What are the good mythos novels
icarp...@aol.com
of worthwhile mythos novels is not that long. I am trying to decide
which one to read next.
Radiant Dawn - Goodfellow ****** my favorite on this list
Ravenous Dusk - Goodfellow
The Atrocity Archives - Stross
The Jennifer Morgue - Stross
Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement
Balak - Rainey
The Gardens of Lucullus - Tierney
The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet - Meikle
Where Goeth Nyarlathotep - Reiner
Haunting of Alaizabel Cray - Wooding (Lovecraftian, not Cthulhu mythos
really)
A Night in the Lonesome October - Zelazny
Gemini Rising - McNaughton
Downward to Darkness - McNaughton
Worse Things Waiting - McNaughton (The House Across the Way is not
Lovecraftian or mythos, imo)
Queen of K'n-Yan - Ken
Threshold - Kiernan (very Lovecraftian but not mythos)
Mall of Cthulhu - Cooper
Here are what I would consider borderline, or where I am a bit
undecided
Windwalker's Mate - Carter
Tide of Desire - Clayton (McNaughton) - worth a look, impossible to
find and a bad ending
The Things That Are Not There - CJ Henderson
The Stench of Fresh Air - CJ Henderson
These ones I think are not as good, although most have something to
recommend them, particularly to diehard fans. Often if I don't like
the novel here I like the author's short fiction, again stressing for
me the difficulty of stretching mythos ideas to novel length.
The Hound Hunters - Niswander
Other Nations - Marsh
HP Lovecraft Institute - Bischoff - complete dog
Nightmare's Disciple - Pulver
A Darkness Inbred - Heck - complete dog
Dagon - Chappell - honestly I cannot see how anyone could like this
Island Life - Meikle
The Riddle of Cthulhu - Emerson - complete dog
ultimate WMD - Emerson - complete dog
The Dark Destroyer - Glasby
Servants of Chaos -D'Ammassa
The Great White Space - Copper
The Sand Dwellers - Niswander
The Iron Maiden - Lancett
The Colour Out of Time - Shea
The Colour Out of Darkness - Pelan
Ghoul - Slade - not fair as it is not really mythos, just uses HPL
references
Deeper - Moore
The House of the Toad - Tierney
The Returner: The Book of Planes - Landri
The Eden Retrieval - Howarth
The Fertile Crescent -McLairn -hands down the worst book on this list
An Evil Guest - Wolfe - what a disappointment!
Resume With Monsters - Spencer - not really mythos
Monstrocity - Thomas
Deadstock -Thomas
Hive - Curran
Here are ones I have not yet read
The Ceremonies - Klein - I'm about half done and really like it so far
Move Under Ground - Mamatas
The Sleep That Rescues - Henderson (not yet released)
Low Red Moon - Kiernan
Daughter of Hounds - Kiernan
Cthulhu's Chosen - Loiler - may be a dog
Drums of Chaos - Tierney
Blue Devil Island - Rainey
Mr. X - Straub
The Fuller Memorandum - not yet released
Some things I left off because I don't buy the mythos association. Is
there anything I missed? What is your favorite novel in this genre?
Matt
Evans
> Mostly I think the mythos is best served by the short story. My list
> of worthwhile mythos novels is not that long. I am trying to decide
> which one to read next.
>
> there anything I missed? What is your favorite novel in this genre?
>
> Matt
Remember The Darkest Part of the Woods!
Robert J. Parker
sothothery.
You've covered all the mythos novels I've read, but I can at least
mention a number of others not covered here. Perhaps they're such
"dogs" that they don't deserve mention:
Graham Masterton's Prey: I understand Masterton wrote a number of
mythos-related novels, but this is supposed to be his most
Lovecraftian.
Marc Laidlaw's The 37th Mandala
There's also Colin Wilson's books, although I'm no big fan:
The Mind Parasite
The Space Vampires
As far as what my favorite Mythos novels are, I'll list based on what
I've read:
The Ceremonies - Klein
Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement - Tynes
The Atrocity Archives - Stross
Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement - Detwiller
Resume With Monsters - Spencer
Balak - Rainey
Queen of K'n-Yan - Ken
The Colour Out of Time - Shea
The Mind Parasites - Wilson
Note that this is the complete list of full Mythos novels I've read. I
would not consider rereading either The Colour Out of Time or The Mind
Parasites, both of which I feel were a waste of my time.
Harksen
THE COLOR OUT OF DARKNESS - Pelan (I liked it--but I can understand
why some don't);
STRANGE EONS - Bloch (perhaps not horrific, but this homage I consider
a worthy Mythos tale).
I look forward to hear what you think of Klein's CEREMONIES when
you're done with it, Matt. Although calling it Mythos is, I think,
stretching it too far;-)
-Henrik
Robert J. Parker
read the Titus Crow series. I would place The Burrowers Beneath and
the Transition of Titus Crow above the Colour Out of Time but below
Queen of K'n-Yan while the next three slip below the Colour Out of
Time but still stay ahead of the Mind Parasite. The final Titus Crow
novel, however, will rank as the worst mythos novel I've ever had the
displeasure of reading.
You could also risk the Ralph E. Vaughn series of Lovecraftian novels,
although I can't speak for (or against) their merit:
Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods
Sherlock Holmes in the Dreaming Detective
Sherlock Holmes in the Terror Out of Time
Professor Challenger in Secrets of the Dreamlands
icarp...@aol.com
> How about adding these?:
>
> THE COLOR OUT OF DARKNESS - Pelan (I liked it--but I can understand
> why some don't);
The Colour Out of Darkness is on my flawed list. I think it really
lost continuity in the last 3rd, essentially jettisoning the major
character. Also the ending was quite hurried. I think he wrote 2/3
of a short novel and cobbed the end together to meet a deadline.
> I look forward to hear what you think of Klein's CEREMONIES when
> you're done with it, Matt. Although calling it Mythos is, I think,
> stretching it too far;-)
Certainly it has a Lovecraftian feel so far, as did The Events at the
Poroth Farm. Although I am also feeling echoes of The Wicker Man (the
novel) that I didn't note in the short story. It is very well written
so far.
> STRANGE EONS - Bloch (perhaps not horrific, but this homage I consider
> a worthy Mythos tale).
I have a copy of this but dang if I can remember reading it. I'll
give it a go, but I bet I recall reading it before when I get half way
through.
I guess I also have to add The 37th Mandala by Laidlaw to the unread
group.
Matt
icarp...@aol.com
> mythos-related novels, but this is supposed to be his most
> Lovecraftian.
I have this but haven't read it.
> Marc Laidlaw's The 37th Mandala
ditto
> There's also Colin Wilson's books, although I'm no big fan:
>
> The Mind Parasite
> The Space Vampires
I don't know anything about these.
> Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement - Detwiller
I actually thought this was pretty diappointing, the weakest Delta
Green book
> The Mind Parasites - Wilson
I may have a copy of this; I'm not sure
Matt
icarp...@aol.com
> Remember The Darkest Part of the Woods!
I have this but dang if I can recollect reading it! I need to look at
it again and see if I somehow missed it. My wife always complains I
have too many books where I argue we just don't have sufficient space.
Matt
icarp...@aol.com
wrote:
> There's a few mythos novels I realized I forgot on my list. I have
> read the Titus Crow series. I would place The Burrowers Beneath and
> the Transition of Titus Crow above the Colour Out of Time but below
> Queen of K'n-Yan while the next three slip below the Colour Out of
> Time but still stay ahead of the Mind Parasite. The final Titus Crow
> novel, however, will rank as the worst mythos novel I've ever had the
> displeasure of reading.
I have never essayed the Titus Crow books because, while I find
Lumley's short fiction decent enough, I could not stand the Necroscope
series.
> You could also risk the Ralph E. Vaughn series of Lovecraftian novels,
> although I can't speak for (or against) their merit:
>
> Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods
> Sherlock Holmes in the Dreaming Detective
> Sherlock Holmes in the Terror Out of Time
> Professor Challenger in Secrets of the Dreamlands
I'll take a look, thanks
Matt
Robert J. Parker
I agree that Denied to the Enemy was comparatively weak, but that
doesn't mean it isn't better than the majority of the Mythos fiction
I've read.
In regards to Colin Wilson, he's more of a pop philosopher/
psychologist from the '60s who dropped some mythos names in three
novellas, including the two previously mentioned and a third that was
never published independently but later collected in Chaosium's
Antarktos Cycle. I'll eventually get around to reading Space Vampires
and when I pick up the Antarktos Cycle I'm sure I'll read the third,
but I felt pretty badly burned by The Mind Parasites.
Honestly, from your unread stack I'd probably choose Blue Devil Island
first. I haven't read it but I greatly enjoyed The Last Trumpet, a
mythos short story collection of Rainey's. Balak was also quite good,
but I felt it didn't live up to his short fiction. Seeing as Blue
Devil Island marries two of Rainey's favorite themes (the Mythos and
WWII dogfights), I can't see you going wrong with that one. I'd be
tempted to read the Drums of Chaos, but since in your review of The
Gardens of Lucullus on Amazon you mention you haven't finished The
Scroll of Thoth I'd probably read the short fiction first. Just at a
guess, I'd wager that Tierney at least alludes to earlier stories, and
it would be a shame not to catch the references.
Oh, and thanks for the list. There were a number of things I wasn't
aware of, like Straub doing a Lovecraftian novel.
As far as Titus Crow goes... I wouldn't bother. The first two aren't
all bad (although I hear that Burrowers Beneath lifts quite a bit of
prose from short stories) but the rest of the series is painful in the
extreme.
james ambuehl
incorporates the story from TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS, "The Return of
the Lloigor." And it slots between THE MIND PARASITES and THE SPACE
VAMPIRES (also, TOMB OF THE OLD ONES follows all 3 of these, but I
believe it was only published in THE ANTARKTOS CYCLE.)
-- Jim
"When the Big Sleep ends, the Nightmares begin!" -- HARDBOILED CTHULHU:
TWO-FISTED TALES OF TENTACLED TERROR, edited by James Ambuehl and out
now from Elder Signs Press! Available from Clarkesworld Books,
Shocklines, Amazon, and Elder Signs Press itself!
Robert J. Parker
If you're familiar with Wilson's work, would you recommend his later
novels? I felt like the Mind Parasites barely qualified as a novel.
Like Atlas Shrugged (which I found myself constantly reminded of
during the course of reading this), it seemed like the "plot" existed
only as a vehicle in which he could sell us his pop psychology
message. Is this a recurring theme, or is there some improvement? I've
heard good things about "The Return of the Lloigor", so I was
surprised how much of a stinker this was.
icarp...@aol.com
> tempted to read the Drums of Chaos, but since in your review of The
> Gardens of Lucullus on Amazon you mention you haven't finished The
> Scroll of Thoth I'd probably read the short fiction first. Just at a
> guess, I'd wager that Tierney at least alludes to earlier stories, and
> it would be a shame not to catch the references.
I read Price's introduction and he actually spells out every single
reference, making the story sound intriguing and preparing the reader
well for the novel....and he also puts in a MAJOR spoiler. I was
actually so put out by it that I'm still in a huff. Otherwise I
probably would have finished the book by now.
Matt
williemeikle
icarp...@aol.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hey, those Midnight Eye File books are fabulous, I recommend them to
everyone. My main gripe is I don't have the third one yet...hint,
hint.
Matt
williemeikle
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Hey, those Midnight Eye File books are fabulous, I recommend them to
> everyone. My main gripe is I don't have the third one yet...hint,
> hint.
>
> Matt
It's written and sold to Black Death Books... slated for publication
in Spring 2010 :)
Al Smith
I liked very much the start of Wilson's "Mind Parasites" when I
first read it, but I was greatly disappointed by the second half of
the novel and the ending, which I found unsatisfying and just wrong
for the initial direction of the book. It's been a long time, but if
I can remember what the problem was, it seems to me it was that he
took the novel too much in a science fiction direction at the end,
whereas he had started it as horror.
-Al-
Al Smith
I read the first of his "Spider World" series of novels (I've got
six of the novels -- I don't know if that's all there is to the
series). The first one was a so-so science fiction novel, good
enough to keep reading for the sake of finishing the book, but not
good enough that I wanted to repeat the experience. I didn't enjoy
it enough to read any of the remaining novels in the series.
-Al-
icarp...@aol.com
>
> > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > Hey, those Midnight Eye File books are fabulous, I recommend them to
> > everyone. �My main gripe is I don't have the third one yet...hint,
> > hint.
>
> > Matt
>
> It's written and sold to Black Death Books... slated for publication
>
> - Show quoted text -
....yeah, yeah...and what about book 4??
Matt
williemeikle
>
> > > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > > Hey, those Midnight Eye File books are fabulous, I recommend them to
> > > everyone. My main gripe is I don't have the third one yet...hint,
> > > hint.
>
> > > Matt
>
> > It's written and sold to Black Death Books... slated for publication
> > in Spring 2010 :)- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> ....yeah, yeah...and what about book 4??
>
> Matt
:)
While you're waiting, there's going to be a short Midnight Eye file in
the Mythos Books Cthulhu 2012 antho, and, sometime next year, a
Midnight Eye audio novella, Rhythm and Booze coming from Ghostwriter
Publications. And both of these are most definitely Lovecraftian :)
Willie
Evans
I'm probably going to regret asking this but what was so... err
lacking about The Fertile Crescent? (I've never heard of it before)
icarp...@aol.com
> On Aug 8, 10:48�pm, "icarpen...@aol.com" <icarpen...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> I'm probably going to regret asking this but what was so... err
Here's a link to my review:
Evans
> On Aug 9, 9:10 am, Evans <dark.jira...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 8, 10:48 pm, "icarpen...@aol.com" <icarpen...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm probably going to regret asking this but what was so... err
> > lacking about TheFertileCrescent? (I've never heard of it before)
>
> Here's a link to my review:
>
Yes, yes that looks pretty rough. (though I'm not sure about $15 being
unusual for a paperback anymore)
cynick
> although I can't speak for (or against) their merit:
>
> Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods
> Sherlock Holmes in the Dreaming Detective
> Sherlock Holmes in the Terror Out of Time
> Professor Challenger in Secrets of the Dreamlands
The first two are chapbooks, maybe a half hour read at the most - very
fanfic.
I've not managed to snag the other two, but suspect the same applies
to them.
A review of "Terror Out of Time" can be found at http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/toot.html
cynick
> mythos-related novels, but this is supposed to be his most
> Lovecraftian.
It is a modern-day retelling of Dreams in the Witch House. An
entertaining read, but nothing exceptional.
cynick
>
> The Ceremonies - Klein - I'm about half done and really like it so far
> Move Under Ground - Mamatas
Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey & Wlliam Burroughs go on Cthulhoid roadtrip.
Written very much in the style of the three named authors
(particularly Kerouac's On The Road). If you like them, you might like
this. If not, the style may annoy the hell out of you - not my cup of
tea.
> The Sleep That Rescues - Henderson (not yet released)
> Low Red Moon - Kiernan
> Daughter of Hounds - Kiernan
> Cthulhu's Chosen - Loiler - may be a dog
> Drums of Chaos - Tierney
> Blue Devil Island - Rainey
> Mr. X - Straub
More Lovecraftian than Mythos, although the Mythos itself plays a part
in the plot, as does HPL. The set up probably has more in common with
Stephen King - Bad things from childhood/the past in a small town. I
liked it though...
james ambuehl
In the first, Holmes journeys to Providence and helps HPL against
Cthulhu; in the second, Holmes and Nikola Tesla adventure into the
Dreamlands (it also features a bonus Holmes short story set in
Dreamlands, "The Adventure of the Laughing Moonbeast"); the third
features Professor Challenger in Dreamlands and the 4th is Holmes again.
They are all very great fun, all from Gryphon Books, and the various
titles are:
1. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE ADVENTURE OF THE ANCIENT GODS
2. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE DREAMING DETECTIVE
3. PROFESSOR CHALLENGER IN SECRETS OF THE DREAMLANDS
4. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TERROR OUR OF TIME
Vaughan did a handful of other Mythos short stories, but these chapbooks
are undoubtedly the best things he's done in the genre.