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The Satanic Diaries by Krister Jones (view source)
Revision as of 19:47, 29 August 2020
, 19:47, 29 August 2020no edit summary
It’s as clever as it is silly and the only thing that really let it down was the ending. I was hoping that Satan would go back to his roots, as it were, knock most of the admin on the head and restore by force the days of sulphur and fire. What happened made sense, but didn’t quite satisfy as much as it could have.
I’m willing to forgive the ending, however, for three reasons. The first being that the overall themes – what Jones has to say on day -to -day life – are certainly there and are noticeable but do not beat you around the head. They remain in the subtext where they belong, which is a rare treat these days.
The second reason is the throwaway jokes and set pieces which are arguably by far the best parts of the book. An offhand sentence in, say, Monday’s entry will setup for part of Wednesday’s to be devoted to a situation that will never rise again but will almost certainly be the examples you reach for when telling your friends why they should read it.
This brings me to reason number three – the personality of Satan. Krister Jones has made the Dark Overlord likablelikeable. This is an achievement in itself, but he’s done it without making him nice, reasonable or in any way good. He’s relatable because while he cheerfully indulges in all seven of the deadly sins in ways we would if we could get away with (he buys thirty shirts so he can throw them away at the end of the day and thus avoid doing any washing), he’s still useless, frustrated and often utterly bewildered by the life he’s woken up and found himself leading.
Absolutely lay your hands on this and pray (or make the relevant sacrifices) for there to be a volume two.