Customer Reviews

The Spiraling Worm: Man Versus the Cthulhu Mythos (Call of Cthulhu Fiction)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Spiraling Worm is the latest offering by Chaosium. It contains a series of linked stories by John Sunseri and David Conyers, talented young authors active on the mythos scene. This book is the first fiction publication from Chaosium since Arkham Tales, and it represents a shift in their philosophy. For many years, the most we could get from Chaosium were the cycle books, collections each centered on some mythos theme or entity with a diverse collection of stories (perhaps mostly selected by the mainstay series editor, Robert Price). This mostly consisted of reprints, often a story from HPL and then works either from the remote mythos past or from some of the magazines active at the time, like Crypt of Cthulhu. Results were wildly uneven, mostly mediocre, a few gems and a lot more truly dreadful dogs. Now Chaosium is aggressively publishing books of all new (well, with a few reprints) stories, paying more attention to the quality of the author and story than particular thematic elements. On the horizon we have Frontier Cthulhu, old west mythos, and hopefully a lot more books as successful as their predecessors.

I am pretty familiar with the weird fiction of David Conyers; he has been a fixture in many of the new anthologies. We had the very nifty `Outside Looking In' in Hardboiled Cthulhu, a story were perception and reality are not the same thing, `Regrowth' from Arkham Tales, which concerned the melding of disparate forms of life and `False Containment' which is here and originally appeared in Horrors Beyond. I think `A Shared Romance' was in the short-lived Cthulhu Express. Mr. Conyers has had a fair number of his other stories in magazines of weird fiction. I am a bit less familiar with the stories of John Sunseri. I recall the very fine `The Hades Project' from Horrors Beyond, and the enjoyable `A Little Job in Arkham' from Hardboiled Cthulhu.

The mythos subgenre for this collection is by now well established, that is, the action packed noir cloak-and-dagger the government-is-in-it-up-to-their-necks mythos. For years great fiction of this sort has been published in the Delta Green books from Pagan Publishing, Cody Goodfellow's Radiant Dawn and Ravenous Dusk are masterful examples and Charlie Stross has weighed in with The Atrocity Archive and The Jennifer Morgue. He has also written what may be the absolute finest modern mythos story, `A Colder War', available in his collection Toast and the upcoming Cthulhian Singularity. The Spiraling Worm fits very comfortably into this company. If this is the sort of story you like, you are in for a real treat with this book. No helpless pasty-faced recluse cowering in a garret driven mad by his special knowledge of how terribly indifferent the universe is. Red blooded action heroes throw themselves into the breech, refusing to go gentle into that good night. Some housekeeping: The publisher is Chaosium. The Spiraling Worm is a 320 page paperback listing for $15.95 but discounted to $10.85 from Amazon, and available for free shipping if you order > $25 worth of books (like preordering Frontier Cthulhu...). The cover art looks kind of cool on the website but I don't know who did it and can't say much about it. Why? This is my biggest gripe about the book. I got the special edition hardcover, and while it is a nice cloth bound book, it does not have a slipcover and, thus, no artwork! Man did that peeve me! I guess I should have noted this before I bought it. Now I am left to wonder if I should buy the soft cover too.

Here are the contents:

Introduction: CJ Henderson
Made of Meat: Conyers (Originally published in Temple of Dagon, revised)
To What Green Altar: Sunseri (new)
Impossible Object: Conyers (Originally published in Dreaming in R'lyeh #2
False Containment: Conyers (Originally published in Horrors Beyond)
Resurgence: Sunseri (new)
Weapon Grade: Conyers (new)
The Spiraling Worm: Sunseri and Conyers (new)
Afterward
About the Authors

************Spoilers may follow so stop reading if that bothers you!!*******

First of all, the Introduction and Afterward are very entertaining and also very useful in getting a handle on where the authors are coming from. Best of all, they let us now a follow on volume with the characters from this book is in the works already, and CJ Henderson will be contributing some stories!! I keep saying we are in the golden age of mythos fiction. The first three stories by Conyers were not written with this book of linked stories in mind. Instead Mr. Conyers was creating Major Harrison Peel, developing his character and stretching his wings in this particular subgenre. After Conyers ad Sunseri decided to collaborate on The Spiraling Worm the original Peel tales were ordered and perhaps slightly altered to fit into the timeline/story arc here.

In `Made of Meat' we are introduced to Major Peel, an Australian intelligence officer. Over the next few stories we get to know him quite well. Conyers doesn't write mythos stories for their own sake; the trappings are always at the service of clever plotting, believable character development, snappy dialogue and tightly written action scenes. The major is sent to look in on the Tcho Tcho people in Southeast Asia with the help of a British MI6 Agent James Figgs, a more jaded, hard bitten and enigmatic figure than the duty driven Major Peel. Someone in some government wants samples of Shub Niggurath spawn to develop into weapons.

`To What Green Altar' introduces us to NSA agent Jack Dixon. He and the ubiquitous Figgs go to Siberia on the trail of an insane cult that wants to invoke Cthugha in the middle of the Vatican. The Tunguska event from 1909 is finally explained. The aims of the cult are depressingly plausible in the modern world. The first two sections of this are my favorite prose by Sunseri.

`Impossible Object' is my favorite story by Conyers (What a wonderful dilemma to have! What is your favorite story by David Conyers?). It is the best story in the book and also, perhaps, the most Lovecraftian. The Australian government has uncovered an incredibly ancient city and found the title object in one of the rooms of this city. The Impossible Object is different to all observers, as well as mysterious and frequently deadly. Major Peel is on the scene and figures out what it must really represent. Tautly written, suspenseful and an edgy ending. Definitely worth a few rereads! I originally read it in its magazine version and am glad to have it in this collection.

`False Containment' is another winner from Conyers, probably my next favorite here. I already reviewed when I wrote about the anthology Horrors Beyond (I would rather have seen a different new story as this is already in a book we are all likely to own, but I see the appeal to having all the Major Peel stories in one collection). I think there has been a very slight modification, inclusion of a sentence or two to allow `Impossible Object' to better fit into the story arc. This was a pity, as my view in hindsight is that it lessens the power of the ending of `Impossible Object.'

After these stories we get into the main story arc of the anthology. `Resurgence' shows us some how or other, shoggoths are loose from their prison in Antarctica and are swarming to the mainland, including Australia. A few sentences are a nod toward Tim Curran's Hive and perhaps portend that Mr. Curran may be joining forces with the authors in future projects. Agent Dixon is point man against a shoggoth that is scouring Isla de los Estrados near Argentina while Major Peel must try to fend off its twin approaching Australia. What would it take for you to go nuclear? Unfortunately Major Peel is caught in the radioactive aftermath of the saving of Sydney. Also unfortunately a famous landmark (almost a world wonder...) had to be sacrificed.

`Weapon Grade' shows how the military applications of extra dimensional gates and shoggoth technology are too tempting to resist, and how far the cloak and dagger men of any government are willing to go to get an edge. Major Peel shows his true dedication to duty as well as resourcefulness as he tries to prevent the theft of shoggoth secrets while dying of radiation poisoning.

`The Spiraling Worm' brings all the players together (including Joss Plenary of the NSA). The setting is the Congo, where a grotesque band of rebels (cultists) have perhaps kidnapped a special forces Major Charles Ackerman. Figgs, Peel and Dixon (and a small army of SEALs and special forces) set out to track him down in the trackless jungle. The Spiraling Worm is one of the many names of Nyarlathotep, as ever trying to open holes in reality for Cthulhu et al to step/slither through. This was the longest story in the book and the culmination of some pretty remarkable story telling, as two talented authors combine their skills and characters. While I liked it a few details bugged me. First of all there was (a very small amount) some lecturing about the mythos pantheon, something that never jazzes me. I had some issues with a gang rape scene, although it was suitably horrific and not gratuitously specific. I cannot argue with it, but I did not like the denouement of agent Figgs. Maybe that's too harsh; rather, I liked him the way he was before the end of the story. At > 100 pages this is maybe a novella. It was necessary to have a story of some length to be able to tie all the plot threads together but it did miss some of the snap that made the other stories such corking good reads. Finally, at the very end Peel, Dixon and Plenary decide to form an agency to try to fend off mythos type threats (similar to Stross' Laundry or to Delta Green) and the way this was done seemed a bit pat. I guess it's too easy to be a critic; `The Spiraling Worm' (the story) all in all was a very satisfying read.

So that's about it! All in all I give The Spiraling Worm a rave. Two skilled authors at the height of their mythos story telling power give us the Lovecraftian smash of the summer. See if it doesn't keep you reading way past your bedtime, like me. Highly recommended! Can't wait for the sequel!

This book is full of interesting ideas for "Call of Cthulhu" and particularly "Delta Green" wonks. So if you only read for the thrill of speculation and are willing to overlook mediocre prose, asinine dialog, boring characters, and lousy fiction chops in general, then you will probably enjoy it. Personally I have a hard time with that. Every ridiculously implausible plot development, every line of dialogue that sounds like a Steven Segal movie, every time the writer chooses to explain rather than evoke the story--these all stick in my craw and make it hard to take any pleasure from the text. A 5-star book, in my opinion, is one that comes as close to achieving perfection as any human work is capable, and anyone who reads this book and thinks it couldn't have been done any better has a dim view of our species indeed. The huge gulf between the book I expected (based on the glowing reviews) and the book I received made this one of the most disappointing reading experiences of my life, and left me suspicious, honestly, that the reviews here on Amazon have been padded by those with a financial or other personal stake in this book

Exotic locales, extra-dimensional monsters, black-ops--The Spiraling Worm is a terrifying action-packed collection from two terrific authors. In each tale, a new monster is introduced, and the heroes--Major Harrison Peel of Australia and NSA man Jack Dixon--must find a way to maintain order in an increasingly chaotic universe.

The episodic nature of the stories is reminiscent of TV shows such as X-Files, but sometimes the installments fail to resolve the way an episode should. David Conyers' story "Impossible Object," for example: one of the most interesting stories in the book--yet also the most unsatisfactory. In this one, scientists are studying a mysterious relic that appears differently to each viewer: what is a door to one is a jar to another. Most of the researchers disappear while examining the object, and no one can figure out its purpose. The idea is intriguing but the cliffhanger ending doesn't resolve the mystery and the impossible object garners only a brief mention later in the collection; it could have been used to greater effect.

Despite this falter, most of the stand-alone stories produce an awesome impact: John Sunseri's "To What Green Altar" effectively mixes terrorists, Roman Catholics, and the fire deity Cthugha, while Conyers' "False Containment" spawns a hideous monster that absorbs and infuses with humans, animals, and plant matter, growing as it goes. Nevertheless, the most memorable stories are heavily interlinked. "Resurgence" by Sunseri and "Weapon Grade" by Conyers both feature shoggathai, giant protoplasmic slaves of the Old Ones. In "Resurgence," these beasts rise from their prisons in Antarctica to devour plant, animal, and human life, and in "Weapon Grade," the fates of the shoggathai are revealed--while one of the heroes suffers the consequences of saving his homeland.

Filled with fast, action-packed stories that read like episodes of a good TV show, The Spiraling Worm is an excellent installment in the Cthulhu mythos.

This was an excellent and fun book to read. If you are well versed in the Mythos, you'll find many references to the classics ... but without all of the "squamous tentacles" and "ichor covered walls" ... instead, the horrors are real, tangible, and described in fascinating detail. You may think that this removes the atmospheric horror, but not in this case. The two authors who share duties on this collection of short-stories in a shared world, do an excellent job of exploring the existential terror of Mythos monsters. But, they do so in a modern setting, where world governments are aware that "they" are out there, and even try (foolishly) to harness and control the dangerous technology associated with the Old Ones.

The stories are part James Bond / Tom Clancy and part "The Ring" and with a little of "The Da Vinci Code" thrown in. The monsters involved do much more than just eat you - and the threat they pose is also much more global in scope. The protagonists travel the world, uncover mysteries, and try like hell to keep the "incursions" from destroying all human life.

I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.

This was a great book with well conceived stories and top rate characterization and writing - best Mythos work I've read so far.

HOWEVER. I'm one of those who read all the info on the front and back covers of the book before I start on the innards, and I was not happy to find that the editors had felt it necessary to print the full culmination of the final story on the back cover. This was a spoiler of epic proportions.

Buy the book, but do NOT read the cover text... What the HELL were they thinking? *sharon*

No-one is harder on Lovecraft homages than I am. I despise the imitators, the writers who make nary an effort to honor HPL. I was dubious when I first received this book with somewhat hokey cover art. I groaned inwardly when I noticed it was not so much an anthology but a series of stories centered around a few main characters.

But...

...it works. It works wonderfully. Think of it as part Tom Clancy, part Dan Brown, part john Shirley and even part of the master himself. While working within the Cthulu mythos the authors deftly sidestep the cliches and pitfalls so many other authors have fallen into.

Well worth the price. Get it and enjoy it.

There's not too much that can be said about this collection that hasn't been covered in Matthew T Carpenter's excellent review, which wholly does the book justice, but I will say, as a reader and fan of the Cthulhu Mythos for many years now, this is one of the best collections I've read in a long while. Not that the other recently released books haven't been good, but this collection is just plain excellent.

Mr Conyers and Sunseri have a unique and dynamic writing style, forming fast-paced, globetrotting adventures with such an ease of transition that their stories read like the best of action/adventure movies with the insane horrors of the Mythos as their evil backdrop. Both writers' complement each other's styles immensely, and the final story in the collection, the novella length "Spiraling Worm" (and a collaboration between the two writers), is like the rest of the book, a seamless pleasure to read.

The stories, like all good Mythos stories, cover mankind's never-ending and sometimes nearly futile battles against the mind-bending technology and evil of those beyond the pale. The protagonists the two authors have created are likeable, believable, and take and deal out their punches like the best of heroes: in a hardboiled and uncompromising manner.
I'd recommend this collection to all Mythos fans; you're in for a treat. If you don't believe me, the authors and publisher have kindly made one of the stories from the collection free to read here:

http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?cPath=66&products_id=967

The story in question `The Impossible Object' is a tale of a groups struggle to attempt to fathom out the unknown in the form of an object discovered in a sinister alien city that should never have felt the footsteps of man. In the tradition of Stephen King's `From a Buick Eight', the characters discover they have bitten off way more than they can chew as the object they're trying to rationalize in human terms confounds their minds and sanity at every turn.

Read this collection and be introduced to a gruesome, exciting world of espionage and evil. The Cthulhu Mythos never looked so good.

Chaosium achieved a real coup for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game (RPG) in a way that Dungeons & Dragons never did: it put RPGs on equal footing with Lovecraftian literature. Because Chaosium publishes fiction and RPG supplements it presents both as legitimate, best evidenced by the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, which draws on both sources to round out the Mythos.

So it's a bold move when Chaosium publishes a new modern work without the comforting bosom of the surrounding Mythos to prop it up. Even more daring, the Spiraling Worm is a collection of action stories set in the modern day.

Ignore the cover. The picture of Peel, with his oddly stubby arms and stiff posture, isn't particularly compelling.

David Conyers may be best known for his RPG contributions, but he's equally comfortable in the fiction realm. His protagonist of note, Australian Army military intelligence officer Major Harrison Peel, is a no-nonsense action hero waging war against a cosmic threat he barely understands. John Sunseri's character of choice is NSA agent Jack Dixon, who is a bit less stalwart than his Australian colleague. Rounding out the global trio and connecting the stories is MI6 agent James Figgs, who ranges from cold aloofness in Sunseri's stories to borderline psychopath in Conyers'.

The series starts out with Peel and Figgs in Vietnam in Made of Meat, featuring only a hint of the Mythos in the Tcho-Tcho and their worship of Shub-Niggurath. The conclusion is open-ended and unsatisfying.

To What Green Altar is Dixon's introductory tale, a less satisfying but interesting take on Cthugha, the Tunguska Event, and the Vatican. Unfortunately, the Mythos knowledge possessed by the Church doesn't seem to figure in the other stories.

Impossible Object, more a science fiction tale, is awesome. Peel fights a battle of perception in his native Australia, trying to grapple with a device nobody can truly perceive, much less comprehend. The ending is an awesome cliffhanger, leaving you wondering if the entire universe might implode...

Until you read False Containment, so the universe clearly did not end. It unfortunately saps some of the strength of Impossible Object, but False Containment is so strong that it's easy to forgive. Featuring time travel, body horror, and a gibbering monstrosity that cannot be contained by time or space. False Containment is one of the few stories in this collection that isn't afraid to drive home the insane horror of the Mythos.

Resurgence features two shoggoths gone wild, the inevitable conclusion of a monstrosity that eats everything. Resurgence isn't afraid to escalate tensions to an international level, forcing Peel to sacrifice himself to save his beloved continent...

Until, that is, the events in Weapon Grade. Dixon brings Peel into another mission, this one featuring another dimension and more shoggoths. It's interesting but not as powerful as the other short stories - it feels more like an excuse to keep Peel alive (he's cured of his ailment by the end of it) than anything else.

The title work, The Spiraling Worm, is a filthy, disturbing foray into the heart of the Congo jungle. Dixon, Peel, and Figgs are together again, and the circumstances are unsparingly brutal. This is a story that's not for the faint of heart. It features a suitably climactic showdown between helicopter gunships, Nyarlathotep, and an elder artifact. Unfortunately, the bizarre mask and its rotting cult steal the show. The conclusion is actually a beginning, as Dixon and Peel join forces to launch a secret organization dedicated to eradicating the Mythos...

If this sounds familiar, it's because it's been done already: Delta Green, wherein government agents with little infrastructure support wage a secret war against the Mythos. Chaosium has never quite fully embraced the enormously popular modern take on the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, publishing its own brand of "Cthulhu Now" supplements. In fact, some of the stories in Spiraling Worm were originally meant to be part of Delta Green, but presumably they weren't able to get the rights from Pagan Publishing.

It seems as if the authors are intent on building their own, parallel, government-against-the-mythos series by connecting to Tim Curran's Hive. Which isn't a bad thing. But with the resurgence of Delta Green, I wonder if DG fans will be forced to choose.

The Spiraling Worm chronicles two men's attempt to make the world free from evil. Dixon and Peel are on a mission to stop the men who are trying to bring back the creations of the Elder Gods, and through their adventure they will find that there is much more at stake then a strange artifact.

The Spiraling Worm is a well-done story written by two of today's finest small press authors. John Sunseri has had over 50 stories published since 2000 and David Conyers' stories have been nominated for several awards. These two authors work together to create a believable and easy-to-understand glimpse at H.P Lovecraft's grand Cthulhu mythos.

If you're interested in Lovecraft, the mythos, or any of the two authors' work, The Spiraling Worm is a book you will want on your bookshelf. If this review could be longer, it would, but doing that would reveal plots of the short-story chapters.

As a new reader to this genre and of these authors, I was genuinely suprised. I purchased the novel on the strong recommendation of a close friend, and was not disappointed. The Spiraling Worm is the most thrilling, exciting, and well written book I have read in a long time. I shall eagerly await a sequel.