Psychosphere

Psychomech #2

by Brian Lumley

After Richard Garrison lost his sight in a terrorist explosion, he developed vast mental powers that more than compensated for his blindness. He mastered the Psychomech machine, then used it to conquer his enemies and restore his dead love to full and vibrant life. Psychomech also revealed to Garrison the Psychosphere, a startling reality where mental powers reigned supreme and could influence people and events on Earth.

Once he was nearly godlike-or demonic, if one dared become his enemy-but now Garrison's mental abilities grow weaker with each use. He tries desperately to conserve his energies, but he has begun to have strange visions of a mind so different from his own as to be other than human, and knows he must stay alert and strong.

Charon Gubwa has invaded the Psychosphere. Twisted and evil, sexually and mentally warped, physically corrupt, Gubwa's desires are simple: More. More drugs. More sex. More power. More of the Earth under his dominion.

Richard Garrison must battle Gubwa in the Psychosphere and on Earth. And he must win, no matter the cost to himself or those he loves, or all mankind will be lost.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Vampires

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1984

About the author

Brian Lumley was born near Newcastle. In 22 years as a Military Policeman he served in many of the Cold War hotspots, including Berlin, as well as Cyprus in partition days. He reached the rank of Sergeant-Major before retiring to Devon to write full-time, and his work was first published in 1970. The vampire series, 'Necroscope', has been translated into ten languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.

He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.

Reviews

[Jon Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridiculous, profoundly sexist, generally not PC at all, but also pretty entertaining. A horror spy thriller about a psychic battle between two wizards, or something that amounts to it. Two absurdly rich assholes abuse their power and their wealth on nearly every page. Would have preferred more shoot outs however and the ending isn’t quite as strong as the first.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, fantastical, and at times tense, but lacked the horror and fun characters of Lumley‘s Necroscope series.
3.5/5

[Chris Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure with a grotesque antagonist. Good follow up to the first instalment.

[Courtney Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like the dream sequences, but the overall story I love.

[Tonya Breck · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the world was still interesting, the characters seemed even flatter than in the first book. There also seemed to be some pointless distrust and antagonism between some of the characters as well. Also, much like the first book, the “big bad” really wasn’t all that powerful, it was mostly characters getting in their own way.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a 3.5, seemed like a filler book in the series. Still a solid read though

[Lee Fly]

DNF

[Mark Muckerman · Rating 1 out of 5]

So here's Literary Life Lesson #38: When shopping at the used book store, a big stack of the same title should be a warning sign. . .

Just so far removed in quality of storytelling, and story itself from what we've enjoyed and come to expect from the Necroscope series, the whole Psycho series seems to fall short.

While the first book was a decent Act I, Psychosphere falls short on every level of reading:

> Poor continuity from the last book, and the cold introduction of new characters and plot with no flow whatsoever from where we left off.
> Lumley's storytelling style itself is stilted and amateurish in this work, delivering a book that's boring to read, hard to follow, too visually abstract in it's "dream sequences" to follow on the printed page, and just clumsy throughout.
> The evoloution of the premise of Garrison's psychic abilities surges so far into the extreme in this book that it forces the reader well past the "temporary suspension of disbelief" that is necessary to enjoy all science & fantasy fiction, and all the way out tosuch an extreme that only the clinically insane could successfully suspend enough disbelief to enjoy the story. [SPOILER ALERT: "Becoming God" really sort of closes the door on any enjoyment or sense of anticipation by the reader]
> Character development and interaction actually seems to regress from book one, with 4 stories about 4 people, only loosely connected by circumstance, rather than effectively intertwined in the story plot.

Finally, the paperback edition includes a Chapter One preview of the third book. Having come 2/3 of the way along, I have to finish the trilogy, but based on Chapter One, I'm not looking forward to the experience at all.

3 used books for $7.25 is not a bad deal, but if an asteroid is going to hit the planet, these books will not be on my list of great works to be preserved. . .

[GD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Lumley doesn't do as well when he's not writing short stories or talking about the badass Necroscope vampires. This one's about psychics.

[Amanda and tony schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read of this kind and it captured my imagination immediately. I will read this again for nostalgic value!

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. It had some interesting ideas, but his ESP series doesn't hold a candle to his Vampire series.

[Michael Hempstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book in this trilogy. A bit plodding at times. Still, it's Brian Lumley, so worth reading.

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Lumley really writes some very strange books, but I like them.