Customer Reviews

Monstrocity

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thomas's Punktown really comes alive in Monstrocity. Literally. On the fantastic world of Oasis is a city called Paxton, locally known as Punktown. An eclectic mix of races live in this squalid city; the native Choom, the Tikkihotto, the Kalian, and a heavy populace of humans who settled in the original Paxton and expanded it into the sprawling metropolis of Punktown.

The first-person protagonist, Christopher Ruby, starts his story by telling us of his new girlfriend Gabrielle, a fun goth-type girl with an open window in her chest to show off the tattoo on her living heart. Gaby has somehow gotten a hold of a copy of a recording from the ancient book The Necronomicon. Gabrielle and Christopher play with the recording, but Gaby's heartlight-tatoo goes out and she estranges herself from Christopher.

Christopher soon finds out how much Gaby has changed, and in tracking down the reasons for Gaby's behavior becomes acquainted with a bookseller named Mr. Dove, who puts him on the path of a horrifying discovery. In his research, Chris meets a beautiful and non-traditional Kalian girl named Saleet, who also happens to be a "Forcer", a type of police inspector. The more Chris uncovers about Gaby's deadly and fatal obsession, the more he realizes that Punktown holds secrets deeper than time itself, secrets of downfallen Gods and the occult.

Jeffrey Thomas's 'Punktown' is one of my all-time favorite fantasy worlds. This world plays a huge part in Thomas's works including 'Punktown' (get the newer, extended version!) and 'Everybody Scream'. I simply cannot get enough of it. Punktown breathes with its own life, steams with its own scent, and pulses with a thousand heartbeats.

Thomas's prose is precise and naturally flowing, managing to hook you from the first page and pull you into Punktown without the slightest whimper of regret. Even his non-Punktown works like 'Boneland' are rich with natural dialogue, fully-fleshed and interesting characters, and worlds built so visually accurate from a written page that you believe in them as much as you believe in the moon over your head at night.

I cannot seem to get enough of this talented author, and I hope that you enjoy his tales as much as I do. Definitely worth a purchase, and worth looking up his other works. Enjoy!

Jeffrey Thomas' Monstrocity requires a bit of context. To readers already familiar with his Punktown stories, this is his first novel set in that universe. Chronologically, the events in Monstrocity occur a few years before Deadstock and Blue War. It is not necessary to read Monstrocity first however (though you probably should read Deadstock before Blue War).

For those readers unfamiliar with the Punktown universe, Jeffrey Thomas has made his own unique contribution to urban-punk world-building, reminiscent of writers like Samuel Delaney, William Gibson and China Mieville, but with a liberal dose of H.P. Lovecraft worked in for good measure. The center of Thomas' universe is the sprawling metropolis of Paxton - called Punktown by its inhabitants - a city on the colonized world of Oasis where humans now live with other alien races, from the native Chooms to those of other-world origins like the Tikkihotto, the Kalians and others.

A recurring theme in Thomas' work is that actions, whatever their intent, often have unforseen consequences, sometimes of an order of magnitude far beyond what the actors could even have imagined. In Monstrocity, events are set into motion when Christopher Ruby, an ordinary guy who spends his days working as a customer service rep for a net-link provider, indulgingly goes along with his goth-ish girlfriend Gabrielle's attempt to invoke an occult summoning ritual in her apartment. At first nothing seems to happen, but as days pass Ruby discovers that something did in fact happen, that something did come across, something that is consuming Gabrielle and threatens to ultimately consume all of Punktown along with her. In the course of trying to find out just what has happened to Gabrielle and what is behind the strange things he keeps seeing, Ruby ends up meeting a number of unusual characters, from Saleet, a highly attractive but no-nonsense Kalian woman who turns out to be a "forcer" (cop), to Mr. Dove, a strange (even by Punktown standards) dealer in rare occult works where the price one pays is rarely limited to what was agreed on. Ruby must play a deadly cat-and-mouse game with both, needing information from Saleet while concealing from her what he needs it for, and trying to pry the truth from Mr. Dove with the knowledge that the closer he gets to it, the less likely he is to survive the knowledge.

And as in all of the stories set in this universe, the presence of Punktown itself is felt as strongly as that of any of the characters inhabiting it:

"But more than that, I wanted my old Gaby back.
--If she had parents I might appeal to them, but one time as we lay in bed she had told me that her mother had simply disappeared one day when Gabrielle was thirteen. Her father thought she'd been kidnaped and murdered. Gabrielle thought she might have run off with some other man. But Gabrielle told me that deceased friend Maria's theory had been that mom had become lost in the city somewhere, and couldn't find her way back to familliar streets. Trapped forever in the maze. It was ridiculous, of course. She could simply phone home. Stop a forcer to ask for assistance. Ask for directions. But Maria had insisted it happened; people vanished, seemingly into another city superimposed with this city, and couldn't cross back again, couldn't even communicate again with that former place. It sounded like more spiritual bunk to me. Or at least, like she was referring to an alternate dimension, instead of a literal labyrinth within the solid, material city itself.
--Her father had thrown himself off the top of a seventy story building when Gabrielle was sixteen. He'd become alcoholic. For three years he'd sat up alone at night at the kitchen table, muttering to himself, weeping. He missed his wife, whether victim or betrayer. So he'd flung himself into the canyon of the city -- flesh and anguish reduced to an anonymous blot like news ink - like a sacrifice tossed to a volcano god."

One of Thomas' strengths is the level of creative detail he works into his stories, particularly visual images that stick in the mind and add to the unique fabric of the Punktown world, like in this description of his girlfriend where he takes 'goth' to another level:

"Gaby glowed in the dimness of the store, behind the counter as a pale luminescence. Her pallor was contrasted by her black hair -- long, straight, parted in the center -- and black garments. These consisted of shiny black gloves that ended half-way up her sensuous plump arms, a low cut dress with thin shoulder straps, and when I got close to the counter with my purchase I saw the skirt was short, and that she wore black nylons that ended at mid-thigh. Big ugly black boots. Her lips were heavy and purple. Her eyes were dark and narrow. Her figure was lush, full as an overripe fruit ready to spoil. She looked like she should be sprawled nude and languid on a divan for a painter of old. Up close, I saw what the low front of her black dress revealed: between plush breasts she had had her chest opened up, and a clear circular window gave one a view of her pulsing heart. This organ, like an animal viewed in an aquarium, had been embroidered with red neon-glowing thread which spelled out: MOM. Gaby had been very close with her mother. When you looked at Gaby upside-down, like when she lay sprawled on our bed naked and languid as if she posed for me, the tattoo on her her heart read: WOW."

In truth, I find it hard to rate Monstrocity on its own merits because I had read both Deadstock and Blue War before reading it, and as one would expect from a first novel, it is not quite as polished as those two later ones (both of which I rated five stars and highly recommend). That said, however, I did have a problem with the way the novel ends: it reaches an ending for the story you're reading, then unexpectedly picks up with what might ordinarily have been an epilogue, and then ends yet again, with the second ending feeling somewhat tacked on. For those reasons, I would probably rate Monstrocity three and a half stars if it were possible. Since it isn't, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and rate it four, mainly because I want to encourage people unfamiliar with the Punktown universe to discover it. Also, it's worth noting that Monstrocity was nominated for the prestigious Stoker award for Best First Novel, a rare honor for any author.

My only qualifier is that if you read Monstrocity, be sure to continue on and read both Deadstock and Blue War. If you like what you find in Monstrocity at all, then you'll absolutely love his later work. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys urban-punk and anyone would like to experience a really good working of Lovecraft's mythos into a sci-fi noirish setting.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars because I really enjoyed the book. The main character at first comes across as a bit of a creeper, but as the story goes on, I began to understand him and even experience his almost manic paranoia that he exhibits. I also enjoyed the stories of the Kalian (a species from the planet Kali) religion. The author was very descriptive and created a fantastic world about which I wanted to learn more.

I suppose I only gave this a 4 because it's a bit slow in the beginning and has a very abrupt ending. This book is definitely for adults only though.

As I read through the stories of Punktown, Thomas had me hooked. This wonderfully weird, darkly sinister world colonized by Earthlings long ago provides a vibrant and violent palette for Thomas to draw from to create endless tales of sci-fi horror. It's a wonderful amalgam of cyberpunk and The New Weird.

My enthusiasm led to me to move on to Thomas' Punktown novels, and if Monstrocity is any indication of the overall quality I have to say I am not disappointed. This novel takes all that is great about Punktown and fuses it seamlessly with H. P. Lovecraft's visions of The Great Old Ones and The Elder Gods.

The novel's anti-hero, Chris Ruby, assists his girlfriend Gaby in investigating the mysterious death of her friend. Using a book her friend was reading, they innocently read some spells. Chris is skeptical until Gaby transforms into a shadow of her former self and shuts him out of her life.

Chris' further adventures lead him to into a complex mystery. He acquires a copy of the Necromonicon and soon is entangled in a dangerous world of murder and intrigue that is equal parts detective noir and weird tale.

I will not give away any further plot details but the action is fast-paced and leads to a climax that is both satisfying and left open for sequels.

While I have made some comparisons, stating the novel resembles or borrows from other traditions, I am not saying Thomas' writing is in any way derivative. His prose is lively, his style all his own, full of wonder and horror, darkly comic and poignant when appropriate.

I highly recommend this and Thomas in general. I will definitely keep reading through his material.

A note on the version I read:

I purchased the ebook through Anarchy Press as well as an accompanying "soundtrack" from Das Sombreros. This was a unique experience. I listened to the music on my headphones while reading the novel on my Nook. Of course, it takes longer to read a novel than hear a 40 minute album, but I listened to it a couple of times while reading. The music was trippy and interesting in its own right and fit the twisted world of Punktown. Very cool concept!

I was hooked on Punktown after reading Jeffrey Thomas' collection of short stories in Unholy Dimensions. Monstrocity shifts focus to Punktown (the unflattering nickname of the sprawling mega-city known as Paxton) proper. Warning: This review contains spoilers!

Monstrocity follows an office drone, Christopher Ruby, and his relationship with a voluptuous goth girl named Gabrielle. Gabrielle has a cybernetic see-through panel on her chest with a view to her tattooed heart. Their steamy, intense relationship relationship sums up Thomas' skill in mixing the mundane with the erotic, the present day doldrums of life with the staccato of a future assaulted by technology.

The action begins immediately with a shotgun blast to a deep one hybrid, Mr. Dove. Mr. Dove's deep one roots are never explained - Thomas is much too clever to spell it all out for us - and part of the thrill of reading his works is how he interweaves the Cthulhu Mythos without connecting the dots. Mr. Dove's motivations and the reasons for Gabrielle's later transformation are left to the reader's imagination.

Thomas is a superb author, casually describing the horror of a skinned cat and the disgusting slime of a burst sewer main in one paragraph. He deftly combines body horror with a sense of isolation, creating a stream-of-thought narrative of paranoia and dread. If Punktown occasionally seems like it's made up of a hodgepodge of science fiction ideas, it's Thomas' writing that convinces the reader to forgive his eccentricities.

There are some issues with Monstrocity, however. I still have difficulty taking science fiction seriously when hovercars and rogue robots are involved. At one point, the Mi-Go make an appearance alongside traditional post-apocalyptic mutants. Reading about the two side-by-side is uneven at best - sort of like a shoggoth in the Star Wars cantina.

The other problem is that the book flash-forwards in an unconvincing manner, transitioning Ruby from office drone to vigilante to office drone again. A series of unlikely coincidences lead us back into the action with an ending that, while sweet, doesn't stay true to the noir-ish spiral hinted at in the beginning of the book.

But those are minor quibbles. The flash-forward, while a bit out of step with the rest of the book's pacing, is a relief from Ruby's relentless paranoia. The ending, while unexpected, is certainly satisfying. It's Thomas' writing that makes the difference and why I'm tracking down every Punktown book I can find.

This book is a fascinating novel set in Punktown (what did you expect? Detroit?).

Our hero gets himself a girlfriend, and dares her to perform one of the silly occult rituals she's so fond of. Probably a bad idea, in retrospect. This leads to a bad break-up, and a fascinating take on the Cthulhu mythos, as our hero struggles against an enemy he can't prove exists, even to himself.

Thomas's books are like potato chips- you can't eat just one (with apologies to Conan O'Brien). Stephen King only wishes he could be this original.

If you've gone to the trouble of reading the reviews, go ahead and finish. Then go and read the thing.

Just about the best Cthulhu inspired book that I have read in many years. His "Punktown" based stories are real page turners and fit together very well. They range from over the top great to excellent . Not your traditional Lovecraft, Lumley,Campbell stories. but a new and interesting direction for the Mythos. Don't miss this book.

Jeffrey Thomas' fertile imagination is on full display here in this exciting science fiction/horror tale. This is the first of his full length novels set in Punktown, the nickname of a huge future city on an alien world. As far as I know the novels are not related other than the setting and can be read in any order.

This is a Lovecraftian adventure tale that that is very entertaining. It's got horrific images; funny social commentary, interesting characters and a neat plot that keeps you turning the pages.

I really enjoyed the authors "Deadstock" as well as this one, and look forward to reading more of Punktown.

First, the good. It starts with a bang (literally) and never really lets up. This book was so much fun to read, I was stuck with a perma-grin for days. It's a Lovecraftian noir fiction sci-fi fantasy horror story and I loved every minute of it.

Each character was interesting in their own right, especially Saleet. We feel Ruby spiralling into (seeming) madness and coming out the other side. That he has such a mundane day job only makes it more fun when the situation unfolds. What happens to Gabrielle is downright horrific and wonderfully so. I do wish we got to see more of Mr. Dove, since he (minor spoiler) seemed like a promising villain. My favorite minor characters were the mutants Ruby met in the tunnel. The first instinct is revulsion, but when things get rough, out come their white hats. I was reminded of the ghouls in the Fallout series of PC games.

Now, the bad. Really, my quibbles are minor. The ending felt sudden; it seemed a little rushed to me. The plot unfolds at a steady pace for most of the book, and appears to enter a wormhole near the end. This may have been intentional. In any case, the fact that I craved a knock-down-drag-out epic of an ending rather than a brick-wall tells me that Jeffrey Thomas deserves a lot of credit for building a fascinating world and filling it with fascinating characters.

I can't give this book 5 stars because I didn't feel intensely satisfied by the ending, but don't let me fool you: Monstrocity is great fun to read. I highly recommend it to Dagonites and Shoggoths everywhere.

When I first went to read this book for a report in school. I thought it was just going to be another boring book, but when I opened the cover I could not close it. The book will sink you into its depths and have you wondering what will happen next. Jeffrey Thomas is an amazing author that uses great details. His style is like no other and doesn't go near the usual horror stories it is border line insanity in a way. If you love science fiction or occult you will enjoy this, it takes you to a place that can't be described or at least when it is you are just drawn in to another world. I would advise all to read it and continue to read the rest of his books.