Customer Reviews

Alhazred: Author of the Necronomicon (Necronomicon Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After reading the first several chapters of _Alhazred_, I put the book down and almost didn't pick it back up again. The writing was decent, and Tyson had obviously spent a lot of time in historical research (as well as Lovecraftian), but I just wasn't sure where the book was going.

However, I did pick it back up again -- and I'm glad I did. In my opinion, the book got stronger as it went along. I disagree with another reviewer's comment that Alhazred ends up as a "likable rogue" -- I'm not sure how that applies to someone who craves decaying human flesh, who breaks his word and lies through his teeth, who casually causes the death of many people (cf. the escape from the gypsy camp), including children -- or for that matter, who leaves a painful (and possibly fatal) surprise in the jewelry box of a certain princess. Han Solo is a likable rogue; Alhazred is a self-consumed monster barely connected to the human race. Heck, compared to Alhazred, Hannibal Lecter almost qualifies as a likable rogue.

And yet by the end of the book, Tyson makes him fascinating, understandable, and even a bit sympathetic. That, in the end, is what impressed me about this book. _Alhazred_ isn't really a horror novel (hence some of the disappointed reviews); it's a 'historical' novel about a fictional character who happens to end up writing (or compiling) the Necronomicon. And when I was done, I was sorry to see the book come to a close.

Here's hoping a sequel is in the works. ..bruce..

Based on Tyson's fabulous 2004 release Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred, this book is a first-person account of the life of young necromancer Alhazred. The material does not come off quite as frightening or disturbing as the previous work, but more of a dark Arabian Nights-ish tale that is entertaining nevertheless. The book is long, and is filled with love-affairs with djinn, murder, deception, eldritch creatures, chases across the desert, and encounters with the Old Ones themselves. It is definitely worth the read.

I am not sure what book the other reviewer read, because I found it to be well written and filled with images of horror and mutilation on a deeply psychological level. This is not the in your face splatter pulp of recent generations. It makes you use the faculties of your own troubled mind to generate the fear and terror. It does not deliver it all on a silver platter for the lazy mind to waft away. A very nice companion to Mr. Tysons Necronomicon. There was only one problem that prevented me from giving five stars.. My copy jumps from page 44 to page 141.. A tad difficult to read, but all in all a very good tome...

HP Lovecraft/Clive Barker/H Rider Haggard/Arabian nights/Egyptology/Sindbad voyages and Indiana Jones. These all came to my mind as I was reading this 'once in decade publish type' of book. What a wonderful book! The book is in first person naration. this is more of horror/fanatsy/adventure type of the book and due to some eating habits and some physical diffrences I can not sritctly call him Indiana Jones! I read some short storiess by HP Lovecraft but you do not have to. You can read this on its own. with proper marketing this book can create wonder. Now this is 650 + pages but it is not slow. If you want to read one horror/fantasy book this year- read this... period...!

This book was really great. I enjoyed the development of the main character and his interactions with other beings. However, two complaints:

1. This author really likes poop. Be prepared to read at least two paragraphs every chapter about someone going to the bathroom. There were really only two occasions where this was really needed. I'll refrain from spoiling it at all, but lets just say, very early on in the book I started wondering how he was going to pee.

2. This book ended abruptly. Nothing is really resolved, there are tons of loose ends. I feel almost like there should at least have been a epilogue, but any die hard Lovecraft fan already knows how it "ends."

In short, read this book if you're curious about Alhazred. I think Tyson is faithful to the mythos and also includes a few of his own gems (Spoiler Alert: I was pretty impressed with how he included the Ark of the Covenant).

This book tells an interesting story. That's not a problem; the problem is that there seems to be little to no emotion on the part of the character or the author. Everything from cannibalism to murder is described in a very matter-of-fact way. The character, the titular Alhazred, the mad Arab, doesn't seem to be mad so much as profoundly antisocial. He carries out all manner of nefarious deeds in the course of his "descent into madness", but I certainly wasn't enthralled. I found it nearly impossible to relate to the character and I formed no emotional attatchment to him. All in all, I really found it difficult to care about the story, because it seemed dry and lifeless.

In Lovecraft's stories there's very little about the character of Alhazred beyond his nickname and a one paragraph summation of his life, so an entire Lovecraftian book, especially one so large, dedicated to him might seem a little odd. However, Tyson stays true to the source material and does a great job fleshing out what makes Alhazred seem so sinister and insane. Driven by his quest to make himself whole after being mutilated by the King of Sa'ana, he no longer cares about anyone else or what he has to do to get the occult knowledge to restore his missing body parts. And he does quite a few unsavory and deceitful things...

Alhazred isn't a horror book or a scary book like Lovercraft's brooding stories of primeval, nameless horrors from outer space. But it is a terrific story of occult adventures through Medieval Middle East and great character development.

The only quibble I have with the book is the sheer amount of minutia when it comes to describing what the characters do. I'm not sure if I really need to know of every time Alhazred or his accidental companion Martala need to relieve themselves or how long they slept and what they dreamed every time they went to bed.

Still, this level of detail does make the reader feel as if he is Alhazred and is going through every step of his bizarre experiences. And how he becomes accustomed to the warmth of Martala's body next to his and how he takes care of her gives an otherwise cruel, cold and careless character a small sliver of humanity.

This story holds together with a man being guided while thinking he is acting under his own will power. Questioning about the choices of other people and the choices of oneself is difficult and critical and this revealing of the blurring of those boundaries is nicely done in this story. Also the nature of authority is questioned in this story by revealing what people do during their acting in the role of authority.

As I said, this book is not meant to terrify and chill you to the bone. It is NOT meant to deeply disturb you and it's not meant to ensure that you have to look behind you every few minutes during the time you read it.

"Alhazred" is a fictional autobiography of the fictional Author of The Necronomicon. It recounts his exile and ultimately, his settling down within the walls of Damascus. I am not going to spoil anything, but I WILL say that this book is big. The book is actually of a rather intimidating size if you are not used to books as large as this one.

If you begin to read this book, I will warn that it does get a little dry somewhere in the middle but all I can say is bear with it because this book has a spectacular ending.

I was seriously concerned that this huge book was going to be filled with fan-boy attempts to emulate Lovecraft and push gore. I actually enjoyed it and was glad Tyson seemed to write with his own style instead of trying to emulate Lovecraft. Sometimes that can be great, but an author needs to have control of his narrative to really pull it off. Too many in this genre simply can't touch Lovecraft's art and they spoil their own thoughts by trying to mock his form. I like Tyson's style and will be looking to pick up other books by him.

I was hooked after chapter 3. Not that the book starts slow. By all means, you get thrown right in to things. It just took me about 3 chapters to get really in to the vibe of the story. I found the action, occultism, Mythos, and macabre were all balanced well. I was able to read this in a brisk manner; however, the character and volume of the material kept it from being too quick.