Product Description
The Winter 1989/1990 issue of Weird Tales showcases Featured Author Brian Lumley (who contributed 3 stories and an interview) and Featured Artist Vincent di Fate (who contributed all the artwork). Also includes Keith Taylor, Phyllis Ann Karr, and more. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (14)

Brian Lumley"s The Touch
I loved the first nine books in the Necroscope Series and have read them all several times.

Sadly Mr Lumley blew it on this one.

The characters are dull & flat.

Way too much of the book is dull,dry & plodding.

There is almost no action just long drawn out debate & back story.

Stick to the original nine books.

Okay!
It doesnt exactly follow the Necroscope series to the extent I thought it would. But it was an interesting read for a little side story.

Couldn't finish
Brian Lumley is one of my favorite authors and the Necroscope series is by far my favorite vampire series. The Wamphyri were such a breath of fresh air from the Anne Rice type of vampire and I loved every inch of it. I own all of the Necroscope books and still read them from time to time. When the last of the series was written I knew I would miss it, but knew that it had to come to an end at some point. When "The Touch" came out I was very excited I didn't bother to read any reviews or pages et al. Why not? This was a part of the Necroscope series I knew it was gonna be good. I wish I could have kept up the same belief half way through the book, but I just couldn't do it. I really tried to like Scott but he was no Harry, Jake, or Nathan. I tried to get into the Shing't woman but she was not like the other women of the series. I tried to get into the grotesque minds of the Mordri Three, but they were not the Wamphyri.

The Whamphyri were dark, powerful, evil, and exciting. No matter what horrible deeds they committed it was certainly a lot of fun reading about it. They had personalities and lives...or unlives. The Mordri three seem to just be evil and nothing more, they don't bring the same level of excitement and life the Wamphyri did. Scott was certainly no Harry and was not even a good replacement, he was just so dull and fumbling, The Shing't woman had zero personality there seemed to be an excuse for that but it wasn't enough to make me care, and the relationship between her and Scott was too rushed from what I can remember. The only likable character was the Wolf, but I think that had a lot to do with me being fond of the wolves in the series.Overall it just wasn't that great, but I am only judging based on reading half of the book. It's been several months and I still lack the desire to finish it. Maybe it picks up near the end or something but I don't care long enough to pick it up and see. If you're new to the Necroscope series, please get the first book and start from there you won't regret it!

Liked it, but miss Harry
I was so excited to see a new Necroscope book that I read it right away.I do really like it, but I miss Harry and the vampires.It was an interesting take and I can see where there can be lots of possibilities in the future.
Some of the things would be plot spoilers, but I like ones that have continuting characters, which this seems to lack.

fresh spin on an epic series
Many people have complained at the lack of a Wamphyri storyline in this retro continuitous Necroscope novel, but to me that is the most refreshing point of the novel.

This is among Lumley's most fluid narrative and dialogue and the characters are written with sensitivy and purpose. There is more varied emotion in the dialogue, which in the past several novels has everyone growling at each other. There is a scene when the hero Scott St John- who's character I feel great empathy for, more so than the gruff ponytailed Necroscope Jake Cutter- first gets the gift of "deadspeak" and it was was one of the most moving sections in any of the Necroscope novels.

This book has an original, gripping, WEIRD sci-fi, horror, mysterious story line, and I was fascinated throughout. It could be looked at as a seperate entity from the series as a whole and would be a terrific jumping on point for anyone interested in testing the waters of this masterful series.

Although it is believed that the Wamphyri storyline has been brought to a permanent conclusion, after reading this book, and knowing that the future is a devious thing, and what will be has been, I'm going to live vicariously through the precog Ian Goodly and predict that Lumley will create another storyline involving e-branch. The Wamphyri might be eliminated, but e-branch lives on and who knows how many golden darts from harry Keough have found it's target, and how many stories can be told....I can only hope.

... Read more

Product Description
After Richard Garrison lost his sight in a terrorist explosion, he developed vast mental powers that more than compensated for his blindness.He mastered the Psychomech machine, then used it to conquer his enemies and restore his dead love to full and vibrant life.Psychomech also revealed to Garrison the Psychosphere, a startling reality where mental powers reigned supreme and could influence people and events on Earth.

Once he was nearly godlike-or demonic, if one dared become his enemy-but now Garrison's mental abilities grow weaker with each use.He tries desperately to conserve his energies, but he has begun to have strange visions of a mind so different from his own as to be other than human, and knows he must stay alert and strong.

Charon Gubwa has invaded the Psychosphere.Twisted and evil, sexually and mentally warped, physically corrupt, Gubwa's desires are simple: More.More drugs.More sex. More power.More of the Earth under his dominion.

Richard Garrison must battle Gubwa in the Psychosphere and on Earth.And he must win, no matter the cost to himself or those he loves, or all mankind will be lost.
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Customer Reviews (3)

Wow!
Brian Lumley really did a good job on this one.I couldn't put the book down until I had solved every mystery right along with the main character in the book.I read this entire book in ONE night because I liked it so much.

If you have loved Mr. Lumley's other books, then you are going to love this one just as well.

Wow!
Brian Lumley really did a good job on this one.I couldn't put the book down until I had solved every mystery right along with the main character in the book.

If you have loved Mr. Lumley's other books, then you are going to love this one just as well.

Less Thrilling Than Psychomech
Hmm, espionage, esp, I wonder what Brian Lumley likes to write about?

Book two in Brian Lumley's Psychomech trilogy.I found it a little less interesting than the first one.It started dragging and I didn't feel forthe lead character Richard Garrison as much as I did in the previous story. ... Read more

Product Description
Titus Crow and his faithful companion and record-keeper fight the gathering forces of darkness-the infamous and deadly Elder Gods of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.Cthulhu and his dark minions are bent on ruling the earth.A few puny humans cannot possibly stand against these otherworldly evil gods, yet time after time, Titus Crow drives the monsters back into the dark from whence they came. Volume Two contains two full novels, The Clock of Dreams and Spawn of the Winds.
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Customer Reviews (6)

Cleaning the Clocks of the CCD
After having slogged through Volume One of the Titus Crow series, complete with lisping dragons, green haired space princesses, and a narrative riddled with ellipses, I steeled myself for Volume Two. With the prototypical pulp hero Titus Crow and his trusty sidekick Henri de Marginy cleaning the clocks (pun intended) of the Cthulhu Cycle Deities (CCD, ugh), there wasn't much left for them to do.But like every good epic series, when the heroes become gods among men in the mortal realm...they leave the mortal realm behind to find adventure.

The Clock of Dreams begins with a rather peculiar scenario: Crow and Tiania have been captured in the Dreamlands.How this happened is hand waved; basically, Crow and Tiana are drugged and enslaved by the Men of Leng.Given that Crow is a cyborg that is highly resistant to damage, it seems unlikely that poisoning him would work...but perhaps that's because this is the Dreamlands and not Earth's reality.

The first half of the novel involves de Marginy's quest to find Crow in the Dreamlands.Once there, Crow takes up the second half as he seeks to rescue Tiania.What's interesting is that Clock of Dreams is one of the first to posit that Cthulhu's dream sendings actually infect the Dreamlands.Here, great nightmarish factories corrupt the land, guarded by three foul guardians: the worm-like Flyer, its tentacle-armed Rider, and a three-legged Runner.Overseeing the entire operation is a deathly titanic Keeper, who in turn servers Nyarlathotep.

Overall, this is book is an improvement over the first volume, if only because there's more for Titus to do.Unlike the previous books, it's told in the present tense, which lends much urgency to the narrative.There's plenty of combat, skullduggery, and a hilarious moment where the only way de Marginy can return to the Dreamlands is to get roaring drunk. With guest appearances by Randolph Carter and King Kuranes, flying airships, and shields that shoot laser beams, this is pulp Cthulhu at its wackiest. But it's juicy and satisfying, especially when Nyarlathotep shows up at the end to put our heroes in their place.

Spawn of the Winds, on the other hand, is a different breed of pulp. Crow and de Marginy are nowhere to be found in this book; its inclusion is primarily because of Ithaqua, who is assigned a peculiar set of personality traits here.Ithaqua, you see, lusts after human women (as all pulp villains inevitably do) because he seeks to spawn terrible progeny who will walk among the winds with him.The winds, as defined by Lumley, are the spaces between worlds, and occasionally Ithaqua kidnaps people and carries them across dimensions to the world of Borea.

Borea is a wind-swept frozen world filled with every snow land cliché imaginable: Vikings, Eskimos, white wolves, polar bears, ski-boats, and lots and lots of snow.I kept waiting for Santa Claus to show up. Ithaqua's penchant for turning people into wendigos is turned on its ear here - instead, Ithaqua alters the physiology of those whom he traps on Borea so that they are immune to the cold.

The protagonist is an American named Hank Silberhutte, a member of the Wilmarth Foundation out to avenge his cousin, whom he believes was killed by Ithaqua. Silberhutte is a Texan, which of course means he can punch anybody's lights out who dares mess with him.He is also a powerful psychic, capable of linking with Juanita Alvarez, a telepathic receiver and our narrator, across the gulfs of space.

Tagging along is Silberhutte's companions, Paul White (an oracle known as "hunchman"), Dick Selway, Jimmy Franklin, and Silberhutte's hot little sister Tracy.A fateful encounter with Ithaqua ends with Selway dead and the others changed.Only Tracy, holding onto her star stones, remains unaffected.

Awakening on Borea, a brutal war of attrition ensues between worshippers of the Wind Walker who want nothing more than to sacrifice Tracy to Ithaqua (she's a "damned good-looking girl" says Silberhutte). Leading the opposition is Armandra, Woman of the Winds and daughter of Ithaqua.She's basically Storm with wind powers. She flies about the wastes, her flame-red hair whipping behind her, with skin as pale as snow and eyes as stormy as a winter...you get the idea.

Silberhutte falls madly in love with her, both physically and psychically, and their escalating relationship only complicates the war between the two factions. If Armandra dares intervene directly with her wind powers, Ithaqua joins the fray as well. And yet Armandra refuses to let any harm come to Silberhutte, who also wants to join the fight as the macho leader of his Eskimo warriors.It's all very primal.

Unlike the other books in the Crow series, this is a lusty, gun-toting, fist-swinging, princess rescuing, rip-roaring yarn that chews up scenery like a bad actor in a Shakespearean play. It doesn't always make sense, but it's a heck of a lot of fun to read.

Enjoyable read; hard review!
It is hard to review this twofer. Although they take place in the same universe, the two books are vaguely connected. "The Clock of Dreams" ends Lumley's first Titus Crow trilogy, while "Spawn of the The Winds" begins his second trilogy. It would have been better for Tor to publish the three twofers as two three-in-ones, thereby keeping the trilogies separate.

If they needed to have three books, then the should have published "The compleat crow," the short-story collection, as a third volume. I see The Vortex Blaster Problem in play here: the six official Lensman books are frequently republished, but uniformly "The Vortex Blaster" is dropped from the series. Admittedly, it does not follow the main story line, but neither does "The Horse And His Boy" follow the main Narnia storyline. And in Adam's Hitchiker's Guide omnibus, they include the fragment "Young Zaphod Beeblebrox." It seems to be incomplete, but it is still included because it is relevant to the overall series.

The point being that in all cases, we should include all the relevant books in the series.

End of rant; now to the books.

THE CLOCK OF DREAMS

Five stars for the title alone. This magic coupling of the words--"clock" and "dreams"--was the reason why I began reading the series!

This story tightens the connection between HPL's universe and Lumley's elaboration. We meet the Dreamer Carter (Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft) and also Etienne-Laurent de Marigny from "Out of the Aeons" (The Loved Dead: Collected Short Stories Vol II (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural)). I would have liked an appendix showing where Lumley got his characters. But I guess I will have to bone up on my Lovecraft on my own.

This story abandoned the archival format, and had a detached storyteller format. So we resume a third-person narrative. The first person is always engaging, and makes the story seem real. The distance diminished the emotional impact of the horror.

And this is no longer a horror series, but fantasy-adventure. This is fine--series need to evolve to keep things fresh. Also, since this is the third in a trilogy, we also have the phenomenon of winding down. The loose ends are tied up, the "marrying and the burying" as Twain put it.

I'm not sure if the ending is a Deus Ex Machina. It is close, but since Lumley knows how to end a book with force and power, I forgive him.

Lumley compensates for three of Lovecraft's weaknesses. 1. Courage: There are no victims of horror, but people who fight back. 2. Romance: These courageous people fall in love. 3. Balance:The evil is balanced by a present good that is bold and impressive.

It is this last one--good that is bold and impressive--that fascinates me. Bold and impressive is how I would describe Kthanid, Cthulhu's goody-two-shoes brother.

As a God-figure He rivals C. S. Lewis' Aslan (The Chronicles of Narnia Movie Tie-in Edition (adult) ). If we can forgive Christ for being depicted as a lion, we can certainly forgive G-d for being depicted as an octo-head in these myths. But it's not his *appearance*, rather his *presence* that conveys a sense of cosmic majesty.

As his "last battle" shows, Kthanid is not a tame octopus!

SPAWN OF THE WINDS

This book is mistitled; it should be called "Child of the Winds" or "Princess of the Winds." Lumley, I think, realizes he has slipped into urban fantasy-adventure. The title hearkens back to his Lovecraftian roots, but it does not fit the story.

The second problem is that this begins a second trilogy. The series is rebooted with new characters and situations---the CCD are there (The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-Walker of the Icy Wastes (Call of Cthulhu Fiction)), the star-stones are prominent. And we still have the Wilmarth Foundation, but we meet some of their other operations and their other heroes. So this is both a plus and a minus.

The third problem is that, since this is a reboot, we never meet Crow and de Maurigny. I kept expecting them to appear, so this unmet expectation kept nagging my mind and interfering with the pleasure of writing. The dynamic duo appear in the next volume, so this problem also is a plus and a minus

All else is good. Lumley returns the archival format, with it verisimilitude of classified documents. MJ-12 documents, eat your heart out!

The change of setting is exactly what a series like this needs. Coming from finishing Dune 7 ("Hunters of Dune" and "Sandworms of Dune"), the ice world is exactly what I needed. I felt like I was pulled into the snow-dunes of the early Jack London prospecting short stories (Jack London : Novels and Stories : Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / Klondike and Other Stories (Library of America)).

You have the man versus man conflict and the man verses mad demon conflict, but in the background there is the man versus icelandic waste conflict. It does not affect the story, but it does brood in the sidelines.

We have shifted from horror to fantasy adventure. The story has the excitement of The Lost World, but the magic of Indiana Jones. Crow is enigmatic, and de Maurigny has his moments, but Hank Silberhutte is straight from the classic pulps.

I say classic pulp, because the story has all the force of a pulp, but clearly follows the pattern. Square-jawed Texan entering the realm of a fairy princess. A stranger, he masters the realm, vanquishes the evil, and gets the girl in the end. Classic Joseph Campbell.

And this story should be familiar to you--you read it before in She (Oxford World's Classics), A Princess of Mars (Dover Value Editions), the first Titus Crow trilogy, and Doc Savage and The Land of Always Night.

It is a great archetype, and Lumley retells it flawlessly.

It took an effort of will to finish the whole thing
I'm a big enough fan of Lovecraft, especially his Dreamlands stories, that I found the first half mildly entertaining.Mostly for the ways that Lumley extends, changes, and explains various aspects of the dreamlands.It's not as much fun as the Dreamlands novels that Lumley wrote about Hero and Eldin, because, well, the protaganists are somewhat stuffy and dull.Also, this story is more about technology, which I don't think mixes with the fantasy of the dreamlands setting very well.

The second novel in this volume - ugh. I could barely finish it, and had me saying things like "Give me a break!" out loud on the bus.It was only my hunger for Lovecraft related lore that gave me the stamina to finish it.It lacked any real sense of wonder.The combination of a bleak setting and a plot that's a collection of cliches and abuses of Cthulhu mythos ideas just bored me to tears, when it didn't infuriate or exasperate me.

Life's too short to waste on books this bad.The only reason I can justify having spent hours and hours reading Spawn of the Winds is that it sets up In the Moons of Borea (contained in volume 3 of the Titus Crow collection), which is slightly more entertaining and interesting.

If you happen to really like Lumley's Necroscope books, I found the second half of this collection to be very similar to Necroscope 3: The Source.Our intrepid heroes are whisked away to a bleak, dangerous world beset by a supernatural threat; small bands of similar refugees survive against all odds; etc etc.I also found that book barely tolerable.So, if you disagree strongly with my assessment of The Source, you'll probably actually really like this book.

Weird Stuff......
Volume Two of Tor's three-volume omnibus reprints two books, The Clock of dreams and Spawn of the Winds. Much like Volume One, this book is a 50/50 affair....While the first half of Book One was GREAT, and the second half awful, we split the difference here: Part one is pretty good, if somewhat ridiculous, and part two is a vast improvement on what has gone before.

The Clock of Dreams presents us with the laughable image of two middle-aged men tooling around Dreamland in a flying GRANDFATHER CLOCK.......This is just too ridiculous to get past. The story takes place in H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamland, home of my most hated Lovecraft stories, so already I have a predjudice against this chapter, but Lumley actually manages to deliver a brisk story with a few great moments; He does especially well with Lovecraft's turbaned Denizens of Leng....

Spawn of the Winds fares better, because we're spared the boring presence of Titus Crow and his snooze-inducing crony, Henri. Spawn finds a team of psychics, mentioned briefly in Book One, who are abducted by Ithaqua, The Walker On The Winds, and taken to far-off Borea. From there we get a Robert E. Howard pastiche, as our two-fisted texan hero and his buddies are drawn into a war between Ithaqua's forces and the opposing army of his daughter, Armandra. The book is reminisicent of territory Lumley would cover later (and better...) in the Blood Brothers books. Spawn is a rip-snortin' action story, and together Clock and Spawn are a not bad read, if a tad predictable.

Cthulhu Mythos: 1930's Pulp Style
Concerning the Cthulhu Mythos, Brian Lumley is a writer of the August Derleth school. While Lovecraft and others had the total meaninglessness of the universe as their cosmological base, Derleth wrote the Mythos as a battle between good and evil between ultimate forces. Lumley takes this further, stripping the Mythos of its supernatural aspects and putting it solidly into the realm of science fiction. What were supernatural aspects of the mythos stories are now an alien science as the forces of good personified in the Elder Gods struggle with mankind to keep the evil beings of the Cthulhu Mythos trapped within their eternal prisons and foil the attempts of those who would release them.

Lumley's style is also reminiscent of the pulp genre popular in the 1930's with black-and-white heroic protagonists aided by beautiful heroines in a story of non-stop, bigger-than-life struggles and battles. So, if your taste goes toward the more amoral, often pornographic splatterpunk tales that pass for Mythos stories today, you're going to be disappointed.

In the first book, The Clock of Dreams,Lumley takes us on a tour of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands adding a consistency and logic that was missing in Lovecraft's Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, but retaining much of the wonder and magic. Like Derleth, Lumley is not fond of loose ends and ties up a lot of threads left by Lovecraft for others to repair. This time, Henri-Laurent de Marigny takes the role as main protagonist as he rescues his friend Titus Crow and his Elder God wife from the dream traps of Cthulhu himself.

In Spawn of the Winds, Crow and company are left behind and we are told the story of Hank Silburhutte, a two-fisted Texan with a striking resemblance to author Robert Howard. A story true to its 1930's pulp roots, Silburhutte and his friends are captured by Ithaqua aka the Wendigo and transported to the planet Borea which may or may not be in our galaxy, let alone our dimension.Be prepared for lots of descriptions of big burly men with rippling muscles and bulging sinews, beautiful alien women, and bloody battles. It's a lot of fun. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Necroscope Stories Always Great
As always, this Necroscope story is just great.A must read.I have read all Necroscope stories that exist and will read any in the future.I'm a fan and I'm hooked.They are so original!

For $17, wait for the paperback
I was eagerly awaiting this book, so I pre-ordered it.Much to my suprise, it is less than 200 pages!!!
Wait for the paperback.Don't waste your money on a novella.

The Original Necroscope Returns
For Harry Keogh fans, the wait for more of the original Necroscope's adventures ends with "Necroscope: Harry and the Pirates". Featuring three never-before-published-in-the-U.S. Harry Keogh tales, it's a worthy addition to Lumley's sprawling bibliography. All the key elements are there: Lumley's trademark, storyteller's voice, his wit and the original Necroscope himself, Harry Keogh. Though the title story "Harry and the Pirates" isn't quite as engaging as the "For the Dead Travel Slowly", and "Old Man with a Blade" is little more than a footnote, this is still an excellent buy for Keogh fans everywhere.

In "For the Dead Travel Slowly", Harry has returned to his childhood hometown in the County of Durham to visit his childhood pal, James Collins. The Necroscope is tired and defeated after spending fruitless years searching for his lost wife Brenda and his son, whom Brenda disappeared with soon after Harry's strange skills came to light. Harry is very rarely alone, however - though the company he keeps isn't always desired, for Harry possess the dubious ability to speak with what he calls the "Silent Majority" - the dead, lying in their corpses, waiting to move on.

Though he's come to James' house looking for rest, work always lingers for the Necroscope.

He senses something lurking in the woods nearby, a massive collection of the dead, crying out for release. How is it related with the constable he discovers lurking on the woods' outskirts one day...and the lonely, bedraggled man Harry stops the constable from beating?

Something ancient and hungry creeps through the woods. Not only does it feed on human flesh, but it also harvests their souls and holds them captive. Harry must work quickly to unravel it's mystery, because soon enough...it will be time for the centuries-old abomination to spawn, creating more of its terrible kind.

"Harry and the Pirates" is an amusing enough tale, though not as engrossing as "For the Dead". In it, a disillusioned Harry - weary of searching for his lost wife and son - encounters a pirate's soul while hanging around the shipyards of Hartlepool. The tale the pirate has to tell - of grief and suffering, of betrayal and riches - is engrossing, to say the least, but like so many of the dead Harry has encountered over the years, this particular soul is hiding something. It's not what it seems; in fact...it may never have been human, to begin with.

The final piece of this collection is short, but hints that Harry's work is far from done. In "Old Man with a Blade", Death himself encounters Harry, and muses on the Necroscope's fate, which is not to fall at his hands...or in this world, even. A bit of a teaser concerning the Necroscope's ultimate future, perhaps promising more adventures to come. ... Read more

Product Description
n addition to his stellar Necroscope series, Brian Lumley is highly-regarded for his short fiction, for which he has won the Bristish Fantasy Award. Tor is pleased to present Beneath the Moors and Darker Places, a collection of nine of Brian's best short works, including 'Dragon's Bell,' a brilliant tribute to the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, and 'The Second Wish,' published here for the first time with the author's original ending. The title work, 'Beneath the Moors,' is a complete short novel, originally published by Arkham House but unavailable in the US for decades. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Lovecraft Wannabe...
All the stories (well maybe one) in this book are seething with Lovecraft: just read Lovecraft, nevermind this trite slop. Come on Lumley, evil crocodile statues? Wow. Don't let the cover decieve you...

A good short story read
Typical Lumley writing, which is enjoyable.The Lovecraft influence is obvious in this collection so if you enjoy the H.P. stories, then you will probably enjoy these.

Excellent second rate Lovecraft
Brian Lumley is an excellent writer.That is fact.He has sold millions of books in his career.These stories are basically from early in his career, though, when he was writing very derivative, but very effective, Lovecraft pastiches.If you are a fan of HP Lovecraft, you will probably love this book.If you are not, then you will hate it.I loved it, and am glad that these stories are out in this edition.

Some good "mythos" tales
Overall I found this a pretty good collection."The Fairground Horror", Dagon's Bell", and "Rising with Surtsey" are very good Lovecraft-inspired tales, "Beneath the Moors" would be but it goes on too long."David's Worm" is creepy, and "The Second Wish" is very good."The Thing About Cars" is more about insanity than horror."The Sun, the Sea and the Silent Scream" was disappointing after a good start."The Big C" keeps this collection from a higher rating, the story was poor and there was no need for the bad language that slipped in at one point.

a fun and scary read
this book was a blast. if youre a fan of horror (sometimes very graphic horror) order it today. Big C is one of the more original sci-fi/horror stories i've ever read. fantastic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

SATISFYING!
This is the first book I have read by Mr Lumley,and it was not at all disappointing.
It was a short read.Interesting from the first page.It is full of suspense.It at some point keeps you guessing.
The only bad thing about this book is that some of the characters are poorely developed,and it is too short.It should have been a longer story!But inspite of all its downfalls it was nevertheless a good book,one which I recommend definitely.

Here is the general plot:God has a son,Jesus,who is all powerful and did his bidding on earth.
The devil,however,had a son,which was born while Jesus was dying on the cross.
Before I go on,I must explain who demogorgon is.Demogorgon is simply satan's emissary on earth.He impregnated satan's son mother!So,you see,satan himself did not mate with his son's mother,but is nevertheless his son's father although Demogorgon impregnated his son's mother.I know this sounds confusing,but it makes a lot of sense.
Demogorgon simply carries Satan's seed.And if satan wishes to impregnate a woman,he sends Demorgorgon.(I hope that you understand).

So,from the day satan's son was conceive he has been walking the earth,doing his father's bidding.(Satan's son's name was AB).
But ever so ofter Satan's son has to revitalize his body,because it would naturally start to rot if he doesn't.
So,what he does is he gets three men,and takes their "youngness".
So,satan's son then gets more years too live.(I hope you understand up to his point).

So,it is simply this:If god has a son,why can't satan?
But the story doesn't deal much with god's son but only satan's son.

The mainplot is this:Satan's son mated with three women.These three women later had three sons.
When Satan's son started to rot(as it happends after a certain amount of years has passed)he decided to recruit three men.(as does always when he needs to revilalize).
These three men are the same men whom were born to the women that satan's son mated with(raped).

Now here is the important part:one of these men,is the main charcter,Charlie Trace,a professional thief.
His main purpose now is to prevent himself from falling into the hands of satan's son.Because if he does and satan's son uses him,then it would be trouble on earth...
But the funny thing is that,satan's son captures Charlie.And things start to get ugly...(I wouldn't give away anymore of the story,it is really good and I wouldn't want to spoil the suspense)...
Two more things:1)satan's son is also know as the antichrist!
2)The story has a touch of Romance as well,because Charlie falls in love with Amira,a woman whose purpose is unknownuntil a later point in the story...(But will she help him or not?Is she good or bad?What is she?)

........................enjoy...........Nigel.

Lumley's Formula?
"~The first book I read of Lumley's after I read the first few Necroscope novels."~ hero I could sympathise with.But that is just it.It seems Lumley followed his successful formula here, but didn't really introduce anything new or interesting to the reader. the concept.Ijust wish he would have gone into more detail with some of the ideas hepresented in this story.Who knows?Perhaps he will.

An excellent if incomplete novel
This was an excellent if incomplete novel of Lumley's, who of course is better known for the Necroscope series. It is one of the few "stand alone" books that Lumley has written that has not spawned any sequels. Although it is lesser than the unparraleled books in that sequence,(much as his other "stand alone"House of Doors),it remains a good read for his die-hard fans who are willing to give a good horror novel that has no mention of vampires, a chance. Essentialy the book follows the Cary Grant-like theif who gets mixed up in a plot of the Anti-Christ's to take over the world, only to find out that... well, I had better not spoil it. The only real problem with the book was the ending which didn't quite sit right with me.I think that Lumley should try a sequel to flesh out the original ideas in Demogorgon and re-invent the judeo-christian mythos horror genre, much as he did for the vampire and Lovecraftian genres. I give it a 7.

An uninspired novel by an otherwise talented author.
Brian Lumley's 'Demogorgon' is an o.k. read if you have some extra time and aren't particularly choosy about what you're reading.I may have liked it more if I hadn't already read his other books and expected a little better.It does have some parts to it that are entertaining, however, and is not a complete dud. But I recommend reading his other works, such as the Necroscope series, long before this one.

Surprisingly bad, from such an excellent author
After the good work that I had come to expect of Lumley after reading some of his other works such as the Necroscope series, I was unpleasantly surprised at how bad "demogorgon" was.It is a boring story of a thief in search of Satans earthly emmisary.it starts off good, then mires itself down in the uninteresting details of this thiefs existence.Strongly reccomend against! ... Read more

Product Description
Subterranean Press is proud to announce this brand-new edition of Brian Lumley's most sought after book, A Coven of Vampires, featuring a collection of 13 classic vampire tales: What Dark God?, Back Row, The Strange Years, The Kiss of the Lamia, Recognition, The Thief Immortal, Necros, The Thing From the Blasted Heath, Uzzi, Haggopian, The Picknickers, Zack Phalanx is Vlad the Impaler, and The House of the Temple. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointed !!
I purchase every one of Lumleys books and have for years - this was very disappointing. The stories are left hanging and not up to his quality of work.But I am sure I will continue to purchase his books, I think he is usually a excellent writer.AWL

Beautiful book, but buy it from Subterranean Press direct
This is a fanatastic collection of vampire fiction from the esteemed Mr. Lumley and another beautiful production from Subterranean Press. It is a must buy for fans of great vampire fiction.

My only suggestion is to pay a few dollars more and order it direct from Subterranean Press in order to get the bonus chapbook with MORE Lumley vampire fiction. It's one of the highest quality chapbooks I've ever seen. ... Read more

Product Description
Normally, when readers seen Brian Lumley's byline on a book--especially one with the amazing jacket art of Bob Eggleton--the names of several colourful fictional characters spring to mind: heroes such as Harry Keogh, the eponymous Necroscope, or perhaps the occult investigator Titus Crow. While these may be the author's best-known heroes; however, they are only two of a large handful, which is why it may come as something of a surprise this time around to discover that the so-called hero of this current trilogy of tales...isn t!

No, for this lesser-known character isn't so much a typical Lumley hero as an innocent bystander who all too often seems to be standing by in the wrong place at the wrong time--a man in collision with various weird horrors who can never state definitely that the things he experiences are real. After all, someone who sees a few too many pink elephants may question almost anything he experiences, right?

So here he is--the neither hero nor anti-hero narrator of these stories--though in The Nonesuch he s at least seen to be brave if not actually heroic. However, when you've done reading this small trilogy, you might like to ask yourself this: pitted against horrors like those in these stories, just how much of a hero would you be? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book
This was purchased as a gift for my daughter who collects this type of book. ... Read more

Product Description
Harry Keogh is moving on. Though the search for his missing wife and child continues, his heart now lies in Edinburgh with Bonnie Jean--a beautiful Scottish werewolf whose friendly pack and flourishing pub have given him a place he can almost call home.

But from the rocky heights of Sicily, the diabolical Francezci brothers plot the wolf-pack's destruction; and down in the terrible Pit beneath Le Manse Madonie, an ancient evil schemes.

The vampires conspire. They reach a decision. They choose a vector. Mafia thug Mike Milazzo is no good to anyone, anytime, anywhere…which makes him perfect. Disposable.

The brothers infect him with a deadly poison--an engineered plague that even a werewolf could never survive--and they offer him a terrible bargain: successfully contaminate the wolf-pack, and receive the antidote. Fail, and die!

Mike has everything to lose. So does Harry Keogh. But the Necroscope lost everything once before, and he isn't about to do it again... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Overall happy
I've been a fan of Brian Lumley's writing for over a decade!I've found something I liked in every one of his books I've read(17 of them so far).The only detractor from this book is the length.Most of the other Necroscope books were twice the page count as this one was.It was a good read, I just wanted more. ... Read more

Product Description
Normally, when readers seen Brian Lumley's byline on a book--especially one with the amazing jacket art of Bob Eggleton--the names of several colourful fictional characters spring to mind: heroes such as Harry Keogh, the eponymous Necroscope, or perhaps the occult investigator Titus Crow. While these may be the author's best-known heroes; however, they are only two of a large handful, which is why it may come as something of a surprise this time around to discover that the so-called hero of this current trilogy of tales...isn t!

No, for this lesser-known character isn't so much a typical Lumley hero as an innocent bystander who all too often seems to be standing by in the wrong place at the wrong time--a man in collision with various weird horrors who can never state definitely that the things he experiences are real. After all, someone who sees a few too many pink elephants may question almost anything he experiences, right?

So here he is--the neither hero nor anti-hero narrator of these stories--though in The Nonesuch he s at least seen to be brave if not actually heroic. However, when you've done reading this small trilogy, you might like to ask yourself this: pitted against horrors like those in these stories, just how much of a hero would you be? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book
This was purchased as a gift for my daughter who collects this type of book. ... Read more

Product Description
Harry Keogh is moving on. Though the search for his missing wife and child continues, his heart now lies in Edinburgh with Bonnie Jean--a beautiful Scottish werewolf whose friendly pack and flourishing pub have given him a place he can almost call home.

But from the rocky heights of Sicily, the diabolical Francezci brothers plot the wolf-pack's destruction; and down in the terrible Pit beneath Le Manse Madonie, an ancient evil schemes.

The vampires conspire. They reach a decision. They choose a vector. Mafia thug Mike Milazzo is no good to anyone, anytime, anywhere…which makes him perfect. Disposable.

The brothers infect him with a deadly poison--an engineered plague that even a werewolf could never survive--and they offer him a terrible bargain: successfully contaminate the wolf-pack, and receive the antidote. Fail, and die!

Mike has everything to lose. So does Harry Keogh. But the Necroscope lost everything once before, and he isn't about to do it again... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Overall happy
I've been a fan of Brian Lumley's writing for over a decade!I've found something I liked in every one of his books I've read(17 of them so far).The only detractor from this book is the length.Most of the other Necroscope books were twice the page count as this one was.It was a good read, I just wanted more. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

targets die hard fans
This work obviously targets die hard fans of the author of the Necroscope tales. The BRIAN LUMLEY COMPANION is a wonderful addition that provides insight into the author and his works from various sources.Besides the obvious personal background, essays that compare Mr. Lumley to H. P. Lovecraft, analysis of the novels and shorts, and an interview with the author combine to add depth to understanding the author's works.The fascinating analysis and publication history of the Psychomech, Dreamlands, Primal Lands, and Necroscope series speak loudly how much Mr. Lumley has contributed to expanding the horror genre.Living and undead readers of Mr. Lumley will appreciate this intelligent analysis yet entertaining look at the writer and his literary résumé

Harriet Klausner

Product Description a tad misleading
I'm a big fan of the necroscope books so i was really looking forward to this book as a reference. However, the three short stories included are less than 50 words each, there are no bookcover art reproductions like the dust jacket states (most of the pics inside are of brian, his wife and people i have no idea of who they are, much less care). The concordances are actually just listings of every character and place in the books. Book summaries would have been a nice addition. They should have taken a page from the companion that they did for anne rice's vampire chronicles. However, I am a necroscope addict and am glad to own it. Just dont expect too much. ... Read more

Product Description
The Whisperer and Other Stories contains a complete short novel, The Return of the Deep Ones, as well as eight more weighty slices from the dark imagination of Brian Lumley. Here are several of Lumley's best H. P. Lovecraft-inspired tales, including "The Statement of Henry Worthy." Also included are "The Luststone" and "The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave," proving that Lumley can make one laugh even while the hairs on the back of their neck are slowly coming to attention. . . .
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A Good Lovecraftian Feast
Of course, Lumley has written many short stories that are not in any way Lovecraftian.But when he began to write, he was heavily into H. P. Lovecraft, and thus it was fitting that his first publisher was Arkham House, the publishing company that was formed specifically to publish Lovecraft's weird fiction in hardcover.Arkham House also published the first books of Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, and so many others.Lumley's first Arkham House book, THE CALLER OF THE BLACK, remains for me his finest collection of weird fiction.THE WHISPERER AND OTHER VOICES collects a variety of tales and one short novel.The contents of the book is:
Introduction
Snarker's Son
Aunt Hester
The Whisperer
No Sharks in the Med
Vanessa's Voice
The Statement of Henry Worthy
The Disappearance of Jeremy Cleave
The Luststone
The Return of the Deep Ones

The book's introduction is exactly what a good introduction should be: a pleasant description of the origin of the stories contained within the book.Brian is extremely adept at this kind of thing, and one wishes that he would pen a wee biography of his life as an author.What I like about Brian Lumley's fiction is that it is very very British.He handles dialogue extremely well, and his characters serve their tales in admirable fashion.He is wonderful when it comes to the English country, of which his simple descriptions are quite evocative.He is also gifted with the ability to create some of the queerest creatures in weird fiction."Aunt Hester" is a prime example of this:

"There was a humped-up, frenetically mobile and babbling old chap, ninety if he were a day; a frumpish fat woman with many quivering chins; a skeletally thin, incredible tall, ridiculously wrapped-up man in a scarf, pencil-slim overcoat, and fur gloves; and finally, a perfectly delicate old lady with a walking-stick and ear-trumpet.They were shepherded by my Aunt Hester, no different it seemed than when I had last seen her, to the gate and out the street."

Almost seems like some macabre tea-party gathering in a twisted Agatha Christie.The conversation between aunt and narrator soon touches upon Lumley's own version of the NECRONOMICON:

"I don't suppose you've read Joachim Feery on the NECRONOMICON?"
"No," I answered."I don't think so."
"Well, Feery was the illegitimate son of Baron Kant, the German 'witch-hunter.'He died quite mysteriously in 1934 while still a comparatively young man.He wrote a number of occult limited editions -- the vast majority of which religious and other authorities bought up and destroyed as fast as they appeared.Unquestionably--though it has never been discovered where he saw or read them--Feery's source books were very rare and sinister volumes; among them the CTHAAT AQUADINGEN, the NECRONOMICON, von Junzt's UNSPEAKABLE CULTS, Prinn's DE VERMIS MYSTERIIS and other of that sort."

Thus we know that we are in a Mythos tales -- yet Brian's Cthulhu fiction is very much his own, however much it is influenced by HPL's own tales and the Mythos writings of August Derleth.Lumley had certainly caught the Mythos "fefver," and this story comes with a lengthy quote from Alhazred, The Lovecraftian sources to this tale, misty and obscure though they be, seem plentiful.I sense that "The Thing on the Doorstep" was a major inspiration, and this seems right when we consider Lumley's own comments on the tale in his introduction:"Though inspired by HPL, 'Aunt Hester' hasn't the feel of a Lovecraftian story.The closest it comes is in its theme or motif, which... But no, rather than offend any Lovecraft purists out there, I won't darken HPL's doorstep by making comparisons..."I point to Brian's use of the word "doorstep" as an obvious clue.And despite his disavowal of a Lovecraftian feel in the story, his use of the gnarly antient grimoire theme is decidedly HPLish.

"The Whisperer" is a non-Lovecraftian weird tale, and it is very odd indeed, with a queerness that is distinctly that of its author.It is Lumley to the core, clever, haunting, and very strange.In his introductory notes on "The Statement of Henry Worthy," Brian writes, "It's scarely surprising that the story is blatantly Lovecraftian; written in 1967, it was one of the first handful of stories I ever attempted, and I was heavily under the influence of HPL."And yet the tale is quite good for one written so early in his career, and it lacks many of the typical Mythos cliches with which so many young Lovecraftians mar their early writings.

I had to buy this collection in hardcover because I wanted THE RETURN OF THE DEEP ONES in a hardback edition.When I was a young Lovecraftian I was a huge Lumley fan, interviewed him for my Lovecraft fanzine, and began a regular correspondence.One day I received a letter that astounded me:

"10 Feb '77
Dear Puggers---
I've recently finished a couple of tales,...and now I'm about to start on something else.Well, really, I'm WANTING to start on something else, but in fact the story is yours, so I need your permission.The thing is only a germ at present, but it's been in the back of my mind ever since you suggested it.If it's OK with you, I'll name one of the characters, oh, 'William P. Marsh,' I think, as in BORN OF THE WINDS I split my agent's name...It's my way of saying thanks for the idea...
What idea?The one about the shell, in which the hero hears the Deep Ones singing their hymns to Cthulhu."

This shews what an absolute professional and gentleman Lumley is.He didn't have to ask my permission, he could have used my idea in any number of ways without asking me and thrilling me by naming one of his minor characters after me.But he is a total professional and a kind gent.I was astounded to hear that the wee idea had grown into a small novel.Unfortunately, the editor at Arkham House at this time was a rather strange fellow who had grown weary of the Cthulhu Mythos and was working to transform Arkham House from being a publisher of weird fiction to a house of science fiction.He rejected Brian's novel.Happily, TOR included it in this handsome hardcover edition.I am proud to have been, in some small way, responsible for one of Brian's major works of the Cthulhu Mythos.

We can be grateful to TOR for bringing us the majority of Lumley's Mythos fiction back into print.I loved THE BURROWERS BENERATH when it first came out -- indeed, I bought lots of extra copies and sent them out to various Mythos pen-pals -- and I was happy to be able to buy it in hardcover in Vol. I of the Titus Crow volumes.I grew disenchanted with the direction Lumley took Titus Crow -- I didn't like this way cool weird fiction character become a hero figure in novels of fantasy adventure -- but it's always nice to have the old stories to read over again and again.How happy I would be if Brian would, now, write a new collection of Titus Crow weird tales that take place BEFORE the events of THE BURROWERS BENEATH.There is still much that could be done with that charming, enchanting character.

Simply... Lumley !
I wont go through all the book stories in here and write a full review...

Just to say that, well Lumley did it again in every story I read. This is a great book, as all others... Not too much mythos by time and still pretty neat.

My 2 best stories in this book

- "The Whisperer"
That damned little hunchback... freaky story with just a tip of sexuality to make even better... I wish Lumley would use this character again to make a sequel!

Same for :

- "No sharks in the Med"
Reminds me of the set up in the same Greek Islands in "Silent Scream" that can be found in his other book -Beneath the Moors.

Great read, and even better if you can easily put images in your mind as you go... and better keep your wife even closer to you..!

Earplugs and Hedgeclippers, Essentials for Urban Survival
Within Brian Lumley's works is a certain something that oftentimes finds me late at night with my chin pressed to a book, a chill lapping the base of my spine, making me look over my shoulder and wonder because of his visions. Here I find my mind running rampant, dancing through gardens of strange delights that, if I'm luck, bring about some delicately crafted nightmares to lovingly caress me within my sleep. Its as if the words he crafts, working from some primal place that a reader can easily understand, can bring about feelings I had long considered dead and gone in my horror-hardened mind. This is something I find myself coveting more and more as the days press into years and time marches on.

In this installment of short stories, there are many notable pieces that include, among other things, a short novel dealing with some of my favorite Lovecraftian amphibians. There are also pieces here that found me laughing as well, picturing the dread of the characters as they learned valuable lessons on "juju" and the high cost of certain crimes, and pieces that make me remember why eating things I find outside is never a good idea.
Breaking some of these down, they are:

Snarker's Son, a tale involving an oddity at the police station and a policeman who is at first skeptical until being privy to a meeting of the "tubers," ending the tale in something bloodily to my liking and always full of teeth.

Aunt Hester, brimming with Lovecraftian themes that also dart in their own morbid direct, deals with a woman that can, for some strange reason, switch bodies with her twin brother if she wants to. She finds it out quite by accident at first, doing things innocently and then out of anger. Well, this doesn't sit too well with him, and she learns, in a not-so-wonderful manner involving a very valuable life lesson, why she shouldn't play in grounds she's been told to leave alone. The ending to this piece is a very good one, taking the main plot and standing it on its proverbial ear a bit, giving the reader something that they can take with them anytime they find themselves in a dark, silent void within the night.

The Whisperer, perhaps one of my favorites in the book, finds a Mr. Miles Benton communing with a small, rancid dwarf on the train, one that happens to interact with him in the most terrible of fashions. This run-in, not a good one in many respects, is only the beginning of a long nightmare, one he thinks himself mad for dreaming. Again and again the dwarf appears, whispering in the ears of people with horrible repercussions for Mr. Benton in the process, ruining his life and his sanity in the process. So, is it a dream, is it a nightmare, is it Lumley selecting a main character to torment horribly before introducing him to the rubbery undertow of demise? Its a question you'll love yourself for answering.

The Statement of Henry Worthy, dealing with the dark side of botany, is about plants of unknown origin that are discovered by a Germanic explorer, Horst Graumer, before he disappears and the horrors that these things actually hide when another botanist decides to go looking for them. Deciding to voyage into a certain area of marshlands, he finds what he's looking for and more, falling into a cavern of perpetual horror in the process, his dreams meshing with a reality that worsens as the days press on. Here is a very Lovecraftian, very entertaining piece, teaching everyone that eating greens, contrary to what your mother may have said, can be a wretched ordeal!!

The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave, one of the funnier pieces I've seen produced by Lumley, focuses on the fun one can have if he were to suddenly decide to partake in extracurricular activities with his best friend's wife while that best friend, in his grave in the queerest of circumstances, stretches his juju a bit. Of particular merit is the ending to this one, fueled by a delicious melody of horror and suffering, making any fan smile with pride.

The Return of the Deep Ones, a story hitting novel lengths, touches upon those Lovecraftian tides and the dwellers that seem to always haunt them. After getting a conch from a certain Mr. Marsh of Innsmouth, our main character finds a change being thrust upon himself, one that spins and twists through oceans of plot and mini-stories, ultimately allowing him to press against that brick wall that all characters in stories really need to hit. While this is a bit older in the Lumley craft, it is still impressive and worth reading, letting those cute little men with the huge, unblinking eyes creep into your heart and make you yearn for the sea and immortality once more.

Excluded from description here are a few tales, No Sharks in the Med, Vanessa's Voice, and The Luststone, all worth of a synopsis in and of themselves but all finding and unwilling medium to do so at this time.

This, along with its companion piece Beneath the Moors, offers a wide variety of reading that don't really adhere to one way of recollecting the decrepit underbelly of living, making certain to entertain even the sloppiest of horror consumers. It makes me long for a house by the ocean, myself.

A vacation to Greece which turns into a deadly struggle
Fans of Lovecraft's scenarios will relish this science fiction/horror blend which includes many elements of Lovecraft's horror tales, with the focus on racial memory and a concluding story of the Deep Ones based on Lovecraft's classic. Just as haunting is No Sharks In The Med, a short story about a vacation to Greece which turns into a deadly struggle for survival.

Wonderful writing!
Let me start by saying that, as others have said many times, Lumley's stories are a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft; some intentional, others not.His stories are written in a prose that seems to come from a somewhat gentler time, perhaps 60 years ago.The writing itself is beautifully done -- and wonderfully enough without lots of four letter words and overt sexuality.There's not anything wrong with foul language or sex used in a book per se, but it seems to have become the staple form of communication in the horror genre nowadays. It's nice to see a master at ratcheting up the tension level rely on subtleties instead of broad swaths of blood, gore and sex.

That said, Lumley's tales are not for everyone.For those who prefer King's bluntness, Hamilton's sexiness or just plain quick and dirty writing may not appreciate the style of these stories.Also, some may find the plots trite and older than dirt.A fine example of a story that every horror writer has written in some form is the opening tale, "Snarker's Son", where a stolid cop finds himself in an alternate reality and thus comes to grief.However tired the plots may seem in some cases, Lumley has that certain skill that few possess -- the ability to make the old seem fresh and riveting to boot.

My favorite stories are "Aunt Hester" and "No Sharks in the Med".The first tale is about a beloved aunt with a terrifying and ghastly power that she exercises without taking the proper precautions. It makes one consider anew the old and odd family spinster! "No Sharks in the Med" is a tale of terror that builds slowly to an exciting and horrible end.It plays on the meaningof the word shark.Two of the more raucously amusing tales are the title story,wherein a man is destroyed by a demented and grotesque little man who takes over his existence, and "The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave" which chronicles a dead husband's way of getting revenge on his cheating wife and friend.The novela "Return of the Deep Ones", is one of the more Lovecraftian works chronicling the last days of a scientist driven to madness by his discovery of a new and strange species.

This collection of stories brings together many years of Lumley's work into a book well worth reading.The fact that it is also wonderful writing in and of itself is a bonus.Anyone who is a fan of horror should give it a try, even if it seems not to be of their usual, favorite style."The Whisperer and Other Voices" is excellent reading! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

strong fantasy
As the son of the royal chief architect, Khai Ibizin grows up believing that the Pharaoh Khasathut, ruler of Khem, is a god until he actually meets the man as a pathetic old man who cares only for young virgins to share his bed and obtain the eternal life.Having no respect for the God that fell from his mental pedestal, Khai defies the Pharaoh and flees to nearby Kush where he meets Queen Ashtarta, who gives him sanctuary.

Ashtarta and Khai fall in love and plan to marry.However, war between her country and that of Khem is imminent.Ashtarta looks into a magic pool seeing something she does not comprehend.Khai is in a weird locale where silver birds fly humans inside their stomachs and carts with people inside their bellies move without animals amongst other strangeness.The Pharaoh's wizards have sent Khai's ka into the distant future; if not returned soon he will die.Khai's friend Manek Thotak is sent forward by Ashtarta's wizards to bring Khai's ka home.In modern day London Khai lives as Egyptologist Paul Arnott with knowledge of how weapons work.

This is a reprint of a 1980s action packed tale in which Ancient Egyptian belief elements seem genuine.The key players (a withered pharaoh, a heroic champion, a benign queen, and a sacrificing friend) are all fully developed whether they are in the "present" or in late twentieth century England.However, what makes the tale still strong is the time paradox of whether Khai's return to the past could change "future" history by bringing back modern day knowledge to Ancient Egypt.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

exciting science fiction
Two decades have passed since Richard Garrison entered Psychosphere to cleanse evil from the planet.The world has surprisingly lived in harmony since as Pax Psychomech has descended on the Earth.

However, the tranquillity ends when the Psychomech goes insane seeking balance in the differing universe.People become victims of the Gibbering, an irreparable plague of insanity and some die.Though Richard Stone uses the power he inherited from his father, the prime inventor of the Psychomech machine running amok, he has had limited success containing the disease.With the world out of control as the Psycho device makes an effort to return the planet to its normal state of equilibrium, villains such as Gubwa and Craig resurface leaving Richard wondering what to do next to end the Chaos Psychomech era of destruction.

The reprint of the third and final Psychomech tales, PSYCHAMOK, is an exciting science fiction tale that will please readers of the series and those individuals who enjoy a world going amok.The story line is fast-paced, loaded with action, yet uses a mundane but practical climax.Fans of the books will relish this novel while newcomers need to start at the beginning to fully appreciate and comprehend the complex story line(s) created by Brian Lumley.

Harriet Klausner

Imaginative. Creative
This was my first Brian Lumley book.I loved it, even though I had not read the first two in the series.The author creates a different fictional world that leaves you thinking "What if?". I have now become atotal Lumley fan collecting all his books.

Drags On, And Is A Bore
"I hate to blasphemy against my favorite author, but I found this third novel in the Psychomech trilogy a complete and utter bore. ... Read more

Product Description
And neither does Harry Koegh, the world's greatest vampire hunter, the Necroscope, the man who can talk to the dead. Right now, he's desperately searching for his wife and son, who disappeared in the midst of Harry's war against the undead monsters that plague mankind. Others will to carry on that fight until the Necroscope has been reunited with his beloved family.

But it's not that easy to leave the vampire war behind. The bloodsuckers know that the Necroscope is their deadliest enemy and will do anything to destroy him.

Harry struggles to locate his missing family, not realizing that he has become a pawn in the battle between two powerful vampire. When one has slain the other, the Necroscope will be the next to die.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

An Excellent Addition to the Series
Brian Lumey's Necroscope series is one of the best horror/sci-fi book series of all time. The first five novels in the series (`Necroscope', `Wamphyri', `The Source', `Deadspeak', and `Deadspawn') chronicle the life of Harry Keogh, a man whose ability to communicate with the dead has garnered him the title Necroscope. `The Lost Years', alongside its direct sequel `Resurgence', takes a close look at the eight "lost" years that occurred between `Wamphyri' and `The Source'.

It's important to note that you shouldn't read this book unless you're already acquainted with the original series. `The Lost Years' not only provides spoilers, but also draws heavily on events, places, and characters from the first five novels. Unlike previous installments, it also ends with the "TO BE CONTINUED" hook. Thus, if you're a newcomer to the Necroscope universe, I'd advise you to avoid `The Lost Years' and get your hands on `Necroscope' instead.

That being said, `The Lost Years' is a great addition to the original series. It expands on Keogh himself, showing his struggle to get used to his new body and his attempts to find his wife and child. It adds a lot of depth to the history of the wamphyri, further fleshes out the Ferenczy dynasty, establishes its own version of Dracula, and introduces werewolves into the setting. All these backstories and subplots serve to enhance the main story - that of the blood feud between three ancient wamphyri families.

The literary style, while above average, is far from flawless. Lumley is too fond of the "there are vampires and there are vampires" word play, and uses it too often in both narration and dialogue. Dialogues sometimes sound wooden and/or cartoony. This is especially glaring when there's lots of exposition going on.

Characterization is done masterfully for the most part. The wamphyri deserve a special mention as an example of complete monsters done well. By all rights, their sadistic, traitorous, baby-eating villainy should've come off as ridiculous and one-dimensional. However, Lumley spends considerable time developing their personalities and giving them in-depth histories and motivations, thus creating an entire race of extremely malevolent yet at the same time highly believable abominations. That he also uses the wamphyri leeches as symbols for the evil that lurks within a man's soul (Shaitan the Unborn - the greatest of the wamphyri and Lumley's stand-in for Satan - is himself a massive leech) only serves to add to their complexity and sheer awesomeness.

`The Lost Years' is a fast paced, intelligent, and highly entertaining horror/sci-fi novel. The writing is less then stellar, but the quality of the setting and the plot more then makes up for any stylistic failings. Newcomers beware; Brian Lumley's books aren't for the faint-hearted. The entire `Necroscope' series is cynical, bloody, and chock-full of nightmare fuel. I've read hundreds of gory novels - anything from tame H. P. Lovecraft and Anne Rice stuff, to Clive Barker and Brett Easton Ellis slaughter fests - and even I found some parts of `The Lost Years' disturbing. The scene with the innocent acolyte and the ice blocks, with its horrifying depiction of fear and helplessness, has been haunting me for days now.

:-O Ugh!
I must haverequested the wrong book from the library, and started with one of the later books. It was so-so for the first 5 pages, then rapidly fell off.The story was silly, and I rapidly lost interest.The only reason I forced myself to continue reading is I was commuting by train and had nothing else to read.

Necroscope
The book was in good shape except the back cover had a big tear in it.Hard to know if it was from shipping or not.

Brian Lumley any thing pertaining 2 him
I'm N love with anything he writes,wish he would make mini series movies 2 each book he writes ,love every gory detail.He needs 2 make them come alive. Thanks, I curl up with u every night.

a little uneven but satisfying
This chapter in the engrossing necro-saga, starts off strong, then gets a little iffy in the ensuing 100 pages regarding the metting of Harry and BJ. Then you get to the history of Radu Lykan and boy does it ever take off. I was totaly gripped with this piece of history. It's as good as anything written previously in the series. I'm so into all these stories that I recently purchased the remaining books. I'm blown away with Lumley's skill at continuity in this series..moving the story forward with a keen eye on the past and filling in missing pieces in between. Brilliant,and engrossing. ... Read more

Product Description
Gleefully mixing SF, fantasy, and horror, Screaming Science Fiction is a full-length collection of nine thrilling, chilling, spine-tingling stories by horror master Brian Lumley (Necroscope), including"No Way Home," "Snarker's Son,""The Strange Years," and a nearly 20,000 word novella ("Feasibility Study") appearing for the first time anywhere. ... Read more

Product Description
Nestor and Nathan Kiklu are the twin sons of Harry Keogh, the Necroscope. United by blood, they also share some of their father's awesome powers--but what they do with those gifts cannot be more different!

Nathan takes up the struggle against the metamorphic vampires, while Nestor, fascinated by the vampires' eerie evil, has become his twin's worst nightmare: a Wamphyri Lord!

Harry Keogh's sons have become the bitterest of enemies, each determined to destroy the other. When next they meet, one will surely die!
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Makes Dracula's Castle look like the Red Roof Inn
This book provides a description of the forementioned aeries that was not seen to this point in the series.The depth of the foreboding Lumley uses while painting his picture is galvanizing.The horror of each level is only surpassed (yet amplified) by the malevolence present in the interaction of its inhabitants. When you step back and realize that this is only one (indeed the last) in a line of larger and perhaps even more hellish structures..you really begin to appreciate the world Lumley has created and the mind from which it came.

The Last Aerie
Excellent story in the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley. I do recommend that the whole series be read in order as the storyline will be much easier to follow. All of Brian Lumley's vampire stories are intrigueing and suspenseful and cater to the died-in-the wool vampire lover as well as the fantasy/sci-fi lover. Amazon has all the Lumley books available to purchase at REASONABLE prices. ENJOY!!!

gift
i bought this for a gift for my husband the seller sent it in a timely manner also in great cond. it was a great purchase
thanks

JUST BUY IT NOW HURRY
This is by far one of the best books you will pick up ever, along with the others in the triolgy. Luckly I first found Blood Brothers and this one at a garage sale and loved them so much that i bought
the whole Necroscope series.
SO BUY THEM ALL
The first book is good and the series keeps getting better and reacts its pinacle at this series but slightly goes down from there.
JUST BUY THE BOOK AND YOU'LL AGREE

Good, but not the best one
Nestor's story is interesting, but I wanted more about Nathan.Too much about the world of the vampires can be too much without something human to offset it.I'm hoping the next book centers more on Nathan. ... Read more