The Brothers Cabal, by Jonathan L. Howard

Today I'm looking at the fourth book in the Johannes Cabal series, The Brothers Cabal. As I've mentioned in my previous reviews, I haven't been quite sure what to make of these books because on the one hand they're very witty and entertaining, on the other hand Johannes is kind of a jerk. I think that's really a good sign that Howard is an excellent writer because I legitimately enjoy his books and keep coming back for more. Which tells me he's doing something right.

This book, as you may have guessed from the title, deals with Johannes and his older brother Horst, last seen in the first novel. Much to his frustration, Horst is still a vampire, but an incredibly kind and decent person in spite of his condition. And personally I think that's what makes this book in particular so interesting because Horst is a much, much better person than Johannes. Not that being better than Johannes is a terribly high bar to cross, but considering Horst needs to feed on human blood it's a real accomplishment considering how moral a person he is.

Horst really is the main character for the first part of the book because it's mostly Horst recounting to Johannes his adventures after his resurrection but before his being reunited with Johannes. So while Johannes was off investigating the Dreamlands, Horst had been resurrected and recruited by a group known as the Ministerium that seeks to unite armies of werewolves, vampires, zombies, and eldritch horrors to establish an independent state in Eastern Europe where vampires, werewolves, and necromancers can live free of persecution. Unfortunately for the Ministerium, Horst just isn't the sort of vampire interested in raising an army of vampires to help conquer his own petty kingdom.

So in a way it's a refreshing change to get to learn more about Horst, who we didn't know terribly much about in the first book, who seems to be somebody I'd actually enjoy meeting. Hands down, Horst Cabal is my favorite vampire. And Horst is dealing as well with the desire to become the monster he is inside and give in to the urges to kill and drink his fill. It's interesting to see him struggle with that, something that Johannes probably wouldn't have lost terribly much sleep over himself.

Overall, I'm finding myself really enjoying these books. There's a good blend of serious action and clever humor that makes these books both memorable and enjoyable. I think I can say, four books into the series, that I can strongly recommend them.

- Kalpar

The Fear Institute, by Jonathan L. Howard

Today I'm looking at the third book in the Johannes Cabal series, The Fear Institute. I know I've said in the past that I'm not sure quite what to think about this series because Johannes is such a questionable character but there's a certain wittiness about these books that makes them enjoyable to listen to as well. This book, however, is definitely different from the others. Not necessarily bad because it's got its own merits, but definitely different in tone and subject material.

In this book Johannes is approached by three gentlemen from the Fear Institute, an organization that seeks to eliminate irrational human fear forever. To do this they seek to employ Cabal as a guide in investigating the Dreamlands, a realm on the other side of sleep populated by both dreams and nightmares. Because access to the Dreamlands would be extremely beneficial for his ongoing researches, Cabal agrees to guide the gentlemen and then becomes involved in a rather odd adventure.

The plot of this book owes pretty much everything to Lovecraft. The Dreamlands are one of Lovecraft's multiple inventions and Cabal and the men from the Fear Institute head to Arkham, Massachusetts to enter the Dreamlands. Along the way they are pursued by Lovecraftian ghouls and references are made to C'thulu and Azathoth. Most importantly, Cabal calls upon the power of Nyarlathotep in a dicy situation and soon discovers he may have actually gotten the attention of the mad deity, which is never a good thing.

And I think that's really the problem for me with the book, I'm just not a big Lovecraft fan. I've read most of Lovecraft's original works and a small selection of Lovecraft-inspired stories and it's just...not for me. Obviously there's a big fandom that eats his stuff up but for whatever reason I just don't get the appeal. I think part of it is the whole, ''We're less than insignificant specks of dust on a cosmic scale'' thing. Which for me is, ''Whew, that's a whole lot off of my mind.'' And when it comes to elder gods beyond my comprehension I just...I can't spare the brain space to worry about them apparently. So since this is very much a Lovecraft story but with Cabal as the main character, I feel like I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with this book.

I also feel like some of the bitingly dry humor that was in the previous books and made me enjoy them was kind of lacking in this one. It may have just been a function of this basically being a Lovecraft story where humor doesn't work as well, but I'm not entirely sure. So ultimately I don't think this book is bad, just different and not exactly my area of interests.

If you like Lovecraft and you enjoyed the earlier Cabal books, you'd definitely like this one. But if Lovecraft isn't quite your cup of tea then this might just be an okay read at best.

- Kalpar

Johannes Cabal: The Detective, by Jonathan L. Howard

Today I'm looking at the second of the Johannes Cabal books, this one titled The Detective. In the plot of this story Johannes sneaks into an Eastern European Ruritania-esque country to steal the Pincipia Necromantica. I have to say Ruritania-esque because Ruritania itself gets a shout-out among a bunch of other little states that have long histories of fighting each other. After a short run-in with the law and an unfortunate incident involving a deceased emperor, Cabal finds it would be conducive to his continued health to leave the country with all alacrity. Stealing the identity of a civil servant, Cabal manages to get onto the maiden voyage of the airship Princess Hortense and looks forward to a nice, quiet, and rapid escape.

Unfortunately for Cabal there are two problems which instantly derail his plans. First he runs into Leonie Barrow, who he previously met when he was in possession of a soul-stealing carnival and knows full well who he is and more importantly, what he is. If Leonie wishes, she could decry Cabal to every authority figure and have him dragged away in chains. The second problem is a mysterious murder in which a passenger suspiciously jumps through the window of his stateroom. At least, that's what we're led to believe but there's something about the situation that doesn't make sense. And if there's one thing Cabal can't leave alone it's a puzzle. And when someone tries to kill Cabal after he starts investigating it becomes a personal mission.

As I sort of said in my review of the last book, I'm kind of mixed on my opinion on this book. And I think it comes down to the story versus the main character himself. The writing is actually pretty good. There are some parts where it gets a little slow but there are so many parts of this book that are filled with bitterly dry wit and I love it. A good example is a joke made about the English who treat the entire world as if it belongs to them and everyone else is just living their at their convenience. There are plenty of really good jokes like that and I found myself laughing a couple of times as I listened to this book, so for that at least the book is well worth the effort.

The problem I have seems to be Johannes himself because I'm not really sure what to think about him. I mostly know what his motivations are and why he's become a necromancer but he's still kind of a jerk. He has no problem killing people who get in his way or annoy him too much and since he's basically looking at a death sentence for being a necromancer anyway obeying lesser laws has largely become a matter of choice for him. I will say there has been some development of Johannes as a character now that he has his soul back. He's even having pangs of conscience during the book, which is a definite improvement on his character. But he's still...not exactly the most pleasant person. If he isn't an anti-hero he's definitely an anti-villain and that can be a hard character to like.

There's also the ''when the heck are we'' problem which I also had in the last book although in this case with aetheric-energy powered airships it definitely feels more like a steampunk novel. I'm beginning to think when this book happens is far less important to story anyway.

Overall, my opinion's ultimately mixed. On the one hand I really enjoy Howard's writing and he has some real talent for making witty observations. On the other hand, Cabal's not the most pleasant character to follow and it's really hard to like him. But it's definitely interesting and memorable, so I think that's really good for a book.

- Kalpar

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer, by Jonathan L. Howard

Today I'm looking at the first in a series of books which since I can get them from the library and they cost me nothing I may explore further. As you may have guessed from the title, this book is about Johannes Cabal, a necromancer by profession. In order to gain his knowledge of necromancy, Cabal sold his soul to Satan, and actually agreed to give it up in advance rather than waiting until he died, assuming that it was of little value to him. Much to Cabal's frustration he has discovered not having a soul has begun to interfere with his research into the nature of death and he has been forced to call upon Satan once again to see if he can get his soul back.

Satan, of course, is not in the business of handing souls back to anyone who asks but consents to engaging in a wager with Cabal. Cabal will be given one year to collect exactly one hundred souls in exchange for his. Satan will even provide him with resources to assist in this quest. But if Cabal fails, then Satan shall kill him immediately, putting an end to Cabal's efforts to conquer death. Although Cabal finds the very prospect of a wager distasteful it is the only way he can get his soul back and he agrees.

The basic bones of the story has been done before. Heck, it was part of the plot of Dead Man's Chest so it's hardly anything new. However the execution is fairly original and the concept of a travelling carnival out to steal souls is interesting as well. As most of the carnivals I've attended in the past were for church benefits there's a certain disconnect I enjoy on a personal level. And Howard does a really good job of making Cabal feel like a fleshed out character. You may disagree with what he's doing and his methods, but over the book you at least gain an ability to understand him and begin to see him as more than the brusque necromancer.

Howard also has a dry, witty tone reminiscent of Pratchett or Gaiman but being distinct enough that the book's definitely his own creation rather than an imitation of somebody else's work. And that's really hard to pull off so kudos to him for it. But where Howard excels at the plot, I feel like he fails rather critically in world-building. I found myself asking questions about the universe such as when are they? Cabal wears a frock coat, top hat, and cravat, a fairly Victorian outfit, but the story at least takes place after World War I and I have reason to believe it takes place after the Beeching Cuts of the 1960's. (Listen, I know things about railroads.) I'm also a little confused where they're supposed to be because Cabal is described as having a German accent, but it seems the book is implied to take place in Britain but I'm not sure if that was explicitly stated.

I was also curious as to what the status of magic within the universe was. I got the impression that magic wasn't a common, everyday occurrence and maybe most people had no contact with it at all. However, towards the end of the book a lot of people seemed to know what necromancers, knew they existed, and had very strong opinions on them. So it's almost like magic is uncommon enough to be rare, but common enough that its existence is taken seriously as a fact of life. I just kind of wish there had been more clarification about that in the world-building.

I will say, without spoiling the book, that the plot takes a really dark turn towards the climax. Like, I know this is a story about one man trying to get a hundred souls to replace his in hell, but it was still kind of humorous. Dark humor or gallows humor, certainly, but humorous. But it then takes a really serious turn away from humor that left me pretty shaken and the book almost loses the humor in the last third or so of the novel. But I ended up liking the resolution and was pretty satisfied with how the book ended so Howard did a pretty good job.

Overall Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer is pretty interesting. I will say it's similar to stuff by Pratchett or Gaiman, but Howard manages to put his own spin on it to make it unique enough to be entertaining. My biggest issue is the world-building which I felt could have been expanded a little further but otherwise it's fairly enjoyable.

- Kalpar