recent read; The Clock of Dreams & Spawn of the Winds (Titus Crow omnibus, volume 2)

Whereas Lumley's hero Titus Crow features in what I would classify as horror short stories, when Lumley brought Crow into novels, the tone shifted quickly from horror to pulp adventure fantasy with occult touches. That trend continues strongly in this volume.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Lumley uses more of the Derleth Mythos model than Lovecraft's. In this Mythos, Cthulhu is "evil," not just ambivalent. And opposing the Old Ones are "good" Elder Gods.

The Clock of Dreams takes place largely in the "Dreamland" realms. The first half of the novel features Crow's longtime friend, deMarigny, as the protagonist. Crow comes into play later, after deMarigny rescues him. Utilizing the grandfather clock that can fly anywhere in time & space (and between dimensions,) Crow & deMarigny battle Cthulhu entities across the Dreamlands in various feats of derring do, capture and rescue.

Spawn of the Winds is an unexpected entry in this volume - Crow isn't in this novel at all. Not even a cameo or a mention. I did notice on Lumley's webpage that he classifies the omnibuses as "Mythos" not "Titus Crow." Only one character from the previous Crow novels is here, a professor from Miskatonic.

Anyway, it still a fairly rousing adventure tale. This time around, Ithaqua, the Walker of the Winds, steals an airplane & its crew and deposits them on the alien, arctic waste world, Borea. What follows has a strong "lost world" vibe of lost races, intermingled races and skirmishes and building battles, stakes & tension.

So, if you're looking for horror, you need to look elsewhere. But it you want to read some fantasy action pulp adventure, then The Clock of Dreams and Spawn of the Winds fit the bill.

Complete Titus Crow - achievement unlocked!

When Subterranean Press announced they were reissuing The Compleat Crow by Brian Lumley, which collects the Titus Crow short stories, I debated whether to acquire the Crow novels as print or ebooks.

I went with the print omnibuses from TOR, because I wasn't sure when or if Subterranean Press would release an ebook.

I was surprised when the ebook of The Compleat Crow was available the same day, at a great price.

In fact, I did not pre-order the hardcover and Amazon was instantly out-of-stock.

So, I went with the ebook, and put in an order anyway, not certain if Amazon would be able to fulfill it.

Happy happy joy joy, the hardcover came in the mail yesterday!

It's a little thinner than I expected, but still very nice.

Now, to get around to reading them all!

Lumley on the cheap

Subterranean Press' The Compleat Crow by Brian Lumley has been on my wishlist since I made this post last year.

 It finally came out today - and at Amazon, it has already gone out of stock.

However, there was no delay for the Kindle edition, it is available for a mere $3!

Also, I missed this one at the end of last year.

No Sharks in the Meds and Other Stories, which completes a trio of collections - The Taint and Other Novellas being one and Haggopian and Other Stories being the other. (also only $3 each)

There are other Lumley ebooks on the cheap, too, but I am focusing on the Mythos stuff, not the Necroscope series.

Now, if the Primal Lands ebooks would go on sale, I'd be sitting pretty!

The Compleat Crow, returning

Just stumbled on this!

Subterranean Press are reprinting The Compleat Crow - the collection of the Titus Crow shorts and novellas.

The Compleat Crow

It's a little steep, but Subterranean usually are.  Crow isn't what I expected for Mythos tales, but the shorts might be different from the novels.  The novels are fun, in their way - just more about adventure than horror.

Halloween leftovers

I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of media consumption over the weekend.

I watched Boris Karloff ham it up in The Mask of Fu Manchu, and rewatched it with commentary.  I listened to the commentary on The Mark of the Vampire - the movie itself I had watched last week.

I (re)watched Things That Go Bump in the Night,  a documentary on haunted New England tales & folklore.  (It was produced by the PBS station from western Massachusetts.)  I learned a few new stories, but mostly I'd read about everything they covered.  I do have a large collection of local press New England occult folklore books, so that's not surprising.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

You can watch the entire thing online if you have an hour and are interested.

I finished reading the story, "Children of the Kingdom", by T. E. D. Klein (in his Dark Gods collection.)  Another tale of the lost subterranean race(s), but this time they are moving through the underbelly of NYC.

I also read the Dynamite trade paperback collection of Army of Darkness: Ash vs. the (Classic) Monsters.  I hadn't tried any of the AoD comics and I was disappointed.  They overplayed "Ash is a horndog" and "Ash gets people's names wrong" until it was tedious.  And the Monsters - aside from a thinking Frankenstein monster - didn't feel special or Universal whatsoever.

Finally, I started reading the second Titus Crow novel, The Transition of Titus Crow.  I wasn't expecting to return to Crow so soon, but seeing as how the novel is the second-half of the omnibus, I decided to finish it off.  So far, it's another occult adventure as opposed to atmospheric Mythos horror, but it's a fun romp.

The Transition of Titus Crow

recent read; The Burrowers Beneath

The Burrowers Beneath by Brian Lumley

Last year, I read a novelette featuring Titus Crow, and I wanted to read more.  Not having The Compleat Crow collection, I opted for the first full novel featuring the occult investigator - The Burrowers Beneath.

The story starts out promising enough, and is loaded with plenty of Lovecraft and Mythos references to make any fan grin.  Crow's friend, deMarigny, is the son of the character from "Through the Gates of the Silver Key."  The strange clock from that story is now in Crow's possession.  There are hints of previous occult adventures of the two men together.

Crow dubs the monsters of the Mythos, "Cthonians."  He fears certain Old Ones are burrowing under England.  Some mine workers and oil rig workers have had unpleasant encounters.  Crow aims to stop the Cthonians, if he can.  The Cthonians align to oppose Crow's efforts, employing psychic tricks, men in their thrall, and other terrors.  There are a few good horrors as Crow and deMarigny lock horns with the strange creatures.

Things take an odd turn of tone midway through.  The localized horror expands to a global threat.  Crow and deMarigny join a globe-spanning foundation - the Wilmarth Foundation.  The foundation's charter is to battle any and all Cthonians.  Their arsenal against the underground Cthonians includes magic, psychics, and oil derricks adapted to exterminate the burrowers.

I think someone at Black Gate said it best in the comments - 'give in and roll with it.'  Unfortunately, the global scale leads to detachment from events for the reader.  The immediacy is lost.

Also contributing to a detached feeling as the reader - almost the entire last fifth of the book is textbook example of telling instead of showing.   Much of the world encompassing dangers and battles with the Cthonians are related to Crow and deMarigny via letters.

The Burrowers Beneath is more pulp horror adventure than truly horrific cosmic terrors, but it is a fun, quick ride if you're in the proper mood.

(note: I set a link to the Kindle version.  Be careful.  If you are in Amazon looking at the TOR omnibus edition, The Burrowers Beneath/The Transition of Titus Crow (see above) and you switch to the Kindle edition, it brings you to The Burrowers Beneath, but it is NOT the omnibus.  The ebooks are each sold separately.)

recent reads; The Taint and Atomic Robo

Well, despite the fact that I seemed exponentially to gain e'books (and a few print books) over the course of November, I haven't got a lot of reading done.

First up, Brian Lumley's The Taint and Other Novellas.  I started this in October, and decided to finish it off.

This book contains seven Cthulhu mythos novellas - mostly from Lumley's early work.  As such, a lot of the flavor is Lovecraft pastiching, but Lumley does manage to bring his own voice, and a couple of the stories stand out on their own.

"The Horror at Oakdeene" -  A writer who moonlights at a sanatorium finds himself drawn into the madness of a patient who dealt a little too closely with the occult.

"Born of the Winds" - This tale, though having a very convenient setup, was a good blend of the Wendigo legend with other Lovecraftian elements.  One of the standouts, and one of Lumley's own favorites.

"The Fairground Horror" - Two carny brothers dabble in the occult until one brother takes things too far.  Fun story, but one of those Lovecraftian pastiches that make it hard to suspend disbelief.  I wouldn't imagine carnies as the types to delve deeply, seriously into occult lore, idols and tomes.

"The Taint" - This tale is the most strongly restrictive.  Lumley was not only writing a mythos story, but one specifically for an Innsmouth anthology.  Yet, he manages to touch on Innsmouth tangentially while providing an original story with the best kind of ending - one I should have seen coming all along, but missed.  The clues were all there.

"Rising with Surtsey" - Again, two brothers dabble in the occult.  Touching on "The Call of Cthulhu" and some good underwater dream scenes.

"Lord of the Worms" -  My first introduction to Titus Crow.  Not surprisingly, I enjoyed this one the most.  It was the most original, with only the lightest Lovecraftian touches.  (though, the villain's machinations do owe something to Lovercraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep.")  It serves as a partial origin tale for Crow.  At least, he finally faces the occult and takes action on all his previously gained knowledge, and the adventure spurs him into becoming an occult investigator of the later stories.  I figured from the linked Black Gate article that I would enjoy Crow, and I did.  I will be hunting down the novels and stories over time.

"The House of the Temple" -  Enjoyable tale of a haunted Scot mansion and the nephew who inherits the estate.

All in all, this is a good mythos collection, though expectedly the early efforts feel somewhat pastiche.  I am not sure I'd want to pay the price of a Subterranean Press hardcover, but as an inexpensive e'book, it's certainly worth having.

Atomic Robo; Volume 2, Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War

Yes, Robo is my newest favorite thing!  This volume focuses on Robo's time during World War II.  It's great romp as he makes new friends with covert Allied agents and new enemies among the Third Reich.  He battles robotic style walker tanks, Wolfenstein style zombie super-soldiers and the like.  This comic is absolutely worth your time and money.

It's FUN!