Heaven is not divine, and even this world can be flawed. As well as Bobby’s own misgivings and perspectives on Heaven without the rose coloured glasses. There is an undercurrent in the story of a possible division in Heaven. There is great detail in some aspect but little in others. The same goes for the specific details around Angels in human bodies. I hope this goes somewhere as it has been mentioned on several occasions in the book. Williams has introduced the notion that as an Angel you don’t remember your past and your first memories are of being an Angel serving God’s great plan. I like this concept, it’s a nice twist on selling your soul and getting what you asked for. Like most of our fantasy heroes the main character is a lone wolf but he does have some interesting friends and resources which get introduced along the way the most notable is character called Fatback: cursed, Fatback could be called a were-pig (kinda) human with a pig mind during the day and by night a pig with a human mind. What happens when you cannot find the souls to judge? It’s along this path that the story diverges and leaves Bobby with more questions than answers. As part of a souls judgement we are introduced to the ‘Outside’, a place outside time and this is a nice model for dealing with the number of souls to be balanced. Salvation or damnation at the end of a gavel, where every action in life is chronicled and used to defend and prosecute you, no death bed repentance her. The construct Williams uses is simple in its meme but complex in approach, and quite thought provoking. In a good fantasy book we usually are fighting with magic against Monsters and Dark Lords, but in The Dirty Streets we are tackling the issue of the balancing of the soul, and who gets to go to Heaven and who goes to Hell. The topic of Heaven, Hell and souls is a hefty one in real life, let alone fantasy. Divine hero, wounded, beaten, and tired, out of his depth and trick but ever growing, evolving and becoming something more. Dresden is also in the mix in the elements of Bobby’s motivation and actions towards demons. I also found characteristics of Sandman Slim in the anthropomorphic depiction of demons and miscellaneous things that walk. If you have seen the movie or read the comics, you will find elements of Constantine, in his view of aspects of Heaven, Hell and Demons. The principle character, Bobby Dollar, is a nice balance of several characters types. I found the main characters and view to be engaging. However, I have always enjoyed Tad Williams books and I know he does like to mix up his writing style so thankfully I was pleasantly surprised in The Dirty Streets of Heaven. To be honest, before beginning this book I was unsure of the story and concept Williams was portraying.
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