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Hive #1
Hive
Nothing stays buried forever at the Pole.
In the frozen wastes of Antarctica, a research team discovers the frozen remains of an alien race in a mountain cave. They are dead, but not dead enough.
At the bottom of a sub-glacial lake beneath the ice cap, a prehistoric city dating from antiquity is found. And what has waited there for hundreds of millions of years, has been awakened.
These two events are the catalyst in an ancient conspiracy that will culminate in the extinction of the human race.
Evil has waited forever.
But it waits no more.
In the frozen wastes of Antarctica, a research team discovers the frozen remains of an alien race in a mountain cave. They are dead, but not dead enough.
At the bottom of a sub-glacial lake beneath the ice cap, a prehistoric city dating from antiquity is found. And what has waited there for hundreds of millions of years, has been awakened.
These two events are the catalyst in an ancient conspiracy that will culminate in the extinction of the human race.
Evil has waited forever.
But it waits no more.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 31, 2005
132 people are currently reading
879 people want to read
About the author
Tim Curran
149 books595 followersTim Curran lives in Michigan and is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, The Devil Next Door, and Biohazard, as well as the novella The Corpse King. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as City Slab, Flesh&Blood, Book of Dark Wisdom, and Inhuman, and anthologies such as Shivers IV, High Seas Cthulhu, and Vile Things.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
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February 20, 2018
UPDATE: 20/02/18. This is currently on the Kindle Countdown Deal for the next 4 days, 5 hrs: 0.99p in the UK - which should translate to $0.99 in the US. It's the same price for Grimweave, too.
This is the second time I've read this book (expanded-Edition), and I still haven't read "At the Mountains of Madness" by H P Lovecraft (though I'm hoping to one day).
And so it begins....
Some Mummies are found in a subterranean ice cave at Medusa Drift (Deep Field Camp); they are dug up and brought back to the Kharkhov Research Station to be examined, though not everyone is excited about it.
The Specimens are taken to #6 hut to be thawed-out, analysed and probed by Dr Robert Gates (Paleobiologist), Dr Bryer (Paleoclimatologist) and Dr Holm (Geologist), with a few others in attendance: Jimmy Hayes (Engineer) and Lind (Plumber. Not long after the first Mummy has been partially thawed, Lind starts going crazy - saying he's getting a bad feeling, that the Mummy is looking at him and invading his mind - and he subsequently loses it, then ends up in Biomed (he was the one who was excited about the find).
Anyway, they have no idea what they have found, though Gates has a few theories. Some of the Contractors start having nightmares (about ancient civilisations, pre-human cities and winged creatures), they all get a bit paranoid, conspiracies are thrown about, the weather is pretty bad - and just about everyone is on edge.
Back at Medusa Drift, one of the other scientists (Dr North) has disappeared and Curtiz radios it in. Dr Gates decides to give a lecture to everyone at Targa House on his findings, so far (who says you can't learn something with a little probing?), explaining in more detail what these things could be - so that just leads to more paranoia and trepidation. Not long after; everyone loses their Internet access; no talking to family members, no email, no explanation, no nothing, complete shutdown. I guess someone doesn't want the scientists or contractors flapping their gums about what has been discovered?
Gates returns to Medusa Drift to look for Dr North - who has been missing for more than 24 hrs. Gates, Bryer and Holm go back down into the caves to look for North - and after a while they find him (at least what's left of him), and come to a conclusion that changes everything. This is where it becomes a true case of survival - for they have awoken something (The Elder Ones) -that have been waiting for us, for eons.
I liked the part about the previous expeditions, the first and second interludes: The Arthur Blackburn Diary of the 1922 Expedition and William Dyers Expedition. I found that quite interesting.
There are some things in the book I'm not sure about. For instance: to preserve the environment they store their urine in barrels. Okay, that's fine - but they're going to drill down 3/4 km through the ice to Lake Vordog and send down a Cryobot - so they can see what has been locked away for the past 40 million years.
They may as well go outside, get their dicks out and have a pissing contest - metaphorically speaking. Maybe I missed something? Once they stepped foot on Antarctica; they contaminated it.
Anyway, I loved this book. Some parts were genuinely creepy and scary. I like novels that are set in Antarctica; the isolation, extreme weather conditions - it's enough to make anyone go mad. As others have said; it's like The Thing, Mimic and Invasion of the Body Snatchers...etc. I'm still waiting for Hive 3 Mr Curran.
This is the second time I've read this book (expanded-Edition), and I still haven't read "At the Mountains of Madness" by H P Lovecraft (though I'm hoping to one day).
And so it begins....
Some Mummies are found in a subterranean ice cave at Medusa Drift (Deep Field Camp); they are dug up and brought back to the Kharkhov Research Station to be examined, though not everyone is excited about it.
The Specimens are taken to #6 hut to be thawed-out, analysed and probed by Dr Robert Gates (Paleobiologist), Dr Bryer (Paleoclimatologist) and Dr Holm (Geologist), with a few others in attendance: Jimmy Hayes (Engineer) and Lind (Plumber. Not long after the first Mummy has been partially thawed, Lind starts going crazy - saying he's getting a bad feeling, that the Mummy is looking at him and invading his mind - and he subsequently loses it, then ends up in Biomed (he was the one who was excited about the find).
Anyway, they have no idea what they have found, though Gates has a few theories. Some of the Contractors start having nightmares (about ancient civilisations, pre-human cities and winged creatures), they all get a bit paranoid, conspiracies are thrown about, the weather is pretty bad - and just about everyone is on edge.
Back at Medusa Drift, one of the other scientists (Dr North) has disappeared and Curtiz radios it in. Dr Gates decides to give a lecture to everyone at Targa House on his findings, so far (who says you can't learn something with a little probing?), explaining in more detail what these things could be - so that just leads to more paranoia and trepidation. Not long after; everyone loses their Internet access; no talking to family members, no email, no explanation, no nothing, complete shutdown. I guess someone doesn't want the scientists or contractors flapping their gums about what has been discovered?
Gates returns to Medusa Drift to look for Dr North - who has been missing for more than 24 hrs. Gates, Bryer and Holm go back down into the caves to look for North - and after a while they find him (at least what's left of him), and come to a conclusion that changes everything. This is where it becomes a true case of survival - for they have awoken something (The Elder Ones) -that have been waiting for us, for eons.
I liked the part about the previous expeditions, the first and second interludes: The Arthur Blackburn Diary of the 1922 Expedition and William Dyers Expedition. I found that quite interesting.
There are some things in the book I'm not sure about. For instance: to preserve the environment they store their urine in barrels. Okay, that's fine - but they're going to drill down 3/4 km through the ice to Lake Vordog and send down a Cryobot - so they can see what has been locked away for the past 40 million years.
They may as well go outside, get their dicks out and have a pissing contest - metaphorically speaking. Maybe I missed something? Once they stepped foot on Antarctica; they contaminated it.
Anyway, I loved this book. Some parts were genuinely creepy and scary. I like novels that are set in Antarctica; the isolation, extreme weather conditions - it's enough to make anyone go mad. As others have said; it's like The Thing, Mimic and Invasion of the Body Snatchers...etc. I'm still waiting for Hive 3 Mr Curran.
September 13, 2025
Un gruppo di scienziati affronta il buio perenne e i -50 gradi dell'inverno antartico, circondato solo da vento e ghiaccio. La loro missione si trasforma in un incubo quando scoprono qualcosa che sconvolgerà le loro menti.
L'idea di un horror in Antartide, nel buio perenne e in mezzo a quel freddo pazzesco, è un richiamo forte a "Le montagne della follia" di Lovecraft. E l'autore, Tim Curran, all'inizio sembra proprio voler rendere omaggio al maestro dell'orrore cosmico. L'atmosfera c'è tutta, l'isolamento è palpabile e la sensazione che qualcosa di sconosciuto e terribile stia per accadere si sente fin dalle prime pagine.
Il problema, però, è che superato l'entusiasmo iniziale, mi sono reso conto che il romanzo non decolla mai davvero. È una lettura che si fa leggere, per carità, ma non mi ha lasciato niente. Mi è sembrata un po' troppo una copia carbone di Lovecraft, senza aggiungere nulla di suo. L'ho trovata derivativa, come se prendesse tutti gli ingredienti giusti ma non riuscisse a creare una ricetta originale.
E poi, la narrazione si allunga, si perde in dettagli che non portano da nessuna parte e la tensione, che dovrebbe essere costante, finisce per diluirsi. Alla fine, purtroppo, mi ha dato l'impressione di essere una di quelle letture di evasione un po' usa e getta, che dimentichi poco dopo averle finite. Non male, ma nemmeno indimenticabile. Mi aspettavo che quell'orrore così profondo e psicologico di Lovecraft venisse esplorato meglio, invece è rimasto un po' in superficie.
----------------------------
A group of scientists brave the perpetual darkness and -50 degrees Celsius of the Antarctic winter, surrounded only by wind and ice. Their mission turns into a nightmare when they discover something that will shock their minds.
The idea of a horror story set in Antarctica, in perpetual darkness and in the midst of that insane cold, is a strong reminder of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness." And the author, Tim Curran, initially seems to want to pay homage to the master of cosmic horror. The atmosphere is there, the isolation is palpable, and the feeling that something unknown and terrible is about to happen is felt from the first pages.
The problem, however, is that once I got over my initial excitement, I realized that the novel never really took off. It's a readable one, for goodness' sake, but it left me with nothing. It seemed a bit too much like a carbon copy of Lovecraft, without adding anything of its own. I found it derivative, as if it took all the right ingredients but failed to create an original recipe.
And then, the narrative drags on, gets lost in details that lead nowhere, and the tension, which should be constant, ends up diluted. In the end, unfortunately, it left me with the impression of being one of those somewhat disposable escapist reads, which you forget shortly after finishing. Not bad, but not unforgettable either. I expected Lovecraft's profound and psychological horror to be explored better, but instead it remained a bit superficial.
L'idea di un horror in Antartide, nel buio perenne e in mezzo a quel freddo pazzesco, è un richiamo forte a "Le montagne della follia" di Lovecraft. E l'autore, Tim Curran, all'inizio sembra proprio voler rendere omaggio al maestro dell'orrore cosmico. L'atmosfera c'è tutta, l'isolamento è palpabile e la sensazione che qualcosa di sconosciuto e terribile stia per accadere si sente fin dalle prime pagine.
Il problema, però, è che superato l'entusiasmo iniziale, mi sono reso conto che il romanzo non decolla mai davvero. È una lettura che si fa leggere, per carità, ma non mi ha lasciato niente. Mi è sembrata un po' troppo una copia carbone di Lovecraft, senza aggiungere nulla di suo. L'ho trovata derivativa, come se prendesse tutti gli ingredienti giusti ma non riuscisse a creare una ricetta originale.
E poi, la narrazione si allunga, si perde in dettagli che non portano da nessuna parte e la tensione, che dovrebbe essere costante, finisce per diluirsi. Alla fine, purtroppo, mi ha dato l'impressione di essere una di quelle letture di evasione un po' usa e getta, che dimentichi poco dopo averle finite. Non male, ma nemmeno indimenticabile. Mi aspettavo che quell'orrore così profondo e psicologico di Lovecraft venisse esplorato meglio, invece è rimasto un po' in superficie.
----------------------------
A group of scientists brave the perpetual darkness and -50 degrees Celsius of the Antarctic winter, surrounded only by wind and ice. Their mission turns into a nightmare when they discover something that will shock their minds.
The idea of a horror story set in Antarctica, in perpetual darkness and in the midst of that insane cold, is a strong reminder of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness." And the author, Tim Curran, initially seems to want to pay homage to the master of cosmic horror. The atmosphere is there, the isolation is palpable, and the feeling that something unknown and terrible is about to happen is felt from the first pages.
The problem, however, is that once I got over my initial excitement, I realized that the novel never really took off. It's a readable one, for goodness' sake, but it left me with nothing. It seemed a bit too much like a carbon copy of Lovecraft, without adding anything of its own. I found it derivative, as if it took all the right ingredients but failed to create an original recipe.
And then, the narrative drags on, gets lost in details that lead nowhere, and the tension, which should be constant, ends up diluted. In the end, unfortunately, it left me with the impression of being one of those somewhat disposable escapist reads, which you forget shortly after finishing. Not bad, but not unforgettable either. I expected Lovecraft's profound and psychological horror to be explored better, but instead it remained a bit superficial.
October 25, 2020
3 1/2 rounded down. There are other books I've read by Tim that I gave a 4 star rating to and feel the need to differentiate the level of enjoyment I had reading them or I probably would have rounded this up to 4.
A continuation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness that feels as much a sequel to the original classic as it does a sort of retelling of John Carpenter's horror film masterpiece The Thing.
What can I say?
Well, there were several things I liked; I thought the characters were pretty alright, the setting interesting of course, the creatures pretty cool and some of their purpose fleshed out beyond what we already knew from the original story but nothing all that unexpected really.
I thought it went a bit too far in explaining what has always been a mysterious but fascinating connection to the prehistory of mankind vs Cthulhu mythos experimentation. But nevertheless it was a bold attempt that made sense for the most part. It just wasn't fully aligned with my personal outlook on whatever intervention The Elder Gods or The Old Ones or Cthulhu & co., might have had in the process of mankind's evolutionary uplift and that might have lessened the overall experience for me (but not by much!).
It was very well thought out and broken down and mostly plausible...well, as far as your suspension of disbelief will allow I guess. But, I thought it too long, and though I knew this coming in: 'A survival horror story set in the Antarctic', knowing there would be a lot of snow, a lot of ice, and a lotta white, but jeesh I never thought there could be would be so many pete & repeat explanations and descriptions of the stuff (hey look, I've already read The Terror, feel me!?). And...well..it got tiring.
No doubt I felt the ice & snow every step of the way. And definitely filled up my Cthulhu eye candy jar trekking through snowbound Lovecraft country enjoying it for the most part. But I slogged through some of it.
A continuation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness that feels as much a sequel to the original classic as it does a sort of retelling of John Carpenter's horror film masterpiece The Thing.
What can I say?
Well, there were several things I liked; I thought the characters were pretty alright, the setting interesting of course, the creatures pretty cool and some of their purpose fleshed out beyond what we already knew from the original story but nothing all that unexpected really.
I thought it went a bit too far in explaining what has always been a mysterious but fascinating connection to the prehistory of mankind vs Cthulhu mythos experimentation. But nevertheless it was a bold attempt that made sense for the most part. It just wasn't fully aligned with my personal outlook on whatever intervention The Elder Gods or The Old Ones or Cthulhu & co., might have had in the process of mankind's evolutionary uplift and that might have lessened the overall experience for me (but not by much!).
It was very well thought out and broken down and mostly plausible...well, as far as your suspension of disbelief will allow I guess. But, I thought it too long, and though I knew this coming in: 'A survival horror story set in the Antarctic', knowing there would be a lot of snow, a lot of ice, and a lotta white, but jeesh I never thought there could be would be so many pete & repeat explanations and descriptions of the stuff (hey look, I've already read The Terror, feel me!?). And...well..it got tiring.
No doubt I felt the ice & snow every step of the way. And definitely filled up my Cthulhu eye candy jar trekking through snowbound Lovecraft country enjoying it for the most part. But I slogged through some of it.
April 20, 2014
I'm giving up on page 64. This sounded like the perfect lovechild of At the Mountains of Madness and John Carpenter's THE THING (Who Goes There?). I got what I was looking for and I didn't like it. It was as over-descriptive as Lovecraft often is - A shadow on a mountain may take a page to describe. The plot was also too much like both Lovecraft and Carpenter in that it felt like an underfunded re-make of both of those stories simultaneously.
And then there was the problem of everything being so inconceivably horrifying that the author could not actually tell me how horrifying it was. Lovecraft and Curran both have a bit of a habit with that.
For example: "Their tiny minds could not hope to contain or understand what it was they were seeing" (p54) and "It was almost too much to conceive of. It was too obscene, too deranged, too, hideous" (p59) etc, etc...
So wtf is it? Can't tell ya. Too horrifying.
This is my first negative experience with Tim Curran. He's near the top of my favorite authors today. Unfortunately, this is the first of his stories that completely fell flat for me.
And then there was the problem of everything being so inconceivably horrifying that the author could not actually tell me how horrifying it was. Lovecraft and Curran both have a bit of a habit with that.
For example: "Their tiny minds could not hope to contain or understand what it was they were seeing" (p54) and "It was almost too much to conceive of. It was too obscene, too deranged, too, hideous" (p59) etc, etc...
So wtf is it? Can't tell ya. Too horrifying.
This is my first negative experience with Tim Curran. He's near the top of my favorite authors today. Unfortunately, this is the first of his stories that completely fell flat for me.
November 9, 2014
2.5
Don't expect this to be a better version of At the Mountains of Madness. It is just more detailed and more personal than Lovecraft's story of the encounter with the Old Ones. It follows almost the same pattern, only with a bit more conversation, action and explanations. Here too the first part is in the main base, then it moves to another smaller camp only to end in the mountains. The only difference is that Lovecraft's story ends in a plane and this one ends in the main base.
Parts of it bored me to death. There are numerous repetitions that go as far as almost making this boring as hell. There are many, many ways of describing a gut feeling (dread mostly) the protagonist experiences. Weird comparisons and almost stereotypical characters did not help either. The protagonist, Hayes, is a mechanic at the station. He is the tough guy who thinks for himself. You have a couple of rough types, a bureaucrat, bland scientists (only two of them - Gates and Gundry - show any distinct personality) and Sharkey, the only woman in the book. Female characters are Curran's greatest weakness. It could be a reason why he usually has only one or two.
When you get to the good stuff, it is extraordinary and as great as the boring parts are boring. The hauntings, the video feed of an underground lake Vordog (one of the best parts of this story), the reconstruction of Gates's expedition are worth going through the rest of the book. After all, you cannot go that wrong with the Old Ones.
Don't expect this to be a better version of At the Mountains of Madness. It is just more detailed and more personal than Lovecraft's story of the encounter with the Old Ones. It follows almost the same pattern, only with a bit more conversation, action and explanations. Here too the first part is in the main base, then it moves to another smaller camp only to end in the mountains. The only difference is that Lovecraft's story ends in a plane and this one ends in the main base.
Parts of it bored me to death. There are numerous repetitions that go as far as almost making this boring as hell. There are many, many ways of describing a gut feeling (dread mostly) the protagonist experiences. Weird comparisons and almost stereotypical characters did not help either. The protagonist, Hayes, is a mechanic at the station. He is the tough guy who thinks for himself. You have a couple of rough types, a bureaucrat, bland scientists (only two of them - Gates and Gundry - show any distinct personality) and Sharkey, the only woman in the book. Female characters are Curran's greatest weakness. It could be a reason why he usually has only one or two.
When you get to the good stuff, it is extraordinary and as great as the boring parts are boring. The hauntings, the video feed of an underground lake Vordog (one of the best parts of this story), the reconstruction of Gates's expedition are worth going through the rest of the book. After all, you cannot go that wrong with the Old Ones.
April 12, 2025
Curran often has Lovecraftian themes in his novels, but Hive is pure homage to At the Mountains of Madness; in fact, Lovecraft's tale serves as a prequel to this. I like Lovecraft, but At the Mountains... is not a favorite of mine, but if you loved that, you will likely love this. My issue with Lovecraft's tale concerns the overblown (at least to me) description of terror and horror the explorers felt. Sure, they had good reason to be horrified and in terror, but page after page of describing their feelings just was too much. The exact same issue haunts Curran's Hive, but while Lovecraft's tale was a novella, this is over 400 pages. In a way, Curran out Lovecrafted Lovecraft, for better or worse. 😊
I really dug the set up here, so much so that I pulled out and watched Carpenter's The Thing last night, which rests on a similar premise. For those unfamiliar with the 'Old Ones' of Lovecraft, these are ancient alien beings who arrived in our solar system long before humanity; indeed, long before life even existed on Earth. Curran runs with this and (this is mildly spoilery) tells a tale where the Old Ones created life itself her on Earth, 'seeding' the planet with DNA and carefully guiding the evolution of humanity, occasionally 'tweaking' early Man to finally achieve homo sapiens. Why? I will leave that to the reader, but rest assured it is nothing good for humanity!
Curran starts the tale at an American base in Antarctica, just as winter arrives and hence, no relief for many months. Two teams of research scientists have different missions. One will head toward some nearby mountains and search for fossils and such in the ancient limestone there. Another plans on drilling down to an underwater lake near the base, which they postulate is heated by volcanic vents and hence may contain all kinds of lifeforms. The tech they employ is something of a prototype scientists plan on using on Europa. Well, the 'mountain' scientists found a cave system that links to a massive underground (or under glacier) city of the 'Old Ones' and while it seems to be dead, you just never know with those guys! The team brings back a few frozen 'mummies' of the Old Ones back to the main base, thaw a few, and plan on cutting them up to see what the hell they actually are.
Two long interludes interrupt the tale, however, chronicling earlier missions to Antarctica that encountered the ancient city, including the one from Lovecraft's classic tale. One mission took place in the 1920s and hence before Lovecraft's tale, and the second a later relief mission sent to help an exploratory mission lost in the 1930s. These were fun, but again, I thought the excessive depictions of horror and terror just got old after a bit. I did love, however, the details of how these explorations dealt with the punishing climate.
So, if you loved Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, I think you will love this. I was mixed on that tale and hence this one as well. 3 eldritch stars!!
I really dug the set up here, so much so that I pulled out and watched Carpenter's The Thing last night, which rests on a similar premise. For those unfamiliar with the 'Old Ones' of Lovecraft, these are ancient alien beings who arrived in our solar system long before humanity; indeed, long before life even existed on Earth. Curran runs with this and (this is mildly spoilery) tells a tale where the Old Ones created life itself her on Earth, 'seeding' the planet with DNA and carefully guiding the evolution of humanity, occasionally 'tweaking' early Man to finally achieve homo sapiens. Why? I will leave that to the reader, but rest assured it is nothing good for humanity!
Curran starts the tale at an American base in Antarctica, just as winter arrives and hence, no relief for many months. Two teams of research scientists have different missions. One will head toward some nearby mountains and search for fossils and such in the ancient limestone there. Another plans on drilling down to an underwater lake near the base, which they postulate is heated by volcanic vents and hence may contain all kinds of lifeforms. The tech they employ is something of a prototype scientists plan on using on Europa. Well, the 'mountain' scientists found a cave system that links to a massive underground (or under glacier) city of the 'Old Ones' and while it seems to be dead, you just never know with those guys! The team brings back a few frozen 'mummies' of the Old Ones back to the main base, thaw a few, and plan on cutting them up to see what the hell they actually are.
Two long interludes interrupt the tale, however, chronicling earlier missions to Antarctica that encountered the ancient city, including the one from Lovecraft's classic tale. One mission took place in the 1920s and hence before Lovecraft's tale, and the second a later relief mission sent to help an exploratory mission lost in the 1930s. These were fun, but again, I thought the excessive depictions of horror and terror just got old after a bit. I did love, however, the details of how these explorations dealt with the punishing climate.
So, if you loved Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, I think you will love this. I was mixed on that tale and hence this one as well. 3 eldritch stars!!
October 7, 2013
This is especially hard to review for two reasons: 1) I've never read Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness, and this apparently acts as an unofficial sequel to that work, and 2) I bought and read the extended edition from Kindle that is about 170 pages longer than the original edition. The first reason means I was blown away by how awesome the first third of this novel was. Those familiar with Lovecraft's universe likely wouldn't have been filled with the sense of amazement and wonder that I was reading Curran's work here. As a huge fan of Carpenter's The Thing, Hive ticked every thing I love about horror apparent in that film - from the isolated environment to the incredible menace waiting to take down the characters one at a time. And Curran was able to tell his story in incredibly descriptive prose that painted each scene in amazing detail.
But then the first interlude comes along, which if not in its entirety a part of the additional 170 pages exclusive to this edition, then a large portion of it must be, because the pace of the story grinds to an emphatic stop. The same can be said for the second interlude, as the reader gets exposed to what amounts to the same story at least three - and arguably four - times over. Characters come across the constructions of the Elder Things, a sense of menace grows, they find things humans were never meant to see, and then they either go mad or are picked off by some of the denizens of said constructions. Of course, there is some degree of variation in this each time, but overall, the version of Hive I read was far too long and far too repetitive. I suspect I would have enjoyed the original printing a great deal more.
Nevertheless, I remain eager to read more of Tim Curran and already have a couple of his other works in my TBR pile (including the sequel to this novel), because that's how much I loved the first third of this.
So, overall, a complex 2.5 Shoggoths for Hive.
But then the first interlude comes along, which if not in its entirety a part of the additional 170 pages exclusive to this edition, then a large portion of it must be, because the pace of the story grinds to an emphatic stop. The same can be said for the second interlude, as the reader gets exposed to what amounts to the same story at least three - and arguably four - times over. Characters come across the constructions of the Elder Things, a sense of menace grows, they find things humans were never meant to see, and then they either go mad or are picked off by some of the denizens of said constructions. Of course, there is some degree of variation in this each time, but overall, the version of Hive I read was far too long and far too repetitive. I suspect I would have enjoyed the original printing a great deal more.
Nevertheless, I remain eager to read more of Tim Curran and already have a couple of his other works in my TBR pile (including the sequel to this novel), because that's how much I loved the first third of this.
So, overall, a complex 2.5 Shoggoths for Hive.
June 1, 2022
Devo digerirlo, poi scrivo qualcosa!
July 14, 2024
Stazione di ricerca Kharkov, Antartide Orientale. Alle pendici dei monti Dominion il paleobiologo Gates ha appena fatto una scoperta che potrebbe riscrivere la storia dell’uomo e del pianeta. Quel che è certo, però, è che, di lì a breve, cambieranno le sorti degli uomini impegnati presso la base scientifica.
Seguito ideale de “Alle Montagne della Follia”, Curran ci riporta tra i ghiacci e il buio perenne dell’inverno antartico ottant’anni dopo la “spedizione Peabodie” raccontata dal maestro Lovecraft, del quale l’autore riprende elementi presenti anche in altre opere. Importante, sicuramente, anche l’influenza de la “Cosa”, soprattutto quella della trasposizione cinematografica di Carpenter del 1982.
L’ambientazione, la scrittura di per sé scorrevole, e le scene (come al solito ricche di dettagli gustosi) in cui la tensione sfocia nell’orrore puro sono a mio avviso i punti di forza del libro.
Punti deboli (per cui, per la prima volta, scendo sotto le 4 🌟 con Curran) sono, da un lato, il ripetersi ciclico di un certo tipo di schema narrativo, sia nel presente sia negli intermezzi ambientati nel passato (questi ultimi li avrei visti meglio in un libro a sé a mo di prequel). Il senso di gia visto nelle situazioni che si ripetono tende ad appesantire la lettura, soprattutto nell’ultimo terzo del libro.
Dall’altro, lo sforzo dell’autore di rendere tangibile (Curran nei suoi horror cerca sempre di lasciare poco all’immaginazione) l’incomprensibile e l’inafferrabile Lovecraftiano si risolve spesso in descrizioni ambientali e psicologiche che si dilungano e si ripetono, anche qui ciclicamente, appesantendo la narrazione e senza aggiungere molto di più di quanto già fatto in quel senso dal maestro di Providence in modo più evocativo.
Nel complesso, quindi, manca quel ritmo incalzante che spesso, in altri suoi lavori, a stento mi ha lasciato il tempo di riprender fiato. Avrei inoltre sfoltito, alla luce di quanto detto sopra, il numero di pagine complessivo.
Lo consiglio comunque a tutti gli amanti di un certo tipo di horror e ambientazioni.
Per chi volesse, invece, scoprire questo autore per la prima volta (cosa che invito a fare) suggerirei di partire, però, da altre opere.
Seguito ideale de “Alle Montagne della Follia”, Curran ci riporta tra i ghiacci e il buio perenne dell’inverno antartico ottant’anni dopo la “spedizione Peabodie” raccontata dal maestro Lovecraft, del quale l’autore riprende elementi presenti anche in altre opere. Importante, sicuramente, anche l’influenza de la “Cosa”, soprattutto quella della trasposizione cinematografica di Carpenter del 1982.
L’ambientazione, la scrittura di per sé scorrevole, e le scene (come al solito ricche di dettagli gustosi) in cui la tensione sfocia nell’orrore puro sono a mio avviso i punti di forza del libro.
Punti deboli (per cui, per la prima volta, scendo sotto le 4 🌟 con Curran) sono, da un lato, il ripetersi ciclico di un certo tipo di schema narrativo, sia nel presente sia negli intermezzi ambientati nel passato (questi ultimi li avrei visti meglio in un libro a sé a mo di prequel). Il senso di gia visto nelle situazioni che si ripetono tende ad appesantire la lettura, soprattutto nell’ultimo terzo del libro.
Dall’altro, lo sforzo dell’autore di rendere tangibile (Curran nei suoi horror cerca sempre di lasciare poco all’immaginazione) l’incomprensibile e l’inafferrabile Lovecraftiano si risolve spesso in descrizioni ambientali e psicologiche che si dilungano e si ripetono, anche qui ciclicamente, appesantendo la narrazione e senza aggiungere molto di più di quanto già fatto in quel senso dal maestro di Providence in modo più evocativo.
Nel complesso, quindi, manca quel ritmo incalzante che spesso, in altri suoi lavori, a stento mi ha lasciato il tempo di riprender fiato. Avrei inoltre sfoltito, alla luce di quanto detto sopra, il numero di pagine complessivo.
Lo consiglio comunque a tutti gli amanti di un certo tipo di horror e ambientazioni.
Per chi volesse, invece, scoprire questo autore per la prima volta (cosa che invito a fare) suggerirei di partire, però, da altre opere.
September 21, 2011
Tim Curran continues to climb towards the top of my list of amazing horror writers. His writing confirms how consistently in command he is of his stories. While many readers might be upset at “Hive” being a semi-continuation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Mountains Of Madness”, I could care less. A good story is a good story, and readers do not need to know anything about Lovecraft’s story to enjoy this. But it might make reading it even more enjoyable. My bottom line for horror or dark fiction is that it needs to scare me, first and foremost. And Tim Curran delivers.
If I have any gripe with the book, besides the handful of unfortunate typos, it would be the occasional information dump that some characters discover. I think having the pieces of the mythology trickle a little more organically into the light would have been a bit smoother and more subtle. There were also a few events that take place off the page, and the reader only learns of it later. Which is sometimes fine, but I think those moments were important and I would have enjoyed reading those scenes instead of another character briefly summarizing the details to someone else in the story. Also, towards the end, I felt there were some unnecessary political jabs and Hayes’ dialogue, at times, was too wordy. Short and to the point is more effective.
Curran doesn’t pack the narrative with a lot of physical action, but chooses a more fitting, cerebral approach. The author uses atmosphere and suspense to build the horror instead of outright violence and excessive gore. I love the way he toys with the characters, isolating them not only literally, but psychologically, causing a wave of growing paranoia that perfectly feeds into the Old Ones mythology and the sanity vs. insanity theme.
The descriptive writing of the climate in Antarctica is enough to give anyone chills, and only added to the hopelessness of the characters and their overwhelming predicament. So far, Curran is two for two with me and I intend to buy and read a lot more of his work. This guy is damn good and deserves to grow his audience. He probably has the best descriptions of anyone in the genre. “Hive” is definitely one of the better horror titles I’ve read this year. And knowing there is a sequel is almost too good to be true. I, for one, cannot wait to read it.
If I have any gripe with the book, besides the handful of unfortunate typos, it would be the occasional information dump that some characters discover. I think having the pieces of the mythology trickle a little more organically into the light would have been a bit smoother and more subtle. There were also a few events that take place off the page, and the reader only learns of it later. Which is sometimes fine, but I think those moments were important and I would have enjoyed reading those scenes instead of another character briefly summarizing the details to someone else in the story. Also, towards the end, I felt there were some unnecessary political jabs and Hayes’ dialogue, at times, was too wordy. Short and to the point is more effective.
Curran doesn’t pack the narrative with a lot of physical action, but chooses a more fitting, cerebral approach. The author uses atmosphere and suspense to build the horror instead of outright violence and excessive gore. I love the way he toys with the characters, isolating them not only literally, but psychologically, causing a wave of growing paranoia that perfectly feeds into the Old Ones mythology and the sanity vs. insanity theme.
The descriptive writing of the climate in Antarctica is enough to give anyone chills, and only added to the hopelessness of the characters and their overwhelming predicament. So far, Curran is two for two with me and I intend to buy and read a lot more of his work. This guy is damn good and deserves to grow his audience. He probably has the best descriptions of anyone in the genre. “Hive” is definitely one of the better horror titles I’ve read this year. And knowing there is a sequel is almost too good to be true. I, for one, cannot wait to read it.
January 12, 2016
What are we reading?: Hive, by Tim Curran.
Give me the short version: It’s like Lovecraft and Carpenter got together and had a baby. And then it ate them.
Have you ever made it to the end of a story and cried But No, I Wish to Read More! Luckily there move among us those with the fortitude and grit to do something about it.
Being a cultured traveller of the world you’ll undoubtedly already have the key required reading for Hive under your belt: HP Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness and a smattering of his other work; John W Campbell Jnr’s Who Goes There? and John Carpenter’s practical effects masterpiece film it inspired, The Thing; and of course a passing acquaintance with the Alien universe.
Antarctica. Isolation. Paranoia on the ice. Mr Curran takes the broad strokes of At the Mountains of Madness and carves them right from brutal antiquity into the quivering flesh of modern climes.
I’m going to call Hive a bit of a flawed gem. It’s not one to propose with but you’d give it to your sweetheart on prom night. I certainly dug it enough to go scrabbling straight for Hive 2: The Spawning where I found the tribute elements more comfortably integrated with the gruesome epic loathsomeness Curran lavishes on the page.
He etches in radioactive brilliance the sort of imagery that stays burned into you long after forgetting the occasional hitch, and as we’ve seen in Dead Sea to stumble is in no way inherit in Curran’s style.
It’s a difficult thing to encompass another’s vision before spilling and spreading it out. But I found Hive really took me there: to the dark and the cold, where normal rules don’t abide anymore and there’s nobody around to help.
Favourite bit:
Beyond the fringe of fur at their hoods, he could see faces that were running, guttering like hot wax. He fired at them, hitting them, and they stumbled backward but they did not go down. Their parkas expanded as if they were filled with air, a gassy, flyblown stink rising from them. The parkas began tearing open, splitting. Coiling and vermiform things oozed out in fleshy tangles.
West screamed.
Give me the short version: It’s like Lovecraft and Carpenter got together and had a baby. And then it ate them.
Have you ever made it to the end of a story and cried But No, I Wish to Read More! Luckily there move among us those with the fortitude and grit to do something about it.
Being a cultured traveller of the world you’ll undoubtedly already have the key required reading for Hive under your belt: HP Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness and a smattering of his other work; John W Campbell Jnr’s Who Goes There? and John Carpenter’s practical effects masterpiece film it inspired, The Thing; and of course a passing acquaintance with the Alien universe.
Antarctica. Isolation. Paranoia on the ice. Mr Curran takes the broad strokes of At the Mountains of Madness and carves them right from brutal antiquity into the quivering flesh of modern climes.
I’m going to call Hive a bit of a flawed gem. It’s not one to propose with but you’d give it to your sweetheart on prom night. I certainly dug it enough to go scrabbling straight for Hive 2: The Spawning where I found the tribute elements more comfortably integrated with the gruesome epic loathsomeness Curran lavishes on the page.
He etches in radioactive brilliance the sort of imagery that stays burned into you long after forgetting the occasional hitch, and as we’ve seen in Dead Sea to stumble is in no way inherit in Curran’s style.
It’s a difficult thing to encompass another’s vision before spilling and spreading it out. But I found Hive really took me there: to the dark and the cold, where normal rules don’t abide anymore and there’s nobody around to help.
Favourite bit:
Beyond the fringe of fur at their hoods, he could see faces that were running, guttering like hot wax. He fired at them, hitting them, and they stumbled backward but they did not go down. Their parkas expanded as if they were filled with air, a gassy, flyblown stink rising from them. The parkas began tearing open, splitting. Coiling and vermiform things oozed out in fleshy tangles.
West screamed.
May 25, 2010
Well...I read this book in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.It reminded me of Lovecraft quite a bit without the 'Eldritch' prose.
It is about the return to Antarctica and what happens after some pretty impressive mummies are found and brought back to the research station.The main protagonist is not a scientist but an engineer who likes getting his hand dirty.There is very little grue in the book but the little there is is appropriate in the context of the story.
I haven't read the author before but this will not be the last that I read from him.Very good and enjoyable book.Highly recommended.
It is about the return to Antarctica and what happens after some pretty impressive mummies are found and brought back to the research station.The main protagonist is not a scientist but an engineer who likes getting his hand dirty.There is very little grue in the book but the little there is is appropriate in the context of the story.
I haven't read the author before but this will not be the last that I read from him.Very good and enjoyable book.Highly recommended.
July 8, 2020
Yep, interesting Lovecraftian tribute novel.
March 16, 2024
So, so good for the most part, but so, so dry in other sections. There was also a ton of repetitious dialogue and descriptions- cutting out some of these would shorten the book by an 1/8 I swear.
The prose was very lyrical and mesmerizing at times, but the plot needed more action. The scenes where there were interactions with the eldritch horrors were terrifying, but honestly too few for a book this long.
The prose was very lyrical and mesmerizing at times, but the plot needed more action. The scenes where there were interactions with the eldritch horrors were terrifying, but honestly too few for a book this long.
May 2, 2016
Elder Things now join pale, moaning Japanese women and Carpenter's Thing as being the horror genres walking signpost of "You're fucked."
I've always loved H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, and found that it rewards rereading. For the unitiated, the best concise intro (aside from the brilliant Thug Notes 5 minute recap is:
1) Scientists find weird, ancient fossils.
2) "Holy shit, they're aliens!"
3) "Holy shit, they're from an ancient antarctic city!"
4)"Holy shit, they made all life on Earth!"
5) "Holy shit, what's that noise?"
Yes, it's literally the story that inspired this guy's entire worldview, as Jason Colavito pointed out in his excellent nonfiction work The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestrial Pop Culture.
So when I hear someone's written a sequel, I get a few worries.
1) The Elder Things . . .
. . .and Shoggoths. . .
. . . both legendary terrors, are going to be upstaged by new aliens of the author's creation.
2) The aliens are going to be nicer than we expect.
Yes, I know I have a shoggoth NYPD officer in Murder With Monsters, but that's urban fantasy. Still, I was hoping for mind-blasting horror and, luckily enough, Curran dodges those two worries and delivers.
He sets up an antarctic base not unlike Carpenter's "The Thing" and has them rediscover the ancient city and the frozen Elder Thing bodies. The importance of the find is quickly realized, so our hardy crew is excited.
Until the nightmares start.
Curran takes the discover of humanity's alien creators and plays it for the mind-blowing revelation it would be, made all the worse as the crew realizes that the Elder Things aren't just still alive . . . they've been waiting.
And the scientists and digging down with a remote sub to a lake frozen for forty million years . . .
The best thing about Hive is the presence of the Old Ones. Their protoplasmic Shoggoth slaves have always stolen the show. Well, the shoggoths are here, and more brilliantly described than I've ever seen, but it is the brain-melting psychic power and inhuman knowledge of the Elder Things that is truly scary. There's a magnificent paranoid build-up, and things go bad epically.
This edition has an extra 70,000 words than earlier printing. Those are the journals of two previous failed experiments, which are wonderful. After watching the city break two groups of horror protagonists, you really feel for our modern day crew.
The Hive is a brilliant spectacle, where the author takes something he loves and absolutely understands its implications. Seriously, look at my reading progress notes to see how much fun I was having. I'll reproduce one to end this review.
92% "This is the home stretch, and the Old Ones are such magnificent bastards that I kinda want them to win!"
I've always loved H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, and found that it rewards rereading. For the unitiated, the best concise intro (aside from the brilliant Thug Notes 5 minute recap is:
1) Scientists find weird, ancient fossils.
2) "Holy shit, they're aliens!"
3) "Holy shit, they're from an ancient antarctic city!"
4)"Holy shit, they made all life on Earth!"
5) "Holy shit, what's that noise?"
Yes, it's literally the story that inspired this guy's entire worldview, as Jason Colavito pointed out in his excellent nonfiction work The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestrial Pop Culture.
So when I hear someone's written a sequel, I get a few worries.
1) The Elder Things . . .
. . .and Shoggoths. . .
. . . both legendary terrors, are going to be upstaged by new aliens of the author's creation.
2) The aliens are going to be nicer than we expect.
Yes, I know I have a shoggoth NYPD officer in Murder With Monsters, but that's urban fantasy. Still, I was hoping for mind-blasting horror and, luckily enough, Curran dodges those two worries and delivers.
He sets up an antarctic base not unlike Carpenter's "The Thing" and has them rediscover the ancient city and the frozen Elder Thing bodies. The importance of the find is quickly realized, so our hardy crew is excited.
Until the nightmares start.
Curran takes the discover of humanity's alien creators and plays it for the mind-blowing revelation it would be, made all the worse as the crew realizes that the Elder Things aren't just still alive . . . they've been waiting.
And the scientists and digging down with a remote sub to a lake frozen for forty million years . . .
The best thing about Hive is the presence of the Old Ones. Their protoplasmic Shoggoth slaves have always stolen the show. Well, the shoggoths are here, and more brilliantly described than I've ever seen, but it is the brain-melting psychic power and inhuman knowledge of the Elder Things that is truly scary. There's a magnificent paranoid build-up, and things go bad epically.
This edition has an extra 70,000 words than earlier printing. Those are the journals of two previous failed experiments, which are wonderful. After watching the city break two groups of horror protagonists, you really feel for our modern day crew.
The Hive is a brilliant spectacle, where the author takes something he loves and absolutely understands its implications. Seriously, look at my reading progress notes to see how much fun I was having. I'll reproduce one to end this review.
92% "This is the home stretch, and the Old Ones are such magnificent bastards that I kinda want them to win!"
April 26, 2008
Just what the world needs - a sequel to At the Mountains of Mandness.
Seriously, this is just what the world needs!
Seriously, this is just what the world needs!
June 30, 2023
La storia è intrigante, la narrazione magnetica, l'aspettativa ampliamente rispettata.
Le descrizioni, nonostante fossero molto belle e ben fatte, sono però un po' ripetitive perché si ripresentano simili in diverse parti del libro.
L'ho trovato un seguito pazzesco di Montagne della Follia di Lovecraft.
Le descrizioni, nonostante fossero molto belle e ben fatte, sono però un po' ripetitive perché si ripresentano simili in diverse parti del libro.
L'ho trovato un seguito pazzesco di Montagne della Follia di Lovecraft.
October 25, 2012
The Hive is a drab attempt at an update of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness." While occasionally successful in his use of atmosphere, Curran is unable to rise above his source material and we are left with an unnecessary retread. The concept and general plot of the book is actually quite interesting, but unfortunately, the execution is botched to such an extent that the novel becomes a chore to finish.
In the opening pages of the book, we are introduced to a variety of characters wintering over at Kharkov Station in Antartica; including researcher Gates, mechanic Hayes, camp doctor Sharkey and administrator LaHune. The novel has an unexpectedly large cast for its claustrophobic setting, but most of the minor characters are bland roughneck or scientist stereotypes, distinguishable only by the manner of their inevitable deaths. The major characters are reasonably well-drawn, but again fall disappointingly into archetypes: headstrong hero (Hayes), obstructive bureucrat (LaHune), and most problematically, female love interest (Sharkey.)
Driven scientist Gates and his team have discovered a trio of remarkably abnormal corpses frozen in the ice, and insist upon hauling the loathsome things back into camp, which ends up about as well as one would expect. The bizarre mummies are in fact Old Ones, adn while their physical forms are deceased, their malevolent spirits are anything but. We are then witness to a plague of madness and inexplicable phenomena which befalls the camp. As I mentioned earlier, the plotting is this novel's strong suit, but even that falls prey to this work's greatest flaw: its annoyingly insistent repetition. The desolation and cold of the Antarctic are described again and again in the text, often using the exact same phrasing multiple times! Characters expound to one another on the nature and abilities of the Old Ones, frequently falling into trances and reciting as though from a textbook, which is coincidentally the effect on the reader as well. I simply cannot stress enough how damaging this mind-numbing repetition is to the flow of the narrative. It is very nearly ruinous.
There are, however, numerous sections of the novel that transcend their dull surroundings to become effective pieces of horror fiction. These passages - including Dr. Gates's ill-fated expedition to the wild Medusa range, the exploration of ice-bound Lake Vordog, and two "interludes" to earlier Antarctic missions - are relatively free of the info-dumping and regurgitation which characterize the rest of the novel, which is only to their benefit. I believe these sections could have been extracted from the novel and, with a modicum of recontextualization, been presented as independent short pieces, and been much stronger efforts.
Thankfully, Curran does not attempt to ape Lovecraft's style too closely (I only spotted one usage of "eldritch"!), which lifts this novel above the level of pastiche. Although Curran has a casically transparent style and avoids pyrotechnic displays of language, he manages to convey the claustrophobia and dread of an Antarctic winter quite effectively near the beginning of the work, which makes his later stylistic choices all the more baffling and disappointing.
Overall, The Hive was an unpleasant read, and one I'd be very hesitant to recommend to any but the most devout Lovecraft followers. Even they would probably have a better time re-reading "At the Mountains of Madness."
In the opening pages of the book, we are introduced to a variety of characters wintering over at Kharkov Station in Antartica; including researcher Gates, mechanic Hayes, camp doctor Sharkey and administrator LaHune. The novel has an unexpectedly large cast for its claustrophobic setting, but most of the minor characters are bland roughneck or scientist stereotypes, distinguishable only by the manner of their inevitable deaths. The major characters are reasonably well-drawn, but again fall disappointingly into archetypes: headstrong hero (Hayes), obstructive bureucrat (LaHune), and most problematically, female love interest (Sharkey.)
Driven scientist Gates and his team have discovered a trio of remarkably abnormal corpses frozen in the ice, and insist upon hauling the loathsome things back into camp, which ends up about as well as one would expect. The bizarre mummies are in fact Old Ones, adn while their physical forms are deceased, their malevolent spirits are anything but. We are then witness to a plague of madness and inexplicable phenomena which befalls the camp. As I mentioned earlier, the plotting is this novel's strong suit, but even that falls prey to this work's greatest flaw: its annoyingly insistent repetition. The desolation and cold of the Antarctic are described again and again in the text, often using the exact same phrasing multiple times! Characters expound to one another on the nature and abilities of the Old Ones, frequently falling into trances and reciting as though from a textbook, which is coincidentally the effect on the reader as well. I simply cannot stress enough how damaging this mind-numbing repetition is to the flow of the narrative. It is very nearly ruinous.
There are, however, numerous sections of the novel that transcend their dull surroundings to become effective pieces of horror fiction. These passages - including Dr. Gates's ill-fated expedition to the wild Medusa range, the exploration of ice-bound Lake Vordog, and two "interludes" to earlier Antarctic missions - are relatively free of the info-dumping and regurgitation which characterize the rest of the novel, which is only to their benefit. I believe these sections could have been extracted from the novel and, with a modicum of recontextualization, been presented as independent short pieces, and been much stronger efforts.
Thankfully, Curran does not attempt to ape Lovecraft's style too closely (I only spotted one usage of "eldritch"!), which lifts this novel above the level of pastiche. Although Curran has a casically transparent style and avoids pyrotechnic displays of language, he manages to convey the claustrophobia and dread of an Antarctic winter quite effectively near the beginning of the work, which makes his later stylistic choices all the more baffling and disappointing.
Overall, The Hive was an unpleasant read, and one I'd be very hesitant to recommend to any but the most devout Lovecraft followers. Even they would probably have a better time re-reading "At the Mountains of Madness."
March 19, 2014
Monotony is the word that springs to mind with this book. Oh and snow. Monotony and snow. Give this book a miss
June 17, 2022
"Adesso era solo. Il vento era solo vento e la neve era solo neve. Ma nella sua mente, c’erano delle ombre. Ombre antiche che lo chiamavano per nome…" 👾
⠀
Alla stazione di Kharkov gli scienziati sono eccitati e pieni di aspettative: sepolte nei gelidi e remoti ghiacci dell’Antartide ❄, hanno trovato delle mummie di esseri sconosciuti vissuti milioni e milioni di anni fa e i resti della loro antichissima città.
⠀
Alcuni esemplari vengono portati al campo per poterli studiare, ma più quegli esseri si scongelano, più gli abitanti del campo diventano paranoici, ossessivi e vittime di paure profonde e incubi orribili 😱
Sono solo l’isolamento e suggestioni provocate da questa incredibile scoperta le cause della follia dilagante o c’è una minaccia reale che è rimasta sepolta migliaia di anni e che ora è stata riportata alla luce? 👾⠀
⠀
Il campo di Kharkov isolato dal resto del mondo diventa un luogo di echi, di fantasmi e di voci smarrite dove il tempo e lo spazio sono sempre più insignificanti e gli incubi più terribili diventano realtà.⠀
⠀
Nell’Antartide ostile, gelido e desolato, il vento stesso pare una creatura vivente che sussurra gli antichi segreti, trasmette le urla dei morti e trasporta in mondi lontani e ultraterreni 🌬 ⠀
⠀
"Hive" è un horror angosciante, crudo, agghiacciante e suggestivo, pieno di scene sanguinolente, raccapriccianti e assolutamente orribili 😨
Capitolo dopo capitolo, il velo tra il lettore e i personaggi si assottiglia sempre di più: fin dalle prime pagine è evidente ciò che sta succedendo, pur non comprendendolo del tutto, e si intuisce ciò che accadrà, ma il desiderio di scoprire di più è sempre più forte così come la curiosità dei personaggi, trattenuti dal terrore ma spinti ad andare sempre più a fondo dall’attrazione che esercita su di loro quel luogo così alieno e allo stesso tempo familiare 🗻
Ci sono segreti sepolti sotto il ghiaccio che non avrebbero mai dovuto essere liberati 🤐, ma a cui è impossibile resistere 😲
⠀
Alla stazione di Kharkov gli scienziati sono eccitati e pieni di aspettative: sepolte nei gelidi e remoti ghiacci dell’Antartide ❄, hanno trovato delle mummie di esseri sconosciuti vissuti milioni e milioni di anni fa e i resti della loro antichissima città.
⠀
Alcuni esemplari vengono portati al campo per poterli studiare, ma più quegli esseri si scongelano, più gli abitanti del campo diventano paranoici, ossessivi e vittime di paure profonde e incubi orribili 😱
Sono solo l’isolamento e suggestioni provocate da questa incredibile scoperta le cause della follia dilagante o c’è una minaccia reale che è rimasta sepolta migliaia di anni e che ora è stata riportata alla luce? 👾⠀
⠀
Il campo di Kharkov isolato dal resto del mondo diventa un luogo di echi, di fantasmi e di voci smarrite dove il tempo e lo spazio sono sempre più insignificanti e gli incubi più terribili diventano realtà.⠀
⠀
Nell’Antartide ostile, gelido e desolato, il vento stesso pare una creatura vivente che sussurra gli antichi segreti, trasmette le urla dei morti e trasporta in mondi lontani e ultraterreni 🌬 ⠀
⠀
"Hive" è un horror angosciante, crudo, agghiacciante e suggestivo, pieno di scene sanguinolente, raccapriccianti e assolutamente orribili 😨
Capitolo dopo capitolo, il velo tra il lettore e i personaggi si assottiglia sempre di più: fin dalle prime pagine è evidente ciò che sta succedendo, pur non comprendendolo del tutto, e si intuisce ciò che accadrà, ma il desiderio di scoprire di più è sempre più forte così come la curiosità dei personaggi, trattenuti dal terrore ma spinti ad andare sempre più a fondo dall’attrazione che esercita su di loro quel luogo così alieno e allo stesso tempo familiare 🗻
Ci sono segreti sepolti sotto il ghiaccio che non avrebbero mai dovuto essere liberati 🤐, ma a cui è impossibile resistere 😲
abgebrochen
September 8, 2020Wenn das erste Auftauchen der einzigen Protagonistin in einem Horrorroman darin besteht, sich durch pimmelige Gedankengänge bezüglich ihrer körperlichen Nach- und Vorteile, Begattungsfähigkeit und Verfügbarkeit lesen zu müssen, dann stirbt in mir inzwischen jegliches Verlangen nach weiterer Lektüre im betreffenden Buch ab. Mein SuB ist groß genug, weg damit.
December 26, 2022
Hive Mind
It was like Aliens, but twisted.
This read started out great, giving me a real sense of atmosphere and the founded race. However, once the author decided for us to delve back to 1922, which, mind you, was good backstory, we started to get bogged down with repetitive descriptions of the landscape and reactions to these so-called aliens beings. I normally love Tim's descriptive nature, so much so, that he is on my auto-buy list. However, it was a bit excessive in The Hive.
I will still read book 2 as I cannot easily be dissuaded by an author's love of words.
It was like Aliens, but twisted.
This read started out great, giving me a real sense of atmosphere and the founded race. However, once the author decided for us to delve back to 1922, which, mind you, was good backstory, we started to get bogged down with repetitive descriptions of the landscape and reactions to these so-called aliens beings. I normally love Tim's descriptive nature, so much so, that he is on my auto-buy list. However, it was a bit excessive in The Hive.
I will still read book 2 as I cannot easily be dissuaded by an author's love of words.
May 7, 2025
Did you ever want to have a spiritual successor to "At the Mountains of Madness"? The Hive is precisely to that and what a fun read it is.
Is it perfect? By no means. Yet, if you go into it with low expectations, you will highly enjoy it. A solid 3.5/5.
Is it perfect? By no means. Yet, if you go into it with low expectations, you will highly enjoy it. A solid 3.5/5.
July 8, 2022
Devo riflettere un po' sulla recensione.
https://www.opinionilibrose.it/2022/0...
https://www.opinionilibrose.it/2022/0...
January 18, 2015
You will like this book or not depending on what writing style you prefer. I personally picked it up since I was eager to find out what the Old Ones had in store for us after the Lovecraftian "At the Mountains of Madness". What could be better than Lovecraft than more Lovecraft?
Tim Curran tries very hard to recreate that bone chilling dread atmosphere we all know and love using minuscule, stretched, detailed descriptions and constantly alluding to the endless fight of man versus nature. The reader, along with the protagonists, gets to feel the cold, the loneliness, the hopelessness and the everlasting darkness which he grows to fear. Horror books are meant to frighten you, and this one does.
Characters are quite well portrayed, spot on, actually but some, like me, might occasionally find Curran's need to over-analyse the psychological traits of each player in this game a bit tedious. I found myself wishing, on numerous points during the book that Curran expressed himself in a different way, more directly and shorter to the point.
If you are patient, however, there is a reward waiting for you in the end, a gut punching feeling and the desire to read the part two immediately.
This has been my first meeting with Curran and I am not disappointed. I would like to read more of his work and I think he deserves a bigger audience and fame than he currently has.
Tim Curran tries very hard to recreate that bone chilling dread atmosphere we all know and love using minuscule, stretched, detailed descriptions and constantly alluding to the endless fight of man versus nature. The reader, along with the protagonists, gets to feel the cold, the loneliness, the hopelessness and the everlasting darkness which he grows to fear. Horror books are meant to frighten you, and this one does.
Characters are quite well portrayed, spot on, actually but some, like me, might occasionally find Curran's need to over-analyse the psychological traits of each player in this game a bit tedious. I found myself wishing, on numerous points during the book that Curran expressed himself in a different way, more directly and shorter to the point.
If you are patient, however, there is a reward waiting for you in the end, a gut punching feeling and the desire to read the part two immediately.
This has been my first meeting with Curran and I am not disappointed. I would like to read more of his work and I think he deserves a bigger audience and fame than he currently has.
March 7, 2010
I thought this book was interesting. I have tried to read Lovecraft proper in the past, and have had issues because of the thickness of the language. It is hard to read a book when you need a dictionary at least three times every page. However, I picked this book up a few months ago and thought I would give it a try. The language and descriptions were very Lovecraftian, yet still accessible in this day and age. Dialog is the key here. When Mr. Lovecraft writes he does an amazing job of having you dive right into the narrator's grey matter and psyche, however Curran's addition of real-life dialog and scaled down details (scaled down comparatively that is) really puts the reader in the freezing depths of the Antarctic with the Old Ones and the heroes. My only issue with the book comes from the lack of copy editing done. There are a few typos and wrong words, making it difficult to read at times because it disrupts the flow of the fantastic story. However, this doesn't bother me as much as it would from a book coming from a major publishing company, yet since this book was released by the small Elder Signs Press, I am cool with it.
If you like horror and/or Lovecraft, I highly recommend this book.
If you like horror and/or Lovecraft, I highly recommend this book.
December 23, 2014
I’m a big fan of Tim Curran. And those who read Mr. Curran’s work are familiar with his over the top descriptions of dread, horror and atmosphere. But sometimes, too much of a good thing is tiring. Why 4 stars? Well, Hive was a fantastic story that reminds me of his masterpiece Dead Sea but in Antarctica. I highly recommend Hive, but skip this unabridged version and find this edition of Hive which is about 157 pages shorter.
April 19, 2019
Along with The Spawning, one of my most favorite books of all time. It's nothing special but it exudes confidence and its setting and tone were basically tailor-made for me. Tim Curran is one of the best genre authors writing today, in my opinion.
December 17, 2024
The first Tim Curran book I read I enjoyed a lot, but this not so much. I really wanted to like this book. The overall story was promising, but it turned into such a chore to read. The same long winded descriptions over and over again killed it for me. I stuck it out because I hate to not finish a book, but it wasn't that I had to see how it ended, I just wanted it to be over.
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