This was an easy read but it seemed there was a lot of bland filler conversation in a few of the stories/chapters. I remember reading a few of these books when I was a teenager some time ago and liking them a lot, this one I had never read before. It reminded me that I absolutely hate C.J. Cherryh's writing, which constantly spins its wheels and never gets anywhere until near the end. A bit strange I guess that I'm reading this series of books in which she has a not-insignificant part. However, I did like some of the stories here. These are the first two: Son of the Morning and Newton Sleep, the latter having the same flaws as some of the later stories but here it serves as an introduction to hell's rules which then get repeated ad nauseam in every other story; and The Hand of Providence and To Reign in Hell.
Would I recommend this book? Maybe, the first two stories are fascinating and sufficiently gruesome and informational respectively and there are a couple of others that are fantastical and somewhat gory. I guess if you're in for a Bangsian fantasy with plenty of gory fantasy violence, then I would recommend this one, otherwise not so much. ( )

Thieves World style anthology theme of famous people involved in a rebellion in Hell

Great series. As good the fifth time around as I remembered. As I read, I keep wondering how accurate the history is and find myself Googling the characters and their histories to see just how much research went into all the backgrounds of these historical characters. Feels like I am repeating history classes or upgrading my knowledge base. ( )

Love this series, the historical characters, the rough edges to the stories, the anguished Devil, the intrigue, mystery and dystopia. I want to get electronic copies of these. ( )

I am a fan of the shared universe books that seemed especially popular in the 80s (Thieves' World, Merovingen Nights, etc.) but as I was but a youth then, I found the Hell books pretty impenetrable and never got past this first one. Now in my thirties and with all twelve books in my collection, I thought I would try again.
The conceit of this series is that Hell is filled with all of the world's famous personages, like Caesar, Patton, Alexander the Great, etc., and that they are part of a political power struggle going on in Hell. For instance, Che Guevara is leading dissidents against Satan's rule, while Machiavelli sides with whoever is best for him at any given moment.
The book is still a bit impenetrable to me at times, especially C.J. Cherryh's story, "The Prince." That is the best example of how dense with historical/political power struggles the book can be, requiring the reader to keep track of a dozen character's motivations (their current ones and ones that are based on events in their former lives) at once, when really the reader spends only a small amount of time with each character. In other words, you need to know your history going in to get the most out of parts of this book. There is enough in the book that is smoother sailing to keep me going through the series, this time. Up next: The Gates of Hell, by C.J. Cherryh and Janet Morris. ( )