imagination and perception in the wild world that Grandma Matchie inhabits.
"The Devil Delivered" was by far my favorite tale in this collection. It's an apocalyptic science fiction piece in which Mother Nature evolves from the brink of destruction and strange mutations seem to be the only thing that could help save mankind. It's a dark and brooding piece which is hard to understand due to the fact that for the most part the motivations of the principal protagonist are not explained until we reach the end of the novella. The flashback scenes help us understand the present, yet for the better part of the story one keeps wondering where this is going. Using Saskatchewan as a setting was kind of neat. So was incorporating Native Americans and the vision quest concept. It was interesting to go back in time and discover how everything went downhill and why there appears to be little hope for humanity. "The Devil Delivered" may not be perfect, but it's the closest thing to a Malazan tale that you'll find within the pages of this collection.
"Revolvo" is an absurb satire of what is likely the Canadian arts scene. Erikson seemed to have a bone to pick with the government's public founding of the arts and the tale that follows is a veritable tapestry of extremely bizarre plotlines. This novella is so "out there" that it's impossible to summarize it adequately in a few sentences. The narrative and dialogue are often quite witty and, though it's so strange you can never really tell what's going to happen next, the narrative is a lot of fun to read. "Revolvo" is brought to a decidedly weird and brutal ending that doesn't quite make any sense. But since nothing made much sense from the very beginning, it was the sort of unexpected ending this tale deserved.
"Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie" made me think of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Granted, Erikson's novella cannot hold a candle to Gaiman's latest work, but it does explore some similar themes and motifs. The tale is told from a young boy's point of view and that narrative is a joy to read. The Nordic mythology underlying some of the adventures the boy embarks upon with his grandmother adds a bit of depth to what is for the most part a humorous and fun-filled novella. Again, the retelling of those mythological tales occurs in rural Canada. Which is kind of cool for Canuck readers.
Given Steven Erikson's fertile imagination, it is no wonder that the author could come up with such disparate novellas. And for fans looking for something different to read while waiting for the release of the forthcoming Fall of Light, The Devil Delivered and Other Tales will allow you to discover different facets of Erikson's imagination and originality.
For more reviews: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
September 19, 2012
maybe i'm just on a cranky binge lately, but i couldn't finish this.
there are three stories in this collection. i did finish the first, which had its moments, some of them poetic, some polemic. the second i got halfway through, and expired from boredom and confusion. the third i have run out of patience for.
not my words, but i don't think i can express my view of the work better than this:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.ph...
there are three stories in this collection. i did finish the first, which had its moments, some of them poetic, some polemic. the second i got halfway through, and expired from boredom and confusion. the third i have run out of patience for.
not my words, but i don't think i can express my view of the work better than this:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.ph...
Want to read
December 19, 2008Terence
September 16, 2014
Enjoyed the immersion.
October 25, 2012
Ummm these were very bizzare and hard to follow, but at least the Canadian references were funny...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews