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Johannes Cabal, a brillian scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed in heart and soul with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not soul--he hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now, tormented by a dark secret, he travels to the fiery pits of Hell to retrieve it. Sataon, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager, Johannes has one years to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned show more forever.--From publisher's description. show lessTags
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SomeGuyInVirginia Agreeably horrific gaspers.
Also recommended by asukamaxwell
20
jlparent Howard himself says Bradbury's book spurred the question - where do dark carnivals come from - so check out one of the best books ever (Something Wicked This Way Comes)!
23
PitcherBooks While Howard's Cabal is a Necromancer (one who can raise the dead - in a fashion) And Pratchett's DEATH is the embodiment of death (which comes to us all)... The commonality is really that wonderful quirky British humor. Pratchett is an old favorite of mine and I have read every one of his books. Howard is my new favorite and I plan to read every one of his books. If you like one, odds are you'll enjoy the other...
PitcherBooks While Howard's Cabal is a Necromancer (one who can raise the dead - in a fashion) And Pratchett's DEATH is the embodiment of death (which comes to us all)... The commonality is really that wonderful quirky British humor. Pratchett is an old favorite of mine and I have read every one of his books. Howard is my new favorite and I plan to read every one of his books. If you like one, odds are you'll totally enjoy the other...
Member Reviews
Johannes Cabal wants to make a deal with the devil. Again. The first time he traded his soul for the secrets of necromancy, but this time he wants his soul back. Satan makes a wager with him that he can't get 100 souls to fatten the ranks within a year's time, and even gives him an evil carnival and hellish minions to help. Johannes races against the clock - and his own skewed-yet-still-existent morals - to fill his quota and win back his soul.
Dark and funny and touching; Howard manages to create a character who raises the dead, betrays his own brother, scorns those less intelligent than himself, and isn't afraid to kill (although he does find it distasteful), and yet still makes him absolutely lovable. You'll be rooting for him while show more being slightly troubled that you are. Perfection. show less
Dark and funny and touching; Howard manages to create a character who raises the dead, betrays his own brother, scorns those less intelligent than himself, and isn't afraid to kill (although he does find it distasteful), and yet still makes him absolutely lovable. You'll be rooting for him while show more being slightly troubled that you are. Perfection. show less
Several years ago Johannes Cabal sold his soul to the devil for knowledge of the dark arts of necromancy. It seemed like a great deal at the time, he certainly didn't need the thing. Except apparently not having a soul interferes with his ability to perform the necessary rituals.
Now Cabal has struck his second deal, this time he must operate Satan's Carnival of Discord and steal 100 souls in exchange for his back. Seems easy enough, but of course the Dark Lord never plays fair when a wager is on the line.
This was a great find. I had never heard of the series or read anything by the author, so I was thrilled to stumble upon this little gem. It's dark, macabre, but still very lighthearted, despite how sinister it is. Kind of reminds me of show more Beetlejuice, with a slightly darker (and wittier) tone.
I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, and look forward to more of Cabal's adventures. show less
Now Cabal has struck his second deal, this time he must operate Satan's Carnival of Discord and steal 100 souls in exchange for his back. Seems easy enough, but of course the Dark Lord never plays fair when a wager is on the line.
This was a great find. I had never heard of the series or read anything by the author, so I was thrilled to stumble upon this little gem. It's dark, macabre, but still very lighthearted, despite how sinister it is. Kind of reminds me of show more Beetlejuice, with a slightly darker (and wittier) tone.
I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, and look forward to more of Cabal's adventures. show less
What an unusual, wonderful book! Brings to mind Bradbury's "Something Wicket This Way Comes", which is ok, since it's one of my faves, and the author lists it as an influence. Johannes Cabal sold his soul to the devil a while back to learn the secrets of necromancy, and now he wants it back. So he makes a deal with Satan that he will gather 100 souls for him in a years time, using a diabolical carnival that Satan provides, as his vehicle for gathering said souls. He also enlists his charismatic vampire brother, Horst, to help. Horst is, surprisingly, a very moral creature, but he loves his brother, and does his best to help him achieve his ends without helping him corrupt himself completely. Mr. Howard manages to create a sympathetic show more character of Cabal, amidst an evil carnival made of evil constructs designed to make the weak sign over their souls for eternal damnation. It's also touching in parts, and the writing moved along so well that I just about couldn't put it down. This was a fast read for me, but only cause it was just that good! show less
"The darkest souls are not those which choose to exist within the hell of the abyss, but those which choose to break free from the abyss and move silently among us."
Although the above quote is from the movie Halloween, it sums up this book almost perfectly. Because even though The Necromancer may at first dazzle readers with its sharp wit and cleverness, it has a dark heart, mostly due to its eponymous leading man, Johannes Cabal.
Cabal has a problem, you see. A while ago, he sold his soul to Satan and now... Well, he's having second thoughts. The only thing to do is take a brief journey to hell and strike up a bargain with none other than Lucifer himself: in return for his soul, Cabal must convince 100 other people to sign their souls show more to eternal damnation. If he fails, though, Satan gets the souls he's collected, as well as Cabal's soul- and his life. And so, with the aid of a dark carnival, his brother (a delightfully charismatic vampire with strong morals), a small faculty of the undead, some freaks, and his own calculating intellect, Cabal sets off to triumph or fail- but whatever happens, he will have given it his damnedest.
Alright, now that the synopsis is over with, I can finally dish about all of the things I loved in this book!
Firstly, Johannes Cabal himself. Where do I even begin? This book is very much a character study of Cabal- his darkness, his soullessness, his arrogance, his desperation, and the tiny flickers of compassion and humanity that he tries his very best to hide from the world. Much of his background is murky- we know practically nothing of his past, or what he did on a daily basis before selling his soul. And that's the least of the enigma that is Johannes. As the carnival travels across England, stealing souls and leaving mayhem in its wake, we spend a lot of time inside his mind- we watch him struggle and rage, scheme and trick, steal and swindle. We watch him kill, and spare lives. We root for him and curse him in the same breath. And that, I think, is what a great character is supposed to be: complex, neither wholly good nor wholly bad, with motivations that are difficult to piece together and never clean-cut. Great characters are ones that you can relate to and empathise with despite their outlandish circumstances. They remind us of ourselves and our own struggles, and they make us doubt both their own actions and ours.
Cabal actually reminded me quite a bit of myself, which was slightly scary. No, I don't coldly murder people, and I would know better than to sell my soul to the devil, and I don't believe I'm quite as narcissistic or bitter as Cabal. But some of his traits- the discomfort around people, the way he (sometimes unknowingly) hurts people by stating facts, his biting snark, the way most people thinks he feels nothing at all, the ruthless, stop-at-nothing-until-you-understand-how-it-works sort of curiosity- that's incredibly similar to myself. And that's precisely why Johannes Cabal is such a masterpiece of a character: he's a snarky little bastard, neither hero nor villain, and even when you hate him viciously for being so obtuse or cold or just plain mean, you see enough of yourself in his darkness that you can never write him off completely.
Also, HORST! Horst is Johannes' estranged brother who also happens to be a vampire, and a rather charming one at that. Cabal recruits his help in running the carnival (which is entrusted to him by Satan for the purpose of stealing souls) because he realises that for all his knowledge, Cabal is pretty useless in the actual person-to-person advertising and entertainment aspects of running a travelling carnival. Horst is what's known as a foil in the literary world; that is, a character that contrasts another character, highlighting certain aspects of them that wouldn't be seen otherwise. In this case, Horst's morality and easy charm are a sharp contrast to Cabal's amorality and general misanthropy. The relationship between the two brothers was really touching at times, and most of the time I was shouting, "Just stop being assholes and say you love each other, dammit!" Needless to say,Horst's death absolutely crushed me. Especially since Johannes was indirectly responsible and because it got me wondering if getting out of his deal scot-free was a blessing or a curse for Cabal. Because although it may first seem like a triumph- outwitting Satan and all that- the ending leaves us with a Johannes Cabal that feels decidedly tragic, more broken than he was in the beginning despite his gain of a soul. Very thought-provoking stuff.
There's not much to say about the plot of The Necromancer, as I don't want to give much away. It's exceedingly, brilliantly weird, though, and involves prison escapees, noble ex-cops, swindling, precocious children, a brief foray into purgatory, and a good deal of demonic influence.
I found Howard's writing lovely- it was witty, smart, beautiful, imaginative, and (here comes that word again) dark. It definitely reminded me of The Monstrumologist, only less gory and horrific. Somehow the author manages to dance just along the line between exceedingly clever and trying too hard, but never goes into the trying too hard territory. He also does a really amazing job of showing, not telling, and making connections here requires a fair amount of effort and reading between the lines from the reader, and I love that. I was very surprised upon learning that Jonathan L. Howard actually wrote The Necromancer before he wrote Katya's World, which I inexplicably enjoyed but which I thought wasn't nearly as good as The Necromancer. (Side note: the sequel to Katya's World- Katya's War- was actually fantastic.) Howard's not afraid to deviate from the norm either- parts of the book are told in the form of memos, a child's school assignment, letters, and some scientific analyses from Cabal.
This book wasn't without its flaws, however, which is why I've been floundering between giving it four and five stars. My biggest gripe is the setting. It really isn't very well done. At first, I thought it took place in the late 1880s based on the technology and fashion- cravats and what not. Only halfway through the book did I realise that it actually took place in the 1910s, after 1918, due to passing references to Dadaism and the First World War. This may seem like a meaningless difference, but for me, it totally changes the background, especially the recent occurrence of the first global war. As for the "where" element, I only know it takes place in Britain because of the dialect (of other characters- the brothers Cabal are German) and the names of villages (not that I actually knew any of those villages- they could very well be totally made up for all I know- but because they all sounded rather British). I'm also still ambivalent towards the ending-mostly because Cabal doesn't really seem like he's learned anything. Not that I was expecting an epiphany (like I said, he's a stubborn son of a bitch), but I would have liked for him to have grown in some way, especially with Horst's death. The ending wasn't all bad, though, as I loved when we get to see what Cabal's been keeping in his basement. It adds to the mystery of his intentions and adds more credence to his reasons for studying necromancy (see my status update below). It also raises the possibility that our wonderful antihero-possibly-turned-villain may have a heart. I'm settling on five stars for now, because it was incredibly enjoyable and it pulled me out of a dreadful, Poe-induced reading slump. Besides, it's like I said in my review of The Shadow of the Wind: five-star books are not flawless, they are books that I loved despite- or perhaps even because of- their flaws.
Not to sound elitist, but I feel like this book will probably be enjoyed by a small group of readers- those who side with unlikeable characters, think the villains are almost always more interesting than the heroes, and have a dark sense of humour. If you don't fall into that category, you might still like it, but chances are you won't get the appeal. Luckily, the above characteristics describe my reading tastes perfectly, and so I found it a fun, darkly whimsical ride. If you're looking for some great gallows humour, complex characters, and an irresistibly original premise, chances are you'll like this one a good deal.
(Note: I apologise if this review pops up on your feed a few times. It's not because I crave popularity or I'm trying to garner likes, it's just because I don't have the book with me now and I like to add quotes to my review, so I'll be adding some quotes from the book when I get a chance. This actually goes for all of my reviews- as a rule, I never purposely bump them. Most likely, if you see some of my reviews continually popping up on your stream, it's because I found a grammar or spelling error, was too anal-retentive to let it be, and forgot to turn off the "update to stream" button when I edited it.) show less
Although the above quote is from the movie Halloween, it sums up this book almost perfectly. Because even though The Necromancer may at first dazzle readers with its sharp wit and cleverness, it has a dark heart, mostly due to its eponymous leading man, Johannes Cabal.
Cabal has a problem, you see. A while ago, he sold his soul to Satan and now... Well, he's having second thoughts. The only thing to do is take a brief journey to hell and strike up a bargain with none other than Lucifer himself: in return for his soul, Cabal must convince 100 other people to sign their souls show more to eternal damnation. If he fails, though, Satan gets the souls he's collected, as well as Cabal's soul- and his life. And so, with the aid of a dark carnival, his brother (a delightfully charismatic vampire with strong morals), a small faculty of the undead, some freaks, and his own calculating intellect, Cabal sets off to triumph or fail- but whatever happens, he will have given it his damnedest.
Alright, now that the synopsis is over with, I can finally dish about all of the things I loved in this book!
He spent an undignified few moments trying to get over the fact that he was no longer in Hell, wheeling on the spot like somebody who has walked into the wrong toilets. When he finally deduced that he had been unceremoniously translocated, he marked the revelation with a filthy curse in a language that had been dead eight thousand years, so managing to be amazingly erudite and amazingly uncouth in the selfsame instant.
Firstly, Johannes Cabal himself. Where do I even begin? This book is very much a character study of Cabal- his darkness, his soullessness, his arrogance, his desperation, and the tiny flickers of compassion and humanity that he tries his very best to hide from the world. Much of his background is murky- we know practically nothing of his past, or what he did on a daily basis before selling his soul. And that's the least of the enigma that is Johannes. As the carnival travels across England, stealing souls and leaving mayhem in its wake, we spend a lot of time inside his mind- we watch him struggle and rage, scheme and trick, steal and swindle. We watch him kill, and spare lives. We root for him and curse him in the same breath. And that, I think, is what a great character is supposed to be: complex, neither wholly good nor wholly bad, with motivations that are difficult to piece together and never clean-cut. Great characters are ones that you can relate to and empathise with despite their outlandish circumstances. They remind us of ourselves and our own struggles, and they make us doubt both their own actions and ours.
"Oh, Johannes," it moaned in exasperation. "You utter idiot. This is to get your soul back, isn't it? Don't you know anything? You can't beat him. He only bets on certainties."
"So people keep telling me," replied Cabal, growing exasperated himself. "Well, I say 'people,' but that's a fairly loose term. I need my soul back. That's not open to negotiation. I took the only deal he would offer. Take it or leave it. I took it. Perhaps he can't be beaten. I don't know, nor shall I until I give this the best I can. And if I fail, it won't be through lack of will or defeatism setting in. I'll be able to look Satan in the eye and say, 'I did my best, and it came pretty close. And while you just sat down here on your fat, sulphuric arse, I stretched for the impossible, so don't imagine for a moment that this is your victory, you smug, infernal bastard.'" He stopped, breathing heavily.
Cabal actually reminded me quite a bit of myself, which was slightly scary. No, I don't coldly murder people, and I would know better than to sell my soul to the devil, and I don't believe I'm quite as narcissistic or bitter as Cabal. But some of his traits- the discomfort around people, the way he (sometimes unknowingly) hurts people by stating facts, his biting snark, the way most people thinks he feels nothing at all, the ruthless, stop-at-nothing-until-you-understand-how-it-works sort of curiosity- that's incredibly similar to myself. And that's precisely why Johannes Cabal is such a masterpiece of a character: he's a snarky little bastard, neither hero nor villain, and even when you hate him viciously for being so obtuse or cold or just plain mean, you see enough of yourself in his darkness that you can never write him off completely.
Also, HORST! Horst is Johannes' estranged brother who also happens to be a vampire, and a rather charming one at that. Cabal recruits his help in running the carnival (which is entrusted to him by Satan for the purpose of stealing souls) because he realises that for all his knowledge, Cabal is pretty useless in the actual person-to-person advertising and entertainment aspects of running a travelling carnival. Horst is what's known as a foil in the literary world; that is, a character that contrasts another character, highlighting certain aspects of them that wouldn't be seen otherwise. In this case, Horst's morality and easy charm are a sharp contrast to Cabal's amorality and general misanthropy. The relationship between the two brothers was really touching at times, and most of the time I was shouting, "Just stop being assholes and say you love each other, dammit!" Needless to say,
"You're dead," said Barrow, hoping he was reading Horst's character properly.
"Undead, technically. Not Johannes's doing, I hasten to add. Not directly, at any rate. He had promised to find some way of bringing me back to the land of the living. Not that I'm not in the land of the living now, you understand? I'm speaking figuratively. Now I'm not so sure. I need a little time to think."
"I don't understand you."
"Neither do I, I'm afraid."
There's not much to say about the plot of The Necromancer, as I don't want to give much away. It's exceedingly, brilliantly weird, though, and involves prison escapees, noble ex-cops, swindling, precocious children, a brief foray into purgatory, and a good deal of demonic influence.
I found Howard's writing lovely- it was witty, smart, beautiful, imaginative, and (here comes that word again) dark. It definitely reminded me of The Monstrumologist, only less gory and horrific. Somehow the author manages to dance just along the line between exceedingly clever and trying too hard, but never goes into the trying too hard territory. He also does a really amazing job of showing, not telling, and making connections here requires a fair amount of effort and reading between the lines from the reader, and I love that. I was very surprised upon learning that Jonathan L. Howard actually wrote The Necromancer before he wrote Katya's World, which I inexplicably enjoyed but which I thought wasn't nearly as good as The Necromancer. (Side note: the sequel to Katya's World- Katya's War- was actually fantastic.) Howard's not afraid to deviate from the norm either- parts of the book are told in the form of memos, a child's school assignment, letters, and some scientific analyses from Cabal.
This book wasn't without its flaws, however, which is why I've been floundering between giving it four and five stars. My biggest gripe is the setting. It really isn't very well done. At first, I thought it took place in the late 1880s based on the technology and fashion- cravats and what not. Only halfway through the book did I realise that it actually took place in the 1910s, after 1918, due to passing references to Dadaism and the First World War. This may seem like a meaningless difference, but for me, it totally changes the background, especially the recent occurrence of the first global war. As for the "where" element, I only know it takes place in Britain because of the dialect (of other characters- the brothers Cabal are German) and the names of villages (not that I actually knew any of those villages- they could very well be totally made up for all I know- but because they all sounded rather British). I'm also still ambivalent towards the ending-
Not to sound elitist, but I feel like this book will probably be enjoyed by a small group of readers- those who side with unlikeable characters, think the villains are almost always more interesting than the heroes, and have a dark sense of humour. If you don't fall into that category, you might still like it, but chances are you won't get the appeal. Luckily, the above characteristics describe my reading tastes perfectly, and so I found it a fun, darkly whimsical ride. If you're looking for some great gallows humour, complex characters, and an irresistibly original premise, chances are you'll like this one a good deal.
(Note: I apologise if this review pops up on your feed a few times. It's not because I crave popularity or I'm trying to garner likes, it's just because I don't have the book with me now and I like to add quotes to my review, so I'll be adding some quotes from the book when I get a chance. This actually goes for all of my reviews- as a rule, I never purposely bump them. Most likely, if you see some of my reviews continually popping up on your stream, it's because I found a grammar or spelling error, was too anal-retentive to let it be, and forgot to turn off the "update to stream" button when I edited it.) show less
Johannes Cabal -- think Sheldon Cooper with an interest in raising the dead rather than physics -- has sold his soul to Satan, but now he wants it back. Satan offers him a deal: if in one year, Cabal can get 100 people to sign over their souls, he can have his own back. To help him collect these souls, he has an evil traveling circus to attract prospective signees.
Darkly funny & entertaining, this was an enjoyable read, but not good enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.
Darkly funny & entertaining, this was an enjoyable read, but not good enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.
Johannes Cabal is a douche. Yep, that's right, a douche. He lies, cheats, steals, murders, and does it all without remorse, putting his end goal above all morality. And now he has a problem, because he sold his useless--so he thought--soul to Satan and without it he just can't seem to perfect his experiments. So the brilliant Johannes Cabal makes a deal with Satan to get his soul back. All he has to do is get a bunch of other souls to take its place and Satan's going to help him do that...with a traveling carnival staffed by Cabal's own handmade zombies and run by his grudge-holding vampire brother.
Johannes is a terrible person, he truly is, but somehow he's learning and changing. Not a lot, but enough to make reading his story show more entertaining. He remains a pompous ass, vexed by the stupidity of the world around him, challenged only by a man of great morality. And his daughter. show less
Johannes is a terrible person, he truly is, but somehow he's learning and changing. Not a lot, but enough to make reading his story show more entertaining. He remains a pompous ass, vexed by the stupidity of the world around him, challenged only by a man of great morality. And his daughter. show less
Although the American Edgar Allan Poe is father of the modern detective story, the ancestry of the thriller is surely English, born to the Gothic novelists Mrs Radcliffe and Horace Walpole?
And for many readers the British still do it Best, mixing humour, provocation and good writing into a tale like Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, set in a world very like our own but in which Necromancers are recognized, and feared.
Johannes sold his soul to the devil but now he wants it back and so enters into a wager with Satan, involving a diabolical carnival and the harvesting of human souls: to achieve his target, he enlists the help of his brother, a humane vampire.
Pretty witty, thoroughly thrilling but not even faintly frightening, this show more intelligently written book gives a new spin to the Faust fable: small wonder the author is already writing a sequel. show less
And for many readers the British still do it Best, mixing humour, provocation and good writing into a tale like Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, set in a world very like our own but in which Necromancers are recognized, and feared.
Johannes sold his soul to the devil but now he wants it back and so enters into a wager with Satan, involving a diabolical carnival and the harvesting of human souls: to achieve his target, he enlists the help of his brother, a humane vampire.
Pretty witty, thoroughly thrilling but not even faintly frightening, this show more intelligently written book gives a new spin to the Faust fable: small wonder the author is already writing a sequel. show less
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42+ Works 5,204 Members
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Awards
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
- Original title
- Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
- Original publication date
- 2009
- People/Characters
- Johannes Cabal; Lucifuge Rofocale; Arthur Trubshaw; Ratuth Slabuth; Satan; Denzil (show all 22); Dennis; Little Old Man; Mr. Bones; Horst Cabal; Rufus Maleficarus; Frank Barrow; Leonie Barrow; Joey Granite; Ted; Rachel; Timothy; Layla the Latex Lady; Monsieur Lintel; Monsieur Scree; Bobbins; Nea Winshaw
- Important places
- Hell; Flatlands (fictional); Welstone Halt (fictional); Murslaugh (fictional); Penlow on Thurse (fictional)
- Important events
- Walpurgis Night
- Epigraph
- A Clock stopped -
Not the Mantel's -
Geneva's farthest skill -
Can't put the puppet bowing -
That just now dangled still -
Emily Dickinson - Dedication
- For Noel and Enid Howard
- First words
- Walpurgisnacht, the Hexennacht. The last night of April. The night of witches, when evil walks abroad.
- Quotations
- “It's a philosophical minefield!" Cabal had a brief mental image of Aristotle walking halfway across an open field before unexpectedly disappearing in a fireball. Descartes and Nietzsche looked on appalled. He pulled himsel... (show all)f together.
The Mayor of Murslaugh was a jolly, ebullient man of the sort who, in a well-ordered world, would be called Fezziwig. That his name was Brown was a powerful indictment on the sorry state of things.
"I am Satan, also called Lucifer the Light Bearer..."
Cabal winced. What was it about devils that they always had to give you their whole family history?
"I was cast down from the presence of God himself into this dark,... (show all) sulfurous pit and condemned to spend eternity
here-"
"Have you tried saying sorry?" interrupted Cabal.
"No, I haven't! I was sent down for a sin of pride. It rather undermines my position if I say 'sorry'!” - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then Johannes Cabal slept.
- Blurbers
- Donohue, Keith; Newmark, Elle
- Original language
- English
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