Home | Books By Year | Books from 2006
Alhazred (novel)
Buy Alhazred (novel) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the book. And once you've experienced the book, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Alhazred' is a 2006 Cthulhu Mythos novel by Canadian writer Donald Tyson. The book is a follow-up to Tyson's 2004 "translation" of the 'Necronomicon'. Like Tyson's 'Necronomicon' and related works, 'Alhazred' draws heavily from the work of early 20th-century American fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft.
Synopsis
The book is written as an autobiographical account of the life of Abdul Alhazred, the author of the legendary grimoire known as the 'Necronomicon'. The book does not draw on any previous accounts of Alhazred's life, but portrays him instead as a tragic antihero. The book begins with a short narrative describing how Alhazred was tortured as a young man by the ruthless king of his home city, which is explained in gruesome detail. The tortures endured by Alhazred (and his subsequent banishment from his home) contribute to his violent attitude as an adult, which leads him to commit, among other acts, cannibalism, the murder of innocent children and assisting a cult of ghouls in their war against a rival clan.
Throughout his travels, Alhazred learns to use his abilities (lack of empathy, uncanny agility and the ability to communicate with the dead) to survive, often in gratuitously self-serving ways. He accumulates an array of grim survival tools, such as an obsidian blade and mysterious spiders which, when eaten, grant him the ability to see in the dark and amplified hearing. He also encounters many beings and characters from the Cthulhu Mythos in which his adventures take place.
References
Category:Cthulhu Mythos novels
Category:2006 novels
Category:2006 fantasy novels
Category:Novels about writers
Category:Novels based on works by H. P. Lovecraft
Buy Alhazred (novel) now from Amazon
<-- Return to books from 2006