This book has two parts: the first is "The Burrowers Beneath" and the second is "The Transition of Titus Crow." Lumley's take on Mythos fiction shares many characteristics with that of Derleth and Lin Carter, which is to say it's entertaining but rather derivative. Lumley's style can be pretty effective and when taken in small doses (as in the short story "The Night the Sea-Maid Went Down," included in this book) is almost on par with Lovecraft. At other times, Lumley is not able to maintain enough of an atmosphere to keep the narrative interesting. This is particularly true in "Transition" which becomes a bit of a slog, especially once the narrator arrives in a mythical land. ( )

The first story in the book was "The Burrowers Beneath," and to my surprise, it turns out to be a continuation of the Cthulhu mythos stories. Titus Crow is a self-styled occultist, whow, along with his friend Henri Laurent de Marigny, are helping to track down & destroy evil creatures who are one day destined to rise and take over the earth, those creatures of the Cthuhlu mythos. It seems that in this installment, some of these creatures have begun to communicate with Titus Crow, so he calls in his friend Henri, and together with others who have dedicated their lives to studying everything every written and known about these creatures, they set about the task of trying to a) keep themselves alive and b) to hunt down & destroy as many of these things as they can. Very very good story...the writing is excellent, done almost in the style of HP Lovecraft, and including some of Lovecraft's characters, fictional locations & atmosphere. For this one, I do believe it would be helpful if you at least read At the Mountains of Madness and Tales of the Cthuhlu Mythos before you tried Lumley, or you might not have a clue what's going on.

In the second story, "The Transition of Titus Crow," the action is somewhat less exciting and the writing not as intense as in "The Burrowers Beneath." Needless to say, I liked this one much less than I did the first, and at times I found myself skimming through this one until I found parts that were of interest. In this one, the reader follows the adventures of Titus Crow through space and time. I can't say more, because I will definitely wreck both stories if I do.

You might enjoy this if you are a Lovecraft fan; if you're not and you decide to read this book, I would definitely go back and pick up some Lovecraft along the way. It would definitely be helpful. ( )