Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
$29.98

Paperback
$18.95

Buy used: $29.98

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery February 3 - 9 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery February 3 - 8

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Robertson Resell

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Christopher Buehlman

Follow

The Necromancer's House Hardcover – October 1, 2013

by Christopher Buehlman (Author)

4.2 586 ratings

See all formats and editions

Those Across the River, a “beautifully written…exceedingly clever” (Boston Herald) masterpiece of “genuine terror” (New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson), was hailed by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris as “one of the best first novels I’ve ever read.” Now comes Christopher Buehlman’s new novel—one of uncommon horrors hiding behind the walls of the house next door…

“You think you got away with something, don’t you? But your time has run out. We know where you are. And we are coming.”
The man on the screen says this in Russian.
“Who are you?”
The man smiles, but it’s not a pleasant smile.
The image freezes.
The celluloid burns exactly where his mouth is, burns in the nearly flat U of his smile. His eyes burn, too.
The man fades, leaving the burning smiley face smoldering on the screen.
“Oh Christ,” Andrew says.
The television catches fire.

Andrew Ranulf Blankenship is a handsome, stylish nonconformist with wry wit, a classic Mustang, and a massive library. He is also a recovering alcoholic and a practicing warlock, able to speak with the dead through film. His house is a maze of sorcerous booby traps and escape tunnels, as yours might be if you were sitting on a treasury of Russian magic stolen from the Soviet Union thirty years ago. Andrew has long known that magic was a brutal game requiring blood sacrifice and a willingness to confront death, but his many years of peace and comfort have left him soft, more concerned with maintaining false youth than with seeing to his own defense. Now a monster straight from the pages of Russian folklore is coming for him, and frost and death are coming with her.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Ace
Publication date

October 1, 2013
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0425256650
ISBN-13

978-0425256657
See all details

Christopher Buehlman
1,967
Paperback
11 offers from $8.46
Christopher Buehlman
1,075
Paperback
43 offers from $9.00
P L McMillan
244
Paperback
21 offers from $13.66
Cormac McCarthy
14,839
Paperback
62 offers from $7.49
Shane Hawk
475
Paperback
72 offers from $10.60
T Kingfisher
4,026
Paperback
47 offers from $11.38

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A Russian man&'s drowning launches this rambunctious magical melee. Buehlman (Those Across the River) pits Andrew Blankenship and Anneke Zautke, companions in witchcraft and Alcoholics Anonymous, against Russian ogress Baba Yaga, whose son, Misha, falls prey to mischievous water sprite Nadia, a friend (of sorts) of Andrew&'s. Contrasting with exotic magical escapades, real-world losses haunt both Anneke and Andrew. As the threat from Baba Yaga mounts and bad things happen to Andrew&'s sidekicks, the eponymous house no longer provides a certain refuge. The logic of the plot is eclipsed by the eruption of characters who evoke Dickensian whimsy and range from the merely unusual to the bizarrely imaginative. Within this magical universe, rivalries, revenge, and self-seeking contend with the willingness to sacrifice. The final confrontation, evolving in part from Andrew&'s prior service to Baba Yaga and her daughter Marina&'s defiance, wreaks an ambiguous ending in an explosion of enthralling fantasy. The vibrant, bracing atmosphere easily overpowers any niggling concerns about a few incongruous incidents. (Oct.)

Review

Praise for Those Across the River
One of Publishers Weekly’s Top-Ten SF, Fantasy & Horror Novels
A 2012 World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel

“What a treat. As much F. Scott Fitzgerald as Dean Koontz. A graceful, horrific read.”—Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“So real you can almost see the sweat roll down the page.”—Boston Herald

“Wonderfully eerie from start to finish—a novel sure to enthrall readers of all stripes.”—Grant Blackwood, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“An unsettling brew of growing menace…Do not miss this chilling debut.”—F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Cold City

“Sublimely crafted.”—New York Journal of Books

“Lures you into a different era, seduces you with eloquent prose and sensual period details, then clamps down on your jugular…An outstanding debut.”—Hank Schwaeble, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Diabolical

“A delightfully genre-bending juxtaposition of supernatural horror and gothic drama.”—California Literary Review

“Gripping, compelling gothic horror in the most classical sense, an American Dracula that absorbs the reader into its seductive embrace through lush rhythms and a veneer of homespun innocence.”—The Trades

And for Between Two Fires

“By combining modern horror dynamics with a convincing medieval setting, Christopher Buehlman secures his status among today’s leading dark-fantasy authors.”—Shelf Awareness

“Fans of historical fantasy and horror will find this epic darkly rewarding.”—Publishers Weekly

“Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.”—Kirkus Reviews

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ace; First Edition (October 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425256650
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425256657
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,363,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,890 in Historical Fantasy (Books)
- #40,163 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.2 586 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Christopher Buehlman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Christopher Buehlman is a native Floridian and author of the literary horror novels 'Those Across the River' and 'Between Two Fires.' He is the winner of the 2007 Bridport Prize in poetry, and the author of several provocative plays, including Hot Nights for the War Wives of Ithaka. Many know him as comedian Christophe the Insultor, something of a cult figure on the renaissance festival circuit. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. His first novel, 'Those Across the River,' was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for best novel in 2012.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

586 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jill Hayes

... a "modern" warlock to create a downbeat story of love, loss

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

Christopher Buehlman weaves together some truly fascinating mythology with the gritty reality of a "modern" warlock to create a downbeat story of love, loss, addiction and magic.

I love the concept of a modern-day set of wizards who use materials at hand -- like Skype and videotapes -- to talk to the dead, and who have to wrestle with modern problems to be a fascinating new approach to wizardry and magic. I also love the way Buehlman plays with stereotypes and refuses to let standard "romantic" situations constrain his story. He also has a knack for just the right amount of withholding.

The book is also very well written, and I learned a lot watching Buehlman's expert hand at work. The story is about Baba Yaga, but he approaches her "reality" from such a fresh perspective he makes her truly horrifying. Bravo!

However, I didn't find the story as compelling as I'd like, because the characters were all very broken in not very appealing ways. And the character's motivations are less clear than I'd like -- they just stumble from one thing to another without a clear direction, it seemed to me.

I did find the characters very well-written and quite believable, but an AA-attending wizard whose dark past activities aren't well illuminated (and not in a suspenseful way) is not a character I want to live with for a long time. I do like that he is self-deceiving and this is his fatal flaw. That part is perfectly done.

A fantasy / horror writer to watch. Great ideas... modern insight, a real grasp of mythology and terror.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mr. Mule

Oh Andrew..

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2023

Verified Purchase

That was an interesting store and leave a me wondering if Mr Buehlman will give us another. Hmmm... Time will tell.

Helpful

Justin & Amanda Quick

Magic, folklore, and a Mustang.

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is the third book by Christopher Buehlman that I have read and I was not disappointed.

Andrew Blankenship is a recovering alcoholic and warlock immersed in a world melding magic and technology. Most of his closest friends have a specialty in some magic field or another. He is very protective of his home and keeps himself hidden as much as possible. He is hiding for a reason. That is about as much of the plot as I want to give away. I believe the description above posted by Amazon doesn't spoil everything, but still gives away too much.

The writing style of this novel comes off a bit chaotic. That's a compliment though, not a complaint. Reading through the majority of the book style wise, reminding me a lot of the book Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. The way magic works and combines with technology in the world created by Buehlman is fantastic. Some reviews have complained about not being able to understand the characters in the story. I would argue that they aren't paying attention. You are able to really get into the head of Andrew Blankenship and see from his crazy, messed up, perspective.
This book is more of a suspense story than horror compared to his first two novels. But, if you buy into the world he created there is still quite a bit of stuff that you will find downright terrifying in The Necromancer's House.
I highly recommend it to anyone looking into the horror/supernatural/scifi genres. I would also recommend picking up his first two books, Those Across the River and Between Two Fires.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Anony Mous

Enjoyable but Oddly Disjointed

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

Ive so enjoyed reading Christoph's books this past year! Having known him for many years from the Renfest circuit I was surprised to discover how capable a writer he is. His earlier books were extremely well done!
The Necromancer's House feels a bit like either an experiment or an afterthough, however. Maybe a better or.more thorough.job editing would have solved its problems?
The same ability to breathe real life into a character was certainly present, but the narrative feels jumbled and tossed together, and doesn't serve the impact of the book as a whole. I usually enjoy broken timeline, jump-cut exposition in books.as.it helps develop a larger landscape and characters and does so in an interesting and efficient way. However, the jumping and cutting just continued through the book even up to the last chapters, introducing new characters in the last third that played a key role in the story, while abandoning character introduced in the first half.
I feel it distracted from the potential of the book, the world building Christoph managed and the very interesting characters, and so thus earned a three star rating from my wife and I.
Sorry Christoph! Will still read your next one :)

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chris Condon

Buehlman magic

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

Absolute Buehlman magic. Another opportunity to question why he is the most underrated author in modern horror fiction.” Those Across The River” has rented space in my head since halfway through my first of three reads, when I became enamored with the main character Eudora. Now Mr. Buehlman takes us the different levels. He proves two things.. from the 1930’s rural South, to 14th century France, to New York in the 70’s… Buehlman is a horror visionary that can transport both your heart and soul to the place of his prose. And… as a poet who writes horror fiction.. he inks majestic and artful works that can compared with literary greats.
Of note however… this copy of Necromancer’s House, while evidently new, has yellow edged paper and stained ends.. shipped in soft wrap that clearly blunted the binding corners. D- in the vendor’s assessment of the book’s condition and ability to deliver it in fair condition.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Aaron Armstrong

Very good book!

Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

It had me from the beginning and did not let go. Page after page brought more vivid pictures of what the setting look like.

Erinome

Der Vergangenheit entkommt niemand...

Reviewed in Germany on October 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

Der Magier Andrew Ranulf Blankenship genießt sein Leben in vollen Zügen. Seine Fähigkeiten setzt er hauptsächlich dazu ein, sich sein jugendliches Aussehen zu erhalten, und sich das Leben so angenehm wie möglich zu machen. Durch eine Verkettung unglücklicher Zufälle wird Andrew jedoch mit seiner Vergangenheit konfrontiert. In den Achtzigern hat er einige Zeit hinter dem Eisernen Vorhang verbracht und hat dort den Weg Baba Yagas gekreuzt - mit schrecklichen Folgen für ihn und er konnte nur mit knapper Not entkommen. Nun ist ihm Baba Yaga wieder auf die Spur gekommen und sie hat nur eines im Sinn: Andrews Vernichtung.

Andrew ist eine sehr vielschichtige und sympathische Hauptfigur. Obwohl er ein mächtiger Magier und Nekromant ist, plagen ihn auch "normale" Probleme. So ist er beispielsweise ein trockener Alkoholiker und muss sich im Verlauf des Romans auch immer wieder mit seiner Sucht auseinandersetzen. Er hat also eine bewegte Vergangenheit, über die wir in Ansätzen etwas erfahren, und die Einblicke in seinen Charakter haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Seine Handlungen sind unterm Strich vielleicht nicht immer richtig, aber stets nachvollziehbar. Andrew stehen außerdem einige gut ausgearbeitete und interessante Nebenfiguren zur Seite. Besonders relevant für die Handlung ist Anneke, Andrews beste Freundin, die ebenfalls über magisches Talent verfügt, und die mir auch gut gefallen hat.
Die magischen Elemente in THE NECROMANCER'S HOUSE haben mich vollkommen überzeugt. Es gibt einige sehr interessante und unheimliche Ausprägungen und vor allem Baba Yagas Zaubersprüche haben es in sich. Mir haben die Einblicke in die russische Folklore insgesamt sehr gut gefallen und auch die übernatürlichen Wesen, denen wir begegnen, sind stimmig in den Roman eingefügt.
Die Handlung von THE NECROMANCER'S HOUSE ist spannend und schlüssig aufgebaut und mündet in einem befriedigenden Finale. Es sind immer wieder Rückblenden in Andrews Vergangenheit eingebaut und es werden auch immer wieder Nebenhandlungsstränge aufgegriffen. Mir hat diese Erzählweise sehr gut gefallen, ich hätte mir hier nur gewünscht, dass einige der noch offen gebliebenen Fragen geklärt werden.
Alles in allem hat mir THE NECROMANCER'S HOUSE sehr gut gefallen. Die Figuren sind sympathisch, die magischen Elemente interessant und die Handlung konnte mich völlig überzeugen. Christopher Buehlman hat wieder einen Volltreffer gelandet. Sehr empfehlenswert!

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

LBM

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on August 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

One of my new fave authors.

McK

Maybe it is a start of a series.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

My issue with this book is that we do not go into enough detail about the Necromancer's past, we know he was in Russia but it is never explained what happened (just hinted at). The novel does start well and is quite quirky but it then descends into a sort of adult Harry Potter Wizard fight and body swapping that just becomes uninteresting and dull.

Saying that it has a great cover! and if this is a start of a series it could develop well.

See more reviews

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

The Necromancer's House Hardcover – October 1, 2013

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Review

About the Author

Product details

Important information

About the author

Christopher Buehlman

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries