Customer Reviews

The Arcanum

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Thomas Wheeler's The Arcanum is an ambitious novel by a competent novelist. Regrettably, a story this ambitious requires more than mere competence. It requires vision, talent, skill and imagination, features that are in short supply here.

The first indication that this was going to be a substandard read was right on the cover - the back of the dustjacket was lined with praise from primarily mediocre writers like Christopher Golden and Robert Doherty. The second clue is the cast of characters, a group of historical figures so overused as to have become a crutch for authors of little imagination. How many times have Doyle and Houdini been paired as erstwhile detectives? How many times has Doyle been cast as a hero of Holmesian intellect? How many times has Lovecraft come face to face with the Old Ones of his Cthulu mythos, having thought they were merely figments of his imagination? The only fresh character here is Marie Laveau, but even she had to be shoehorned into place from across space and time, seeing as she never left New Orleans and died years before 1919, when this book takes place.

Wheeler comes up with half a dozen clever ideas that he tosses casually into a paragraph, magical explanations for such events as the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the murder of the Romanoff family, but the cleverness of these tossed-off concepts pales beneath the ineptitude of the rest of the novel. It appears Wheeler did very little research into the time period about which he wrote, or the characters with which he elected to populate The Arcanum. Lovecraft is portrayed as a sniveling madman and Marie Laveau is characterized only with dropped g's at the end of gerunds and a few "cheres" thrown in to remind us all that she is from the south. Never mind that she was an intelligent Creole woman, not a Cajun.

The story itself is a ridiculous mash. The chief badman is intent on destroying the world, a pretty ridiculous proposition for anyone. Think about it - where would he live, and with whom? There are angels, demons, lost tribes and ancient artifacts. Aleister Crowley appears as a menacing mage, instead of the fusty old milquetoast fraud he truly was. Other historical figures wander wanly through the narrative without convincing us of their veracity.

This is a moderately entertaining book for those who prefer their historical fantasy fiction without all that messy "history", but if you are a stickler for research, plot and characterization, move on to anything by the sublime Tim Powers and pass on The Arcanum.

It's a nice concept. Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, HP Lovecraft, and Marie Leveau are part of a secret society of demon-busters dedicated to fighting incursions of the Lovecraftian mythos into our world. There are cameo appearances by famous mystics A.E Waite and Aleister Crowley. The problem is that first-time novelist Wheeler isn't really up to the task of fleshing out all of these colorful characters. Conan Doyle sort of works as a real-world incarnation of his literary creation and Houdini is not bad, but HP Lovecraft rings false as some kind of steampunk technomystic, and voodoo queen Leveau comes across surprisingly bland. There are also some serious anachronisms. At one point, Lovecraft is described as using a "transistorized" device. Transistors? In 1919?

I got this book from the library expecting an easy and fun read, and that's what I got. I think it's a mistake to expect anything else from it.

It wasn't the best written book in the world, but certainly not the worst and it was just a bit of fluff for me to read between more serious books.

I don't recommend buying this book, but if you see it at the library and you're interested in the period or concept, give it a read.

I bought this book because I like Lovecraft and Doyle, and Harry Houdini was my childhood hero. I didn't expect great literature, just a good yarn. I read a lot of historical novels and a lot of horror and enjoy it. But not this. This is one of the most poorly written novels I have read in some time. It read like those cheap paperbook book versions of movies you see at the drug store. The point-of-view character seems to be Doyle, but we get in his head only a couple times. Otherwise, we are just like a movie audience--sitting and watching the action being described, not experiencing it, as is the case with a real novel. There was no characterization at all except for a NY cop whom the author couldn't decide was Irish, Yorkshireman, or East Ender, based on his slippery accent. What he was doing in NY is unknown. Everyone else was pretty much indistinguishable and seemed to have nothing to do with their real historical counterparts. You could almost see Whoopi Goldberg playing Marie Laveau in this thing.

The other problem was that anachronisms abounded in the book. It was supposed to be 1919, but there were historical howlers everywhere, such as "security personnel," razor wire, and women wearing high heels, just for starters. You never once got the sense of actually being in Old New York, as is the case with a good historical novel like Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker (*definitely* a ripping good yarn - about the Irish draft riots in NYC). Apparently this author looked up some information about 1919 automobiles and decided that was enough historical detail.

It was very obvious that the only reason why this book was published at all is because the author is a Hollywood hotshot. Well, he should stick to what he knows, because he sure don't know novel. If you want a good read combining Lovecraft and Doyle, try Shadows Over Baker Street, ed. by Michael Reeves, a book of stories combining Holmes and the Mythos. Now THOSE are ripping good yarns.

Wheeler's attempt to cross from screen-writing to novel writing is a disappointment. He has not grasped the intricaces and nuances of the medium, instead treating it like a television project or movie. The vocabulary is limited, the intelligence of the reader is underestimated, and the characters fail to ring true. By using almost exclusivly famous names of the begining of the last century, it almost feels like an article in People magazine about "celebrities". The reader cannot really relate to these people and therefore is always left feeling on the outside. I fear this is the sad result when stale, uninspired storytelling of the visual media invades the written world. Anyone who has decried the banality of TV shows will see this in The Arcanum. Now, having said that, the story of the Book of Enoch and the Lost Tribe is an interesting concept. Given more practice, perhaps Wheeler could actually produce a decent book about it. But not this time.

In 1919 London, a car full of young people runs over an old man and with his dying breath he says "He's in my mind" and then says Arcanum. The Ministry of Munitions Winston Churchill notifies Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that Konstantin Duvall is dead. Duvall was a mage and a mystic, an explorer and collector of all things occult. He kept many secrets one of which, The Book of Enoch, the third part of the Bible that was thought to be erased from existence in the first century, was stolen from its hiding place by a practitioner of the dark arts.

Doyle goes to America where he brings together the rest of the members of THE ARCANUM, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft and the powerful voodoo priestess Marie Laveau. They must find the missing book and the killer. The perpetrator is a powerful mage who practices the black arts and is able to elude THE ARCANUM. They meet on his terms as he is able to spring a trap that has Houdini in jail and the rest of the group running from the law while guarding an Angel who doesn't know how to get home.

History, mystery, and dark fantasy combine to make THE ARCANUM a noteworthy book, a pop icon and a source for a good movie similar to the League of Distinguished Gentlemen. Historical figures are brought together in a time when the forces of darkness threaten the world, setting up the classic good versus evil confrontation. Thomas Wheeler's debut novel totally enthralls the readers with another perspective on the evil forces that threaten this world making the horror feel new and exciting.

Harriet Klausner

I need to repeat that because it's important: This novel is not historical fiction. The characters could have been anywhere, anywhen, and the story would have been exactly the same. The setting was a matter of convenience so the author could get the players in place and move straight into the plot - which Wheeler did.

This novel, despite having some amazing characters in it, isn't a character driven book. It's a story driven book, and - like the setting - I got the distinct impression that the author chose familiar personalities who not only could contribute to the plot, but who didn't require so much explanation that the book would have needed to be another 50+ pages.

The story is fantastic and well-paced, and one hell of a fine read. It's not what you might expect, so leave your expectations at home and hang on for a wild ride.

The Arcanum is a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read from beginning to end. I'd describe the novel as historical fantasy, though some have called it an occult thriller. Regardless, with a name like "Arcanum" you should expect some magic and plenty of supernatural happenings. The novel is premised on Enochian myth, much like Danielle Trussoni's Angelology.

Set in 1919, after the end of World War I, the story begins as a whodunit, with the main character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, playing the role of his fictional alter ego, Sherlock Holmes. He's joined by Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft and voodoo queen Marie Laveau, and together they investigate the death of Konstantin Duvall, the leader of their secret occult group called The Arcanum. After they realize Duvall's death may be connected with theft of the Book of Enoch, a lost book of the bible that supposedly chronicles God's mistakes, their investigation takes a supernatural turn as they uncover secrets about an ancient conflict between light and darkness. The fact that the characters are Doyle, Houdini and Lovecraft make this a fun read (the author even pays homage to Lovecraft's Cthulhu at one point), and Laveau's voodoo really spices up the story. The book is fast-paced, so you'll rip through it like one of Dan Brown's thrillers. But the mythology at the core of the plot is what makes it so special. I've read this book twice now, and loved it each time.

An enjoyable read for a lazy Sunday afternoon, it reminded me of those Saturday matinee adventure movies I use to watch as a kid. The cast of characters were interesting, I especially liked Houdini and Lovecraft. I would not call this book a page turner but it did hold my interest. I wish the author could have showed us more about the lost tribe of Enoch. How they survived through the ages, what and how they came to be in New York. If you like stories with a cast of characters on a quest similar to the movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you will enjoy this book.

Thomas Wheeler is, from what I've read here, a talented screenwriter. From cover to cover this book, The Arcanum, reads like a greenlit movie pitch for an historical action/thriller film cast with several easily recognized figures from history...including A.C. Doyle, Marie Laveau, Houdini, and H.P. Lovecraft. The premise of the book reads like a CGI techies wet dream...to create a gothic, brooding New York City at the turn of the century....to create swirling clouds of voodoo induced magic...to create a storm of winged demons beseiging a steam locomotive.....etc., etc., etc. Snip together a two-and-one-half minute preview trailer, throw in some notable Hollywood stars, and I'd go see THIS film in a heartbeat.

That said...this isn't a film script...at least not yet. This is a novel.....and I've given the novel 3 stars, because I did read the entire book, I did like the premise of it a great deal, and I did enjoy it...even if I wanted it to be a lot more than it was.

To create a novel, and therefore a group; like The Arcanum doesn't involve rocket science. The cast of characters itself is intriguing enough...the creator of the World's Greatest Detective...the World's Greatest Escape Artist, an author of the dark and macabre to rival Poe, and a voodoo priestess...you can't miss. The aforementioned group tackling a demonic presence in old New York? You also can't miss...the characters and premise, while perhaps overused in ways, as other reviewers have stated, are iron clad to deliver an intriguing story.

Where this book failed to earn five stars from me is in the following points:

1. If you are going to gather a group such as this for the first time in many years, explain in greater detail why it has been so many years, as well as how and why they formed the group in the first place.

2. If you are going to take such a fascinating and controversial story as The Book of Enoch and incorporate it into your own story....give more detail on it...not just a passing synopsis from one of the more literary characters in your tale.

3. With such a premise as this is, you would think more of a battle of good vs. evil would have happened. I'd give more detail here on this point, but I don't want to spoil the story itself.

If the author should happen to read the reviews here, I would hope that he'd scroll down to mine and take some unsolicited advice from an avid reader of tales such as this.....try again..and take more time with the book...it's not my story to tell, granted...but the foundation and the skills are there for a wonderful work...this first attempt just seems a bit 'stilted' in comparison of what it might have been.

Nonetheless, if you aren't looking for a Tolstoy length work, and are seeking out a quick read that is chock full of action and adventure...this book will satisfy.