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To Another Abyss!
Greg Withers, an idle rich twentysomething, has decided to lend a philanthropic hand to the Pioneer Valley arts scene and his punk friend Decca is more than happy to help him redistribute his wealth. Unfortunately, the indie filmmaker they're working with accidentally summons an Ancient Unspeakable Eldritch Horror on the first day of filming. And the creature seems to have artistic ambitions of its own! As their art gallery begins to fill with monstrous fish-people who certainly aren't going to buy anything, Greg and Decca need to figure out how to stop an Elder God with poor taste before it costs them their lives. Or (arguably) even worse, their reputations."To Another Abyss! is a hilarious send-up of the post-post-modern art scene set in the eldritch world of Lovecraft's New England. Bartlett's debut crackles with smart-ass dialogue and lefty politics galore, as well as an unlikely set of characters you'll quickly grow attached to. Fuckin' A!" -- Erica L. Satifka, British Fantasy Award-winning author of Stay Crazy
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2018
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Zach Bartlett
8 books16 followersZach Bartlett is a librarian and former Masshole living in New Orleans along with a closet full of threadbare punk t-shirts. His irreverent fiction has appeared in magazines and podcasts including Mad Scientist Journal, the Overcast, and Speculative City. He's a frequent collaborator with the local reading series Esoterotica, with whom he's co-written three Fringe Festival shows. His first novel To Another Abyss! was inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft, P.G. Wodehouse, and X Ray Spex.
The fact that all those sentences begin with "he" should show you why he doesn't write in third-person often.
The fact that all those sentences begin with "he" should show you why he doesn't write in third-person often.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 22, 2018
To Another Abyss! is a wild ride into the adventurous world of fine art and fish-people. This book earns major points for creativity. At it’s heart, this is a story of the struggling artist, but add some out-of-this-world creatures, and it’s an imaginative and unique roller coaster ride of prose.
Greg made a fine protagonist, but Decca stole the show with witty dialogue, a bad-ass vibe, and antics that cracked me up. The Elder God, a funny yet pretentious snob with alternative motives, came alive in a believable and enjoyable fashion. Even the indie film director, with all his cliché’s, made for an excellent addition to the book. Their dialogue came off a little like purple prose in the beginning, but hit a strong stride and sense of plausibility as the story progressed. The cast worked well together, balancing each other’s strengths and weakness, and I felt Greg’s story arc to be natural and organic.
While I enjoyed this novel, I did have a few concerns. Pacing was the largest. Ever story has a starting off point, and I’d argue that this story really started with the appearance of the Elder God. Unfortunately, there was a lot of lead up to that moment. The back of the book summary promises fish-people, but it takes almost fifty pages to get to that moment. In the meantime, the set-up feels a bit long. There’s a lot more “telling” rather than “showing”, which can be fixed with practice. Background information is dumped into large chunks of text, which is a big “no-no” in the book writing world, and I worry readers won’t push through to get to the juicy bits. But please do! Once the story catches up to the back of the book promises, the pace quickens. At one point, I just started laughing and said, “This book is insane!” and got right back to reading. I refused to set the book down until I got to the end and I wasn’t disappointed. If you’re looking for a fun summer read, I recommend!
Greg made a fine protagonist, but Decca stole the show with witty dialogue, a bad-ass vibe, and antics that cracked me up. The Elder God, a funny yet pretentious snob with alternative motives, came alive in a believable and enjoyable fashion. Even the indie film director, with all his cliché’s, made for an excellent addition to the book. Their dialogue came off a little like purple prose in the beginning, but hit a strong stride and sense of plausibility as the story progressed. The cast worked well together, balancing each other’s strengths and weakness, and I felt Greg’s story arc to be natural and organic.
While I enjoyed this novel, I did have a few concerns. Pacing was the largest. Ever story has a starting off point, and I’d argue that this story really started with the appearance of the Elder God. Unfortunately, there was a lot of lead up to that moment. The back of the book summary promises fish-people, but it takes almost fifty pages to get to that moment. In the meantime, the set-up feels a bit long. There’s a lot more “telling” rather than “showing”, which can be fixed with practice. Background information is dumped into large chunks of text, which is a big “no-no” in the book writing world, and I worry readers won’t push through to get to the juicy bits. But please do! Once the story catches up to the back of the book promises, the pace quickens. At one point, I just started laughing and said, “This book is insane!” and got right back to reading. I refused to set the book down until I got to the end and I wasn’t disappointed. If you’re looking for a fun summer read, I recommend!
August 12, 2019
(This review originally appeared at Mad Scientist Journal.)
To Another Abyss! by Zach Bartlett is a delightful tale of eldritch otherworldly beings and college town art scenes, blended into a clever short novel.
Greg Withers runs a small art gallery and artist grant, thanks to his generous parents. When most of the applications are pure rubbish, he offers the grant to a filmmaker who suggested a documentary. But when the filmmaker’s plans suddenly evolve into an action-adventure movie shot in the art gallery, things go horribly awry, and it’s up to Greg and his friends Decca and Myra to figure out how to right things.
Though the pacing in the book is a little slower than what I’m used to, I absolutely devoured this book nonetheless. As someone who lived in a college town for entirely too many years and was tangentially connected to that college town’s art scene, so much of the ridiculousness of that world was true to life and hysterical in retrospect. The eldritch otherworldly beings were also appropriately weird but not too unfathomable.
If you like your fiction weird and funny, you’re likely to enjoy To Another Abyss!
The author provided us with a free copy of this novel in exchange for review consideration.
To Another Abyss! by Zach Bartlett is a delightful tale of eldritch otherworldly beings and college town art scenes, blended into a clever short novel.
Greg Withers runs a small art gallery and artist grant, thanks to his generous parents. When most of the applications are pure rubbish, he offers the grant to a filmmaker who suggested a documentary. But when the filmmaker’s plans suddenly evolve into an action-adventure movie shot in the art gallery, things go horribly awry, and it’s up to Greg and his friends Decca and Myra to figure out how to right things.
Though the pacing in the book is a little slower than what I’m used to, I absolutely devoured this book nonetheless. As someone who lived in a college town for entirely too many years and was tangentially connected to that college town’s art scene, so much of the ridiculousness of that world was true to life and hysterical in retrospect. The eldritch otherworldly beings were also appropriately weird but not too unfathomable.
If you like your fiction weird and funny, you’re likely to enjoy To Another Abyss!
The author provided us with a free copy of this novel in exchange for review consideration.
August 8, 2018
A fun, pulpy page-turner about what happens when an unspeakable Lovecraftian horror shows up in a Massachusetts college town's local art scene. The main characters, likable but feckless bougie art gallery owner Greg Withers and the kind and quirky militant leftist Decca, deliver abundantly enjoyable banter while attempting to banish the abomination, which threatens to unleash its eye-rollingly pretentious aesthetic sensibilities on the world, and also possibly the end of the world itself. Highly recommend.
June 3, 2019
*review forthcoming*
April 18, 2020
It's about art and otherworldly monsters, so of course you'll love it!
September 7, 2022
A delightful Lovecraftian romp with a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor that only New Englanders can do just right. It's a great story, you'll have a great time reading. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews