Archive for Reviews

Alien Stars: A Harry Stubbs Adventure

He’s still reading his science fiction novels, working the jobs only an ex-boxer can get, and working on a correspondence course in investigations that has me super excited for future installments.

In this book, he’s investigating a weird type of meteorite that might have abstract properties, making it dangerous for the owner.

My favorite parts of this book were the parts that define any Harry Stubbs adventure. Specifically, the investigation into the museum, the library research, and the very interesting characters, specifically, his employer in this book and the sultry American visitor.

Harry Stubbs is one of my favorite characters and always a great adventure. David fails to disappoint, bringing an intelligent and intrigue-driven story to a character that could so easily be written as a dumb stereotype. Instead, he’s a smart man, who I would describe as more wise than intelligent, in that he’s always seeking to learn and better himself.

Even if those efforts and his current line of work might drive him mad.
5 out of 5!

Alien Stars is absolutely wonderful. Get a copy here!

Lovecraft Country
By Matt Ruff

With Peele of Key & Peele/Get Out fame creating an HBO exclusive miniseries based off Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft country, we decided it is a great opportunity to review the book here.  Lovecraft Country follows the adventures of a black family from Chicago during the height of Jim Crow through an interconnected anthology, with each story building on the previous and working together beautifully.  In the book, Lovecraft himself is a known author, so we depart from the standard Mythos that we see in most Cthulhu Mythos stories, akin to the way Charles Stross openly mocks Lovecraft in his short story Equoid.  That said, however, the stories are in fact quite Lovecraftian.  

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The Tower of Zhaal by CT Phipps

Post-Apocalyptic fiction is fun, but Post-Apocalyptic Lovecraft fiction is even better.

That kind of fun led me to C.T. Phipps’ “The Tower of Zhaal.”

The Tower of Zhaal is the sequel to Phipps’ first successful foray into Lovecraftian fiction, Cthulhu Armageddon. In that first book, the world has been ravaged by the long ago (but still in our current future) rise of the Great Old Ones. The hero of the first book, John Henry Booth is back, and the taint of the world has eeked it’s way into his own flesh. With Nyarlahotep whispering in his ear, and the threat of the end of the human race on the brink of happening, John has to risk everything with a team that he can’t trust in order to save the few parts of the hellish world that mean something to him.

While traveling to and with some very Mythos specific names, as well as some that are a treat for readers of contemporary Mythos fiction (ie: the Ghoul priest being named Hoade as an obvious reference to fellow contemporary Mythos writer, Sean Hoade). The explanations of Magic, the Science of the Mind, and the different Alien races make it an epic adventure on par with Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, but within the Mythos elements that bring us back.

The world has ended, Alien Gods are everywhere, and the question of humanities survival is a complex one. Can Humanity survive? Should Humanity survive? Would the Humanity that survives even be recognizable as Human?

Phipps weaves a great tale, that makes for an exciting read.

5 out of 5 Stars!

Minor Potential Spoiler: There’s a scene in this book that made me laugh out loud, but not because it was funny. The moment I read it, I wanted to shout, “Ah! He’s been Rick and Morty’d!!!”

“The Call of Cthulhu,” a new film by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, has been one of the most anticipated releases of the last year, and the Shoggoth Network is proud to bring you this complete review…

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When the package containing my latest order finally arrived in the mailbox I immediately ripped open the box to find a green plush likeness of our favorite Great Old One, The Mighty Cthulhu himself (only smaller).

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The Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic

I was immediately deeply impressed with the cover art. It is complex and stunningly beautiful. This will look great on a retailer’s shelf and, subsequently, on the gaming table. The interior art maintains this level of quality.

The layout is clean and concise, without the unnecessary clutter some publications have in an effort to look cool. I need a reference book to make it easy to reference the material, and this book delivers. The chapter headers and the topic headers and sub-headers are very easy to distinguish and the font is elegant. The chapter title pages also have simulated “big red bookmark ribbons” which I think look really cool. Continue reading »

The newest Campaign book for Pulp Cthulhu

This was my first foray into the Pulp Cthulhu setting. At first I wasn’t sure about the idea, having played the standard “we investigators who are about to die” style Call of Cthulhu for years. What I got was a cross between Indiana Jones and Hellboy. So, in short, awesome action movie fun with a beautifully realized Lovecraftian back drop.
The Two-Headed Serpent is sure to please your players, but is written for you, the keeper. The staff at Chaosium have put together a marvelous globe trotting tale of monster filled, paranoia inducing, world ending mayhem. Continue reading »