Wayne Barlowe: God's Demon

Part of a private collection, this commissioned piece seemed, at first, impossible. As there are no vehicles or real machines in my Hell, I was confounded when the buyer asked me to invent a Hell-tank. The only solution that satisfied my world’s internal logic was to riff on the concept behind Agares’ steed as depicted in the INFERNO book. In that painting, the demon is seated upon a mount that is entirely composed of mashed-together souls, their multiple legs providing the locomotion. Once I licked that conceptual problem the painting was fun to execute. As I had just recently finished GOD’S DEMON and there was a scene involving Demolishers, this painting provided me a rare and serendipitous opportunity to envision a kinetic battle scene in Hell.

Sargatanas before the Behemoths — (from BRUSHFIRE: Illuminations from the Inferno , acrylic on ragboard) — Created primarily as siege weapons, the Behemoths can prove to be potent weapons upon the battlefield as well. Equipped with two massive bone-hammers and a heavy chin-blade these greatly enlarged souls are the once-cruel rulers of Asian empires transformed by the Demon Major Yen Wang to suit his needs. Donated to the Rebellion, they proved to be an invaluable military asset to Sargatanas.

Think Hannibal. In many ways there’s a kind of duality in the story I’m trying to tell. While the historical Hannibal actually does appear in GOD’S DEMON, it’s Sargatanas who utilizes certain principles and elements from his life. Like his elephants which became these Behemoths. I find Hannibal to be fascinating figure from history; he’s on my short list of people I’d take a time machine back to meet.

Hell’s Firstborn — (from Barlowe’s Inferno , acrylic on panel) — A giant Abyssal stands upon a scalding field outside the walls of Adamantinarx. Sharing the world of Hell, the demons and Abyssals co-exist in an uneasy relationship with both sides preying upon each other. There is, however, an odd mutual respect between them. Hunted for their skins and their usefulness as war-beasts, many Abyssals evoke an attitude of savage respect from the demons, while, for their part, the more intelligent of the Abyssals keep their distance, understanding the innate superiority of the new-comers. This understanding doesn’t inhibit the native creatures one bit if the opportunity arises to waylay a group of demons that might have lost their way in the wild Wastes.

The notion of a pre-existing fauna indigenous to Hell before the demons arrived opens up a whole line of conjecture. What would their evolutionary course be? What new life-forms could we find? While this painting represents a semi-intelligent individual, there must be countless Abyssals that are mere animals. Much as I did with EXPEDITION, I plan to do a series of wildlife paintings focusing on the fauna of Hell. One is underway as I write this.

Abaddon of the Pit — (Painter IX) — My book GOD’S DEMON is, in theory, the first of three novels addressing Hell. This image is a bit of a teaser, a glimpse of one the second book’s main characters. For a variety of reasons I’d rather not elaborate upon here, I decided to separate this entity visually from all of the other demons in Hell and go with a somewhat more abstract form. Primitive masks and insects floated before my mind’s eye as I created It.

This digital paint-sketch was created after I spent some serious time with the Painter program on PARADISE LOST. It represents another small step towards understanding that brilliant program but is, by no means, more than an exercise.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

GOD’S DEMON

Copyright © 2007 by Wayne Barlowe

Jacket and interior graphics copyright © 2007 by Wayne Barlowe

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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New York, NY 10010

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Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barlowe, Wayne Douglas.

God’s demon / Wayne Barlowe.—1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”

ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-0985-3

ISBN-10: 0-7653-0985-8

1. Hell—Fiction. 2. Devil—Fiction. 3. Angels—Fiction. 4. Demons—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3602.A775626G63 2007

813’.6—dc22

2007021074

First Edition: October 2007

Printed in the United States of America

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