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dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
When Abdul Alhazred gets his lover, the daughter of the king, pregnant, he's forced to eat the roasted fetus, along with his own genitals. Mutilated and near death, he is left to die in the Empty Space, the great desert. But that is only the beginning of his journey to becoming the greatest necromancer in existence...
After reading [b:Tales of Alhazred|27836534|Tales of Alhazred|Donald Tyson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448506352s/27836534.jpg|47818794], I jumped at the chance to read this. Much like the time I drank a twelve pack of Angry Orchard, it was too much of a good thing.
Since I read Tales of Alhazred first, this book had a lot to live up to. Sure enough, it chronicled his meetings with Martala and Altrus, as well as his mutilation. Things hinted at in the collection of short stories were given life, like Alhazred's time with the ghouls.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. How could I not with its mixture of swords & sorcery and the Cthulhu mythos? Alhazred learns from a wide variety of teachers and gets into a wide variety of adventures. So why did I only give it a three?
It was too damn long! This could have easily been two or even three books. I feel like Cthulhu rose from his eternal slumber and went back to sleep in the time I was reading it. There were a lot of times I yearned for something major to happen. It probably would have worked best as a collection or two of short stories rather than the never-ending tale of wandering around the Middle East.
Three stars. I didn't like it as much as [b:Tales of Alhazred|27836534|Tales of Alhazred|Donald Tyson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448506352s/27836534.jpg|47818794] but I'll read more of Alhazred's adventures at some point.
After reading [b:Tales of Alhazred|27836534|Tales of Alhazred|Donald Tyson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448506352s/27836534.jpg|47818794], I jumped at the chance to read this. Much like the time I drank a twelve pack of Angry Orchard, it was too much of a good thing.
Since I read Tales of Alhazred first, this book had a lot to live up to. Sure enough, it chronicled his meetings with Martala and Altrus, as well as his mutilation. Things hinted at in the collection of short stories were given life, like Alhazred's time with the ghouls.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. How could I not with its mixture of swords & sorcery and the Cthulhu mythos? Alhazred learns from a wide variety of teachers and gets into a wide variety of adventures. So why did I only give it a three?
It was too damn long! This could have easily been two or even three books. I feel like Cthulhu rose from his eternal slumber and went back to sleep in the time I was reading it. There were a lot of times I yearned for something major to happen. It probably would have worked best as a collection or two of short stories rather than the never-ending tale of wandering around the Middle East.
Three stars. I didn't like it as much as [b:Tales of Alhazred|27836534|Tales of Alhazred|Donald Tyson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448506352s/27836534.jpg|47818794] but I'll read more of Alhazred's adventures at some point.
marklidstone's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic tale of the creation of the Necronomicon. Definite page turner. Was so engulfed in the story that I still have trouble escaping years after reading.
statelyelmslibrarian's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
celestialviolence's review
5.0
Absolutely loved this book. Kept true to the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Tarot deck that goes along with this was gorgeous as well.
The Tarot deck that goes along with this was gorgeous as well.
catluvr99's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ivan_tw's review
3.0
An unfortunate book, in that the first half is uniformly excellent, and the second half is both dull and too sprawling for its own good, with far too many loose ends left by the time to put down the last page. I would recommend the first half to any Lovecraft fan, or even any fan of Arabian Nights-style adventure, with the warning it may be a bit more gory than you're used to. However, the hefty price tag may deter some, especially since the second half of the poor is rather poor. Rated 3 stars since it's a half-5 star book, a half-1 star book.
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