20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must be read to be believed, July 3, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Image of the Beast / Blown: An Exorcism (Paperback)
An underground classic, a melding of sci-fi and erotica, this book is like no other you'll ever read. I read it 20 years ago, lent my second hand copy to someone, and never saw it again. Not for children, prudes, or the squeemish. If you think you've read it all, read this. You'll never forget it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Only Philip Jose Farmer could have written this., January 26, 2004
This review is from: Image of the Beast / Blown: An Exorcism (Paperback)
No! This is not new fiction, rather tis an old tome written like no one else could have written it. I love Farmer and have read this duo (more a novel followed by a novella) at least four times. As with so many of Farmer's works, there are plots within the plot. You will discover many truths (at least as defined by Farmer) as you read. Among them: where ghosts come from, how to rape a werewolf, the importance of looking a gift whore in the mouth, and the real story of the holy grail. The sex is truly occult kink at its best (or worst) and mind blowing to say the least. Mr. Farmer's main character is very well written. Some of the side players are weak and a few of them are so weak as to not support their existance in the storyline. My only complaint is that Philip did not see fit to carry on this series. It could have been as good as his World of Tiers novels. If you are an adult who likes a little purple in your life, please read this book.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Apocalyptic Nightmare, November 28, 2004
This review is from: Image of the Beast / Blown: An Exorcism (Paperback)
WOW!! This is a far-out book, to say the least! Philip Jose Farmer, the best-selling author of the Riverworld series, and winner of 3 Hugo awards for his unique and creative Science Fiction novels, has written an apocalyptic nightmare of a novel with "The Image Of The Beast: An Exorcism" and "Blown," the sequel. Both books, included in this one volume, were originally released 1968 by the Essex House in California, during the days of flower power, hippies and alternative lifestyles. It swiftly became an underground classic. This is not a novel for the faint of heart. Some readers may find it shocking - others, like myself, will think it "campy" and laugh at many of the characters and images. While reading this book I imagined Robert Crumb, creator of the underground Crumb Comics, (remember him?), illustrating a sci-fi comic book, filled with grotesque, malevolent characters, i.e., aliens, ghosts, witches, a satanic child-killer, werewolves, and a chilling snake woman in a tale which gives new meaning to gothic horror, with lots of kinky sex and fetishes thrown in. For those of you who do not remember Crumb, his work has been described as "...barreling out of his acid-drenched id. Basic desires, perversions, and blinding rage..." are what he depicts. Well, that's Crumb and that is "The Image of the Beast."
The storyline is typical enough. It is about a private detective searching for his partner's murderers. All similarities to other novels end here. P.I. Herald Childe views a snuff movie, starring his partner, who is so brutally murdered on screen that even hardened Investigator Childe takes some time-out to hurl. Childe, is driven into smog-ridden LA to pursue the killers. The smog is so bad the air has taken on greenish, foggy overtones and people need gas masks when they go out into the poisonous environment. Then a second film turns up at police headquarters, graphically portraying another murder. Various clues lead Childe to a horrific gothic mansion in the hills above LA, belonging to Baron Igescu, originally from Transylvania. Hmmmm. Here we meet the supernatural beings that make the Alien look like a kitty cat.
Among the topics Childe discusses with Igescu on this first visit, is the concept that an infinite number of universes may occupy the same space. "They can do this because they are all polarized or at right angels to each other....thus it is possible for more than one cosmos to fill the same space." The Baron speculates that there might be "walls between universes with gates or breaks in them" and that an occasional dweller of one universe might go into another. The plot thickens.
I borrowed this book from a dear, but weird friend. I liked it initially - perhaps "like" is not the word. Anyway, I was initially absorbed. About halfway through the plot weakens, and at last comes to a whimper of a conclusion.
"Blown" which follows "The Image of the Beast" is a continuation of the same terrifying fantasy world dragged out of the darkest depth of someone's unconscious mind. Mr. Farmer's? I am giving the novel 3 stars because the writing is excellent and the plot and characters are certainly original. Hard-core gothic sci-fi fans might enjoy this.
JANA
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