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Title: Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred |
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Review of Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred
- Anyone familiar with H. P. Lovecraft's work knows of the Necronomicon, the black magic grimoire he invented as a literary prop in his classic horror stories. There have been several attempts at creating this text, yet none stand up to Lovecraft's own descriptions of the Necronomicon . . . until now. Fans of Lovecraftian magic and occult fiction will delight in Donald Tyson's Necronomicon, based purely within Lovecraft's own fictional universe, the Cthulhu Mythos.
This grimoire traces the wanderings of Abdul Alhazred, a necromancer of Yemen, on his search for arcane wisdom and magic. Alhazred's magical adventures lead him to the Arabian desert, the lost city of Irem, ruins of Babylon, lands of the Old Ones, and Damascus, where he encounters a variety of strange creatures and accrues necromantic secrets.
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Comments for Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred
- Posted on 2008-04-03
Dark and Vivid yet Simple
I really appreciated this book. The art, the theme, and in a way the writing style, but not all ways. It is suggested you abandon all hope for fluffy love bunny styled writing and accustom yourself for a stroll through a world of despair. As dark as the writing is, it is colorful. Yet at the same time it is simple. Some paragraphs go into extended offshoots detailing things. There are some places where you just 'fill in the blanks' trying to imagine the story happening in a linear sense. Overall I found it gripping from the beginning and pulled me through the whole thing quickly. I wish it had been longer because I liked how it progressed, despite the occasional anti-climatic chapter. A bit of gore and excrement included, enjoy.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-03-15
Well written
If you have ever tried to read the Necronomicon but was unable to unstand its pages this is the book for you. For anyone who studies occult, this helps you better understand one of the most talked about books in the occult world.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-02-18
well researched
If you're a fan of occult fiction, this book is amazing. It's companion book, Alhazred, is an amazing book as well, and the two actually read together as an awesome set. There's also a beautifully illustrated Tarot card set by the same author on the same subject. I recommend these three companions 100%.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-10-24
Mystified by the Necronomicon
I purchased the Tarot Deck first, because I collect Tarot decks. After I reviewed the cards in the Deck, I quickly decided to purchase Necronomicon and its sequel, Ahazred. I was not disappointed with my purchases. I would suggest having the Tarot Deck with you, when you read this book. Although Tyson's descriptions of the creatures, characters, images and events in the book, are very well done, I found it more helpful to be able to see with my eyes, what was being described, rather than having to rely only on my imagination. You can definitely enjoy the book without the Tarot Deck, but I found that the Deck increased my enjoyment of the book. I won't give details of the book, because I believe that each reader should use his/her own imagination, with or without the Tarot cards, to picture what is being described. The descriptions of the events, characters, creatures, deities and myths are very detailed, so they should be read carefully, to fully grasp what is being described. This will aid in the enjoyment of the book. I enjoyed reading the book and was mystified by what was read. After I finished the book, I said to myself: "Whow, this would make some movie".
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-07-12
A People's Necronomicon at last
Though I am in strong agreement that this is a really terrific book, some of the terms used by previous positive reviewers (e.g. "believable") stand in tension with my own favorable impressions. While the Lovecraftian research is laudable and the feeling that the book has an actual insane author is great, praising these alone deflects attention from the purpose of Tyson's effort, which is a page-turning rollicking good time that wastes no space with pseudo-academic text and dives right for the bizarre, funny, disturbing possibility of taking the conceit of the Mad Arab seriously.
The style of short linked vignettes is inspired. It creates a progression of dream-like, dark, poetic stage sets. These are in fact so wonderfully weird that I regret Tyson hasn't taken a turn at meatier fiction. If the book has any relatives out there, they actually come from very different family of literature, including the works of Borges; the book is in fact strangely like Italo Calvino's classic "Invisible Cities."
This is a book for anyone, not just Lovecraft junkies, a real People's Necronomicon. Great stuff.
Score: 5