The Sand Dwellers [Hardcover]

Adam Niswander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

1998 1st Ed. F&B

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The specialty press of Fedogan & Bremer brings out the sort of books that H.P. Lovecraft might be writing were he alive today. Adam Niswander, author of previous novels in a series called the Shaman Cycle (The Charm, The Serpent Slayers, The Hound Hunters), is a worthy heir to Lovecraft: instead of writing mere pastiche, he explores new settings and viewpoints for the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Sand Dwellers will please fans of Brian Lumley's elaborations on the Mythos (there are some allusions to The Burrowers Beneath), but it isn't necessary to have read Lumley to enjoy this rollicking tale. Like Lumley, and other horror masters such as Stephen King, Niswander makes use of a point of view that shifts from section to section, building suspense by giving the reader a series of limited snapshots of the proceedings. The novel, set in Niswander's home stomping ground of the American Southwest, interweaves several subplots for a complex but effective hybrid between horror and espionage. Lovecraftian images--unnatural fog, weird mutants, and nasty subterranean creatures plotting to destroy the world--are combined with a secret military installation, a natty private detective, a strong-willed woman, the history of an old mine, and more.

And as horror critic Stefan Dziemianowicz writes, "in contrast to its Lovecraftian models, The Sand Dwellers is a novel in which human interests and concerns do have significance, and moral choices are still possible despite the cosmic horrors that mock them." --Fiona Webster

Product Details

• Hardcover: 261 pages
• Publisher: Fedogan & Bremer (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878252291
• ISBN-13: 978-1878252296
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,702,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sand Dwellers probably should hide in the sand..., October 18, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sand Dwellers (Hardcover)

Although one should commend Adam Niswander for continuing the expansion of the works of H.P. Lovecraft (of which I am a huge aficionado), the Sand Dwellers falls woefully short of a good novel, let alone one that evokes the same feelings of cosmic dread of the master himself. The characters are poorly fleshed out, and seem like cardboard cutouts of movie characters. The hardboiled detective, the strong-willed female physician, even the irascible but yet likable hermit Clem are all characters that ultimately readers will not connect with or care about. I won't mention any potential spoilers here, but let me just say that the scenes involving the Mythos entities are among the most inane in the book. Niswander reduces the awe-inspiring, omnipotent Mythos powers that be to Batman's nemesis the Joker. They become some kind of cosmic foil to the "good guys". Yes, Sand Dwellers is better than most pastiches, but not by much. If you are a true Lovecraft fan, you wil likely be disappointed by this entry into the next miliennium of the Mythos!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brisk pace and engrossing characters, October 23, 1999

By 

E. Richard Franke (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sand Dwellers (Hardcover)

The author weaves together a very interesting psychological and occult thriller solidly rooted in its Southwestern setting. The inspiration behind the plotting comes from the so called 'Cthulhu Mythos' first developed by H. P. Lovecraft. The author deftly guides the reader between four main protagonists through whose eyes we see the story rapidly develop. The plot concerns deadly events in Arizona's Superstition Mountains where monstrous forces, responsible horrific events in the past, have now bent their attention to a secret U.S. military base capable of causing a nuclear apocalypse. The suspense builds as the author keeps us guessing whether an old hermit, a deformed child, a private investigator, and the base commander can somehow come together to avert the end of the world. The only letdown is a perfunctory incorporation of ideas and terminology from earlier mythos writers (largely Brian Lumley [ author of the various Titus Crowe and other Mythos stories] and Fritz Lieber ['To Arkham and the Stars']) about a monster hunting organization based at Lovecraft's Miskatonic University. All in all a very enjoyable read by an author well-versed in his craft and a master of the Southwestern landscape.