All Hell Loose

"Star Ship."

As Anse and Janazik lead warriors through dark streets toward the castle, they hear a trumpet, shouts and clattering swords:

"'One of our bands has come across a patrol,' said Janazik unnecessarily. 'Now all hell will be loose in Krakenau. Come on!'" (p. 287)

What would it be like if all hell really were loose? Turn to Black Easter by James Blish. An arms merchant who is an aesthete of destruction hires the most powerful black magician to release a large number of demons with no restrictions for an entire night just to find out what they will do. The results are World War III, much destruction and demons who refuse to be re-confined because one of their triumvirate announces that the conjuration has unleashed Armageddon which their side has won. In the sequel - how can there be one? -, the demon fortress of Dis, raised to Earth's surface in Death Valley, destroys the Strategic Air Command but then there is a pause in hostilities. The now greatest Powers must consider what happens next.

Blish could easily have filled a volume with demons running amok through the world but, being a careful writer, he considered the implications of what he had written so far. 

For me, that phrase, "all hell will be loose," brings up all that.

The five principles of this blog are:

reread Poul Anderson;

film Anderson - but do it right;

read Blish too;

remember Wells;

compare certain other sf writers whom we can list.