Hurt of Darkness, or Lighten Up!

Circles in Hell, Book 11

By: Mark Cain

Narrated by: Michael Gilboe

Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The final tale in the Circles in Hell humorous fantasy series

Satan, fallen angel, chief devil, and ruler of Hell seems to have everything: immortality, a kingdom, cool superpowers, and lots of minions to grovel at his feet. So why isn’t he happy? Simple. Satan wants more. He’s just not sure, though, what “more” even means in his case.

To break out of his funk, he and the other devils pit themselves against their heavenly counterparts in a struggle with universal consequences. No, this isn’t the War in Heaven. It is

The Demiurge Competition

There can be but one winner, and the Earl of Hell will do everything in his power to ensure that he comes out on top.

Join Satan and all your other favorite characters in one final romp through the Circles in Hell universe. CIH has been compared to other comedic works of “Hell Fiction,” such as The Screwtape Letters and Good Omens, and to the paranormal humor of Tom Holt, Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams.

©2022 Mark Cain (P)2022 Mark Cain

My least favorite of the series

I've been a fan of Circles in Hell since book 2 or 3 was released, and this is definitely my least favorite of them all. I get what Cain was going for, and the high level plot arc is interesting, but the delivery falls flat. The backdrop of Satan in a celestial pageant is strained at best, and at worst a tortured metaphor. In the later books, the series strayed from the interesting vision of Hell and its denizens that Cain had built, and lost a lot of it's charm in the process. But what really kills it for me is the characterization of Satan as just a misunderstood pawn reluctantly playing his role from the very beginning. It undermines the entire persona built up over the previous 10 books to the point of almost seeming a non sequitur.

Mark Cain/Michael Gilboe, a PERFECT combination.

I own every audio book available that was written by Mark Cain. This guy is a pleasure to read and/or listen to, well, his writing is…I have no idea what he is like in person, but I digress.

Michael Gilboe is the perfect narrator who expertly brings off the sarcasm, humor, and irony in Cain’s writing. I will be searching out other author's work he may have read just because he is so good at what he does.

If you have ever had something go wrong, and thought “of course…” knowing that life often (usually) sucks and we just have to get through it, you will understand and love the Circles in Hell series.

If you have any sort of biblical knowledge, or were exposed to the classics in school, the references peppered all over these books will be fun for you as well.

I do not laugh out loud often, especially when I’m alone, but on my 3-hour daily commute, this made other drivers look at me as if I were deranged, and I laughed out loud, a lot. These books made a boring trip fun.

Buy the entire series. You can thank me for the recommendation later.

You’re welcome.

Thank you Mark

What a beautiful ending to an amazing series. I'm saddened to know that this is the end, however I am so satisfied with how you tied it up. I look forward to your next adventure if you choose to take us on another wonderful journey.