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vondav's review
5.0
After being medically retired George and his wife decide to spend some of what time he has left travelling round the world. Starting off in the picturesque town of Whitby, George stumbles across a derelict foghorn station and whilst he investigates the damage to the building gets embroiled into a mystery of an ancient being which will follow him around the world.
Not having read HP Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu, I had no idea what this creature was or the history behind it, but after reading this story, I am curious to find out more. From the start of this story you are drawn into a secret that has not been talked about in 50 years, from listening to the two old men’s tales or reading an ancient Norwegian manuscript, you are taken on a journey around the world only stopping when George gets to his final destination. Whether it was in George’s dreams, visiting different places and seeing new cultures all this added to the mystery of the Cthulhu. The use of George’s illness makes you doubt yourself whilst you are reading it, as I kept wavering between thinking it was all in his head and thinking that he was chasing the monster down. Even finishing this book did not solve my dilemma. I had sympathy for Christine, George’s wife as I felt she was struggling between letting him investigate the mystery and believing him and worrying about his illness.
As it is a novella it is a quick read and it is a book you can finish in one sitting. The suspense builds up slowly and I had to keep reading to find out what happened. Whilst reading it I was expecting something dramatic to happen, but when it did, the descriptive way the author wrote those scenes I was imagining being with George and watching him face his demon.
A well written tale of an ancient monster, this will have you gripped to the end a good horror read.
Not having read HP Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu, I had no idea what this creature was or the history behind it, but after reading this story, I am curious to find out more. From the start of this story you are drawn into a secret that has not been talked about in 50 years, from listening to the two old men’s tales or reading an ancient Norwegian manuscript, you are taken on a journey around the world only stopping when George gets to his final destination. Whether it was in George’s dreams, visiting different places and seeing new cultures all this added to the mystery of the Cthulhu. The use of George’s illness makes you doubt yourself whilst you are reading it, as I kept wavering between thinking it was all in his head and thinking that he was chasing the monster down. Even finishing this book did not solve my dilemma. I had sympathy for Christine, George’s wife as I felt she was struggling between letting him investigate the mystery and believing him and worrying about his illness.
As it is a novella it is a quick read and it is a book you can finish in one sitting. The suspense builds up slowly and I had to keep reading to find out what happened. Whilst reading it I was expecting something dramatic to happen, but when it did, the descriptive way the author wrote those scenes I was imagining being with George and watching him face his demon.
A well written tale of an ancient monster, this will have you gripped to the end a good horror read.
sralgee's review
5.0
George Cox has a problem: namely, an inoperable brain tumor that's robbed him of his career and limited his ability to function. Knowing this, he and his wife Christine have decided to take one last grand holiday. Outside the town of Whitby, George discovers an active lighthouse and an abandoned foghorn station. Sneaking into the latter, he finds a scene of massive years-old damage. His curiosity is piqued...and that's where the trouble begins. The dreams follow: colossal structures, strange geometries, vivid assaults of sound and scent...and behind it all, an immense malevolent presence. Are these just the ravings of his illness-wracked brain, or portents of something more sinister?
George Cox is all too aware of his failing health, and it makes him desperate to unravel the mystery he's stumbled into. But the more he learns and travels, the more he realizes that Cthulhu's hold isn't broken so easily...
"The Rage of Cthulhu" is easily one of the best and most compelling takes on the original "Call of Cthulhu" that I've yet encountered, as Gary Fry breathes new life into the familiar Mythos story. (HPL himself even gets a lengthy mention, in a role he himself probably never envisioned!) If you're a Cthulhu Mythos fan, I can't recommend this highly enough--you won't be disappointed.
(ARC provided by publisher for review.)
George Cox is all too aware of his failing health, and it makes him desperate to unravel the mystery he's stumbled into. But the more he learns and travels, the more he realizes that Cthulhu's hold isn't broken so easily...
"The Rage of Cthulhu" is easily one of the best and most compelling takes on the original "Call of Cthulhu" that I've yet encountered, as Gary Fry breathes new life into the familiar Mythos story. (HPL himself even gets a lengthy mention, in a role he himself probably never envisioned!) If you're a Cthulhu Mythos fan, I can't recommend this highly enough--you won't be disappointed.
(ARC provided by publisher for review.)
kenneth_booksilike1's review
5.0
I received my copy of Rage of Cthulhu by Gary Fry as an eBook from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
Before I read it, I wondered what kind of Cthulhu story this would be, would it be a simple mythos story set loosely in Cthulhu’s fictive universe or a random second rate story referring to the great old one. Well no, this is a sequel and modern take on Lovecraft’s classic tale “the call of Cthulhu”, its well written and atmospheric. When it comes to the plot I feel like I cannot say too much of it without spoiling it, so I won’t.
All I can say is that I loved it, it’s a well-crafted Lovecraftian tale, and a worthy sequel to a call of Cthulhu!
Before I read it, I wondered what kind of Cthulhu story this would be, would it be a simple mythos story set loosely in Cthulhu’s fictive universe or a random second rate story referring to the great old one. Well no, this is a sequel and modern take on Lovecraft’s classic tale “the call of Cthulhu”, its well written and atmospheric. When it comes to the plot I feel like I cannot say too much of it without spoiling it, so I won’t.
All I can say is that I loved it, it’s a well-crafted Lovecraftian tale, and a worthy sequel to a call of Cthulhu!
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