This book was always going have to vie in my affections with the Lucifer graphic novel series by Mike Carey. As far as I'm concerned, Carey's devil is definitive. 'I, Lucifer' didn't manage to supplant him. Duncan's devil, inhabiting a human body as a deal with god, is more loquacious and frivolous, but considerably less sophisticated and cunning. I found that 'I, Lucifer' only really became engrossing towards the end, when Lucifer was trying to decide how long to stay in a human body. For much of the first person narrative, he meandered then periodically tried to jolt the reader with 'suddenly paedophilia!'-type interjections. Although all this was engagingly written, it didn't really go anywhere that interesting.

I suppose any story about Lucifer has to address the balance between a sympathetic and horrifying portrayal. Carey got around this by making the devil essentially disinterested in humanity; his plans and concerns were on a much larger scale. Whereas Duncan's Lucifer chats gleefully about torture and child-rape but, once in a mortal body, commits only glamorised sins. He sleeps with whores, takes drugs, and parties hard, but even tabloids could scarcely manage any shock about that. Perhaps the reader is meant to think that Lucifer is pretending to be a lightweight? The monologues about Himmler and the Inquisition give the opposite impression, though. The deus ex machina (not literally) ending is quite fun, but the needless postscript irritated me. In fact, the man who Lucifer inhabited, Declan, never seemed sympathetic to me and I wished that all the female characters would punch him.

Overall, 'I, Lucifer' is frothy but has some good moments. Lucifer himself reminded me of Lestat from The Vampire Chronicles, notably 'Tale of the Body Thief'. The thing is, Lestat is supposed to style himself as Lucifer, whereas in this book Lucifer comes off as a pastiche of Lestat. There's probably some meta irony there. ( )

I have removed all the punctuation from this review for a reason This book is an absolute MESS I see what the author is trying to say and it is rather pointless I am the devil and I am going to do what I want regardless of who it hurts The book rambles and drones on and on and it is quite obvious someone is suffering from a severe attention disorder Nothing in the book flows almost as if it were written with no punctuation I expect that from a two hundred year old novel But not from something this modern It is one large distraction after another. Harriet is far more interesting than the devil ( )

I ADORE Glen Duncan, and I adored the first few chapters of this book, but then I just got... bored. I think the devil should be able to hold my attention better, but his snappy banter just got a bit monotonous. If a book isn't strong on plot, as this one isn't, it needs something else to hold interest. Whilst it succeeded at times, what with the whole so-this-is-what-it's-like-to-be-human! subtext, it never deviated from there. It didn't go deeper. Moments of beautiful, lyrical writing here, but ultimately I found it disappointing. ( )

A very interesting tale. It's a great story from the perspective of the Devil, with an interesting take on falling from grace, and more importantly rising back into grace. Full of foul language, violence, sex and everything else you would expect from a book told from the perspective of Lucifer this book is not for everyone. ( )

DNF ( )

Almost exactly what I'd expect Lucier to actually be like - charming, sexy and funny. This is a very well-written book about Lucifer taking the guise of a mortal, and learning about being a human being. Lucifer's adjustment to being a mortal is definately the best section of the book. ( )

The language. I have to begin with the language of this book, the captivating voice of the narrator, the unique cadence of the prose. I would find it worthwhile for that alone. What further amazed me is the fact that, up until the very last sentence, I didn't know how it would end. You can't put the last several pages down (and the rest of them are pretty difficult to set aside). There's a glimpse of a world that makes a very different sort of sense from the old mythologies we know and love, a world that flows logically from their tales when one accounts for the lens of history, but a world that manages to use those tales to turn what we usually know on its head. This is my favorite type of story, and the author does it impeccably. ( )

Finding this hard to read. Maybe its the constant first person dialogue. Constant changing topics. A complicated word on every page. The bad language is fun to read, of course Lucifer swears & thinks the world of himself. Maybe I'll try this again in a few years.

Book Info: Genre: Literary Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: People who like to look at things from a different perspective
Trigger Warnings: This is a story told from Lucifer's point of view, so he often thinks about things that aren't at all nice, such as possibly raping a woman, or killing people, etc. It's mostly just thoughts, but be aware of them. Attempted suicide.

My Thoughts: I'm still trying to make sense of this piece. The book isn't much about anything but the journey, Lucifer's experiences spending time in a mortal form and how he spends that time, his thoughts on various things, and his determination to write a book that will once and for all set things straight and tell the story from his point of view. As such, it tends to be rambling, wandering from topic to topic (often self-consciously so), and somewhat disjointed. It will not be for everyone, that is for sure, but I found I rather enjoyed it. Lucifer has a sort of wry voice that I found appealing (when he wasn't thinking appalling things), and his descriptions of the things around him made me see things in a new light. I mean, just imagine that you've spent all this time immaterial and suddenly you're in the material world, feeling, smelling, hearing, seeing... it would be overwhelming. I think the author did a good job of portraying that idea. The one problem I had with this is that everything is left up in the air. What happens with Lucifer? I know I”d like to know. That wasn't enough to detract from the story, though; it just left me with burning questions that I wanted answered. If this sounds like the sort of thing that would appeal to you, be sure to check this book out.

Disclosure: I purchased this e-book for myself. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: The Prince of Darkness has been given one last shot at redemption, provided he can live out a reasonably blameless life on earth. Highly sceptical, naturally, the Old Dealmaker negotiates a trial period—a summer holiday in a human body, with all the delights of the flesh.

The body, however, turns out to be that of Declan Gunn, a depressed writer living in Clerkenwell, interrupted in his bath mid-suicide. Ever the opportunist, and with his main scheme bubbling in the background, Luce takes the chance to tap out a few thoughts—to straighten the biblical record, to celebrate his favourite achievements, to let us know just what it's like being him.

Neither living nor explaining turns out to be as easy as it looks. Beset by distractions, miscalculations and all the natural shocks that flesh is heir to, the Father of Lies slowly begins to learn what it's like being us. ( )

The devil has been offered a shot at redemption. Live a (reasonably) sin free life on earth as a human and he will get a shot at heaven. Of course the Devil doesn’t believe a word of it but he’s sure going to have fun in his hosts body, washed up author Declan Gunn. Although he doesn't realise it's going to give him a penchant for storytelling. This book then is his story.

I have mixed feelings about this book. There are some gems here, Lucifer is the King of unreliable narrators and I loved his flowing duplicity sometimes switching "truths" mid-sentence. I enjoyed his asides into history, his rants, his arrogance and smugness (oh you can see why he fell). He could be accused of rambling (lovers of tight action plots beware) but I thought it was great and elevated the novel from the ordinary.

I didn't like the character he "jumped” into, the failed author, an arrogant loser whose life and legacy added nothing particularly to the story. I also didn't like the fact that Lucifer seems to be misogynistic it was annoying and jarring, I mean surely he hates everyone. In fact I jarred with his personality but it’s matter of taste, I have my own opinion on what Lucifer should be (I blame Neil Gaiman)

Recommended. I will be reading more from Duncan (I really enjoyed [The last Werewolf]) ( )

“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”

“How to describe hell? Disembowelled landscape busy with suffering, incessant heat, permanent scarlet twilight, a swirling snowfall of ash, the stink of pain and the din of...if only, hell is two things: the absence of God and the presence of time. Infinite variations on that theme. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Well, trust me.”

I really, really wanted to like this book and when I initially started it, I thought "what a great book", but then it changed and I started to get annoyed and bored.
I managed 150 pages - WOW - The blurb sounded promising and I thought the concept of the book was great, but IMO it just didn't deliver. I liked the parts where he was talking about his fall from heaven and his ruthless efforts in Paradise to corrupt Adam and Eve. I also enjoyed the parts of him enjoying the smells, the colours and how he percived the world around him, once he was in Declan's body.
However, I got already annoyed on the first few pages when Lucifer tempts a padre to sexually abuse a little boy. HAHAHA HOW FUNNY. Sorry, I didn't think this was funny. Then he carries on with lots of philosophical religious ramblings, using lots of "interesting" words and once he finished a ramble, you didn't have a clue anymore what the ramble was about. After some time, I just felt that Lucifer was a boring, arrogant gump which had nothing to offer aside from drugs, sex, violence and other weird things. Even half way through, I didn't have a clue what the author wanted to convey with this book aside from all the things we know already and eventually, I didn't think his ramblings were funny at all - and that was what the book was ment to be - FUNNY! ( )

The beginning was wonderfully crafted, but then you got into nitty gritty type of stuff and I just wanted the book to be over. ( )

LIked the idea but the snarkiness was overdone. ( )

A first-person confession from Lucifer on the occasion of his chance to live as a mortal for one month in the body of Declan Gunn. This chance comes from God, who hopes that Lucifer will learn something in that time which will persuade Lucifer to accept His offer of redemption. The result is often quite funny, and Gunn writes well--his descriptions and observations are often startlingly, wonderfully apt. The biggest success of the novel is probably making Lucifer a sympathetic character, someone for whom you want to root. The biggest failure of the novel is certainly the lack of any understanding of what one is rooting for Lucifer for. Not to win, surely? We like the angels as they are on the page here, and Lucifer is a bad piece of work. Perhaps I was rooting for him to accept redemption? Not a question, really. I was, but I'm not sure the book wanted me to. And in the absence of that surety, I was left asking myself, "What is this for? This is all very clever, and well done you, for that, Duncan, but what's the pay-off?" The further I got in the book, the more I was afraid there would be no satisfying ending, and thus the more I found the humor and bad-shit-goes-down (he is the devil, after all) of the thing wearying. I wanted to like I, Lucifer a good bit more than I did, but in the end I can't help thinking that it's largely an opportunity lost. ( )

This psychological portrayal of one of history's most hated figures made me think about free will and what I would suffer in order to maintain it. When God offers Lucifer the opportunity to "redeem" himself by living as a human for one month, Lucifer smirks, says yes, and proceeds to enjoy his one month vacation. Through his actions and his thoughts while being Declan Gun, Lucifer reveals a story not of good versus evil but of an indomitable will versus an indomitable will.

Two things are going on in this story: one, Lucifer is living (a version of) Declan Gun's life, finally experiencing a world with sensory perception; two, Lucifer is writing a story about what really happened in heaven. The second was more interesting to me, being theological and all; and yet the first reminded me of the beauty of being alive. Luce gets drunk on sight and sound, smell, taste, and touch through walks in the rain, cocaine, sex, food, alcohol: everything is up for grabs. The beauty of his thoughts as he relishes even the smells of the dirtiest places made me almost feel guilty for ignoring, or rather taking for granted, my ability to sense the world around me.

The real pull for me, however, was the theology expressed in the book. I haven't even begun to wrap my mind around all of the variant, tantalizing ideas running rampant. Apparently, Lucifer had a good reason for getting upset with God; he was sick of the "undiluted adulation" God expected from the angels. Lucifer just wanted to control his own life; he wanted choice. Good for him. A life of perpetual kiss-assery sounds pretty damn bleak to me.

When it comes down to it though, the story is just dirty fun. ( )

I read "I, Lucifer" for a book club, and to start with I couldn't get on with it at all. In fact the main reason that I've finished it so quickly, is that I wanted to get it over and done with.

The book is written in the first person by Lucifer, and the main thing that grated on me was Lucifer's 'voice' . However once Lucifer got into Declan's body, there was less waffle and more action and the book started to grow on me. I loved the way that Lucifer was blown away by having the five senses, and took ages to walk anywhere as he was always getting distracted by the smell of a dog's paw or the sight of a flower-garden. "Meanwhile the bloody reds and coronal golds bedevilled me like circling sprites; greens of olive, lime and pea spiralled around me, flaming yellows of saffron and primrose . . . Hard to tell whether I was about to pass through into some other dimension or simply vomit onto the seething lawn."

The plot was unpredictable, with the story of the film script and Declan/Lucifer's earthly relationships keeping me involved even though I never got to like the language used to tell the story. The digressions about Lucifer's non-corporeal existence and his feelings about God, Jesus and The Fall were an interesting sub-plot. And the poem by Rilke which Raphael showed to Lucifer at the end of the book, summed up perfectly the angels' experience of becoming mortal. In fact I suspect that the poem may have been the catalyst that gave Glen Duncan the idea for this novel in the first place.

So to sum up, although I started off distinctly underwhelmed by "I, Lucifer", it won me round in the end. ( )

Absolutely profound and witty.

A new take on the image of Lucifer that is both eye-opening and hilarious. Duncan's brilliant view of the Ruler of the Underworld is imaginative and perfect down to the anagram of the main character's (whom Lucifer is inhabiting) name. High recommended to those with an open-mind and preferably those with a staunch religious affiliation (although we all know they won't read it with an open-mind). ( )

Really surprised by how well this book was written and how entertaining it was. I bought it merely on a whim 5 years ago when I lived in New York. Despite all the city had to offer, I stayed locked up in my room reading this book in 2 days time. The narrator (a devilish guy!) is self-centered, acerbic, and just plain old unpleasant; but he is very real and oddly easy to relate to.

What's everyone else think of the human the devil gets to inhabit for a month being named Declan Gun? (An anagram minus an "n" for Glen Duncan.) ( )

The true genius here is in whoever wrote the description on the back of this book and, without lying, made it sound interesting. Because when it comes down to it, this book was really quite awful. The worst part about it is that the idea of the story had merit (Lucifer is given a second chance to redeem himself by spending a month as a mortal) and the writing showed so much potential, but it turned out to just suck. Unless you think reading about someone drinking a lot, doing all sorts of drugs, having lots of weird sex and copious diarrhea is fun, I don't really see how you could enjoy this. It's a boring and rambling piece of meanness. Obviously this is not going to be recommended by me to anyone. ( )

How can I put this tactfully? If you are a Christian what is the nature of evil for you? Why does a powerful God permit the Holocaust? Well I hear the defence that it’s a consequence of us being given the freedom of choice. Hence the Devil and his hordes serve to tempt us away from the path of righteousness. But think on, in a world in which Good struggles with Evil we turn the terrorist and criminal into something less then human and that’s the path to genocide. Another defence is that God is not all powerful and needs us to make the world and so that love requires that we see the humanity in the paedophile and the holocaust stoker- condemn the sin not the sinner.

If at this stage you are reaching for your copy of 101 ways of dealing with Heretics i, Lucifer by Glen Duncan is not for you.(And if you thought you were getting a 60’s action thriller with Modesty Blaise kicking ass, are you in for a shock.) This book deals with the trials and tribulations of Lucifer as he gains the opportunity to experience human existence by living the life of a suicidal writer (whose soul is on hold in Purgatory) for a month. It’s told in a first person monologue with lots of flashbacks as he writes about the events in the Bible from his perspective for a screenplay.

The writing is funny, cheeky wicked and dark. Here Duncan manages to take a swipe at both the Christian Right and the PC brigade.

…Oh yes we got Mike downstairs. In fact now’s as a good time as any to tell you: if you are gay you go to Hell, Doesn’t matter what else you spend your time doing-painting the Sistine Chapel, for instant-knob jockey? Down you go( Lezzers are borderline; room for manoeuvres if they’ve done social work.) The entire masterpiece fuelled by the stiffened brush softened in the wrong pot. Another superb irony lost on His Lordship. Not a titter. Just consigned Michelangelo to my torturous care. Awful shame, really. (Had you going, didn’t I? Don’t for Heaven’s sake, take everything so seriously all the time. Heaven’s bulging with queer souls. Honestly.)

For more go to my blog http://tinyurl.com/3thxlb ( )

i was looking forward to a few laughs with this book. And although there were one or two. it was a bit to dry for me. ( )

The basic premise of the book is that God offers Lucifer a second chance if he can live one month as a human. Declan Gunn is depressed London novelist contemplating suicide so God puts his soul on ice for a month and Lucifer takes control. This is an at times hilariously funny novel as Lucifer immerses himself in the pleasures of the flesh. The descriptions of Lucifer's reactions to smelling the various odours that make up a walk through the London streets are particularly vivid. The ideas that Duncan raises in this novel are not new but the first person narrative helps to create a compelling portrait of a fallen angel, who may or may not be ready to return to the fold. My only criticism is that Duncan's prose is very dense and I had to stop reading at regular intervals in order to assimilate the events narrated. ( )

This novel was excellence from page one. frequent interludes into Lucifer's personal stories, thoughts or feelings based around well known events was incredibly interesting to read, and the reader actually has to do some work, whether it be looking something up, or deciphering just what he's trying to say (since he speaks in such clever double negatives and contradictions it's hard to keep up with what he's really saying), the reader has an active part in the story. The writing was just amazing, the imagery and detail described throughout is some of the best I've read, especially the descriptions of Lucifer's take on sights and smells. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in theology, or just plain good writing. ( )

Brilliant! ( )

I found I, Lucifer so loose in structure and so idiosyncratic in style that I'm not sure what to hang my review on other than a few random headings:

Allusions
This was the biggest problem for me - I wish I'd read more 'religious' material. Although I'm Church of England that's only because of the architecture. I had the feeling that the ideal reader would be steeped both in the scriptures and Paradise Lost (and a Catholic, probably). I'm sure that many allusions whooshed over me, without me seeing the jibe or getting the joke.

Historical Interludes
I could have done without these. I didn't think the Himmler or the Inquisition chapters added anything to the purpose of the story. The points made, about the nature of evil, just seemed mundane and obvious. I hated the Inquisition torture chapter and wished I'd skipped the nasty bits.

The Angels
I liked the Angels come to earth. I especially liked Raphael as the potbellied Greek, Theo Mandros, with his white suit and his love for Lucifer. Quite a short chapter yet a complete mood change with the love, regret and reproach of Raphael nicely drawn.

Lust for life
Great, loved it. The sheer exuberant vulgarity of it all, particularly the sex scenes. I just tried to find some quotes from these scenes that would acceptable and failed! I think I was also drawn to the possibilities of near omniscience; as explored in the seduction of Harriet Marsh, (Pages 79 - 83) - this had echoes of Groundhog Day, but without the long wait.

Some of the exploration of the senses is repetitive (Ice cream, and the smell of dogs for example) in fact I thought the book would have benefited from tighter editing and could have been fifty pages shorter

What WAS it About?
Well, I'll play devils advocate. Those of you who know something of theology and religion can cut me down to size later. I'm on Lucifer's side. Lucifer sets out his claim on page 210:

"The point, my dears, is not good or evil - but freedom. For an angel there is only one true freedom, and that, I am honestly sad to say, is freedom from God."

Lucifer can make no real choices. Where God is omniscient, and all is pre-ordained, what are good and evil? Both are just manifestations of God. But, at the end of the book, God gives him one more possibility - oblivion, which, at last, means freedom. Lucifer is a freedom fighter - evil is just collateral damage.

Was the author using Lucifer to explore predestination versus free will or just throwing us a bit of theology to make his self indulgent sex romp more literary? Dunno. ( )