C.T. PhippsRezensionen

This is a looser anthology than Crossroad Press’ previous Books of Cthulhu (Tales of the Al-Azif, Tales of Yog-Sothoth, and the Book of Yig) to say nothing of their anthologies of intricately linked Mythos stories Eldritch Prisonersand Time Loopers. The tone and types of the stories vary more; there are more authors; there is no single overarching story.

And that, as the “Foreword” tells us, is entirely appropriate. Nyarlathotep has many names: the Black Man, the Crawling Chaos, and the God with a Thousand Forms. He wears many mask in these stories: trickster, avatar of doom, bringer of dark enlightenment, a good and faithful servant – if not particularly invested – servant of Outer Gods. Cthulhu and the liberation of his promised return is a parody of Christianity, and the Nyarlathotep offers sort of an anti-Buddhist dark Enlightenment. Most importantly, Nyarlathotep is

"about the only Lovecraftian god who cares about humanity. Like a kid with a magnifying glass and a bunch of ants."

C. T. Phipps is an author who likes his elaborate and dense references to H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos though “The Black Pharaoh’s Test” owes as much to Robert E. Howard’s version of prehistory as Lovecraft. The ancient city of Stygia is about to fall; the followers of the New and Old Gods are at the gates. Maybe its king Apophis Zul shouldn’t haven’t been so avaricious in his pursuit of mystical power. And maybe you can’t terrorize your subjects into obediance. So, Apophis Zul, a member of the Snake Men (though the race has been doing some degenerate breeding with humans), sacrifices a slave to embody Nyarhlathotep. Maybe that god will help.

Like granting Zul’s wish, asks Nyarlathotep? Sure. But there’s a little matter of a test first.

Similar to the framing device of the green orb in the movie Heavy Metal, Nyarlathotep is going to present some stories of his presence in other dimensions and other times. He’ll have a question for Zul at the end.

And then Phipps gives us a blackly humorous retelling of a fairy tale in “Cinderella and Her Outer Godfather”. Here Cinderella is the daughter of Marcus, a warlock who once commanded the spirits of the Dreamlands, talked with Nyarlathotep, and dined with the spirit of Abdul Alhazred in Azathoth’s court. But Marcus blows his money and ends up having to marry Salyssa, a Deep One. Cinderella resents this because her family’s traditional alliance is to Yog-Sothoth. Marcus dies, and her stepmother and stepsisters decide to make her life miserable so she will willingly shift her alliance to Cthulhu.

As with the previous Books of Cthulhu, a lot of the authors here present new installments in their ongoing series, and “Where the River Ends” is another of David J. West’s Cowboys & Cthulhu adventures. This one takes place in 1859 and has Porter Rockwell pursuing a killer into a box canyon. But Bishop, his Indian ally, isn’t going to go in after him and warns Rockwell the canyon is dangerous. Time behaves oddly there. But Rockwell goes in anyway and meets some old acquaintances (even if he doesn’t remember them): Mr. Nodens and Nikolai Tesla. The killer is attempting to create a rift in spacetime. And that’s brought a giant river monster into the world. Rockwell avails himself of some anachronistic weapons provided by Tesla: dynamite and a Gatling Gun. More pulp action than Lovecraft horror, but that’s not a bad thing at all.

“The Apophis Sarcophagus” from David Hambling is also a pulpy good time though it still has some of the esoteric elements that are one of the pleasures of the Stubbsverse. Here, though, it’s book dealer and occult scholar Captain Cross that’s featured and not Harry Stubbs. Cross is contacted by a woman looking to sell a scroll from the tomb of Nefereka. She wants the money to escape her occultist family, the Edmonds. The trouble is any buyer will want provenance, and the provenance is she stole it from her father. When her loutish brother shows up uninvited, Cross has to conceal the woman’s theft and finds himself invited to the Edmonds home. It’s 1928, and, in the wake of King Tut’s tomb being found, Egyptomania is a thing. But the Edmonds take it to an insane and quite serious level as Cross finds out when he has to battle a flesh-consuming entity in their locked home.

I haven’t always been enthusiastic about Matthew Davenport’s Andrew Doran series, but I liked “Andrew Doran and the Curse of Nephren-Ka”, mostly because of its darker tone and the absence of any of his usual associates. The assistant curator of the Arkham Historical Museum is referred to Doran, the Mad Archaeologist and Head of Miskatonic U’s Anthropology Department, to investigate a canopic jar allegedly from the tomb of the Black Pharaoh. A battle of wills follows between Doran and an avatar of Nyarlathotep. Bluff, a Templar sword, and heroic sacrifice may win the day, but the cost is high and Doran will wonder what’s becoming of his soul given the wreckage of lives that seems to trail in his wake.

Andrea Pearson’s “Blackwood Relic” is novel in its characters and setting. Travis Blackwood is a shy farm boy who has, surprisingly, gotten himself a girlfriend, Cassidy, who he hasn’t told his parents about. But reveries of young love distract him while he’s plowing a field, and a cardinal rule of his father – don’t disturb a particular rock in the field – is broken. (Another is not to go into the nearby woods.) Soon Travis is possessed by the spirit of his ancestor, the cutely named Algernon Blackwood. Algernon is rather disappointed on how lackadaisical his descendants have been about their responsibilities toward Nyarlathotep. Cassidy and Travis’s and mother have to figure out what’s going on and how to exorcise Algernon. I quite liked the sting at the end of this tale of young love

We get another name for Nyarhlathotep in C. T. Phipps’ “Cookies for the Gentleman”. It’s a strange, frightening tale related by a man whose parents and wife have been obliterated from the universe and human memory by that entity. Why is terrifying and so is the daily propitiation he undertakes.

Pearson’s “Coolidge and the Enchanted Dagger” is from her young adult series, the Mosaic Chronicles. Given that I’m not fond of young adult stories and especially not stories of people gaining magical powers, it’s no surprise this one didn’t do much for me. In this world the Arete – magic users – are less made than born. Protagonist Coolidge, however, has a problem. He’s not going to follow in his famous Arete parents’ footsteps because his pineal gland, essential for using magic, is naturally atrophied. He has one chance: stab himself with a magical dagger. He may get magical abilities or he may die. Undergoing that ordeal, he will meet Nyarlathotep who is willing to make a deal. Because it’s part of a series, it has something of an incomplete feel about it.

The only story here that is a direct sequel to an H. P. Lovecraft story is Eric Malikyte’s “In Its Shadow”, and it’s an effective evocation of terror and mystery. Imprisoned at some military base and terrified of the dark, its narrator undergoes a series of interrogation by a Dr. Webber who tries to pry out his account of a secret government mission he undertaken to Alaska.

Davenport’s “Dream Math” is part of another series, his Scion Cycle though it also partakes of elements of Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House” since, rather like Keziah Mason in that story, there is a “math witch” here, Sheryl Mason. She can consciously alter and travel between realities. Unfortunately, she also does this when asleep which is a danger to her roommate. Another student at Miskatonic University student may have a pharmaceutical solution to this problem. She is the suspciously named Nyla Smith. Like “Coolidge and the Enchanted Dagger” and for the same reasons, this story didn’t do much for me.

Phipps’ “The Siege of New Ulthar” is an immoderate, dense tale clotted with despair and grimness – and I mean that in a good way. Another installment in his Cthulhu Armageddon series, this is an extremely dark story full of existential angst, theological allusions, memorable dialogue, and philosophical musings as well as being sort of a post-apocalypse western. In a world where the Old Gods have returned, millions have died and humanity’s very genetic line has been corrupted, Sheriff John Henry Booth, the narrator, wonders what the point of fighting is. To make sure humanity lasts, at best, a few decades more? He’s not even human and has to fight his shoggoth inheritance. The town of New Ulthar is threatened by the fungus encrusted Yellow Riders, and their leader, a smiley face drawn on his cowl, is Nyarlathotep. Booth and his posse aren’t really even human. His wife Mercury – whore, doctor, and witch — resorts to human sacrifice to get enough magic for the coming fight. It’s the book’s most memorable story, a Viking-like tale of doom, courage, and sacrifice.

David Niall Wilson gives us another tale of Cletus J. Diggs and Donovan DeChance story with “All the Way Up”. DeChance’s magical allies, including a cat and raven, and Nettie, a magical woman who guards the Great Dismal Swamp, make this story more of a fantasy tale than one of horror. The swamp is menaced by Nyarlathotep who is compelling the residents of Eternity to dredge the swamp for its concealed ruins in order to construct a building for the Church of New Light and Starry Wisdom. While I found the plot and characters not very compelling, the story does have one strong element: a cameo appearance by Brian Lumley’s Titus Crow.

And, finally, Apophis Zul must face his test with Phipps’ “The Final Judgment”. Naturally, on his way to becoming a myth himself, he doesn’t really understand what Nyarlathotep is all about. It’s another strong tale from Phipps and again shines in the dialogue he gives the most capricious, mysterious, and personally malicious of Lovecraft’s deities.

1 star, Total Loser Book

SPACE ACADEMY DROPOUTS (SPACE ACADEMY #1)
by C.T. Phipps

Picked this book up for free. Sometimes the free books are complete winners, and other times, like this one, the books are total losers.

I made it to page 67, before the mental health issues emerged and it became offensive. Trigger warnings. It is definitely on my purge list. DNF.

I wish I hadn't picked up this free copy, I wasn't obligated to post any sort of review.

Worst thing I read this year. Like a writeup of someone's roleplaying campaign.

Moon Cops on the Moon!
C.T. Phipps
Well, first off, the blurb says this is just a stand alone book! That can't be tolerated! This has to be made into a series! I really enjoyed the characters! Especially Barkley the robot dog. Of course the kooky guy with the crazy Purple Rain car was a real hoot too!
The funny situations, conversations, and people, or whatever, kept me smiling and giggling. This is even better than Phipps' Weredeer books 😂. This book is a pure delight to read! Unpredictable, funny, a bit crazy, a bit naughty, but totally worth the read!

Wraith King
By C.T. Phipps
This is the third book in the series and it remains strong. There's not a lot of humor in it compared to other Phipps books but it does pop in when you least expect.
This book seemed to me to bring the Wraith to actually start to feel feelings! He begins to appreciate his wives, his family, and think about what might have been.
The book is full of fighting, danger, death, rebirth, Kings, Gods, hate, and love. I thought it was a different book and truly enjoyed it. It made the Wright Knight, King, more personable.

Fun silly stories about a hero-ish dude.

Not as good as the first two but still a fun little book.

Revenge of the Cyber Dragons
By C. T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus
This is book two in the series. It really isn't all that necessary to read book one first but you do lose some subtle references. I would suggest reading book one first because it is so good!
Kei was a Rider but she and her adopted daughter are living straight now, no crime jobs! But her ex Sensei, who is known for his cruelty, is not going to leave her alone. She has to do a list of jobs for him then she will be free. But one of the jobs is not what it seems!
Exciting, action packed, love the futuristic cyber punk world and the great characters! Paradise is my favorite! She is still crazy! Becky is pretty cool too!
Can't wait for the next book!
I listened to the audio version and the narration was perfect!

Cindy's Seven
By C.T. Phipps
This is a hilarious adventure of Cindy trying to make a name for herself by gathering a group of baddies and do something fabulously villainly! Yes, that's a word now because I just used it! Cindy would approve! Cindy wants exactly a certain number in her group. She has a big target in mind that will make her name remembered for decades or longer! But things don't go as planned!
A fun and funny story with many of the fan favorite characters all together! Really enjoyed this romp into crazy town! Great job Phipps

Space Academy Washouts (Space Academy #3)
by C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus

This is another witty story about one of my favorite bumbling Space Heroes! Great characters, fun plot, and witty banter attached to great action.
I do think the sexual episodes of Vance were mentioned way too much. I think it was suppose to be funny but it got old eventually. The rest was fun and the clever throwback remarks were like Easter Eggs.
Enjoyable read! Not as good as the other ones but still good!
3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

Space Academy Rejects
By C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus
I think I have read almost all of their books and this series is my favorite so far. This book, book 2, is even better than book one! The team is a bit more seasoned and mature (at times😂). The story line is fun, enjoyable, full of witty dialogue and a touch of snark, and terrific characters. The only thing I didn't like is it ended in a cliffhanger! Oh, I hate cliffhangers! Normally I take a whole star off but, because the book is so good, I took a 1/2 star off.
So 4 1/2 Stars rounded up. I was gifted an audio version of the book and with Jeffrey Kafer performing the narration, well, needless to say the narration was perfect!

I enjoyed this book! I have read several books written by C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkis so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I went into this book. This was a lighter listen filled with pop culture references galore and a healthy dose of humor. I liked that the book is set in space and thought that the mission was very well done. This was definitely an entertaining listen.

Vance drops out of space academy only to end up as part of a crew on a different mission. Not only is he being forced on this new mission, but he is also almost immediately made second in command on the ship. Before long, he is the man in charge of this mission and the leader of the colorful crew on the ship. I had fun with their mission and loved seeing the various members of the crew interact. The banter between the crew was fun and some of the situations added to the humor of the story.

Jeffrey Kafer did a great job with the narration. I thought that the voices that he used for the various characters worked really well, including male as well as female characters. I thought that his delivery of the humor in the story was spot on and that he really helped to bring this story to life. I had no problem listening to this book for hours at a time.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a really well-done story with enough humor to keep a smile on my face until the very end. I also got a kick out of all of the pop culture references scattered throughout the story. I look forward to reading more of this writing pairs work in the future.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author/publicist.

Tales of Capes and Cowls
By Various Authors
This was an interesting book with a good variety of bad guys dealing with law enforcement. I'll be honest, a couple of them I found to be a little boring but the majority were pretty great. I really liked the super villain locked up in a special prison built just for supers. She could shrink to the size of Damsel fly. She also could shrink other things too! That was one of my favorites. I was thankful for the gifted copy.

Great fun and well written. I'm definitely reading or listening to the next book in the series.

Gary continues his path as Merciless, the not quite bad guy. He really is too nice to be a supervillian, but a guy's gotta do what guy's gotta do.

Gary and company find themselves up against President Omega and an alternate version of Gary. Quite the ride this time.

3.25 stars
An interesting book with an interesting premise. Jane Doe comes from a clan of weredeer, the daughter of a shaman who has some rather unsavory skeletons in her past and a father who tries to stay upbeat and positive. Jane, however, just wishes she could escape her little hometown and do something interesting with her life. When an FBI agent with a penchant for magic comes to town to investigate a murder, she finally sees a chance to break free of the patterns of the past.

I like Jane. I think as a character she has potential. It's also nice to see shifters from a different point of view. Though I did get off track with this book earlier in the summer, I'm glad I finished it.

The book really needed another run through to catch mostly grammatical mistakes (missing words from sentences, etc.), but there was no egregious use of apostrophes in plural words.

Gary Karkofsky, aka Merciless: the Supervillain Without Mercy, finds himself working to save the multiverse yet again, keep his kids safe and learn how to deal with a polyamory situation he's been denying since the series began ... all while dodging Nazis, dinosaurs, robots, and new and old enemies.

This series abounds with one liners, references to 80s pop culture (much to everyone's annoyance), dry wit and fun.

Fun read with returning characters who make this series highly enjoyable. It's full of sarcasm, bad puns, pop-cultural references, you name it, it's there.

I enjoyed this book! I thought that it was a nice way to end the Bright Falls Mystery series. Everything about these books is fun so I couldn’t resist giving this book a chance, especially after seeing the title. Like the previous books in the series, this book was filled with pop culture references and a plethora of puns. In addition, this book includes a lot of references to the horror films I remember watching as a teen. I really had a great time with this story.

Jane Doe is currently the Shaman of Bright Falls and decides to take a job working security for a low-budget horror film that Lucien is making. The job turns out not to be so easy once real attacks start happening. Throw in some family drama, some boyfriend troubles, and her feelings for Lucien and things get exciting really quickly. I thought that the pacing of the novel was very well done.

Arielle DeLisle does a fantastic job with this book. I think that her voice works very well for Jane and I like the various voices that she uses for the other characters. This book has a lot of humor worked into the story and I thought that her delivery was very well done. She was also able to add a lot of excitement to her reading. Her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this series to others. It is a nice lighter read that I had a lot of fun with. I loved the way that the puns and pop culture references were worked into the story and I thought that this book brought the trilogy to a satisfying ending. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author/publicist.

Daughter of the Cyber Dragons
by C.T. Phipps
This book has great characters and fun dialogue that is the calling card for this writer! I like the world setting, which is in another of his series. But this seemed to make better use of various backgrounds since the characters were immersed in all types of environments.
I really liked that android and enhanced people were just part of daily life. One of my favorite characters was an android. The other was a sociopath, Paradise.
The dialogue had me giggling frequently, as I usual do with many of Phipps' books. The plot had so many twists! Wow, I was caught off guard I have to admit!
Another winning series! I want to thank the author for giving me a copy for my opinion.

Neon Cyberpunk Volume 2
By a variety of authors
I was given this book to read and the review is my own opinion. It's my kind of book so I was happy to read it. I only thought 2 of the 15 stories were worth 5 stars.
How I get through the day – C.T. Phipps
Animat to Animus – James L. Graetz
There were a few 4 star stories and most were 3 stars and a couple of 2 stars. Not as exciting as I hoped for but the 4-5 stars were good!

Space Academy Dropouts
by C.T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus

Now these two authors write such great books that it's hard to explain what really makes them stand out. I love all their books but this one was the best one so far in my opinion.

The dropouts from the Space Academy are "recruited" (or die), by a Space hero for a secret mission. Our snarky but loveable dropout we follow is Vance. Phipps has a way of creating characters that really make you remember them, even the side characters. Each character in here is so unique and enjoyable or totally different/creative in personality or species it's a total brain treat! Even the small primate General, that is the enemy, is kind of endearing in a weird way. He thinks he is right! The ship's computer that decides to possess a sexbot to get new input. She is strange but funny!

But characters are not the only thing this book and these authors use to make great books! The dialogue makes the story flow and kept me giggling! Lots of references to movies and books. Snark but not too snarky. Unpredictable and a pure joy to read! The dialogue really brings the characters to life!

Lots of action, twists, humor, but we do lose a few characters along the way... it's deadly out in space! It's also interesting to get a grasp of the story's history, bad guys, god like characters, and more. Really expands the world building which is also done so well! All while I read, smile, and thoroughly enjoyed myself! Can't wait for book two!

Vampiraz4Life
(Straight Outta Fangton #3)
by C.T. Phipps
I was given an audio version and the review is my own opinion.
What I like about these books is the fun and witty references to movies, books, and other social media. They are sometimes so sneaky, the author slips them in and I have to pause a second to catch on!
This book continues our story of Peter the vampire and his friends. The weird situations they get into, mostly not their fault.
What I didn't like was the narrator's voice in the beginning. He sounded so stiff and robotic. I didn't notice it as much later or I just got use to it!

Lost Future (Predestiny Book 2)
by C. T. Phipps, Frank Martin
This was an enjoyable read that included time travel, corporate greed, strange relationships due to the time travel, and lots of action scenes. I enjoyed book one better but this book was still enjoyable. This was more a young adult novel.