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hirvimaki's review against another edition
3.0
Three and half stars. As with any anthology some were better than others. Ammonia was my least favorite of the four and it really pulled my rating for the set down. A Sunken Desert is a good read, but it is not really scary especially the further along the you get. The Rise and The Fall was my favourite of the four, with good pacing, steady action, interesting characters, and a very good treatment of the Cthulhu mythos. The Great Beast was my second favourite, with a lonely bleakness and hopelessness that is perfect for Lovecraftian tales. It's worth a read if you enjoy Lovecraft and horror, but it is not groundbreaking.
tampax's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
i_a_asmussen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
The book didn't really feel like cosmic horror to me. Especially the first 2 storie lacked the existential dread and hopelessness that, at least for me, defines the genre.
That said It did work pretty well as a horror and I think the idea of having several writers cover diffrent parts of the same event is a great idea.
That said It did work pretty well as a horror and I think the idea of having several writers cover diffrent parts of the same event is a great idea.
kapreen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
spacemonkey25's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
It has a very cool concept and that it's an antologi makes it a little bit cooler + it's well written. I would recommend giving this ago but I myself wasn't in love with it. I had a hard time getting sucked in the audiobook of this. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it instead
twaldrop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
the_weirdling's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a collection of four pieces by four different authors. Normally the quality of anthology books is uneven. This book, however, is the exception. Every one of the four was excellent, leaving me panting and wanting more.
Ammonia by William Holloway sets the stage for an “event” which has occurred in Antarctica, splitting the Ross Ice Shelf. It is the story of the beginning of an apocalypse. It sets the ground rules for the stories that follow, opens the mysteries which will be unveiled in the following tales, and establishes the tone of bleak nihilism which the hallmark of all great Lovecraftian storytelling.
Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason’s The Sunken Desert introduces us to life in the new world order created by “the event“. It is almost something of an adventure caper, fun and thrilling. Criminals, cops, and tough minded women and together to make their way in a new world where the rules are only just beginning to be understood. At the same time it introduces us the a world of squid beasts, insane cultists, and survivors doing their best.
Brett J Talley’s Rise and Fall brings us to a world where the apocalypse has been settled. People finally understand what’s going on, more or less. We experience organized human resistance, communities trying to rebuild themselves, and a culture in radical flux. Talley explores the different ways in which humans and our communities break under unbelievable strain. He does to to great effect. I have long maintained that Talley is one of the best modern practitioners of Lovecraftian tales. This story shows him in his full glory, weaving issues of interpersonal relationships, religion, culture, survival, and family and exploring them within a world gone as mad and brutal as possible.
Rich Hawkin’s work “The Great Beast” is the perfect companion piece to Talley’s. Talley looks at the larger social effects of a Lovecraftian nightmare world come to be. Hawkins leaves behind the communal exploration for the individual. He gives us a protagonist somehow left behind in a dead world now ruled by horrific beasts. We see the effects and strain of this world. Slowly, as a few new characters are introduced, we see what this world has made of them.
This work is a first class exploration of humanity confronted with the unknown, the horrific, and the insanity inducing. It’s well worth the time of horror nerds. It should be required readings for any Lovecraft geeks.
Ammonia by William Holloway sets the stage for an “event” which has occurred in Antarctica, splitting the Ross Ice Shelf. It is the story of the beginning of an apocalypse. It sets the ground rules for the stories that follow, opens the mysteries which will be unveiled in the following tales, and establishes the tone of bleak nihilism which the hallmark of all great Lovecraftian storytelling.
Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason’s The Sunken Desert introduces us to life in the new world order created by “the event“. It is almost something of an adventure caper, fun and thrilling. Criminals, cops, and tough minded women and together to make their way in a new world where the rules are only just beginning to be understood. At the same time it introduces us the a world of squid beasts, insane cultists, and survivors doing their best.
Brett J Talley’s Rise and Fall brings us to a world where the apocalypse has been settled. People finally understand what’s going on, more or less. We experience organized human resistance, communities trying to rebuild themselves, and a culture in radical flux. Talley explores the different ways in which humans and our communities break under unbelievable strain. He does to to great effect. I have long maintained that Talley is one of the best modern practitioners of Lovecraftian tales. This story shows him in his full glory, weaving issues of interpersonal relationships, religion, culture, survival, and family and exploring them within a world gone as mad and brutal as possible.
Rich Hawkin’s work “The Great Beast” is the perfect companion piece to Talley’s. Talley looks at the larger social effects of a Lovecraftian nightmare world come to be. Hawkins leaves behind the communal exploration for the individual. He gives us a protagonist somehow left behind in a dead world now ruled by horrific beasts. We see the effects and strain of this world. Slowly, as a few new characters are introduced, we see what this world has made of them.
This work is a first class exploration of humanity confronted with the unknown, the horrific, and the insanity inducing. It’s well worth the time of horror nerds. It should be required readings for any Lovecraft geeks.
tobin_elliott's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really, really wanted to love this one. A great idea, four novellas all connected by "the Event" or the thing that ultimately wakes dead Cthulhu from his dream state in his house at R'lyeh. Cool, right?
Well, ultimately for me, only a little.
Here's my thing when it comes to Lovecraftian horror...I love it. Hell, I've written it. But for me, it only really works when you work within the framework, or respect the mythology that Lovecraft built (and yes, I'm also aware that his mythos doesn't necessarily all fit together well, but still).
And after digesting the stories in this book for a bit, I feel that this is the central issue of why this didn't quite work for me. Cthulhu is name-checked a few times, but overall, the Great Old One mostly hangs around off stage and, while his influence is felt through the four stories, he plays virtually no direct role.
Instead, we're left with several characters fighting "squids" that have evolved under some influence from their god. And while the stories are interesting, I just found myself waiting for the mind-numbing lumbering of some monstrosity into the playing field that only sorta kinda happened.
Through the stories, we're instead given some very real, but mostly either utterly unlikeable characters (the heroin junkies and corrupt politicians in the first entry, the criminals in the second), or reasonably banal characters (the reluctant soldier in the third entry, the religious martyr in the final one) and, frustratingly, not a lot of them have any agency in any of the stories, seeming to lurch from situation to situation.
And while I'd hoped for some sort of point to all of this—because the preceding stories did feel like they were tiptoeing to some conclusion in the final one—it never really coalesced into anything definitive.
Stuff happens. Bad stuff happens. Worse stuff happens. The end.
And yes, if that ain't pulled right out of the Lovecraftian playbook, I don't know what is, but still, we're almost a century past Howard Phillips now, and I'd like to see some continuation and exploration of the mythos. I got a little excited when the Christian God was thrown up against Cthulhu, but again it kind of didn't go anywhere.
So, overall, while it was well-written and had some good stuff in there, overall, it didn't quench my thirst the way I'd hoped.
As TV Guide used to state about certain movies, this one could be considered "an okay time-waster."
Well, ultimately for me, only a little.
Here's my thing when it comes to Lovecraftian horror...I love it. Hell, I've written it. But for me, it only really works when you work within the framework, or respect the mythology that Lovecraft built (and yes, I'm also aware that his mythos doesn't necessarily all fit together well, but still).
And after digesting the stories in this book for a bit, I feel that this is the central issue of why this didn't quite work for me. Cthulhu is name-checked a few times, but overall, the Great Old One mostly hangs around off stage and, while his influence is felt through the four stories, he plays virtually no direct role.
Instead, we're left with several characters fighting "squids" that have evolved under some influence from their god. And while the stories are interesting, I just found myself waiting for the mind-numbing lumbering of some monstrosity into the playing field that only sorta kinda happened.
Through the stories, we're instead given some very real, but mostly either utterly unlikeable characters (the heroin junkies and corrupt politicians in the first entry, the criminals in the second), or reasonably banal characters (the reluctant soldier in the third entry, the religious martyr in the final one) and, frustratingly, not a lot of them have any agency in any of the stories, seeming to lurch from situation to situation.
And while I'd hoped for some sort of point to all of this—because the preceding stories did feel like they were tiptoeing to some conclusion in the final one—it never really coalesced into anything definitive.
Stuff happens. Bad stuff happens. Worse stuff happens. The end.
And yes, if that ain't pulled right out of the Lovecraftian playbook, I don't know what is, but still, we're almost a century past Howard Phillips now, and I'd like to see some continuation and exploration of the mythos. I got a little excited when the Christian God was thrown up against Cthulhu, but again it kind of didn't go anywhere.
So, overall, while it was well-written and had some good stuff in there, overall, it didn't quench my thirst the way I'd hoped.
As TV Guide used to state about certain movies, this one could be considered "an okay time-waster."