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The Secret History of the World #1.5
The Compendium of Srem
The most evil book ever conceived falls into the hands of the leader of the Spanish Inquisition in this ingenious bibliomystery from the bestselling creator of Repairman Jack.
In the fifteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition spreads terror throughout the land, with Prior Tomás de Torquemada serving as the ultimate judge of who will live and who will be consigned to the purifying flames. Never has Torquemada questioned his own faith or his sacred duty to rid the world of heretics, blasphemers, and nonbelievers. Now, however, an extraordinary volume has come into his possession—an ancient book that radiates pure evil. The prior realizes this abomination must be destroyed along with anyone who has come into contact with it, for it is surely the devil’s work, corrupting and possessing all those who touch it. But whom can Torquemada trust to help him achieve his mission now that The Compendium of Srem has passed through numerous hands . . . including his own?
F. Paul Wilson is a writer who is at home working in many different genres, from medical thriller to science fiction to mystery to urban fantasy to horror. Now he travels back centuries in time to explore the secret history of a book of great and terrible power, an ancient volume of eldritch lore that plays a substantial role in the author’s popular Repairman Jack series of novels: The Compendium of Srem.
The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.
In the fifteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition spreads terror throughout the land, with Prior Tomás de Torquemada serving as the ultimate judge of who will live and who will be consigned to the purifying flames. Never has Torquemada questioned his own faith or his sacred duty to rid the world of heretics, blasphemers, and nonbelievers. Now, however, an extraordinary volume has come into his possession—an ancient book that radiates pure evil. The prior realizes this abomination must be destroyed along with anyone who has come into contact with it, for it is surely the devil’s work, corrupting and possessing all those who touch it. But whom can Torquemada trust to help him achieve his mission now that The Compendium of Srem has passed through numerous hands . . . including his own?
F. Paul Wilson is a writer who is at home working in many different genres, from medical thriller to science fiction to mystery to urban fantasy to horror. Now he travels back centuries in time to explore the secret history of a book of great and terrible power, an ancient volume of eldritch lore that plays a substantial role in the author’s popular Repairman Jack series of novels: The Compendium of Srem.
The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2014
68 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
F. Paul Wilson
424 books1,999 followersFrancis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 19, 2024
(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: A monastic farce and heresy hush-up, it's about fragility, deceit, and the razor-fine line between demonic and divine.
Notes: A monastic farce and heresy hush-up, it's about fragility, deceit, and the razor-fine line between demonic and divine.
October 30, 2021
3.5 stars. Fascinating story with a delicious twist at the end.
October 7, 2024
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition! - Bibliomysteries #17
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (September 23, 2014) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (January 20, 2014).
This one definitely meets the target goal of writing about "deadly books", the avowed mission of the Bibliomysteries series. An apparently enchanted metal covered volume falls into the hands of the Spanish Inquisition led by its Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498). Examination of the book reveals its likely satanic origins. But attempts to destroy it prove futile. Could it instead be of alien origin?
Note: Although one of the characters in the story is named Abelard, they should not be confused with the earlier philosopher / priest Abelard (1079-1142), whose life predated the Spanish Inquisition by 3 centuries.
Sorry, but I couldn't help but include the catch-phrase from the Monty Python sketch.
Trivia and Links
F. Paul Wilson (1946-) is an American writer of over 60+ horror, science fiction and suspense novels. He is primarily known as the author of the Repairman Jack (1984-2020) series and the Adversary (1981-2012) cycle. Many of those series books crossover into his own all encompassing The Secret History of the World series. His most popular book (based on the number of GR ratings and reviews) is The Keep (1981) which was also made into the same-titled film (1983), an early work by director Michael Mann. Sidebar: I thought Guillermo del Toro's/Chuck Hogan's recent The Boy in the Iron Box: The Complete Serialized Novel (2024) was a bit of a ripoff from the F. Paul Wilson book.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition signed hardcovers followed by paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as Bibliomysteries (2013, containing stories 1-15) and Bibliomysteries: Volume Two (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of early-October 2024) includes 41 short stories Note that there is a double count of #33 and that book #41 isn't numbered yet in that list.
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (September 23, 2014) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (January 20, 2014).
By the time he closed the covers, he had dipped barely a fingertip into the foul well of its waters, but he had read enough to know that this so-called Compendium of Srem was in truth the Compendium of Satan, a library of falsehoods fashioned by the Father of Lies himself.
This one definitely meets the target goal of writing about "deadly books", the avowed mission of the Bibliomysteries series. An apparently enchanted metal covered volume falls into the hands of the Spanish Inquisition led by its Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498). Examination of the book reveals its likely satanic origins. But attempts to destroy it prove futile. Could it instead be of alien origin?
Note: Although one of the characters in the story is named Abelard, they should not be confused with the earlier philosopher / priest Abelard (1079-1142), whose life predated the Spanish Inquisition by 3 centuries.
Sorry, but I couldn't help but include the catch-phrase from the Monty Python sketch.
Trivia and Links
F. Paul Wilson (1946-) is an American writer of over 60+ horror, science fiction and suspense novels. He is primarily known as the author of the Repairman Jack (1984-2020) series and the Adversary (1981-2012) cycle. Many of those series books crossover into his own all encompassing The Secret History of the World series. His most popular book (based on the number of GR ratings and reviews) is The Keep (1981) which was also made into the same-titled film (1983), an early work by director Michael Mann. Sidebar: I thought Guillermo del Toro's/Chuck Hogan's recent The Boy in the Iron Box: The Complete Serialized Novel (2024) was a bit of a ripoff from the F. Paul Wilson book.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition signed hardcovers followed by paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as Bibliomysteries (2013, containing stories 1-15) and Bibliomysteries: Volume Two (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of early-October 2024) includes 41 short stories Note that there is a double count of #33 and that book #41 isn't numbered yet in that list.
October 30, 2016
Another success from the great Bibliomysteries series. This time, an engrossing story about a strange book, set against the background of the Spanish Inquisition, with a nice little twist in the end. I use this series as an intelligent and enjoyable palate cleanser between longer books, and up till now, they haven't disappointed me, however different they are from one another.
September 13, 2016
A fun story that is constantly references throughout the secret history of the world series. We finally get to see the Inquisitions dealing with the ancient tome!
July 11, 2017
Awesome Tale
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition...and yet the mystery behind the Compendium of Srem throws the Inquisitors fur a loop.
You'll definitely want to come for the ride :)
Pick this up !!!
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition...and yet the mystery behind the Compendium of Srem throws the Inquisitors fur a loop.
You'll definitely want to come for the ride :)
Pick this up !!!
January 4, 2017
A bit of a corny ending. Kind of an extremely brief version of the Da Vinci Code. Nothing terrible but nothing amazing either. Just a quick, semi-entertaining read.
July 31, 2018
I've read a few books by Wilson over the years. I have fond memories of Sibs, and enjoyed Nightkill and Midnight Mass well enough, but he's not a writer I've latched on to, despite my very much wanting to read the Adversary Cycle. His fiction is solid and entertaining, but somehow his style hasn't grabbed me like other authors have. I thought this novella might be a way to jumpstart my interest in the author.
The story is set during the Spanish Inquisition, where a mysterious book falls into the hands of the Grand Inquisitor at a monastery. The book is bound in metal, is adorned with a pattern that changes whenever you blink, appears to the reader in their first language, and has moving pictures on its impossibly thin pages. The monks believe it to be evil, and set out to determine who made the book, and to ultimately destroy it.
The story reads like a mystery, which is no surprise since this novella is part of the Bibliomysteries series published by Mysterious Press, but it also has elements of science fiction, fantasy, and even horror. Parts of the story are glossed over, possibly for the interest of space, but also because Wilson feels like a non-nonsense author who wants to get quickly to the point. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I don't want an author to spend ridiculous amounts of space describing details that aren't important, but neither do I want an author who removes all subtlety of storytelling just to get to the end. I'm chalking it up to trying to hit a minimum wordcount for the format, especially since I remember his other novels being effective.
What does set the novella apart is its commentary on religion and the Inquisition. It's not a subtle theme, since even one of the Brothers in the monastery comment on how they're no longer viewed as spiritual advisers, but instead as people to fear, but it's an unexpected perspective, especially coming from one of the Brothers. It's not enough to push the story into literary canon, but it makes it more than just an examination of a mysterious book.
This novella is a curiosity, enough so that I wonder if it's a part of either the Adversary Cycle or the Repairman Jack novels. If so, then this is likely the earliest story in those chronologies, which means I'll be all set for those books once I get started on them. Maybe I ought to move them up on my reading list.
The story is set during the Spanish Inquisition, where a mysterious book falls into the hands of the Grand Inquisitor at a monastery. The book is bound in metal, is adorned with a pattern that changes whenever you blink, appears to the reader in their first language, and has moving pictures on its impossibly thin pages. The monks believe it to be evil, and set out to determine who made the book, and to ultimately destroy it.
The story reads like a mystery, which is no surprise since this novella is part of the Bibliomysteries series published by Mysterious Press, but it also has elements of science fiction, fantasy, and even horror. Parts of the story are glossed over, possibly for the interest of space, but also because Wilson feels like a non-nonsense author who wants to get quickly to the point. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I don't want an author to spend ridiculous amounts of space describing details that aren't important, but neither do I want an author who removes all subtlety of storytelling just to get to the end. I'm chalking it up to trying to hit a minimum wordcount for the format, especially since I remember his other novels being effective.
What does set the novella apart is its commentary on religion and the Inquisition. It's not a subtle theme, since even one of the Brothers in the monastery comment on how they're no longer viewed as spiritual advisers, but instead as people to fear, but it's an unexpected perspective, especially coming from one of the Brothers. It's not enough to push the story into literary canon, but it makes it more than just an examination of a mysterious book.
This novella is a curiosity, enough so that I wonder if it's a part of either the Adversary Cycle or the Repairman Jack novels. If so, then this is likely the earliest story in those chronologies, which means I'll be all set for those books once I get started on them. Maybe I ought to move them up on my reading list.
January 3, 2018
Secret History of the World Part 2:
This is more like it. I really enjoyed this look into the Spanish Inquisition. Surrounding the plot of an indestructible tome about pre-biblical history (The book referenced by the title), which is probably a key element in the meta plot, there is a rather interesting moral discussion regarding the philosophies at the time, about the dividing lines amongst those in the religion itself and the changing interpretation of the symbols of religion. A story that satisfies on multiple fronts, as a supernatural horror mystery, but also as a reflection of morality and the consequences of blind fervent faith.
This is more like it. I really enjoyed this look into the Spanish Inquisition. Surrounding the plot of an indestructible tome about pre-biblical history (The book referenced by the title), which is probably a key element in the meta plot, there is a rather interesting moral discussion regarding the philosophies at the time, about the dividing lines amongst those in the religion itself and the changing interpretation of the symbols of religion. A story that satisfies on multiple fronts, as a supernatural horror mystery, but also as a reflection of morality and the consequences of blind fervent faith.
August 30, 2021
A nice little story concerning the history of the peculiar book that features prominently in Wilson's Repairman Jack series and Secret History of the World. Set in the time of the Spanish Inquisition,
it tells the tale of three Franciscan monks who happen across the mysterious, and possibly blasphemous, tome. A worthwhile read, especially for fans of Wilson's series.
it tells the tale of three Franciscan monks who happen across the mysterious, and possibly blasphemous, tome. A worthwhile read, especially for fans of Wilson's series.
December 10, 2022
No one seems to have referenced Borges or Eco in reviewing this novella, which seems odd. I’m fairly sure the author has dropped in some name-checks on purpose. I certainly felt enclosed in the same spiritually self-contradictory monastical world as The Name of the Rose. I’m unfamiliar with the fantasy series other reviewers frequently mention, but I enjoyed it perfectly well without reference to any other works.
February 26, 2019
This is a short story is early prequel to The Adversary Cycle and Repairman Jack series. A must for anyone who is a fan of F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack books. This is not a stand alone story, one must have read the later Repairman Jack books to understand the significance the Compendium of Srem.
June 21, 2020
Devious!
What a wonderfully devious story! Enchanting and beguiling with a wealth of fascinating history surrounding the Spanish Inquisition, this lovely little book will delight you. It is a part of The Adversary Cycle, which I have become obsessed with. Read it and cringe. You know you want to.
What a wonderfully devious story! Enchanting and beguiling with a wealth of fascinating history surrounding the Spanish Inquisition, this lovely little book will delight you. It is a part of The Adversary Cycle, which I have become obsessed with. Read it and cringe. You know you want to.
September 9, 2023
Why not involve Inquisitor Torquemada in the Secret History of the World?
Just a fun, short little story about Torquemada coming across an extremely heretical book that's tied in somehow to the SHOTW. Does it ever show up again? No idea. I still haven't made it all the way through the serieses to get to Nightworld. Super fun and went by quickly.
Just a fun, short little story about Torquemada coming across an extremely heretical book that's tied in somehow to the SHOTW. Does it ever show up again? No idea. I still haven't made it all the way through the serieses to get to Nightworld. Super fun and went by quickly.
January 4, 2018
Part of the Death Sentences series but also F Paul Wilson’s Secret Histories series. An excellent story which hints at so much more. Reading it will encourage you (as it did me) to read more of F Paul Wilson’s Secret Histories series.
December 29, 2024
This one was surprisingly good. It gripped me from the beginning. I was a bit disappointed with the execution of the reveal in the end because there was too much telling all of a sudden, but - all in all - was interesting to me.
March 14, 2025
I do not object to the quality of the writing, but to the content of the Inquisition and all the evil done in the world in the name of Christianity. I am not a fan of magic or fantasy. Kristi & Abby Tabby Childless Cat Lady
May 9, 2017
The Spanish Inquisition meets The Secret History of the World. No Glaeken, Rasalom nor Repairman Jack but definitely worth reading.
November 18, 2018
Short and eerie.
April 24, 2019
This excellent short story, from Bibliomysteries, Volume 2, is the first piece I have read by F. Paul Wilson. It leads me to want to read other works by this author.
May 23, 2020
A quick jaunt through the Inquisition
February 16, 2021
Interesting plot. Ended a bit abruptly, though. Perhaps could have sequels, as the idea rather intriguing.
March 12, 2021
A long short story, or novelette, about the inquisition and heretical book. Part of Wilson's Secret Histories, but stands on it's own well enough.
September 11, 2021
Part of the secret history and a good way to spend an hour or so.
December 20, 2014
*A TRULY CREEPY eSTORY"
[Note: This review needs to be proofread further by me: 12/20/14]
"The Compendium of Srem" is a novella featuring F. Paul Wilson's addition of a tome to the Lovecraftian Mythos through his version of the "Cthulhu Mythos" that he has named "The Secret History of the World". The tome originally first appeared in his extended "Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack" series that are the core of Wilson's Secret History.
Personally I think that is a lousy name -- similar versions of "Secret History of..." appear in many other places -- but what is to Wilson's credit is he has taken the core concept of what is called by Lovecraftians "Derleth Mythos" and made it *more* Lovecraftian.
(If there had been a 6th Edition of the original series of the NecronomiCon conventions, I had wanted to have Wilson as the Guest of Honor.)
Set during the Medieval Ages, in particular the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the book comes to the notice and possession by three Inquisitors, who realize at once the book is a blasphemy to the Christian God.
The story deals with their many attempts by these Inquisitors both to destroy the book and to find its original owner.
This story is truly about "The Compendium of Srem" itself and how a book tens of thousands of years old (there seems to exist only *one* copy of it!) has survived and continues to do so. In this sense, the book is actually a "Bibliomystery", part of that series of books by the publisher Mysterious Press.
(Speaking of this publisher, the cover for this novella is truly appalling. "The Compendium of Stem" is in *no way* a book of "black magic" (as the book's cover has an inverted pentacle and goat's skull). Rather it is a encyclopedia of the First Age of Humanity which is similar to Robert Howard's "Hyborian Age", in it's period of time, if not in its nature.)
The story is a very good one giving, as it does, a background to "The Compendium" as it appears in Wilson's series of novels. The story itself is much more mystery that horror, but that is not a problem in the slightest.
HOWEVER!
I titled this review "A Truly Creepy eStory", but is *not* the story itself that I found, over time, to be truly creepy, but the *eStory*, the novella's digital format.
Whenever I plugged my Kindle in to recharge it through USB or downloaded more books from my computer, the insidious thing would ALWAYS move to the *very first place* on the "Currently Reading" spot of my Kindle -- even when I had NOT opened the story.
ALWAYS.
I tried several times to move "The Compendium of Srem" 3-4 pages back into my Kindle with 18-24 other books in front of it -- but as soon as I charged my Kindle, there the eStory was, back in first place on my Kindle! This went on for weeks as I read other items - until finally earlier this week I got so upset of this, I decide to read the story so I could just delete it from my Kindle (keeping a copy in my Calibre Library on my computer).
I have no idea how the digital eStory itself did this on my Kindle; I do not know if somehow, the publisher managed to script "The Compendium of Srem" so it did this. With me, it went from surprising to annoying to out-and-out creepy. This story was, after all, about a Lovecraftian tome that is determined to survive.
So a day or two ago, I managed to rid my Kindle of this eerie digital novella. (Shortly after doing so, I thought it had somehow managed to put itself *back* on my Kindle after I had removed it, but this was due to setting I had with the Calibre program. I did NOT need that shock!)
So right now, I am trying to find the file where my anti-virus software's quarantine folder, where it places the virus it finds on my computer, to see if I can place my Calibre folder of "The Compendium of Srem" in there. Srem only knows what it might do on my computer where it is now!
As to it's presence on Amazon... *shudder*
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NOTE: If *anyone* else has had this experience with the digital edition of this eStory in their eReader, *please* be sure to leave a comment here! I would like to decide how paranoid I should be.
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March 8, 2017
Book #2 in the Secret History of the World. Another short quick and fun read.
August 7, 2024
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Clarke's Third Law, Arthur C. Clarke.
Is the apparently indestructible book a magical, evil tome of unspeakable heresy? Or is it simply an artifact from a lost civilization, perhaps an alien civilization? Perhaps it is something else entirely.
Is the apparently indestructible book a magical, evil tome of unspeakable heresy? Or is it simply an artifact from a lost civilization, perhaps an alien civilization? Perhaps it is something else entirely.
October 22, 2015
Bibliomysteries Obsession, Day 3: As is the case for most Jews, I love reading about the Inquisition. F. Paul Wilson has written a short treatise on faith in THE COMPENDIUM OF SREM. It is not about the profession of faith but its opposite; it is not as much about the defense of the faith as it is about its concealment. An aged Torquemada is presented with a heretical book, one that doesn't invalidate Christianity but just plain ignores it. In an attempt to find the origin of the evil tome, the Inquisitors encounter a converso who may still be practicing his Judaish ways, a student of natural philosophy who may not be in lock step with Torquemada, and another, who keeps his faith locked in, never to be relinquished, never to be revealed. Not enough has been said of F. Paul Wilson, a gifted writer with a boundless imagination. His Adversary novels are addictive, his Repairman Jack books have a large, loyal cult. He makes literature of pulp, a true alchemist.
February 10, 2017
Great Story
I enjoy pretty much everything by F Paul Wilson so the only reason that I didn't give this five stars is because I would have liked to learn more about the Compendium itself.
I enjoy pretty much everything by F Paul Wilson so the only reason that I didn't give this five stars is because I would have liked to learn more about the Compendium itself.
August 19, 2014
really enjoyable, slightly creepy
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews