Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Goetia - Hellgate: London by Mel Odom


Goetia
Hellgate: London, Book 2
Mel Odom
Pocket Star Books
February 26, 2008
ISBN# 978-1-4165-2580-6

It’s been four years since the Hellgate was opened and Demons began taking over Earth and every living thing upon it. The majority of humans are being killed off; those who survive are in hiding or have been altered and used for the demon’s purposes. The landscape is destroyed and reformed to meet the demon’s needs and desires.

Simon Cross is a Templar who once tried to turn his back on the order. Now, in the midst of chaos, he and his team strive to rescue and save the survivors living in small pockets throughout London.

Leah Creasey, who works with someone unknown to Simon, has come to him with information about a linguistics professor, Macomber, who has knowledge the Templar need. He may know the location of Goetia, a manuscript written by King Solomon. It’s said that the power in the book was used to bind seventy-two demons and that skill would be valuable in their current situation.

Warren Schimmer was nearly killed by a demon, but in the end he found himself alive and bound to the demon, Merihim. Merihim has a thirst for power and he plans to use Warren to achieve it. They’ve recovered a book with power of its own, and it’s more than happy to help Warren develop his own power to one day free himself from Merihim.

The search for Goetia is on, and those who uncover it first may end up with power to change the odds in the battle against demons. Finding it is only the first step.

Goetia is the second installment in the Hellgate: London Trilogy and is based on a video game from Flagship Studios. Having not read the first book I had expected to have a little difficulty understanding what was going on, but that wasn’t the case at all. Mel Odom introduces characters into the storyline with good detail of who they are, what they’re after, and whose side they’re on. The only real enigma is Leah. While she aligns herself with Simon, she’s also answering to another group, and refuses to share those details with him. This is not a fast read, there’s a lot to take in as the story progresses. Goetia is action-packed and set in an enjoyable futuristic world that I’d be happy to visit again.

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews

5 comments:

Tia Nevitt said...

Hmm, modern-day Templars. Sounds interesting!

Kimberly Swan said...

Hi Tia...The amazing bit there is that the Templars aren't vampires and they aren't hunting vampires (demon's instead). So this was a nice change. :)

Harry Markov said...

I knew this sounded familiar. I know of the game Hellgate, never played it t5hough and I am so thrilled to read about Goetia. Having read the actual grimoire with descriptions of the 72 demons I am excited to see a novel about that. I wonder how I can get hold of these books. I am so writing to the author!

Kimberly Swan said...

I haven't seen the game, but it must have great detail judging by the book. Cool, you should really understand why they're searching for it then. :)

Harry Markov said...

Well I have no idea in what inclination this is used. I just know it lists 72 powerful demon leaders and the signets that can capture them. This proves to be super material if you like worldbuilding and want to create demons. Anyways it is a powerful book if we trust history and mythology.