What do you think?
Rate this book
Demons of Astlan #3
The Apostles of Doom
The Restoration of Glory
After 4,000 years of waiting, Prophecy has been fulfilled!
The Dark Lord Tommus, heir to the Throne of Orcus, has relit Mount Doom in the Abyss! It is time for the Orcs to reclaim their rightful place in the multiverse!
As the orcs rejoice and race to rebuild the connections between their worlds and the Abyss and the alvar gird for war, Tom discovers his new home comes with some unexpected guests--guests who may provide him with leverage in his conflict with the god Tiernon.
Hilda and the avatars of Tiernon work to establish a new base of operations upon the plains of Murgatroy to launch a rescue mission for Talarius.
Meanwhile, aboard Dante's Inferno, Oorstemoth and the Rod invade the Abyss on their joint mission to rescue Talarius and arrest Lord Edwyrd.
Exador needs the assistance of the Storm Lords to destroy Lenamare and the Council of Wizardry and seize The Book once and for all. In return he must first recreate the lost works of the Dark Apostle.
Meanwhile, Lilith is preoccupied by a Baron of Chaos who wants to know where their Maelstrom went.
After 4,000 years of waiting, Prophecy has been fulfilled!
The Dark Lord Tommus, heir to the Throne of Orcus, has relit Mount Doom in the Abyss! It is time for the Orcs to reclaim their rightful place in the multiverse!
As the orcs rejoice and race to rebuild the connections between their worlds and the Abyss and the alvar gird for war, Tom discovers his new home comes with some unexpected guests--guests who may provide him with leverage in his conflict with the god Tiernon.
Hilda and the avatars of Tiernon work to establish a new base of operations upon the plains of Murgatroy to launch a rescue mission for Talarius.
Meanwhile, aboard Dante's Inferno, Oorstemoth and the Rod invade the Abyss on their joint mission to rescue Talarius and arrest Lord Edwyrd.
Exador needs the assistance of the Storm Lords to destroy Lenamare and the Council of Wizardry and seize The Book once and for all. In return he must first recreate the lost works of the Dark Apostle.
Meanwhile, Lilith is preoccupied by a Baron of Chaos who wants to know where their Maelstrom went.
876 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2017
101 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
J.L. Langland
5 books539 followersJ. L. Langland has been obsessed with science fiction and fantasy since Junior High. Upon hearing the job description "High Energy Astrophysicist" in 8th Grade Physical Science, he set out to become one. His express goal to develop trans-warp capability, patent it, license patent rights, make money, build spaceship, go to the stars.
OK, well, he got a B.S. in Astrophysics, then his M.S. and Ph.D. in Experimental High Energy Physics. But by that point, he'd realized that there were probably easier ways to make a living than developing warp drives. Turns out, it was rather more difficult than he'd thought in 8th Grade.
So, clearly, the better alternative was to use his knowledge of Multiversal Quantum Topology to create a gateway to other planes of existence.
OK, that was tricky too and took many years of work, but eventually he perfected Astral Projection and was able to travel the multiverse using the power of his mind.
Now he brings to you, the reader, true stories and historical accounts from his adventures on other planes of existence.
J.L. "Doc" Langland was raised on Heinlein, Zelazny, Blish, Herbert, Azimov, Chalker, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Katherine Kurtz, MZB, Paul Edwin Zimmer, Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Anne Rice, Robert Jordan and thousands of others. He began writing for himself in ages past and has published numerous net fiction short stories under various aliases.
OK, well, he got a B.S. in Astrophysics, then his M.S. and Ph.D. in Experimental High Energy Physics. But by that point, he'd realized that there were probably easier ways to make a living than developing warp drives. Turns out, it was rather more difficult than he'd thought in 8th Grade.
So, clearly, the better alternative was to use his knowledge of Multiversal Quantum Topology to create a gateway to other planes of existence.
OK, that was tricky too and took many years of work, but eventually he perfected Astral Projection and was able to travel the multiverse using the power of his mind.
Now he brings to you, the reader, true stories and historical accounts from his adventures on other planes of existence.
J.L. "Doc" Langland was raised on Heinlein, Zelazny, Blish, Herbert, Azimov, Chalker, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Katherine Kurtz, MZB, Paul Edwin Zimmer, Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Anne Rice, Robert Jordan and thousands of others. He began writing for himself in ages past and has published numerous net fiction short stories under various aliases.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
August 6, 2018
The Apostles of Doom was a decent third instalment of J.L. Langland's The Demons of Astlan series. The series is a light and fun YA coming of age fantasy story. It mixes humor, action, and even a bit of intrigue to produce a fun and relatively engaging story!
Tom is coming to grips with his life as a demon but finds that slipping into the role as leader of the forces of Doom comes with a lot of responsibility as his growing group of allies and friends begin to attract all sorts of old and new enemies. As if rival demons and mortals were not enough now various Gods and other supernatural creatures have been caught up in the commotion caused by Tom's antics!
I felt like the story in this third book was fun but probably not quite as exciting as the story we got in the first and second instalments of the series. As Tom gains more and more friends and grows more into his position it just seems like the series has lost a tiny bit of the mishap related humor that made the early books so much fun as Tom blundering around and causing havoc was always amusing! We got some of that,which was fun, but on the whole Tom is growing into his role and the action seems to be getting a bit more large scale and epic in tone.
Tom might be the lead character but this series has always jumped around POV's and I feel like that has worked great as it lets us experience the world from a bunch of different perspectives and lets us into the minds of plenty of fun secondary characters all with their own set of goals and personal alliances. Tom was the standout character of the story as always but Gastrope and Talarius also had fun story arcs. The crazy crew of the Dante's Inferno and their insane mission was also super fun to read about! Of the villains I always enjoy following what the likes of Exador and Lilith are getting up to.
All in all this was a fun read and I'll be happy to read the next book in the series as even at nearly 30 hours long in audio this book never got dull.
Rating: 3.5 stars. I'm rounding up to 4 stars as this was better than a 3 star book!!!
Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a good job with the audio. He got the tone of the story and did a good job with the character voices.
Tom is coming to grips with his life as a demon but finds that slipping into the role as leader of the forces of Doom comes with a lot of responsibility as his growing group of allies and friends begin to attract all sorts of old and new enemies. As if rival demons and mortals were not enough now various Gods and other supernatural creatures have been caught up in the commotion caused by Tom's antics!
I felt like the story in this third book was fun but probably not quite as exciting as the story we got in the first and second instalments of the series. As Tom gains more and more friends and grows more into his position it just seems like the series has lost a tiny bit of the mishap related humor that made the early books so much fun as Tom blundering around and causing havoc was always amusing! We got some of that,which was fun, but on the whole Tom is growing into his role and the action seems to be getting a bit more large scale and epic in tone.
Tom might be the lead character but this series has always jumped around POV's and I feel like that has worked great as it lets us experience the world from a bunch of different perspectives and lets us into the minds of plenty of fun secondary characters all with their own set of goals and personal alliances. Tom was the standout character of the story as always but Gastrope and Talarius also had fun story arcs. The crazy crew of the Dante's Inferno and their insane mission was also super fun to read about! Of the villains I always enjoy following what the likes of Exador and Lilith are getting up to.
All in all this was a fun read and I'll be happy to read the next book in the series as even at nearly 30 hours long in audio this book never got dull.
Rating: 3.5 stars. I'm rounding up to 4 stars as this was better than a 3 star book!!!
Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a good job with the audio. He got the tone of the story and did a good job with the character voices.
January 19, 2017
Great Work!
This third book continues the great story-telling and characterization seen in the previous books. The story is riveting, as are the characters and their perceptions. As seen before, the viewpoints are quite well done, but they cycle frequently and include random / new characters so they can be difficult to follow. This is especially true in this case, as the story gets delightfully deep and detailed, but also often forces you to remember specifically what has happened with each character.
Overall though, I highly recommend this book, especially if you've read the first two books. The plot definitely thickens, and you have a grand time watching the characters grow and learn. (The whole thing could be very easily converted to a movie.) the writing (and editing!) is excellent. The book itself is huge: it's a tremendous value for the purchase price, and you can tell it took time to complete (and to polish). As deep as it gets (and it gets pretty deep) much like the other books the author still throws in some good self-depreciation to release tension and to get a good chuckle here and there.
This is really good stuff folks, and I'm always eager for the next book. Highly recommended.
One side note: I don't think Tamarin got enough detail. That relationship certainly seems like it should be deeper, especially after watching Randolph and Crispin. Even the "marriage" ceremony implies that there is more depth and intimacy than what we've seen. I'm not saying it needs to be the same thing they have (although hir IRL template caused *many* adolescent fantasies) and Tom is indeed pretty ripe for some regular tension relief from Someone Who Cares and/or a relationship with Someone Special. Maybe with hir, maybe not. Just saying is all.
This third book continues the great story-telling and characterization seen in the previous books. The story is riveting, as are the characters and their perceptions. As seen before, the viewpoints are quite well done, but they cycle frequently and include random / new characters so they can be difficult to follow. This is especially true in this case, as the story gets delightfully deep and detailed, but also often forces you to remember specifically what has happened with each character.
Overall though, I highly recommend this book, especially if you've read the first two books. The plot definitely thickens, and you have a grand time watching the characters grow and learn. (The whole thing could be very easily converted to a movie.) the writing (and editing!) is excellent. The book itself is huge: it's a tremendous value for the purchase price, and you can tell it took time to complete (and to polish). As deep as it gets (and it gets pretty deep) much like the other books the author still throws in some good self-depreciation to release tension and to get a good chuckle here and there.
This is really good stuff folks, and I'm always eager for the next book. Highly recommended.
One side note: I don't think Tamarin got enough detail. That relationship certainly seems like it should be deeper, especially after watching Randolph and Crispin. Even the "marriage" ceremony implies that there is more depth and intimacy than what we've seen. I'm not saying it needs to be the same thing they have (although hir IRL template caused *many* adolescent fantasies) and Tom is indeed pretty ripe for some regular tension relief from Someone Who Cares and/or a relationship with Someone Special. Maybe with hir, maybe not. Just saying is all.
May 20, 2018
I tried to finish reading it. I really did. But this is just boring and tedious. It was torture to read and I just can't continue anymore.
The biggest reason why it is so agonizing to read can be explained by a single word: Exposition.
The majority of the book I've read so far is dedicated to exposition. Scene after scene, the book would devote to explaining things. There is very little 'story' to experience. Most would be feed to you through exposition.
The majority of the exposition comes in the form of Mr. Exposition. Mr. Exposition is essentially a character that explains things. Mr. Exposition is often paired with The Watson. The Watson is a character that constantly ask about stuff. The majority of the dialogue is an exchange between The Watson and Mr. Exposition. The Watson ask a question, Mr. Exposition answers, The Watson ask another question, Mr. Exposition answers, The Watson ask yet another question… and so on.
One character almost always takes to mantle of The Watson: Hilda. The other characters around here then takes the job of Mr. Exposition. The biggest problem with this is that, in the end, the characters are doing nothing but talk. Like maybe 80% of the book are character doing nothing.
This book's exposition also comes in the form of Inner Monologue. That is, a character just stand there doing nothing, while we readers are privy to their thoughts. Tom and Talarius have lots of scenes that is mainly Inner Monologue.
It is as boring as it sounds. After all, it is still a monologue.
Another common form is a dialogue known as "As you know, Bob." dialogue or simply "As you know" dialogue. It is when one character explains to another character something that they both know, hence the "As you know" moniker.
And it sounds very fake. After all, it goes like this:
Character 1: I know that you know about this already but I'm going to explain it to you anyway.
Character 2: I already know everything about that but I acted like it is the most natural thing in the world that you would explain that to me. I will even explain it further to you too even if it is obvious that you know about it already.
Character 1: I already know that, but let me nod in agreement. We must keep this facade or normality. Now let me explain to you something you know already...
These characters literally sounds insane... and terribly boring.
Most of the characters will have this kind of dialogue, many times, but Tiernon and Torean are the worst offender. Almost every time they appear they engage in this kind of dialogue. Tiernon even uttered the namesake phrase:
Hahaha.
There are also a number of "missing" scenes. There would be these scenes that is supposed to lead to a certain event, but the event doesn't come. Instead we skip and we get a scene where the characters are talking about that scene and what happened there. Instead of actually writing that scene, the author gets lazy and use it for more exposition instead. For example, the D'Orcing, and Rupert and Fer-Rog's drinking challenge. We are not actually able to experience these directly.
Then there are also the characters.
Since majority of the dialogue is exposition, many of the characters suffered. Readers might have remembered how in Book 2, Hilda become very much like the main character. More than half of Book 2 is dedicated to Hilda's point of view. However, here, she appears very rarely and often acts as The Watson to whoever was the Mr. Exposition(s) at the moment, and pretty much has no part in the story. A total downgrade. The author might have realized how pointless she is.
And as previously stated, Tom and Talarius have several scenes dedicated to their Inner Monologue. Bleh!
Still, at least Tom remains somewhat interesting and Talarius has an interesting background. But when the Inner Monologue comes. Ugh!
Then there is Rupert and Fer-Rog. These are the most prominent young character here and they are just awful. First, the two are clones. Personality-wise they are identical. The author has only two major child characters but put no effort to make their characters different. Second, from what I was able to read, these two are totally pointless. They are off on their own "adventure" and doing nothing particularly important or remotely interesting. Of the two, Fer-Rog might be the most worthless. Rupert at least has his relationship with Tom to tie him to the other narratives. Fer-Rog is just a clone of Rupert that do nothing but follow Rupert. Third, their characters is just annoying. They remind me of those 90's pandering child cartoons. Those "cool and hip" characters that constantly wants to party and talks in bizarre ways trying hard to pander to young children. But then, this story is not meant for children, why are these kind of pandering characters here? Because, I believe, the author don't know how to write children characters and just rip them off from outdated shows that the author once watched.
Rupert and Fer-Rog are terribly annoying and terribly dated and terribly pointless characters that are just not worth any attention.
And the other characters? They are a multitude of them. It feels like there are hundreds of them. And they are totally forgettable. The greatest culprit is that these characters are not fleshed out. There is very little time to know them that I can't even get an impression of them. In worst cases, they would appear in a very short scene just to give exposition. Most of the time I would just forget about them, sometimes even while I'm reading about them. They are just that forgettable.
The character here is a classic case of Quantity over Quality. These characters are all garbage. You read through the book and barely remember anyone, even the main characters.
And there is that annoying POV switching. There are just so many POV. And it switched very fast too. There are even some cases where there are only 6 short paragraphs then it will switch to another view. What the hell! That just makes the story feel very fragmented.
But then, there are these people that say that this is book is EPIC! FUN! And I wonder: WHERE? I've read more that half of the book and it is the opposite of Epic and Fun. Where is it? At the 10% end of the book? And they give it five stars? Not me, I'm not going to ignore the 90% garbage that come before it. And for that, this book receives a one star rating from me. This book is just pathetic.
This is so disappointing. Book 1 was so refreshing and fun, then it went downhill from there. Now it is just a boring, tedious, dated, overcrowded mess that just drags on and on and on.
The author should just stop. The story just keeps getting more and more crappy with each iteration.
The biggest reason why it is so agonizing to read can be explained by a single word: Exposition.
The majority of the book I've read so far is dedicated to exposition. Scene after scene, the book would devote to explaining things. There is very little 'story' to experience. Most would be feed to you through exposition.
The majority of the exposition comes in the form of Mr. Exposition. Mr. Exposition is essentially a character that explains things. Mr. Exposition is often paired with The Watson. The Watson is a character that constantly ask about stuff. The majority of the dialogue is an exchange between The Watson and Mr. Exposition. The Watson ask a question, Mr. Exposition answers, The Watson ask another question, Mr. Exposition answers, The Watson ask yet another question… and so on.
One character almost always takes to mantle of The Watson: Hilda. The other characters around here then takes the job of Mr. Exposition. The biggest problem with this is that, in the end, the characters are doing nothing but talk. Like maybe 80% of the book are character doing nothing.
This book's exposition also comes in the form of Inner Monologue. That is, a character just stand there doing nothing, while we readers are privy to their thoughts. Tom and Talarius have lots of scenes that is mainly Inner Monologue.
It is as boring as it sounds. After all, it is still a monologue.
Another common form is a dialogue known as "As you know, Bob." dialogue or simply "As you know" dialogue. It is when one character explains to another character something that they both know, hence the "As you know" moniker.
And it sounds very fake. After all, it goes like this:
Character 1: I know that you know about this already but I'm going to explain it to you anyway.
Character 2: I already know everything about that but I acted like it is the most natural thing in the world that you would explain that to me. I will even explain it further to you too even if it is obvious that you know about it already.
Character 1: I already know that, but let me nod in agreement. We must keep this facade or normality. Now let me explain to you something you know already...
These characters literally sounds insane... and terribly boring.
Most of the characters will have this kind of dialogue, many times, but Tiernon and Torean are the worst offender. Almost every time they appear they engage in this kind of dialogue. Tiernon even uttered the namesake phrase:
“Thank you.” Tiernon smiled. “As you know, it helps to have a good scout.”
Hahaha.
There are also a number of "missing" scenes. There would be these scenes that is supposed to lead to a certain event, but the event doesn't come. Instead we skip and we get a scene where the characters are talking about that scene and what happened there. Instead of actually writing that scene, the author gets lazy and use it for more exposition instead. For example, the D'Orcing, and Rupert and Fer-Rog's drinking challenge. We are not actually able to experience these directly.
Then there are also the characters.
Since majority of the dialogue is exposition, many of the characters suffered. Readers might have remembered how in Book 2, Hilda become very much like the main character. More than half of Book 2 is dedicated to Hilda's point of view. However, here, she appears very rarely and often acts as The Watson to whoever was the Mr. Exposition(s) at the moment, and pretty much has no part in the story. A total downgrade. The author might have realized how pointless she is.
And as previously stated, Tom and Talarius have several scenes dedicated to their Inner Monologue. Bleh!
Still, at least Tom remains somewhat interesting and Talarius has an interesting background. But when the Inner Monologue comes. Ugh!
Then there is Rupert and Fer-Rog. These are the most prominent young character here and they are just awful. First, the two are clones. Personality-wise they are identical. The author has only two major child characters but put no effort to make their characters different. Second, from what I was able to read, these two are totally pointless. They are off on their own "adventure" and doing nothing particularly important or remotely interesting. Of the two, Fer-Rog might be the most worthless. Rupert at least has his relationship with Tom to tie him to the other narratives. Fer-Rog is just a clone of Rupert that do nothing but follow Rupert. Third, their characters is just annoying. They remind me of those 90's pandering child cartoons. Those "cool and hip" characters that constantly wants to party and talks in bizarre ways trying hard to pander to young children. But then, this story is not meant for children, why are these kind of pandering characters here? Because, I believe, the author don't know how to write children characters and just rip them off from outdated shows that the author once watched.
Rupert and Fer-Rog are terribly annoying and terribly dated and terribly pointless characters that are just not worth any attention.
And the other characters? They are a multitude of them. It feels like there are hundreds of them. And they are totally forgettable. The greatest culprit is that these characters are not fleshed out. There is very little time to know them that I can't even get an impression of them. In worst cases, they would appear in a very short scene just to give exposition. Most of the time I would just forget about them, sometimes even while I'm reading about them. They are just that forgettable.
The character here is a classic case of Quantity over Quality. These characters are all garbage. You read through the book and barely remember anyone, even the main characters.
And there is that annoying POV switching. There are just so many POV. And it switched very fast too. There are even some cases where there are only 6 short paragraphs then it will switch to another view. What the hell! That just makes the story feel very fragmented.
But then, there are these people that say that this is book is EPIC! FUN! And I wonder: WHERE? I've read more that half of the book and it is the opposite of Epic and Fun. Where is it? At the 10% end of the book? And they give it five stars? Not me, I'm not going to ignore the 90% garbage that come before it. And for that, this book receives a one star rating from me. This book is just pathetic.
This is so disappointing. Book 1 was so refreshing and fun, then it went downhill from there. Now it is just a boring, tedious, dated, overcrowded mess that just drags on and on and on.
The author should just stop. The story just keeps getting more and more crappy with each iteration.
May 15, 2017
Utterly crazy and totally compelling.
Third book in and the series is still as bonkers, hilarious, addictive and delightful. I was worried at the start that maybe some explanations were starting to waffle but it soon picked up its normal pace and I had to read until 2.30am to finish, there was no stopping that epic battle!
By book three you know the characters, the books have to be read in order as they are so complex and reviews containing spoilers are pointless so I won't comment on the story, there is so much that could easily be given away and ruin the careful crafting.
I love the humour and attention to detail. The entire saga is so carefully and lovingly structured and explained yet it always seems to leave you with more questions and the many many threads are being expertly woven into the bigger picture.
I'm concerned I have too long to wait for the next instalment and even more concerned the author might try to conclude the series as it feels like its drawing to a close. I simply can't wait for more. There's a huge lack of original material of this quality and scale and it simply needs to continue.
Third book in and the series is still as bonkers, hilarious, addictive and delightful. I was worried at the start that maybe some explanations were starting to waffle but it soon picked up its normal pace and I had to read until 2.30am to finish, there was no stopping that epic battle!
By book three you know the characters, the books have to be read in order as they are so complex and reviews containing spoilers are pointless so I won't comment on the story, there is so much that could easily be given away and ruin the careful crafting.
I love the humour and attention to detail. The entire saga is so carefully and lovingly structured and explained yet it always seems to leave you with more questions and the many many threads are being expertly woven into the bigger picture.
I'm concerned I have too long to wait for the next instalment and even more concerned the author might try to conclude the series as it feels like its drawing to a close. I simply can't wait for more. There's a huge lack of original material of this quality and scale and it simply needs to continue.
January 12, 2017
This is a very long book. I enjoyed it but the constant choppy changes in viewpoints can be distracting and annoying at times, but it does keep the story moving forward in a very linear way. I would have to say the first book, which has far less viewpoints is the most successful volume in the series so far.
If you enjoyed book 2 in the series you will probably also enjoy this one. Aside from the viewpoint change, the constant small info dumps can also be a bit distracting but it does add up to a better view of a world the author has put a lot of work into creating. This volume has a satisfying conclusion. I'll be picking up the next book when it comes out but I hope the author reduces the number of character viewpoints being written.
I suspect this is a series you either really enjoy or hate but the author could do with streamlining the story and info dumps a bit.
If you enjoyed book 2 in the series you will probably also enjoy this one. Aside from the viewpoint change, the constant small info dumps can also be a bit distracting but it does add up to a better view of a world the author has put a lot of work into creating. This volume has a satisfying conclusion. I'll be picking up the next book when it comes out but I hope the author reduces the number of character viewpoints being written.
I suspect this is a series you either really enjoy or hate but the author could do with streamlining the story and info dumps a bit.
January 28, 2020
I listened to an audio book but since that version isn't currently listed on goodreads.com I'm putting my review here. I just blew through the first three books of this series so I'm giving them all the same review.
These books are worth reading, but they have one big flaw. They don't tell stories. When I finished book one I was a bit confused- the book was long enough that it was time for the book to end. Then I realized the author didn't resolve any story lines. It felt a little like there was some resolution because the book ended after a big fight but a moment's reflection reveals that the outcome of that fight raised more questions than it answered. The author then goes on to repeat this process for books 2 and 3. Which leads me to the two main points of this review:
1. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THESE BOOKS WAIT FOR BOOK 4 TO COME OUT. I have to believe there will be a book 4 since nothing is resolved in book 3 but then it has also been 3 years (at the time of writing) since book 3 was published. DON'T READ IF THERE IS NO BOOK 4- I was able to enjoy these books but if there is no book 4 this is just a long walk to nowhere for no purpose.
2. YOU ARE 100% JUSTIFIED IN MOVING ON NOW. After all, story resolution is pretty much job one for an author and any author that fails that test does not deserve to be read. Still, the author tells a good, if incomplete, story.
The MC in this book is pulled from Earth by a spell that also turns him into a demon. Fortunately he is a powerful demon and he manages to makes friends and have amazing adventures along the way. The MC also gets caught up in the reincarnation of a demon prince (or god, depending on who you ask) who was murdered 4,000 years earlier by a conspiracy demons and gods. Along the way the author throws in the occasional pop culture reference and turns some standard story lines on their heads. For example, orcs may be brutish but they also say what they mean and stick to it unlike the conniving elves who leave what they mean unsaid, use words to distract and then wage a PR war to claim their poo don't stink.
Bottom line: These books would easily be worth the read if the author provided any amount of resolution. As is they are well written and imaginative reads with zero resolution.
These books are worth reading, but they have one big flaw. They don't tell stories. When I finished book one I was a bit confused- the book was long enough that it was time for the book to end. Then I realized the author didn't resolve any story lines. It felt a little like there was some resolution because the book ended after a big fight but a moment's reflection reveals that the outcome of that fight raised more questions than it answered. The author then goes on to repeat this process for books 2 and 3. Which leads me to the two main points of this review:
1. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THESE BOOKS WAIT FOR BOOK 4 TO COME OUT. I have to believe there will be a book 4 since nothing is resolved in book 3 but then it has also been 3 years (at the time of writing) since book 3 was published. DON'T READ IF THERE IS NO BOOK 4- I was able to enjoy these books but if there is no book 4 this is just a long walk to nowhere for no purpose.
2. YOU ARE 100% JUSTIFIED IN MOVING ON NOW. After all, story resolution is pretty much job one for an author and any author that fails that test does not deserve to be read. Still, the author tells a good, if incomplete, story.
The MC in this book is pulled from Earth by a spell that also turns him into a demon. Fortunately he is a powerful demon and he manages to makes friends and have amazing adventures along the way. The MC also gets caught up in the reincarnation of a demon prince (or god, depending on who you ask) who was murdered 4,000 years earlier by a conspiracy demons and gods. Along the way the author throws in the occasional pop culture reference and turns some standard story lines on their heads. For example, orcs may be brutish but they also say what they mean and stick to it unlike the conniving elves who leave what they mean unsaid, use words to distract and then wage a PR war to claim their poo don't stink.
Bottom line: These books would easily be worth the read if the author provided any amount of resolution. As is they are well written and imaginative reads with zero resolution.
October 1, 2020
I was sad in the first half of the book. I tough this was trilogy. Then I figure out there will be five parts. So now I am angry when will last two come out.
February 9, 2017
Amazing
It never fails to astonish me how thoroughly developed this epic has been. It has been a complete joy to read. I tend to wonder as I read just what has been involved to make such an interesting multiverse. Truly J. Gangland surpasses the typical short novels of modern day society and has created a truly epic tale. Thank you and I eagerly await Volume IV.
It never fails to astonish me how thoroughly developed this epic has been. It has been a complete joy to read. I tend to wonder as I read just what has been involved to make such an interesting multiverse. Truly J. Gangland surpasses the typical short novels of modern day society and has created a truly epic tale. Thank you and I eagerly await Volume IV.
March 22, 2025
Before I start criticising this book, let me make it clear that this is a great book and an amazing series. There is action and drama. The author has a rich imagination, and weaves a compelling tapestry of fantasy, scifi, and laugh-out-loud humour. It could easily have been a 5 star book.
It's just that this series keeps on going, even though the word count would have been more than ample to finish. This book is huge—it must be 150K words if not more—and the previous books were equally hefty tomes. There was much that could have been cut out from the previous book, and a fair amount from this one as well (although it was not quite as bloated as book 2, thank god). Jenn and Gastrope, our favourite wizards from book 1, go on a totally pointless quest in some magic cloud, and accomplish nothing of note for basically all of this book.
At least the Oorstemoth chapters, which were previously mind-numbingly boring, have gotten much more interesting. The fools actually managed to get their ship in the Abyss, but they are being manipulated by demons left, right and centre. My favourite scene (mild spoiler!) was when Sammael pretended to be one of their knights and infiltrated them.
In short, if the author had cut out the pointless sidequests and filler chapters, this series would already be finished and readers would, I think, not be disappointed. They would be quite delighted. Instead, while this book had an action-packed and entertaining finale, it's been over 6 years and still no book 4. I really hope we get a book 4, and that book 4 wraps the story up once and for all.
It's just that this series keeps on going, even though the word count would have been more than ample to finish. This book is huge—it must be 150K words if not more—and the previous books were equally hefty tomes. There was much that could have been cut out from the previous book, and a fair amount from this one as well (although it was not quite as bloated as book 2, thank god). Jenn and Gastrope, our favourite wizards from book 1, go on a totally pointless quest in some magic cloud, and accomplish nothing of note for basically all of this book.
At least the Oorstemoth chapters, which were previously mind-numbingly boring, have gotten much more interesting. The fools actually managed to get their ship in the Abyss, but they are being manipulated by demons left, right and centre. My favourite scene (mild spoiler!) was when Sammael pretended to be one of their knights and infiltrated them.
In short, if the author had cut out the pointless sidequests and filler chapters, this series would already be finished and readers would, I think, not be disappointed. They would be quite delighted. Instead, while this book had an action-packed and entertaining finale, it's been over 6 years and still no book 4. I really hope we get a book 4, and that book 4 wraps the story up once and for all.
June 26, 2017
MORE MORE MORE
I am so ticked at I. Langland. The author had me hooked on this marvelous fantasy series after about one paragraph of Demons of Astlan Book 1.(There are 3 books so far in the series.They have all a soul needs in a series of this genre. 1. Length - 2. Imaginative characters 3. Amazingly infamous villains who apparently can also be the most heroic. Heroes that can also be villains at their worst. Plot twists galore. Langland has created a universe, or a paraverse that has its beginnings in string theory with multiple planes of existence. In this we find all of the characters from Tolkein and a few more added! Angels and Demons, Orcs, Elves, Humans, Saints & Sinners and even the first humans of earthly creation not named Adam & Eve. Brilliant! So now to my gripe. After reading this glorious adventure, there is no resolution! Just some empty promise of a 4th volumn by one of the most insanely brilliant comedic characters of literature. This writer will remain in a "tizzy" until said promise is kept. For those that have not found this gem, a wonderful tale awaits. Begin.
I am so ticked at I. Langland. The author had me hooked on this marvelous fantasy series after about one paragraph of Demons of Astlan Book 1.(There are 3 books so far in the series.They have all a soul needs in a series of this genre. 1. Length - 2. Imaginative characters 3. Amazingly infamous villains who apparently can also be the most heroic. Heroes that can also be villains at their worst. Plot twists galore. Langland has created a universe, or a paraverse that has its beginnings in string theory with multiple planes of existence. In this we find all of the characters from Tolkein and a few more added! Angels and Demons, Orcs, Elves, Humans, Saints & Sinners and even the first humans of earthly creation not named Adam & Eve. Brilliant! So now to my gripe. After reading this glorious adventure, there is no resolution! Just some empty promise of a 4th volumn by one of the most insanely brilliant comedic characters of literature. This writer will remain in a "tizzy" until said promise is kept. For those that have not found this gem, a wonderful tale awaits. Begin.
January 27, 2018
Overall this series is pretty enjoyable however, since it continually adds new locations, characters, lore and different stories elements without finishing the ones the story had already started, I started to lose interest in previous unfinished storylines because the news ones were more interesting. Also it's odd that the MC, who is supposed to be a 16/17 year old boy, seems disinterested in any sort of romance, which is weird given that sex and romance is appears pretty often in the rest of the book involving other characters. I can only imagine that this is because the author wants to tease the reader or there is some in universe reason that have yet to be revealed.
February 22, 2019
Book three and so far the best in the series. The only issue as a reader is the lack of future books. I understand the author may have other things going on but as a reader it seems the author has gotten bored with writing, eventually readers forget and won't give the author a second chance.
Book three continues with Tom the heir to Orcus and Lord of Mount Doom. Many of the Pantheons are starting to pay attention to the going ons in the abyss. We watch as the Five Siblings start to see that there lack of attention to their people might have brought Doom to their doorstep. The real dangers of the unlife are exposed and we get to see what secret lies below Mount Doom.
Book three continues with Tom the heir to Orcus and Lord of Mount Doom. Many of the Pantheons are starting to pay attention to the going ons in the abyss. We watch as the Five Siblings start to see that there lack of attention to their people might have brought Doom to their doorstep. The real dangers of the unlife are exposed and we get to see what secret lies below Mount Doom.
August 2, 2017
I've been reading this since the first book. I finally have to announce how much I absolutely love this series! I read constantly thanks to always pulling out my E-reader whenever I'm left waiting for anything.
I just wanted to say that this book (and series overall) has been wonderfully weird and fun due to playing with the traditional tropes and deciding to reverse it all. I look forward to anything and everything that comes with this world (Cough, multiverse)
I just wanted to say that this book (and series overall) has been wonderfully weird and fun due to playing with the traditional tropes and deciding to reverse it all. I look forward to anything and everything that comes with this world (Cough, multiverse)
August 21, 2018
Surprised! So very entertaining. Honestly didn't expect much, just a nice time killer. Since I grabbed all 3 available books, thought I might take some time reading them at lunch time, or whenever I was bored, but after the first, I couldn't help but immediately start #2...then 3, only to realize I am done with them, and want more! To be honest, I don't think they are the type of books that call to me multiple times, but you never know.
Try it....just one hit can't hurt :)
Try it....just one hit can't hurt :)
January 11, 2019
Great book. Some people will say events are driving the story too much unlike earlier but I say that is wrong. Yes there are some parts in here that are slow but they are needed to develop the plot for later. This series is actually one long book as you can tell since the chapters continue between books. The biggest complaint I have is the release speed is starting to slow down. Waayyy down. I guess everybody can't be Brandon Sanderson and pump out books like mad.
July 24, 2025
I really enjoyed this one. The first book in the series was honestly pretty hard to get through. The second got much better once the characters and world developed. The third really pushes everything to the next level I love some of the characters. However, i don't think we'll ever see the series continue since it's almost a decade since it was released.
July 3, 2017
Great Book and series!
Have gone through all three books so far and am eagerly awaiting the next. The characters and story are well written it makes me wish I were there myself.....where can I find some demon weed?
Have gone through all three books so far and am eagerly awaiting the next. The characters and story are well written it makes me wish I were there myself.....where can I find some demon weed?
November 5, 2017
An amazing third book for the series, a well laid out plot that keeps the story ripping along and characters you have grown to love or hate and some new characters to keep things interesting. I will now begin my jonesing session as I wait for the next installment. Great job, Mr Langland
January 29, 2020
This is really a sprawling confusing mess that is very difficult to follow without falling asleep.
I fell asleep many times trying to get through this... I could not finish it. It’s a huge mess akin to tangled spaghetti. Sorry author but this was not a good read for me.
I fell asleep many times trying to get through this... I could not finish it. It’s a huge mess akin to tangled spaghetti. Sorry author but this was not a good read for me.
March 26, 2020
I absolutely loved it as the series gets better and better and the entire Heaven / Hell paradigms turned upside down is absolutely enjoyable.
The finale is still not ready though, though promised long time ago.
The finale is still not ready though, though promised long time ago.
October 6, 2017
Love this book!
October 7, 2017
I really enjoyed this book thou I would prefer more from Tom's POV. I hope ther's few more books to come from this series.
October 29, 2017
loved the 3 book's my only problem is the times the story drags, most times that is when tom or his direct friends are not in the narrative..
November 11, 2017
A series of unfortunate misunderstandings XD
November 30, 2017
THE GOOD JUST DOESNT STOP
May 3, 2018
This book packed a lot of sequences and information in it's pages.
I thought it was going to tie everything up at he end, but it seems that there will be a book four.
3.5/5 Stars
I thought it was going to tie everything up at he end, but it seems that there will be a book four.
3.5/5 Stars
June 1, 2018
It was great and I can't wait for the next one
November 29, 2018
It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy series where each book is getting progressively better and not worse as is the norm. Can't wait for book 4!
November 29, 2018
Zatím nejlepší díl. Fakt mě to bavilo.
August 2, 2019
Volume 4 please!
This series has been absolutely amazing, the number of references, the depth of explanations, details and insanity of it all is frightfully marvelous.
This series has been absolutely amazing, the number of references, the depth of explanations, details and insanity of it all is frightfully marvelous.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews