Customer Reviews

Delta Green: The Rules of Engagement (Call of Cthulhu Mythos fiction)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I just finished this novel yesterday. It was a rollicking good read. Before I had found it I didn't know anything about Delta Green, as my RPG days are way behind me. Now I am finding a whole sub genre of modern technothriller mythos action horror. So far I have been blown away by Stross' story A Colder War, Goodfellow's novel Radiant Dawn and now Tynes' The Rules Of Engagement. And it's not even the subject matter that's so good, it's the terrific writing that makes these such
fun. In all of them, the prose crackles particularly the dialogue, the plot whips along and the characters have depth and believability. And I also like the way in ROE that they don't specifically mention any monsters by name. I don't think there was an 'Ia' in the whole book. When Tynes describes the horrific encounter in the jungles of Cambodia as a flashback, the terror felt by the survivor is palpable.

Verdict: rave review!

Oh yes, there is one disturbing and unnecessary reference to a
character named Matthew Carpenter who gets gunned down. But other than that...

I was very impressed with this book, which is a great mix of spy thriller and Cthulhu Mythos horror. It's got an intriguing plot; memorable characters with depth and personality; a lot of detail (especially on technological stuff and the jargon of the intelligence community); and it is well-written and easy to read. The Cthulhu Mythos is an important element, but it is handled with wonderful subtlety and seldom appears center-stage. There's absolutely no name-dropping of the kind that mars so many Cthulhu stories; all references to the Mythos are made without using revealing terms like "ghouls" or "Deep Ones".

The book's greatest strength is that it is an *extremely* useful source of inspiration if you're a Keeper of the Delta Green campaign for the RPG *Call of Cthulhu*. Want to know how DG agents cover up an operation? Read this book. Want to know exactly how relations are between DG and ... er, the competition? Read this book. Want to know what DG's leaders' idea of a thorough debriefing is? Read this ... well, you get the picture. If you're a DG Keeper, you should already own this book.

Curiously enough, this is also the book's only weakness, in my opinion. There are several instances when someone familiar with the DG sourcebook will see more in the text than the casual reader will. For example, when certain characters known from the DG sourcebook appear, the initiated reader will have a pretty good idea of what is going on, whereas other readers might miss it. But that's just me. If you liked the earlier Delta Green anthology, *Delta Green: Alien Intelligence*, there's a good chance you'll like this one too.

I vastly enjoyed this book. I have to agree that knowledge of Delta Green adds a lot to the book, as characters from other Delta Green books make appearances. That said, if you run Delta Green games you really should read this. If I could run a game that was half as exciting and well- paced as this book, I'd be a very happy Game Master, indeed.

I am a fan of both Cthulhu and conspiracy, and I really like Tynes' game books. However, I am also a fan of good fiction and terse prose, and I do not believe that this book is either of those. The dialogue was hokey, the horror was much more disgusting than it was scary, and if something was supposed to be really intense or significant, a couple of f-bombs screamed by one of the Delta Green ops drove the point home. I applaud Pagan and Armitage for creating Mythos fiction set in the modern times and written for mature audiences; I just wish it read nothing like this. Ultimately, the quality of this book does not match the quality of the Delta Green supplements on which it is based.

(I read the book on a flight to the west coast, and the only reason I finished it was because I believe that John is a stand-up guy and because the in-flight magazine looked like it was chewed on by a rabid dog.)

DELTA GREEN is the modern adaptation of Call of Cthulhu. Drawing on the same body of UFO lore and paranormal activity as the X-Files, DELTA GREEN has tapped into something very deep. And of course, once you have a successful RPG, you might as well start the fiction flowing, right?

"Rules of Engagement" is really a sequel to the collection of stories in "Alien Intelligence" and assumes familiarity with the contents of the DELTA GREEN RPG book. So it's a niche market, but you didn't find this page just by chance, did you? If you're going to read "Rules of Engagement", you might as well start with the other two. Sure, they're becoming hard to get, but no sense doing something halfway, eh?

"Rules of Engagement" is a story about a kidnapping, and also a murder mystery, and a detective story, which is also a love story; it could also be one of those Tom Clancy CIA stories, but with less-expensive toys. It definitely involves at least one conspiracy, and a little breaking-and-entering. There are two or three mysteries that never get resolved, and one major character bites the dust (or does he?). Some people would say that it is a stylistically-poor novel, but I say it's a snapshot of life. The weird doesn't become normal, loose ends don't get tied up, and stories don't end where you want them to.

Because "Rules of Engagement" is a human psychodrama. The characters have their motivations; love, fear, loyalty, resentment, desire ... shake them like dice and roll them on the stage of life. They play their parts, whether good or bad, but at least with authenticity. And then the curtain comes down, and you have to put in another quarter to watch any more. And you know that you will.

I'm a huge fan of the mythos, of Delta Green, and of other DG fiction--the short story collections are truly amazing. So I finally got this novel expecting another fantastic romp, and was dismayed to find that it's a limp, formless concoction that reads like a transcription of the author's last roleplaying campaign. The dialogue is false, the plotting dull and aimless, and the descriptive prose borders in many places on high purple. It's not worth your money or time--buy Alien Intelligence or Dark Theaters (or the Delta Green sourcebook) instead.

I didn't like either the beginning or the end of this book, but I loved the middle part (everything except the first two or three pages up until the last two or three pages). I look forward to reading the later books, I'm sure they will be very good. It has all the elements of a good conspiracy: aliens, government, underground reporters, and enough "real life" facts to make impressionable readers even more paranoid.

The world of Delta Green is one of incredible opportunity, it has all the right aspects to be a gripping, terrifying univers of stories. Yet, this book wastes all of that. The writing style itself is very poor, with long, unneccessary paragraphs of descriptions and objects that cause the story to slow, and too many story and character threads that lead nowhere. The author's attempt at detail tends to read like a copy of a product catalog list, simply there to show off the research rather than move the story along. It may be that the book is more relevant to players of the Delta Green RPG, if so, then the author targets too small an audience, leaving the casual reader befuddled with obscure references and characters. The worst aspect, however, is the fact that it claims to be based on HP Lovecraft's masterful Cthulhu Mythos, yet, in between the catalog lists and blocky descriptions, there is barely a nod to the incredibly detailed and intriguing universe created by the late RI horror writer. Finally, the most disappointing aspect of Rules of Engagement is its wasted potential. I hope any future book based on Delta Green fares much much better.

It read a little more like a primer for gaming than an in-depth story. The quality of writing was not as good as in Alien Intelligence, the previous fiction release for this world setting. In the end, I still had only a tenous grasp of what was going on. However, the trip was quite enjoyable. It was never slow.

RoE starts with a knock your socks of launch and packs quite a few startling punches throughout. The plot does soften a couple times, but not terribly so. It necessarily leaves everything up in the air at the end... Following Lovecraft demands no less. All in all, it's a 5-star must-read for horror fans and gamers alike.