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will_cherico's reviews
437 reviews
The Yellow Sign by Robert W. Chambers
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another okay entry into the Yellow Mythos. I think Chambers' biggest issue is that while he's a great horror author, he's not great at bringing human stories into it even though he clearly likes to. It makes a lot of the story feel very uninteresting, and then there's a burst of action and then the end.
In the Court of the Dragon by Robert W. Chambers
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This is kind of a ghost story more than anything with a surprise appearance from the King in Yellow. The final line is interesting, and I do wonder what Chambers meant by the Living God. Maybe the story is a kind of comment on the punishing hand of the church? Unclear. I think I liked it.
The Mask by Robert W. Chambers
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
It's very interesting how Chambers shifts focus from The Repairer of Reputations while staying firmly in the realms of the gothic. This one feels very openly about how unhealthy the decadent movement was for relationships and people in general, and while its love triangle dynamics are decent and the marble-alchemy is really cool I don't know how special this story is as a standalone work.
The Repairer of Reputations by Robert W. Chambers, Lon Milo DuQuette
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love the extremes Chambers goes to experiment with what makes an unreliable narrator. I normally don’t like the “it was all a dream” twist but I could be convinced that nothing in this story actually happened. I love the dystopian 1920s setting, I hope that appears in the other stories in Chambers’ Yellow Mythos.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1—Phantom Blood, Vol. 2 by Hirohiko Araki
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is primarily Jonathan’s first proper battles with Dio before and after his Hamon training, and it’s really cool how Araki is able to make both fights feel unique and shows off Jojo’s different abilities. William Zeppeli and Speedwagon are both introduced and/or further fleshed out here, which I was delighted by (two of my favorite JoBros). The manga format gives a lot more opportunity for these characters to show off and monologue, two things integral to any good Jojo story, and it ends on a good cliffhanger.
That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is easily one of the best successors to the spirit that Lovecraft created in his stories a hundred years ago. Talley tells four stories to the main character, Carter Weston, that are compelling horror tales on their own that dip their toes into folk horror, gothic horror, and classic cult terror that we expect from Lovecraft. As a complete unit, they wind up being so effective because of all the little consistencies in them. They don't start to feel truly connected until the very end, and when they do it works so effectively. Talley pulls from real world folklore and the strange consistencies in those stories to make Cthulhu feel like a very real myth. I also greatly admire his restraint in not getting super deep into the mythos stuff until the very last section, and just as it threatens to get too August Derleth-y it ends pretty pessimistically.