As a dedicated Lovecraftian, Windwalker's Mate is a book that came out of left field for me. Every few months I go on the Cthulhu mythos community at Amazon.com and troll through the products to see if there is anything I may have missed. Last time I did this there were two novels by Margaret L. Carter on the list. Well, I've pursued more flimsy leads through lulu.com (don't even get me started on Cybermind) so I did a little exploring. Ms. Carter's website indicates she writes occult and paranormal romances, somewhat along the lines of the Sookie Stackhouse books I guess. Not my cup of tea, but what the hey, not exclusionary either. I then checked out the publisher Amber Quill Press. They are not a self publication site and, in fact, are pretty selective about which authors they publish. From the Dark Places, her other novel on the list, had a pretty cool tentacle on the cover. Like I said, I've thrown away more money for less, so I ordered the one with the more mythos-ish title. Anyone who likes the genre will immediately think Ithaqua when they see Windwalker in the title of a story, so with a bit of trepidation I began to read.

Windwalker's Mate is a decent 165 page trade paperback that costs $15.00, a bit high perhaps for the page count but not out of line; text starts on page 1. Editing was good; I did not note any glaring typos. Cover art by Trace Edward Zaber is a shirtless man and partly clad woman embracing.....hmmm, not very Cthulhish, much more romance novelish. No worries! By page 16 we find out that the male lead character has a pet snake named Yig. To preview my bottom line, this is really a romance with supernatural elements, written by someone who has read her Lovecraft and likes some of the concepts and imagery. Some minor spoilers may follow so skip the next paragraph if that bothers you.

Shannon is a (very attractive) young single mother, raising a 4 year old boy, Daniel, who seems to have the ability to control the wind; he says his father is actually a wind dragon. Compelled by uncomfortable occurrences at his daycare and at home, she contacts his father, Nathan for help. Gradually some information comes to light. She originally met Nathan when she was a troubled teen. It turns out she and he both have psychic abilities; he can read and object's aura and tell what happened to it in the past and she has some telekinesis. Nathan's father, Hugh, has gathered several teens with psychic abilities and is trying to instill in them a belief in a cult. Ancient entities once held sway on the earth and now are trapped in some inexplicable dimension. When the stars are right, with the help of human servitors, gates may be opened to allow them back into our world where they will have dominion once again. This requires cryptic formulae, symbols, chanting and rituals from ancient accursed tomes. The entity that Hugh seeks to appease is known by various names including the Windwalker, Wendigo, Ithaqua and...Hastur. Well, what's in a name, anyway? Hugh drugged Shannon and Nathan, and they performed a sex act while the cultists chanted away. At consummation both Nathan and Shannon were possessed by the Windwalker. In horror over what had happened, Shannon broke away from the cult and has had no contact at all with Nathan. Four years later it seems that Shannon's child is also partly that of the Windwalker and he will be able to open the gate. The bulk of the novel concerns Hugh trying to steal Daniel away, and Shannon and Nathan coming together to save him. This being a romance, there was a lot of internal dialogue between these two (very attractive) young people, who only eventually (but inevitably) become a couple. In an altogether completely telegraphed twist, it turns out if they have hot, steamy sex they will link mentally and their respective psychic powers will be enhanced. Will they find Daniel? If they do, will he refuse the Windwalker's blandishments? Will Shannon use her love to save Nathan's soul, as he is still tempted by the cult after all these years? What do you think?

The best parts of the narrative were the descriptions of the Windwalker's manifestations. These were very skillfully drawn and provided excellent Lovecraftian imagery. For the Cthulhu mythos fan these bits are what make the book worth reading. I did not like the dialogue of Daniel, the four year old. It was written in an on again, off again, babyish way that did not ring true for a 4 year old. Four year olds may say childish things but "She bited my bunnies" doesn't dovetail with my experience. Also, it was inconsistent. Another thing that almost always falls flat is when the eldritch entity has dialogue with a character it ends up seeming anthropomorphized, mundane, too comprehensible. Talking to these things drove the mad Arab, well, mad. Here Ithaqua tells Shannon, "Yield my son to me and you will not be harmed." This hardly seems like something an inscrutable, immensely ancient, unhuman thing might do. Along the lines with the rest of Ms. Carter's output, there is an emphasis on the supernatural aspect, with all the psychic powers. She puts a crucifix on Daniel as a charm and he finds it intolerable (though to be fair, it is not clear why this is so, perhaps just because she is opposing the Windwalker's influence). Later a prayer to St. Patrick seems to be beneficial, where it would be so much wasted breath in Lovecraft.

I actually was reasonable entertained throughout, all though the big final confrontation was something of a let down. The beginning and middle were better than the end for me. Windwalker's Mate is clearly a much better mythos read than The Iron Maiden, The Dark Destroyer, The HP Lovecraft Institute or The Returner: The Book of Planes. I probably liked Moore's Deeper better than this, and liked this better than D'Ammassa's Servants of Chaos or Curran's Hive (although this last is a tough call). Lovecraftian collectors and completists need a copy. Those of you who only want the upper echelon of Cthulhu mythos novels can probably give it a miss. I liked it well enough that I am going to try From the Dark Places. ( )