# Novels with "reformed" demons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059 "2008-11-23T01:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/1 "2008-11-23T01:49:14Z")
Just novels, please, not movies/tv shows/comics/manga or books based on them. Watching the latest episode of Supernatural with a “good” demon (Ruby) reminds me of Spike and Angel on BTVS/Angel in as much as she’s trying to walk the straight and narrow too, and has turned on evil. I tried to think of a novel with a demon who fights on the side of good, or even just lives a straight life now without harming anyone, but I couldn’t. Just TV shows and so on. The vampire who is (now) good - Bill, Ivy, Promise, Louis etc - is an easier find in novels, it seems. There have to be novels with demons who have reformed themselves, though, don’t there? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/2 "2008-11-23T02:07:54Z")
How about Crowley from _Good Omens_? He doesn’t exactly ‘live a straight life now without harming anyone’, but he decides that bringing on the Apocalypse maybe isn’t such a good thing and joins with the angel Aziraphale, who has come to the same conclusion. (Actually, they’ve been rather friendly with each other over the millennia. Aziraphale tells Crowley that he’d always thought there was a spark of goodness in him, and Crowley tells Aziraphale that the angel is enough of a bastard to be worth liking.) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/3 "2008-11-23T02:59:26Z")
Jack L. Chalker, _[And the Devil Will Drag You Under](http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Will-Drag-You-Under/dp/0345323343)_. ETA: I think _The Silver Stallion_ by James Branch Cabell would loosely fit your request. And several of the Malazan books by Steven Erikson have reasonably friendly demons as minor characters. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/4 "2008-11-23T03:05:33Z")
Aahz from Robert Aspirin’s _Myth Adventures_ is reformed. Sorta. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/5 "2008-11-23T03:39:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Aahz from Robert Aspirin’s _Myth Adventures_ is reformed. Sorta. I thought that in the Myth books demon was a nickname for a dimensional traveler. So Skeeve (a human) is a demon, and so is pretty much every character in those books. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/6 "2008-11-23T04:01:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There have to be novels with demons who have reformed themselves, though, don’t there? There definitely are, but as to whether they’re worth reading? Ehhh. _Working for the Devil_ by Lilith Saintcrow (I hope that’s not her real name) has a reformed demon character. It ends kinda cliffhangery (and I stopped at the first book) so I’m not guaranteeing the reformed part. I had other books in mind and now I’ve forgotten them. I’ll come back if they do. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/7 "2008-11-23T04:12:37Z")
**The Fallible Fiend** by L. Sprague de Camp ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/8 "2008-11-23T04:32:10Z")
I’m not positive, but I think [Teddy London](http://www.thrillingdetective.com/london.html) deals with, at least, some ambivalent demons. Don’t know if they are reformed… Regardless, worth a read. A great series… gritty Philip Marlowe noir meets Lovecraft. I swear these novels are one of Joss Whedon’s biggest unacknowledged literary influences. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/9 "2008-11-23T06:51:56Z")
[Night’s Master](http://www.amazon.com/Nights-Master-Daw-Science-Fiction/dp/0886771315) by Tanith Lee. Azhrarn definitely is not “good”, and he’s certainly not “reformed” either – but he is also just as definitely the protagonist you’ll like and identify with. [Delerium’s Mistress](http://www.amazon.com/Deliriums-Mistress-Novel-Flat-Earth/dp/0886771358/ref=pd_sim_b_2) is a later book in the series, and _it’s_ protagonist, Azhriaz (daughter of Azhrarn) is could be described as both “good” and “reformed”. Also, they’re quite good books, even though I see they’ve foolishly been let fall out of print. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/10 "2008-11-23T16:41:17Z")
In one sense, **Childhood’s End** by Arthur C. Clarke, though the demonic figures haven’t reformed; they just were never evil in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/11 "2008-11-23T17:20:19Z")
**I Lucifer** by Glen Duncan (which I am currently reading and haven’t quite finished yet) has the devil (Lucifer) offered a shot at redemption by heaven provided he can inhabit a mortal body for a month without commiting a deadly sin. It’s funny and narrated by Lucifer himself. Worth a read, although it’s a fair guess he never really fully gets redeemed. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/12 "2008-11-23T17:31:39Z")
At least one of Piers Anthony’s Xanth novels features a reformed demon. I recall this fact because the character was a woman who was clearly described as desirable, yet was also clearly above legal age. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/13 "2008-11-23T17:48:53Z")
Holly Lisle did a short series of books with the following theme: > [@](#): > > Embittered with her life and missing her late husband, nurse Dayne Kuttner appeals to God to give the Devil and his residents of Hell a second chance, and when her prayer is answered, all hell breaks loose. (quoted from Amazon) It wasn’t too bad. The first is called _Sympthy for the Devil_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/14 "2008-11-23T19:18:45Z")
In [_The War-Hound and the World’s Pain,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Hound_and_the_World%27s_Pain) by Michael Moorcock, Lucifer is trying to win redemption by finding, through agents, the Holy Grail. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/15 "2008-11-23T21:59:06Z")
The TV show Reaper has an underground group of demons who want to be good and overthrow Satan. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/16 "2008-11-23T22:18:18Z")
the lillith saintcrow’s are rather good. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/17 "2008-11-23T22:55:37Z")
I’d mention **Planescape: Torment,** except that it’s a computer game, not a book. (Well, there _is_ a book, but it’s almost completely unlike the game, so it doesn’t count.) In the game, one of the characters who can join your party is Fall-From-Grace, a reformed succubus who runs the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts. In other words, it’s a place filled with beautiful, scantily-clad women whom you can pay to… play chess. “Oh, so Mistress High-and-Mighty’ll be joinin’ us? What do we need her for?” “You couldn’t _possibly_ understand.” ---
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/18 "2008-11-23T23:14:15Z")
Mike Carey has two books about private eye/exorcist Felix Castor, and he has a sidekick (sort of in that she hasn’t killed him yet) named Juliet who is a sucubus. She’s not so much reformed as on hiatus. The first book - The Devil You Know -was pretty good. The second - Vicious Circle - was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/19 "2008-11-23T23:17:52Z")
_Hex and the City_ has Pretty Poison, a succubus who fights on the side of good because Sinner, the man she was sent to corrupt asks it of her. She truly reforms in the end. _Personal Demon_ by L Sprague DeCamp. _The Second Summoning_ involves a demon accidentally summoned in the form of a teenage girl, who is contaminated by the humanity of her form and gradually reforms. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059/20 "2008-11-24T01:28:35Z")
I haven’t finished reading it, yet, but Wayne Barlowe’s _God’s Demon_ seems to qualify. (Reading the author’s art books _Barlowe’s Inferno_ and _Brushfire_ first would help, though—really give you an idea of what the setting looks like.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-reformed-demons/474059.md?page=2)