The Devil's Game

by Poul Anderson

Participating in a deadly game in which all losers will be eliminated, seven money-desperate individuals--including a mercenary solder, a porn star, and a mother with a dying child--believe that they will do anything to win. Reissue.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense, Science Fiction Fantasy

251 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book through the Goodreads "What's the title of that book?" forum, and, to be fair, no one said it was excellent, just that it was about a group of people on an island playing a dangerous game for a chance at a million dollars (this was the 70s, so it was a lot of money). I love books like this so I thought I would take a risk and give it a try. Unfortunately it was very dated and the sexism hard to swallow (the women are only going to get ahead by crying and/or by sleeping with all the men. Hard to swallow. See what I did there?), plus parts were a bit non-sensical. If you absolutely adore this genre it might be worth your time, but otherwise just go re-read (or read) And Then There Were None.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book any number of times over the years, and it remains a deliciously fun romp, even though I know every twist and turn coming. Oddly, it seems to polarise opinion. Searching the various reading websites seems to garner either fanatic 4/5 star ratings or scathing 1/2 rants - with very little ground in-between. I think some of that may have to do with expectations tied in to the author's other works.

Poul Anderson was primarily a science fiction writer, of the stereotypical exploring galaxies with a ray gun style of science fiction. The Devil's Game, written in 1980, is a vast departure from that. In fact, other than the mysterious Samael, there's nothing otherworldly about this book.

Here's the best synopsis I've found of the book:

On an isolated island, seven people with a desperate need for money play a game conceived by an intelligence of perfect evil. The rules are simple: each player will perform an act; each of the others must duplicate it or be eliminated. All the players have in common is their desperation. One is a mercenary soldier with a taste for proving his manhood through self torture. Another is a would be porno-starlet. A third is a perfectly ordinary mother whose seven-year-old's life depends on a million dollar medical treatment... Each of the seven thinks he or she will do anything to win... all but one of them are wrong.

Here's the most common synopsis I've found, courtesy of Amazon:

Making a bargain with the devil to act as a liaison between the underworld and the human world, Sunderland Haverner is called upon by the mysterious Samael to bring seven specially chosen people to the Republic of Santa Ana.

Note the difference? The truth is somewhere in-between, which I think is largely to blame for the gap in opinion.

I love this book for what it is: a fascinating character study about desperate people put under enormous pressure and forced to rely on their wits, strength and courage to out perform and out smart their fellow contestants. The book is about personal struggle, not the struggle of man against myth/demon/alien/what have you. In fact, the few times that Samael, the other world presence, makes himself known, the reader is intentionally left wondering whether Samael is real or just a figment of a twisted eccentric's mind. You see, it really doesn't matter what the truth of Samael's origin because the point is not Samael, but the game that is being played and the contestants playing it.

The Samael sub-plot is what keeps The Devil's Game from being a five star book for me. You could strip every reference to Samael out of the book and it would only improve on the narrative. You'd be left with a wicked psychological experiment unfettered by the need to cater to the author's devout science fiction following.

Beyond the basic plot conceit, I love the way this book is written. Its unvarnished prose propels the story. We know that Anderson wants nothing more than for us to flip, excitedly, to the next page. But the book is also very cleverly written. The game is set up as this: each day one of the guests devise a task, or series of tasks, that they and the others must complete. Anyone who fails at the task, other than the day's leader, is out of the competition and forfeits their share of the million dollar purse. There is a day of rest between each round. Each round is led by a new contestant. Once the basic premise is set up and the game begins, the chapters alternate in narration: from omnipotent third person on the interval rest days to first person narration by the day's leader for each round of the game. Given the constant change in narration and the ingenious use of the first person narratives, we get to know, understand and truly care for the characters involved - far more so than had the entire book been written in third person.

Let's face it, this isn't Dickens but it is a damned good read. It entertains. It makes you question fairness and the lengths which a person will go to to change their life. And it's clever. None of the situations are out of the ordinary and you can easily imagine what you'd do in each one of them.

The Devil's Game wasn't a success for Anderson, which is a pity. It didn't and won't satisfy the ray gun set but, then again, I don't think it was every really meant to. Pick it up and give it a try anyway. You might just find you love it as much as I do.

4/5

[Tyler Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poul Anderson subverts expectations with the book. Switching between 1st and 3rd person for each challenge works well to give us a glimpse into the 7 main protagonists' heads. I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty unusual for Anderson -- the story has just a hint of fantasy/sci-fi that may be entirely in one character's head. Instead, the story focuses on a sadistic experiment: seven people are brought to an isolated island to compete for a million dollars. Did the producers of reality TV read this 1980 novel? Maybe, but Anderson has the competition watched only by a decrepit millionaire and his staff. The competitors, completely free from outside scrutiny, are free to abandon the mores and norms that restrain normal behavior, but not all of them do; at least, not initially. The players take turns devising challenges which become increasingly severe. Things take a very dangerous turn as alliances are formed, and while the action is pretty thin, Anderson focuses on the characters' internal struggles and continually shifts point-of-view so that even the most despicable of the players garners some sympathy (I've thought that this is really one of Anderson's most distinctive strengths as a writer -- his characters are always complicated enough to resist being simply heroes and villains). Some of these internal monologues stretch on too long, and some of the conversations between characters are painfully didactic, expressing the author's idiosyncratic, libertarian politics. But for the most part it's a pretty compelling story with several unexpected turns. I used to guiltily enjoy shows like "Survivor" and reading this book has many of the same attractions, with the added bonus that Anderson is very competent writer, and by the half-way point in the story I couldn't wait to steal a few free moments to read another chapter.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a classic premise: someone of wealth gathers together a number of people who need money, and puts them through hell to get it. This book managed to bring a few new tricks to the idea. Simply reading the cover blurb and the first couple of chapters, one might think that the seven people are simply going to represent the seven deadly sins and their host the Devil. Reading along, though, it's clear that the characters are far more complicated. They each embody a number of sins and virtues. No one is black and white. Everyone is a shade of grey, a very dark shade of grey. By the end of the story, one wonders just who the host was playing Devil to.
The fact that the author never fully reveals the exact nature of the being calling himself Samael might be cause for some readers to question categorizing this book as "fantasy." But I am not one to care too much about such things. The author also never promised anywhere along the way to reveal the truth of Samael (quite the opposite really). That was very smart.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 3 stars mainly for the concept. I personally thought this book was lacking in many areas and was confusing or annoying to read. Overly described settings, changes from third person to first between chapters, and a long "main" character list that made it difficult to remember qualities of individuals since we are constantly learning something new about someone from all different perspectives and plots. Really wanted to learn more about Samael and wished more development on that plot point.

[Adri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially attracted to this book as I found it somewhat reminiscent of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". While the concepts are similar this novel is considerably less suspenseful however I found the protag's relationship with his demon to be the highlight of the book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this years ago- thinking like 25 years- a friend loaned it to me and I loved it then. A fascinating kind of psychological study by way of Survivor, or now even Squid Games. But this came out in 1981 predating those. A disparate group of people are brought to the island of a rich philanthropist who has been in cahoots with one of Lucifer's lesser demons; all for what seems to be a psychological experiment (wait did Jeff Probst read this?- I kid).

Now as time has passed, things I enjoyed then are not as enjoyable; and things I wasn't smart enough, or perhaps less aware of, for example, writing style, and politics (sexual, racial and financial). The characters are well conceived and their needs and wants are well laid out.
However I found myself this time flipping ahead to when something was going to happen. While, like I noted, the political back and forth (pick a variation) between the characters is enjoyable the book mostly plays out as a series of discussions sorted into chapters and some interchanges aren't as excited as others.

The layout of the book is interested, and I wasn't sure I was liking it at first. Essentially third person for most general moments, big groups, dinner scenes etc, and then each character has their own first person chapter- generally centred around the start of their task and all through it to the end. Some characters are more interesting because, well, they are more interesting. In the end I enjoyed the conceit.

By the last fifty pages I kept daydreaming about how one could make this into a great limited series event somewhere. Bring up some of the politics to today. Instead of enjoying the book itself I was fantasizing of the book I wanted now.

All in all I still call it a good read but young might not approve.

[Astragen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.



Cardboard SF: "The Devil's Game" by Poul Anderson



(Original Review, 1980-11-09)


THE DEVIL'S GAME of course, is "follow the leader" played by seven people in a South American paradise for a prize of 1 million, tax free dollars. The prize will be split among everyone who lasts through the game. The challenge for each player is to devise tasks which will force the other players out of the game, either through failure to perform the task, refusal to perform the task, or death resulting from the task.

[Eric N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusual,quick read from the sci fi master.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story about human greed and redemption

[Rabbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unforgettable! Read this on an island. Incredible

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich man takes a group of people who will compete for a fortune. It reminds me of reality shows years before they existed. Interesting.

[Mark Bates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been so much. Turned out to be slow and kind of boring.

[يوسف عبداللطيف · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and honest: The Devil's Game is a comfort read with real teeth. What worked: a cranky old narrator who steals every scene, plus a gut-punch about halfway through. What didn't: a couple of side plots that just disappear. Recommend for anybody who likes sweet stories with a little bite, skip for readers who want pure cozy.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

With its multiple first-person viewpoint characters, THE DEVIL'S GAME has some similarities with Theodore Sturgeon's GODBODY. Did Sturgeon read this novel before or while working on his final exploration of love? We may never know, but I suspect he did. Anderson's book, too, has a few things to say about love, but at its heart it's more an exploration of power. TDG makes it quite clear that love, too, is a form of power that can be used for good and evil. That makes it a darker book than Sturgeon's, but perhaps a more realistic one. It's up to the reader to decide if the novel is fantastical or not. Either the gamester is insane, in which case the novel is mimetic, or he is not, and the novel could be considered fantasy, or horror, or even science fiction. Since the gamester doesn't know whether he's insane or not, neither do we.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a couple of Fantasy-Island-gone-wrong moments that are interesting, but otherwise this is like fiction as done by a textbook writer.

[SciFiOne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grade D+

[Roger Scanlon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is a little misleading, there is not much supernatural going on here. Still, a decent read.

[Ryan Misener · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth reading!

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

more 'survivor' 80s style than sc-fi