Review: The Fallen
“Joshua Dagon's The Fallen is a story, set in modern-day LA about a group of hot party-boys who stumble unknowingly into a battle between demons. Dagon's demons aren't all bad, though. In the demon Marbas the Black, for example, Dagon
has found
a hero who is beautiful and frightening, gentle and ferocious. He carries with him guilt
at what he has done, and an unlimited resolve
to protect those he grows close to. The backdrop of the City of Angels,
with its decadent culture of sex and drugs,
is the perfect playground for the supernatural.
Dagon guides the reader
down the dark nighttime alleys of the home of the sun-soaked elite, exposing the terrifying underbelly of its soul. With each character,
the reader begins to feel an understanding. While the heroes of the piece are certainly relatable, even the villains (like the half-mad with
zeal priest who follows Marbas the Black to LA) garner some sympathy. These are
not cookie-cutter copies of familiar personas. Through Dagon's careful dissection of each character's past the reader comes to understand why they do the things they do. There's a lot of backstory here, and bits of theology, mythology, and folklore thrown in for good measure.
It makes for one hell of an
interesting read!
The Fallen is a delicious read, filled with wonderful detail, great attention to character, and as seductive a writing style as anything Anne Rice has ever composed. Dagon races along, telling the story with a freshness and wit (in fact, there are some big laughs) that seems to be sorely missing from many of his contemporaries. His is a highly recommended book. The story is continued with Demon Tears, as the chain of events that began in The Fallen are wrapped up and the mysteries explained. Though thick books, they read swiftly, and with Halloween approaching, what better time of the year to read about demons than now."
-Eric Avin, Summer 2007
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