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dharriona's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mellhay's review
3.0
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review, at my request.
Captain John Henry Booth wakes after a run-in with a Cthulhu occult where he lost his squad to find Mercury's presence. Mercury is the councils person to execute guilty parties, or find information. However, Mercury needs John's help to find what passes as civilization in the Wastelands as New Arkham and the Remnant is not longer safe for her to stay and be a part of. Booth agrees for guns, ammo, and a jeep to avenge the death of his squad members.
Jeffery Kafer has returned to the microphone for C.T. in this new novel. He voices John Booth in a way that feels as though he's John. But I didn't feel as much in the additional characters from Jeffery. For me it felt good but just shy of more.
C.T.'s description is catching from the get go. The description of the Black Cathedral is something. The building feels old and almost alive, maybe something from the underworld. I like it!
Slowly we start to see that the world is now occupied with the great Old Ones once again. We see the land as it was destroyed, desert and strange, with deadly creatures that exist and roaming freely. There is a magic present in people they call 'touched'. And we get to see a few that are Touched.
The world feels Post Apocalyptic in the way the land has fallen and man has grouped, and even with the new residents of the world. John Booth is like the American cowboy on a mission through the book.
This book is good, but it didn't seem to hold my attention like C.T.'s other novels I've listened to. I think because I'm not 100% sure what to expect in the world here. We know there are Old Ones but not much more than that. That there are different beings or creatures that now live on the earth too. All are not known to me, but it's known to John Booth. It's not that we are seeing them for the first time with John but as we've seen them time and time again, but they are unfamiliar to me. Although, this is an attraction for many people. Not knowing what's coming around the next bend is something to keep them on their toes, and Captain John Booth could be your person with his adventure.
There was a section where we go back to learn with John Booth as to what happened to him in the block of time he doesn't remember. I really like how C.T. smoothly brought us to the current moment. This transition felt extremely well done and thought out.
Captain John Henry Booth wakes after a run-in with a Cthulhu occult where he lost his squad to find Mercury's presence. Mercury is the councils person to execute guilty parties, or find information. However, Mercury needs John's help to find what passes as civilization in the Wastelands as New Arkham and the Remnant is not longer safe for her to stay and be a part of. Booth agrees for guns, ammo, and a jeep to avenge the death of his squad members.
Jeffery Kafer has returned to the microphone for C.T. in this new novel. He voices John Booth in a way that feels as though he's John. But I didn't feel as much in the additional characters from Jeffery. For me it felt good but just shy of more.
C.T.'s description is catching from the get go. The description of the Black Cathedral is something. The building feels old and almost alive, maybe something from the underworld. I like it!
Slowly we start to see that the world is now occupied with the great Old Ones once again. We see the land as it was destroyed, desert and strange, with deadly creatures that exist and roaming freely. There is a magic present in people they call 'touched'. And we get to see a few that are Touched.
The world feels Post Apocalyptic in the way the land has fallen and man has grouped, and even with the new residents of the world. John Booth is like the American cowboy on a mission through the book.
This book is good, but it didn't seem to hold my attention like C.T.'s other novels I've listened to. I think because I'm not 100% sure what to expect in the world here. We know there are Old Ones but not much more than that. That there are different beings or creatures that now live on the earth too. All are not known to me, but it's known to John Booth. It's not that we are seeing them for the first time with John but as we've seen them time and time again, but they are unfamiliar to me. Although, this is an attraction for many people. Not knowing what's coming around the next bend is something to keep them on their toes, and Captain John Booth could be your person with his adventure.
There was a section where we go back to learn with John Booth as to what happened to him in the block of time he doesn't remember. I really like how C.T. smoothly brought us to the current moment. This transition felt extremely well done and thought out.
cameronkobesauthor's review
5.0
This book is billed as a post-apocalyptic western, but I’d say calling it a western is a stretch. It’s a fantasy action thriller set in a desert wasteland, conceptually closer to a story like Mad Max than a story like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
To really have context for this novel, you need at least a cursory knowledge of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, whose popular stories include The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, and my personal favorite The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Lovecraft stories and mythos contain the idea that in the sea, underground, and in the far reaches of space are monstrous alien gods who will someday return to power and destroy humanity. Cthulhu Armageddon is a post-apocalyptic action novel based around the idea that in the future, Lovecraft’s gods and monsters (his specific gods and monsters, here with the same names and aspects that they have in Lovecraft’s works) have risen and wreaked havoc upon the earth. Their ravages have turned the world into a hellish place, where the surviving “civilized” humans fight for survival alongside rabid cultists, mutant monsters, and the terrible gods themselves.
Our protagonist, John Henry Booth, is one of the surviving humans in a group called the Remnant. He is a trained and tenacious soldier who struggles through shaky alliances and bitter enmities with monsters and humans in his quest for revenge against the mad wizard Doctor Alan Ward, a former scientist who believes the only way to survive with the gods is to become as monstrous as them. By his side throughout the story is his mutant friend Richard, cultist and former lover Katryn, his teammate Jessica, a professional torturer named Mercury, and a wide-eyed little girl named Jackie who’s seen entirely too much brutality for her age.
This isn’t the first brutish post-apocalyptic novel I’ve reviewed on this blog, but within that genre I think this is the best one. The premise may sound schlocky, a little too close to fan-fic perhaps (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it does have a poor reputation), but the quality of the writing here is impressive. For the most part it’s smooth, well-paced, and strikingly professional. Especially excellent were the book’s action scenes, of which there were many. These were simply incredible. Some of the characters were a little clichéd, a little stereotyped post-apocalyptic warrior, but the central characters had a lot of depth and wisdom to them, much more than you would expect in an action adventure like this.
There are a few places in the book where a sentence was confusingly structured or where the wrong word was used (‘grizzly’ when the author meant ‘grisly’, for example), but these were rare and the book’s strength far outweigh this small weakness. It is also worth noting that while this book takes ideas and personages from Lovecraft, it is not meant to be modeled on Lovecraft’s work. In Lovecraft, the atmosphere is full of dread and existential horror, carried forward and permeating the narrative through the terror, disgust, or madness of the characters. The characters in Cthulhu Armageddon do have terror and disgust and madness, but they also have humor and love and jealousy and anger. They crack wise while they crack skulls, and frequently they spit in the face of death as opposed to cowering like a Lovecraft character would. This isn’t a horror novel. It’s an action adventure fantasy novel, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable one.
For potential readers, it is worth noting that the book has profanity and sex and (if this post hasn’t already made it clear) lots and lots of pulpy violence, so it’s not recommended to sensitive readers. I got a lot of fun out of it, and can definitely recommend it to fans of action, sci-fi, and especially the weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft.
To really have context for this novel, you need at least a cursory knowledge of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, whose popular stories include The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, and my personal favorite The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Lovecraft stories and mythos contain the idea that in the sea, underground, and in the far reaches of space are monstrous alien gods who will someday return to power and destroy humanity. Cthulhu Armageddon is a post-apocalyptic action novel based around the idea that in the future, Lovecraft’s gods and monsters (his specific gods and monsters, here with the same names and aspects that they have in Lovecraft’s works) have risen and wreaked havoc upon the earth. Their ravages have turned the world into a hellish place, where the surviving “civilized” humans fight for survival alongside rabid cultists, mutant monsters, and the terrible gods themselves.
Our protagonist, John Henry Booth, is one of the surviving humans in a group called the Remnant. He is a trained and tenacious soldier who struggles through shaky alliances and bitter enmities with monsters and humans in his quest for revenge against the mad wizard Doctor Alan Ward, a former scientist who believes the only way to survive with the gods is to become as monstrous as them. By his side throughout the story is his mutant friend Richard, cultist and former lover Katryn, his teammate Jessica, a professional torturer named Mercury, and a wide-eyed little girl named Jackie who’s seen entirely too much brutality for her age.
This isn’t the first brutish post-apocalyptic novel I’ve reviewed on this blog, but within that genre I think this is the best one. The premise may sound schlocky, a little too close to fan-fic perhaps (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it does have a poor reputation), but the quality of the writing here is impressive. For the most part it’s smooth, well-paced, and strikingly professional. Especially excellent were the book’s action scenes, of which there were many. These were simply incredible. Some of the characters were a little clichéd, a little stereotyped post-apocalyptic warrior, but the central characters had a lot of depth and wisdom to them, much more than you would expect in an action adventure like this.
There are a few places in the book where a sentence was confusingly structured or where the wrong word was used (‘grizzly’ when the author meant ‘grisly’, for example), but these were rare and the book’s strength far outweigh this small weakness. It is also worth noting that while this book takes ideas and personages from Lovecraft, it is not meant to be modeled on Lovecraft’s work. In Lovecraft, the atmosphere is full of dread and existential horror, carried forward and permeating the narrative through the terror, disgust, or madness of the characters. The characters in Cthulhu Armageddon do have terror and disgust and madness, but they also have humor and love and jealousy and anger. They crack wise while they crack skulls, and frequently they spit in the face of death as opposed to cowering like a Lovecraft character would. This isn’t a horror novel. It’s an action adventure fantasy novel, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable one.
For potential readers, it is worth noting that the book has profanity and sex and (if this post hasn’t already made it clear) lots and lots of pulpy violence, so it’s not recommended to sensitive readers. I got a lot of fun out of it, and can definitely recommend it to fans of action, sci-fi, and especially the weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft.
mxsallybend's review
5.0
Cthulhu Armageddon is a book that I first had the pleasure of reading a few years ago. With a new publisher giving it new life, and C.T. Phipps taking the opportunity to add an extra chapter that serves as an epilogue, I thought I'd revisit it myself.
This is a book that blends the elements of several genres, and does so with surprising success. There's definitely some Mad Max insanity to it, but what struck me most strongly was the sort of homage to two masters of the genre, Stephen King and Brian Lumley, the first with his post-apocalyptic The Stand and the latter with his take on the Cthulhu mythos. It's the story of John Henry Booth, a stone-cold exterminator of threats to the remnants of humanity. A loyal soldier and respected leader, he is forced to question his very existence when a mysterious encounter leaves him branded a traitor. Declared dead, he sets out with a disgraced torturer to find the truth, seek his revenge, and continue his mission - but only after his wife's monstrous attempt at betrayal goes awry,
There's so much to like about this story - action, horror, humor, and some heavy emotions. It's an incredibly fatalistic look at humanity's future, but it's Booth's interactions with the women around him that drives us to keep going. From the man's affection for a cursed child and a soldier thought lost, to his awkward trust for both a torturer and a cult leader, Phipps keeps the monstrous from completely overwhelming the humanity.
For those wondering about the Cthulhu aspect, it's not just window dressing but a significant part of the story. This is a book that gets very trippy at times, complete with dream world encounters, gods and old ones, magic, and inhuman power. More than once I had to stop, go back, and reread a section just to appreciate how much was going on. The opening discovery of "a genuine, honest-to-god cathedral with soaring towers and architecture" in the middle of nowhere, constructed of "stones seemingly formed from the very night itself," sets the tone for the story, and the climax deep within that same alien temple delivers on every level.
Comprised of equal parts horror, science fiction, and weird western, Cthulhu Armageddon is that rare book that delivers on them all, and which should appeal to a wide audience. It's dark, grim, and deeply unsettling, but unlike its subject matter, never entirely alien. As for the new epilogue, no spoilers, but it does tie up some loose ends and provide a little closure for the human element of the tale.
https://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2021/07/horror-book-review-cthulhu-armageddon.html
This is a book that blends the elements of several genres, and does so with surprising success. There's definitely some Mad Max insanity to it, but what struck me most strongly was the sort of homage to two masters of the genre, Stephen King and Brian Lumley, the first with his post-apocalyptic The Stand and the latter with his take on the Cthulhu mythos. It's the story of John Henry Booth, a stone-cold exterminator of threats to the remnants of humanity. A loyal soldier and respected leader, he is forced to question his very existence when a mysterious encounter leaves him branded a traitor. Declared dead, he sets out with a disgraced torturer to find the truth, seek his revenge, and continue his mission - but only after his wife's monstrous attempt at betrayal goes awry,
There's so much to like about this story - action, horror, humor, and some heavy emotions. It's an incredibly fatalistic look at humanity's future, but it's Booth's interactions with the women around him that drives us to keep going. From the man's affection for a cursed child and a soldier thought lost, to his awkward trust for both a torturer and a cult leader, Phipps keeps the monstrous from completely overwhelming the humanity.
For those wondering about the Cthulhu aspect, it's not just window dressing but a significant part of the story. This is a book that gets very trippy at times, complete with dream world encounters, gods and old ones, magic, and inhuman power. More than once I had to stop, go back, and reread a section just to appreciate how much was going on. The opening discovery of "a genuine, honest-to-god cathedral with soaring towers and architecture" in the middle of nowhere, constructed of "stones seemingly formed from the very night itself," sets the tone for the story, and the climax deep within that same alien temple delivers on every level.
Comprised of equal parts horror, science fiction, and weird western, Cthulhu Armageddon is that rare book that delivers on them all, and which should appeal to a wide audience. It's dark, grim, and deeply unsettling, but unlike its subject matter, never entirely alien. As for the new epilogue, no spoilers, but it does tie up some loose ends and provide a little closure for the human element of the tale.
https://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2021/07/horror-book-review-cthulhu-armageddon.html
gnashchick's review
5.0
C.T. Phipps has a knack for writing entertaining novels with memorable characters and plenty of snark and dry humor. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his Supervillainy Saga, and since I’m both a post-apoc and horror fiction fan, decided to give Cthulhu Armageddon a try. I was not disappointed.
The novel begins with John Henry Booth leading his Gamma Squadron rangers to an anomaly in the desert. The Black Cathedral appeared in the middle of nowhere, a grotesque reminder that the Great Old Ones have ruled the earth for a hundred years. Booth and his team are overwhelmed by cultists who refuse to stay dead. The abomination was created by Alan Ward, a man who used to be his mentor. Booth wakes up a month later, and he’s imprisoned at his home base in New Arkham, declared guilty out of convenience, and the government thinks he’s already been executed. Thanks to a notorious torturer, Mercury Takahashi, he’s still alive.
Her price for his freedom is an escort to relative safety in Kingsport, an outlaw outpost that’s still mostly human. Once she’s at her destination, he will be free to find and execute Alan Ward and stop his cult from destroying what’s left of humanity before the real horrors get around to it. But first, he must get his memory back, make alliances, and avoid getting killed by old enemies.
Booth is a born soldier and leader, aware that he has a duty not only to the members of his squadron, but also humanity at large. He plays dirty, willing to use people he doesn’t fully trust, as long it ends in Ward’s destruction. Not surprisingly, he’s betrayed by some, and others prove to be better allies than he ever imagined. The supporting characters are as well-rounded as Booth. Mercury Takahashi has more to her than torture and murder, and Katryn, who once owned Booth as a slave, is a predator—both sexual and otherwise—and a Dunwych cultist who ultimately wants Booth dead, and Richard, a 20th-century loving, shape-changing ghoul may hold the key to Booth’s memory.
I have just a few criticisms, and these may include mild spoilers. Part of the story involves a long trip across the desert, and I think there was a missed opportunity for something very bad to happen. The trip was just too easy, and the lack of attack by something strange and twisted minimized the oft-stated dangers of the wilderness outside the semi-civilized areas. My other disappointment was the last battle. Now, the gamer in me wanted to see destruction on a grand scale, but Phipps keeps our view narrowed down to Booth’s experience. While the boss fight is indeed epic, part of me wanted a view of the whole thing, like a literary cut-scene filled with screams of victory and despair.
Cthulhu Armageddon is Lovecraftian horror in a twisted wasteland setting rather than a standard post-apocalyptic novel. Humanity knows its days are numbered, it’s a matter of when, not if. In the introduction, Phipps makes it clear that it was inspired by Mad Max and many role-playing games as well as the legacy of Lovecraftian fiction.
If you like dark, apocalyptic fiction or military SF, check this out. It’s pure pulp fiction entertainment, available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook formats. There’s lots of combat and conflict, intrigue, betrayal, fight scenes as foreplay, tentacles, indescribable horrors, humor, mind-bending weirdness and no happy ending in sight for anyone.
4.5 stars
The novel begins with John Henry Booth leading his Gamma Squadron rangers to an anomaly in the desert. The Black Cathedral appeared in the middle of nowhere, a grotesque reminder that the Great Old Ones have ruled the earth for a hundred years. Booth and his team are overwhelmed by cultists who refuse to stay dead. The abomination was created by Alan Ward, a man who used to be his mentor. Booth wakes up a month later, and he’s imprisoned at his home base in New Arkham, declared guilty out of convenience, and the government thinks he’s already been executed. Thanks to a notorious torturer, Mercury Takahashi, he’s still alive.
Her price for his freedom is an escort to relative safety in Kingsport, an outlaw outpost that’s still mostly human. Once she’s at her destination, he will be free to find and execute Alan Ward and stop his cult from destroying what’s left of humanity before the real horrors get around to it. But first, he must get his memory back, make alliances, and avoid getting killed by old enemies.
Booth is a born soldier and leader, aware that he has a duty not only to the members of his squadron, but also humanity at large. He plays dirty, willing to use people he doesn’t fully trust, as long it ends in Ward’s destruction. Not surprisingly, he’s betrayed by some, and others prove to be better allies than he ever imagined. The supporting characters are as well-rounded as Booth. Mercury Takahashi has more to her than torture and murder, and Katryn, who once owned Booth as a slave, is a predator—both sexual and otherwise—and a Dunwych cultist who ultimately wants Booth dead, and Richard, a 20th-century loving, shape-changing ghoul may hold the key to Booth’s memory.
I have just a few criticisms, and these may include mild spoilers. Part of the story involves a long trip across the desert, and I think there was a missed opportunity for something very bad to happen. The trip was just too easy, and the lack of attack by something strange and twisted minimized the oft-stated dangers of the wilderness outside the semi-civilized areas. My other disappointment was the last battle. Now, the gamer in me wanted to see destruction on a grand scale, but Phipps keeps our view narrowed down to Booth’s experience. While the boss fight is indeed epic, part of me wanted a view of the whole thing, like a literary cut-scene filled with screams of victory and despair.
Cthulhu Armageddon is Lovecraftian horror in a twisted wasteland setting rather than a standard post-apocalyptic novel. Humanity knows its days are numbered, it’s a matter of when, not if. In the introduction, Phipps makes it clear that it was inspired by Mad Max and many role-playing games as well as the legacy of Lovecraftian fiction.
If you like dark, apocalyptic fiction or military SF, check this out. It’s pure pulp fiction entertainment, available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook formats. There’s lots of combat and conflict, intrigue, betrayal, fight scenes as foreplay, tentacles, indescribable horrors, humor, mind-bending weirdness and no happy ending in sight for anyone.
4.5 stars
kitvaria_sarene's review
4.0
Fast paced and fun, a bit too easy and the dialogue a bit too "lighthearted and fun" in some scenes that I felt should have had me on the edge of my seat and not do a light eyeroll at the characters witty or snarky remarks.
All in all I had fun reading it though. I liked the characters (especially a Ghoul!), the monster ideas worked well for me - not so abstract as to leave me confused, but strange enough to definitely feel "alien" to me and the prose was easy to follow.
All in all I had fun reading it though. I liked the characters (especially a Ghoul!), the monster ideas worked well for me - not so abstract as to leave me confused, but strange enough to definitely feel "alien" to me and the prose was easy to follow.
ramonnogueras's review
3.0
Un muy decente pastiche de los Mitos de Cthulhu mezclado con Mad Maz y el Salvaje Oeste. Una historia ambientada 100 años después del despertar de los Primigenios, en un mundo agonizante donde los restos de la humanidad que quedan tratan de sobrevivir al apocalipsis.
Mi amiga Diana dice que no todo es arte, pero que también hay mérito en la buena artesanía. Un buen botijo no será como un Rembrandt, pero es algo que cumple su función y te hace la vida más agradable. Este libro es un buen botijo, agradablemente escrito, ameno y ágil de leer, que cumple lo que promete sin más.
Tiene una segunda parte [b:The Tower of Zhaal|33971268|The Tower of Zhaal (Cthulhu Armageddon, #2)|C.T. Phipps|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485164949l/33971268._SY75_.jpg|54956703], que continúa la historia de los personajes, pero esta primera parte es bastante autoconclusiva. Pretendo leerlo a continuación aunque, insisto, la historia queda cerrada aquí.
Mi amiga Diana dice que no todo es arte, pero que también hay mérito en la buena artesanía. Un buen botijo no será como un Rembrandt, pero es algo que cumple su función y te hace la vida más agradable. Este libro es un buen botijo, agradablemente escrito, ameno y ágil de leer, que cumple lo que promete sin más.
Tiene una segunda parte [b:The Tower of Zhaal|33971268|The Tower of Zhaal (Cthulhu Armageddon, #2)|C.T. Phipps|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485164949l/33971268._SY75_.jpg|54956703], que continúa la historia de los personajes, pero esta primera parte es bastante autoconclusiva. Pretendo leerlo a continuación aunque, insisto, la historia queda cerrada aquí.
godhelm's review
1.0
Worst thing I read this year. Like a writeup of someone's roleplaying campaign.
blatdriver's review
3.0
I’m a big fan of the Cthulhu mythos, and post-apocalyptic and western movies, so getting this book was a must for me. I enjoyed this book, I did find it to be more fantasy than horror, and I didn’t get a western feel to it.
It had a decent mix of action and humour, I was a little disappointed that Cthulhu didn’t make an appearance, but I did see that there is more books coming in the series, so maybe it will show up in one of the other books.
Overall it was good, but I just couldn’t connect with the characters, but I think a lot of people will.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*
It had a decent mix of action and humour, I was a little disappointed that Cthulhu didn’t make an appearance, but I did see that there is more books coming in the series, so maybe it will show up in one of the other books.
Overall it was good, but I just couldn’t connect with the characters, but I think a lot of people will.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*