The premise of Cthulhu's Reign is simple. What happens to humanity after the rising of R'lyeh? Most Cthulhu mythos fiction is concerned with discovering the existence of humanity's true place in the order of things or about cultists trying to bring back Cthulhu. Cthulhu's Reign takes a different perspective.
The book is a very nice mass market paperback with 309 pages, including a 7 page introduction, and a few pages of authors' biographies. All stores were newly published for this book; I did not see any major typographical errors. The attractive cover art shows immense tentacles rearing up out of the sea but I am not sure who created it, even after going over the book carefully. I was familiar with about half the authors in this volume. I was captivated by the uniformly high quality of the writing; there was not one story that I did not enjoy immensely. I have some beefs of course that I suppose I need to get out of the way. First, as a bibliophile I would have loved a limited edition hardcover, with interior illustrations. In fact, the last mythos anthology I can think of offhand that was published directly as a mmpb was Miskatonic University in 1996! Most such books at least start life as a trade paperback. Perhaps DAW only markets mmpbs? Perhaps it says something about the increasing popularity of fiction inspired by HPL's creations? My second issue is that the title is not listed as volume 1 in DAW's new series of Lovecraftian fiction. Oh, well, I can dream. The introduction by Darrell Schweitzer is, frankly, brilliant. It tells you just about everything you need to know to appreciate where these stories are coming from, and shows off his scholarly credentials to boot. If you never read anything by HPL, he suggests you read The Dunwich Horror, The Call of Cthulhu and The Shadow Over Innsmouth to get the gist. You can find the text of these stories free on line, if you are not a Lovecraftian and want to approach this book with proper frame of reference. The stories in Cthulhu's Reign are quite thematically similar but they are not really monster stories at all, like so many mythos stories are. This is more a series of meditations of human nature at the end of things, a sort of subset of post apocalyptic fiction, this time with tentacles. That makes the anthology all the more fascinating and, I think, broadens its appeal. Having a boatload of talented authors to call upon helped too!
Here are the contents:
The Walker in the Cemetery by Ian Watson - Ian Watson is new to me. Of all the contents, I found the prose here to be the most awkward. At first I was hesitant but I became an enthusiastic fan as Cthulhu spawn traps some surviviors of R'lyeh's rising and a game of cat and mouse ensues.
Sanctuary by Don Webb - Mr. Webb has a collection with many stories of interest to Lovecraftians, When They Came. A small village in south Texas has so far been overlooked, mstly, by the earth's new masters. This was absolutely wonderful. I hope Mr. Webb writes more mythos soon.
Her Acres of Pastoral Playground by Mike Allen - Another new author to me, Mr. Allen gives us a wrenching picture of a man struggling to hold his family together in the face of hopelessness.
Spherical Trigonometry by Ken Asamatsu - Asamatsu san edited the landmark series of Japanese mythos stories, Lairs of the Hidden Gods, published in 4 volumes by Kurodahan Press. His presence adds an international feel to the anthology. Everyone knows the Hounds of Tindalos cannot move through curved space. So what to do about that?
What Brings the Void by Will Murray - Will Murray has written a number of Cthulhu mythos stories, notably To Clear the Earth from The Shub Niggurath Cycle; I hope we see more from his pen soon. A NRO operative tries to use his psychic abilities to get intel on the invaders in this engaging story.
The New Pauline Corpus by Matt Cardin - Mr. Cardin has a collection, Dark Awakenings coming out from Mythos Books. It will contain his previously hard to get novella, The God of Foulness. Wow, what a magnificent story! A theologian tries to reconcile what has happened with what he spent his life studying.
Ghost Dancing by Darrell Schweitzer - The estimable editor of Chtulhu's Reign is a Lovecraftian scholar who wrote the biographical Discovering HP Lovecraft. He also wrote one of my favorite mythos stories, Why We Do It, found in Dead But Dreaming. What can you salvage at the end of all things? The allusion to the Ghost Dancing movement was acute.
This is How the World Ends by John R. Fultz - Mr. Fultz wrote a short novel online, The Wizards of Hyperborea, perhaps more in the vein of Clark Ashton Smith. Alas I don't know if the work is still available; I have not seen it in print. When R'lyeh rises will you fall, fight or be assimilated? Like many other stories here, the protagonist is moved to cling to his humanity.
The Shallows by John Langan - I am unfamiliar with the work or Mr. Langan but I have to remedy that! The Shallows is another brilliant story, as moving for what is says as much as what it doesn't, as a man clings to his daily routine.
Such Bright and Risen Madness in Our Names by Jay Lake - Another new author for me. A man, or what was once a man, joins with others to resist what has happened. The prose and plotting were top notch.
The Seals of New R'lyeh by Gregory Frost - Apparently Mr. Frost will be appearing at the 2010 Odyssey Writing Workshop; he is new to me. OK, we would like to think we will all behave nobly when the worst comes. Why then did I chortle so much while reading about these two petty crooks who keep trying to get aleg up, with mixed results.
Holocaust of Ecstasy by Brian Stableford - Mr. Stabelford has a short mythos novel coming out soon from Perilous Press, The Womb of Time. The title of this story comes from a line by HPL. What exactly he meant is open to speculation, so Mr. Stableford gives us his meditation on what the future holds.
Vastation by Laird Barron - I loved Mr. Barron's collection The Imago Sequence with the incredible story Old Virginia; his new collection Occultation will be out soon from Nightshade Books and I hope it has some Lovecraftian stories. Vastation was fascinating and complex, with layered prose and was also wonderful.
Nothing Personal by Richard Lupoff - Mr. Lupoff is well known to mythos fans for his collections Terrors and Visions. A first alien encounter doesn't exactly go as planned in this gripping story.
Remnants by Fred Chappell - I confess I could not stand Mr. Chappell's novel, Dagon, but I like his short fiction. Remnants may actually have been the most upbeat of all the stories here.
I think this book is a triumph. Although a Cthulhu mythos anthology, it focuses on the human response to the unthinkable. I really liked all of the stories and some were flat out brilliant, where usually in this type of book there are more than a few dogs; I credit Mr. Schweitzer's selection of talented writers for this. Furthermore Cthulhu's Reign is an inexpensive mass market paperback, making it a bargain. I only hope Mr. Schweitzer and DAW have more such books in the planning stages.
PS: The editor is not the only one who can use Cthulhu in a limerick:
A tentacled Old One named Cthulhu
In space devoured Captain Sulu
The Enterprise tasted
Not so bad when well basted
With the crewmen all crying, boo hulhu
