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bjswann's review against another edition
5.0
A masterwork of ultra-dark fantasy.
Throne of Bones is a collection of stories all sharing the same history and mythos. The core of the collection – the titular Throne of Bones itself – is a series of interwoven tales revolving around the figure of the ghoul. Though ghouls have haunted western literature ever since the translation of the Arabian Nights into English, appearing in the works of Beckford, Poe, and Lovecraft among others, McNaughton does more to flesh them out than perhaps any other author, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, their hungers and lusts, their peculiar powers, and even the various theories that try – and fail – to explain their existence. The result is a literary treatment of ghouls and ghoulishness so exquisitely rich that it makes other representations look pallid in comparison.
McNaughton’s development of a unique ghoul mythos is only one example of his worldbuilding skills, which are nothing less than awe-inspiring. Throne of Bones provides a cohesive vision of a world of sumptuous decadence, inexorable ignorance, and casual cruelty, where life is cheap and sinister clans of aristocrats lord it over those of less fortunate rank. In its aesthetics and mood it recalls the baroque decadence of Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and Averoigne stories, and it is not surprising to find that CAS was a formative influence on McNaughton. Nevertheless, McNaughton’s creation is his own, as is his voice, gleefully nihilistic and full of black humor.
The stories themselves are extremely horrific, teeming with visceral and psychological terrors. This is the darkest of dark fantasy – macabre, grotesque, and devoid of any sense of tiresome generic decorum. McNaughton takes you to horrible places with no apologies given. Here we have a rancid world overflowing with necromancy, necrophilia, incest, rape, slavery, cannibalism, and a whole host of unique horrors of McNaughton’s own devising. His unfortunate characters are thrust into fates so twisted and blackly ironic they make Oedipus Rex look like The Truman Show.
McNaughton’s prose is exquisite, his dialogue witty and rich, his characters distinctive and vivid. In terms of genre, this work is almost unique, blending the gothic, the weird, the grotesque, the fantastical, and the mythical into a rich and intoxicating blend the likes of which is very seldom seen. McNaughton has taken the weird and gothic threads of his literary forebears – Beckford, HPL, CAS, REH, Machen, E. R. Eddison, etc. – and added elements of horror so graphic and gleefully obscence one is tempted to label these stories “splatter fantasy.”
It’s hardly possible to praise this work enough. It’s ingenious, pure and simple. Reading these tales, I found myself shocked that McNaughton has not become a household name in the realm of horror, nor even a particularly well-known one. Now that I have finished the book, I find myself frustrated by my inability to give it more than five stars.
Throne of Bones is a collection of stories all sharing the same history and mythos. The core of the collection – the titular Throne of Bones itself – is a series of interwoven tales revolving around the figure of the ghoul. Though ghouls have haunted western literature ever since the translation of the Arabian Nights into English, appearing in the works of Beckford, Poe, and Lovecraft among others, McNaughton does more to flesh them out than perhaps any other author, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, their hungers and lusts, their peculiar powers, and even the various theories that try – and fail – to explain their existence. The result is a literary treatment of ghouls and ghoulishness so exquisitely rich that it makes other representations look pallid in comparison.
McNaughton’s development of a unique ghoul mythos is only one example of his worldbuilding skills, which are nothing less than awe-inspiring. Throne of Bones provides a cohesive vision of a world of sumptuous decadence, inexorable ignorance, and casual cruelty, where life is cheap and sinister clans of aristocrats lord it over those of less fortunate rank. In its aesthetics and mood it recalls the baroque decadence of Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and Averoigne stories, and it is not surprising to find that CAS was a formative influence on McNaughton. Nevertheless, McNaughton’s creation is his own, as is his voice, gleefully nihilistic and full of black humor.
The stories themselves are extremely horrific, teeming with visceral and psychological terrors. This is the darkest of dark fantasy – macabre, grotesque, and devoid of any sense of tiresome generic decorum. McNaughton takes you to horrible places with no apologies given. Here we have a rancid world overflowing with necromancy, necrophilia, incest, rape, slavery, cannibalism, and a whole host of unique horrors of McNaughton’s own devising. His unfortunate characters are thrust into fates so twisted and blackly ironic they make Oedipus Rex look like The Truman Show.
McNaughton’s prose is exquisite, his dialogue witty and rich, his characters distinctive and vivid. In terms of genre, this work is almost unique, blending the gothic, the weird, the grotesque, the fantastical, and the mythical into a rich and intoxicating blend the likes of which is very seldom seen. McNaughton has taken the weird and gothic threads of his literary forebears – Beckford, HPL, CAS, REH, Machen, E. R. Eddison, etc. – and added elements of horror so graphic and gleefully obscence one is tempted to label these stories “splatter fantasy.”
It’s hardly possible to praise this work enough. It’s ingenious, pure and simple. Reading these tales, I found myself shocked that McNaughton has not become a household name in the realm of horror, nor even a particularly well-known one. Now that I have finished the book, I find myself frustrated by my inability to give it more than five stars.
clamu's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jdhacker's review
3.0
Throne of Bones could be considered McNaughton's opus. The collection first put out by Terminal Frights (now defunct), with tantalizing hints that there is significantly more material set in this world, collects McNaughton's work centered around ghouls of the vaguely Lovecraftian sort. I say vaguely because, if you're familiar with that style of ghoul its a good starting point, but this expands greatly on the lore of ghouls, taking it in some interesting and unforeseen directions. Hence it being generally regarded as the 'Dracula' or 'Frankenstein' of ghoul stories. Its also McNaughton's foray in to serious worldbuilding, as these interconnected stories span multiple clearly well developed and thought through cultures and across time in a world that, while horrific in its own right, shows clear influences of early 20th century/late 19th century fantasy and sword & sorcery authors.
I was prepared for the explicity ghoul-porn (though there was far less of that than I was led to believe), I was prepared for the sometimes cumbersone/tiresome older/weirder fantasy world-building naming schemes, I was prepared for the weird/lovecraftian elements. What I was not prepared for was the humor. Because there's been some intense worldbuilding going on, the interconnected nature of the story telling gave McNaughton the chance to do more character development in these short works than we would normally expected from short fiction. Getting to know and understand the internal lives of necromancers, scholars, the bumbling nobles, and the ghouls themselves set up a great deal of dramatic irony for the reader to laugh at. And while much of the action sequences are well written in the sword and sorcery style, even there we get to see and frequently find humor in the exploits of one of our more reluctant protagonists.
Honestly, I think is really where McNaughton's work shines in this collection, though I'm likely to be in the minority. Not the world building, not the horror, not the exceptionally well polished and carefully crafted writing. But in showing us characters and events in the midst of a world every bit as horrific and grey as the skin of his ghouls that can make also make us laugh, and in a few cases, evoke sadness and pity.
Is it my favorite work of weird fiction? No. Is it even the best of the novel length collections Terminal Fright put out in its heyday? Not in my opinion. And I would say lovers of Robert E. Howard sword and sorcery are likely to find more to enjoy here than the lovers of Lovecraftian weird fiction I think its normally directed at. But there are definitely some things to enjoy here. If nothing else, I think the humor alone makes it worth a read. And even the old Terminal Fright hardbacks are out there on secondary markets for relatively low prices, let alone the newer editions.
I was prepared for the explicity ghoul-porn (though there was far less of that than I was led to believe), I was prepared for the sometimes cumbersone/tiresome older/weirder fantasy world-building naming schemes, I was prepared for the weird/lovecraftian elements. What I was not prepared for was the humor. Because there's been some intense worldbuilding going on, the interconnected nature of the story telling gave McNaughton the chance to do more character development in these short works than we would normally expected from short fiction. Getting to know and understand the internal lives of necromancers, scholars, the bumbling nobles, and the ghouls themselves set up a great deal of dramatic irony for the reader to laugh at. And while much of the action sequences are well written in the sword and sorcery style, even there we get to see and frequently find humor in the exploits of one of our more reluctant protagonists.
Honestly, I think is really where McNaughton's work shines in this collection, though I'm likely to be in the minority. Not the world building, not the horror, not the exceptionally well polished and carefully crafted writing. But in showing us characters and events in the midst of a world every bit as horrific and grey as the skin of his ghouls that can make also make us laugh, and in a few cases, evoke sadness and pity.
Is it my favorite work of weird fiction? No. Is it even the best of the novel length collections Terminal Fright put out in its heyday? Not in my opinion. And I would say lovers of Robert E. Howard sword and sorcery are likely to find more to enjoy here than the lovers of Lovecraftian weird fiction I think its normally directed at. But there are definitely some things to enjoy here. If nothing else, I think the humor alone makes it worth a read. And even the old Terminal Fright hardbacks are out there on secondary markets for relatively low prices, let alone the newer editions.
myxomycetes's review
4.0
Fantasy short stories for fans of Jack Vance, Clark Ashton Smith, and Fritz Leiber. Not so much grimdark as morbid and blackly comic.
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