Jonathan L. Howard

The Fear Institute, having decided that fear is an impediment to progress, hires Johannes Cabal, necromancer, to lead them through Dreamland to destroy the Phobic Animus. Although Cabal has no real interest in the quest, he has his own reasons for helping the Institute and accepts. He warns them that, although he is the world's foremost expert on the Dreamlands, his knowledge is all academic as he has never been there and, since most that have have been artists, poets, drug users, and, worst show more of all, novelists (shudder), hardly the most reliable of sources, he makes no promises of the outcome.

Along with the Dreamlands, there are several other nods to HP Lovecraft including references to Chtulhu. But, never fear (institutionally or otherwise), this latest in author Jonathan L. Howard's Cabal tales is still as witty, as slyly ironic, and laugh-out-loud funny as the previous two books while telling one cracking good tale of horror and adventure. It should also be noted that, although this is the third in the series, for anyone who hasn't read the other books, it could be read as a stand-alone although I can't imagine reading this one and not wanting more.

As you may have guessed, I'm a huge fan of this series. It is just so insanely readable. But be warned, this wonderfully funny edition to the series ends on a cliffhanger. As well, a dictionary might be in order because irony often comes in $10-dollar words and Howard is one heck of an expert in the delicate art of turning an ironic phrase. show less

I came across this book entirely by chance, as if the gods had set us on our path of destiny. It was highly improbable, but it happened: saw it in a library, picked it up, and fell absolutely in love with it.

The story was a fun jaunt featuring Lovecraft and Carter's modern-day ancestors. They're wrapped up in a story that has Lovecraftian charm without the boring language. It also offers up nice 'twists', so to speak, that keep things refreshing.

Best part is the author's homage to show more Lovecraftian inexpressability. Howard approaches it in a conceptual way over physical, focusing on not the visual aspect, rather the emotional and psychological ways of experience. The "Twist" itself is evident of this, and the way he deals with it is utterly magical. Sort of reminded me of Chiang's short stories.

I highly enjoyed this read and can't wait to read the next one! show less

Not thrilled about this being the last book in the series. I am actually at a loss for words now that I am finished. Thank you Mr. Howard...you have left me speechless and incoherent simply because I do not want the adventures of Johannes Cabal and Co. to end. Bittersweet it is. The final volume in the series is dense, full of adventure, feats of bravery and self realization. In the last volume we find our protagonist in hell once again and other places I won't spoil. But for some reason he show more cannot rid himself of a wart he has acquired over the course of the stories. We finally get to see more of the eight legged beauty who has befriended The Brothers Cabal. The Book is solid, but dare I say I am anticipating more.
I read this series back to back and in doing so the fact that it is ending pulls me off of my feet. For the duration of the read I have gotten to know the characters, their motion and their lives. The voice of the story and many nuances of each character. Now they must stop... but they will not remain motionless because their humor, pet peeves, personal convictions and all the other things which motivate them will linger in my mind for months to come. An excellent series of books. In the back of my mind I can hear Johannes telling me to get over myself, his brother imploring me to be patient and the author snickering in leering satisfaction that his creations have bedded in the coils of another reader's mind. show less

I had to keep reminding myself, as I read Katya's World, that without Wesley Crusher, who annoyed millions with his over-the-top precocity and tendency to save the occasionally weirdly bumbling asses of the crew of the Enterprise-D, we would not have the 24k slab of awesome that is Wil Wheaton today. Which is to say that sometimes, it's worth putting up with an improbably gifted young protagonist being the one to think of all the solutions to all the problems in order to enjoy the rest of a show more show's or novel's offerings.*

And what offerings there are! Like a stormy human-colonized water world, in which everybody lives in underwater cities, travels by submarine, and struggles to exploit the amazing mineral resources on the ocean floor and in the ocean water. Like a colony of entirely Russian descent (the powers-that-were in the waves of human colonization having concluded that removing the possibility of ethnic tensions was a very good idea) who eschew intoxicants and other Russian folkways because the environment is too hostile and drunkenness can easily lead to death.

Like a war fought under the waves, not among said Russian-descended colonists, but against invaders -- from Earth! A war that warped the culture of Katya's world forever, ten years before the events of this novel unfold, and is still warping it.

And, most importantly and excitingly, like a giant mysterious something haunting the deep, destroying subs and interfering with transport and commerce, which Big Benthic Baddie starts having a direct and frightening effect on Katya's own fifteen-year-old life as she starts her career as a submarine navigator! Said BBB and its secrets providing a marvelously creepy and menacing undertone to the whole novel. Yowza.

All this and a fascinatingly enigmatic hero-villain amalgam who totally steals the book even before we find out what he's really up to. Except that might not be what he's really really up to. Except that it might be after all. See?

So on the whole, I agree with my dear EssJay, who loved the Snape out of this book and hopes to see more works, maybe even for grown-ups, set in this fascinating world. Howard handles the science and the sociology very well, as well as the tension of sub-oceanic combat, sub-hunting, seek-and-destroy missions, discussions on the nature of synthetic vs. artificial intelligence**, so I know that, for instance, some prequel work on the war that preceded this story, or how Earth went from a colonizing powerhouse to something mysteriously crippled and desperate, would make for good reading for any age group.

And really? Katya's Wesley Crusher-ism isn't that annoying. If you could tolerate Sheriff Carter's always being the one to come up with the brilliant off-beat solution that all the scientists in Eureka couldn't, Katya won't bother you at all. But if you caught yourself rolling your eyes at Carter sometimes, well, they'll roll a bit more for this. But don't let that stop you. This is a neat book!

*And really, I want to forgive said annoying precocity and ass-saving as maybe one of the necessary trappings of young adult fiction, which I have but rarely read, even back when I was a young adult, but is that the case? At any rate, I probably wouldn't have noticed/been bothered by it so much had this been a first person narrative, in which case I could take it as a slightly unreliable narrator maybe inflating her importance to the course of events a bit, instead of the third person omniscient that I got. A pity.

**And, as Essjay so gleefully pointed out, even this heady stuff is made lucid for young readers but is never presented in a condescending info-dump, in narration or dialogue, which is always appreciated! show less