Slaves of the Volcano God

Cineverse Cycle #1

by Craig Shaw Gardner

When PR man Roger Gordon tries to escape the monotony of his humdrum job by trying out his Captain Crusader Decoder Ring, he is taken by surprise when his favorite B-movies come to life, and he is soon involved in a world of danger, action, adventure and romance

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Comedy, Speculative Fiction

213 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 14, 1989

About the author

Craig Shaw Gardner was born in Rochester, New York and lived there until 1967, when he moved to Boston, MA to attend Boston University. He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Broadcasting and Film. He has continued to reside in Boston since that time.

He published his first story in 1977 while he held a number of jobs: shipper/receiver for a men's suit manufacturer, working in hospital public relations, running a stat camera, and also managed of a couple of bookstores: The Million Year Picnic and Science Fantasy Bookstore.

As of 1987 he became a full time writer, and since then he has published more than 30 novels and more than 50 short stories.

He also published under these pseudonyms:

Peter Garrison

Reviews

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious awesomely!bad :D

[Eriq Neale · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy crap, I hated this book. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for probably nearly 20 years, and I think I may have forgotten that I hadn't read it, because it wasn't familiar to me at all. I certainly would have remembered hating it this much and doing what I want to do now, which is to get it back over to Recycled ASAP.

I'm a fan of the genre spoof books (think National Lampoon's Doon, Robert Asprin's Myth series), and on the surface, this looked to be in the same vein. Since I can't really describe any of the plot without giving away one of the key elements of the story (and series, as there is at least one other book, which I have and guarantee will not read), I will say that the author had a novel idea for approaching this universe he created, but it just didn't come out like I had hoped. About halfway through the book, I was pretty much done, as I didn't care for the characters, didn't care for the struggles they were up against, and really didn't care what happened next. I did force myself to finish it, though, basically from a morbid curiosity about how much worse it could get. And boy did it. The "ending" was a complete farce, as the whole thing was really just a setup to get you to read the second book (see my earlier not about not ever doing so, so the ploy failed miserably).

If you're a true fan of genre spoof fiction, run, don't walk, away from this book and series. I frankly don't care how much the used bookstore gives me in credit for this book, because I simply want it out of my library. And boy do I wish I could unread something. Yow.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, these were really, really stupid. But, man, did I have a blast reading them. Must....re-acquire!

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A zany comedy is a tightrope. Lean a little too heavily on the wacky antics and the book may find itself falling without ever really telling a story along the way. Gardner does a good job of walking the line in this book by leveraging the reader's familiarity with classic film tropes like the mustache-twirling antagonist who loads each sentence with implications of danger or the singing cowboy who always shows up at his destination by the time the song is finished. There are rules to this wild world that we recognize and that keep us grounded in a sense of expectation and delivery that prevent the narrative from becoming unglued.

A potential weakness that continues as the series progresses is the number of times the punchline can be reduced to "and then they all started singing," but that doesn't feel too apparent in this first installment.

[Warren Benton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger is just an average guy who works in HR. When the love of his life Delores is kidnapped he feels he has to save her. Once he finds his way into the Cinverse his whole world is changed. In order to save Delores, he has to navigate the plot lines of B rated movies. Lucky for him, his would be murderer Big Louie is by his side every step of the way.

[Stephen Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in awhile, I like to read something totally off the wall, and which has no likeliehood of ever making a bestseller list or being considered significant literature. Craig Shaw Garner of the 60s, 70s and 80s is one example. Satiric science fiction, perhaps not as skillfully rendered as Terry Prachett but light hearted and fun. This is the first of a 3 book set known as the Cineverse cycle, spoofing the old B-movie Westerns, Jungle tales and sci fic of the 50s and 60s.

[Nick Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, as the basic concept is fun; however, Craig Shaw Gardner is a flatly terrible writer, with the agonizing habit of overtalking, overanalyzing, overexplaining every single thing that happens until it's driven into the ground. Part of a scene that should take a paragraph is always drawn out across multiple pages, repeating every gag three to ten times as if the author wanted to reach out of the book, take the reader by the throat, and scream "DO YOU GET THE JOKE YET?!" I got it the first time, pal. Slaves of the Volcano God feels like it could've been trimmed by three-quarters, made worse by the fact that after all the wasted text it doesn't even have an ending. The central thrust of the plot - movie fan Roger trying to save his paramour across universes constructed from different movie genres - doesn't come close to fulfilling its potential, as Roger should've been doing his not-quite-good-enough-best to act like a hero (basically Kurt Russell's Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China) and eventually risen to the occasion, but instead he ends up passively meandering around while getting lectured on movie rules he should've already known and deus ex machina save the day. Why would I care if such a useless lump gets the girl in the end?

[Tony Goins · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I'm reviewing the whole series at once, rather than doing each book separately. I read them in basically one fell swoop.*

I have a very strong recollection of reading this right after I got home from summer camp, late at night when I was supposed to be asleep. I re-read the series on quarantine and, man, it did not hold up.

This is that really bad type of nerd humor that kept us all from meeting girls in the 1980s. Every joke gets repeated ad nauseum and then lampshaded. For example, the mode of transport is described as "the usual blue smoke" about umpteen times. The best joke is probably about two cowboys, Sam and Slim, but no one knows which one is which - not even the two guys themselves.

Our characters spend most of the time being whisked through a b-movie universe while wondering what to do next. No one does anything on purpose. Our hero becomes the chosen one but never really grows into the job. Supposedly he's chosen for his encyclopedic knowledge of b-movies, but he never really shows that. The love interest briefly becomes interesting, but gets shunted off to a b-plot with the slime monster.

[Printable Tire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was certainly stupid as all get-out, but seeing as how I imagine it was maybe geared as a pleasant diversion for middle schoolers, I guess I'll give it a break. Still, a discerning nerdy middle schooler could find less insultingly stupid (or at least funnier) material to whittle away a lonely lunch period. But anyway, this was the right kind of shallow, stupid and unfunny book to inspire me during NANOWRIMO, when I tried to write my very own shallow, stupid and unfunny book in one month (I came close, which means I now have a half-finished shallow, stupid and unfunny book under my belt. Yay?). Boy, those last 40 or so pages were rough, though. Kept falling asleep!

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just read too much like a constant stream of one-liners rather than an actual story. It's a shame, I liked Shaw's Wuntvor books, but this one was just a near endless cycle of monotony.

[Guinevere Yoseyva · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this in high school but from what I remember, absolutely ridiculous I loved it and hope I find the next book somewhere out in the world

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing

[Justin Couchot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was like a fever dream after watching a bunch of 50's B movies.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book suffered from two things. First, my expectations. Slapstick was used in one of the quotes for this book. The only thing I slapped was the book down on the table. It was not nearly as funny as I wanted it to be. Second, I'm the wrong generation for this book. The story in this book relies on a knowledge of films like noir, westerns and Tarzan. Those are good films, but not the films of my generation. I find very few westerns that do anything for me. Hanging all your humor on something that a generation further along might not get is a choice. I'm good with that, I just missed on this one.

I would compare this novel to something like Captain Jack Zodiac, or Bimbos of the Death Sun. Captain Jack has a definite 80s, cold war feel to it. That one happened to hit right on with me. Bimbos takes place at a science fiction convention - also hitting right on with me. I would recommend either of those two over this one ~ but be aware that if you're not into the aforementioned things, these books might not do it for you as this book didn't do it for me.

[Andy Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable book. I'm not really into comedy literature but I really like the whole genre where the 'silver screen' meets real life; such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero. (Yes I'm the one that likes that film. Sorry.) It took me a little while to get into the writer's style, but in truth it is very well written.

SPOILER WARNING: In this book, our hero is a guy named Roger who is in love with the beautiful heroine. In true cinematic fashion she is kidnapped and spirited away into the dimension of films. Roger finds a way to follow her and is off on a series of adventures meeting some classic film characters along the way. In some ways this book is similar to John Scalzi's excellent book Red Shirts where each cinematic "world" follows its own logic based on the popular narrative structure of the specific genre. And, in the true style of film serials, I'm afraid this book ends on the cliff-hanger.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book, and the sequels in high school, and I just remember laughing until I had tears pouring down my face. The hero is an average guy who discovers that his girlfriend is actually a refugee from a strange universe where each world is based on a movie genre, and you can move between the worlds using a secret decoder ring from a cereal box. Hilarious movie parodies ensue as he searches for her, but it's also the astute observations about real life that make this so good. When he's first being threatened by the thugs his girlfriend is running from, he's wearing sweatpants, and can't stop thinking about how vulnerable that makes him feel, something which I understand completely!

[Patrick Rijnders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man I used to love these books when I was younger. Actually, I enjoyed all the books by this writer, but because of my love of bad movies I probably loved these the most out of all of them. I wonder if that will hold up if I would ever read them again though. It's probably one of those things where you should stick to your memories.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was nothing wrong with this book per se. Humor is a tough thing to get "right". I imagine most ratings for this book will either be high or low depending on whether or not the reader's funny bone was struck at the right angle. Unfortunately, I simply did not find this all that funny.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first in a trilogy (of which I've never read book two) suffers from being nothing but build up, and as such I struggled to enjoy it as much as the third part. Definitely worth reading all three, I'd imagine.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover for this one was fun and I saw it at my local used bookstore so I thought I'd give it a try. Don't get me wrong, I love silly pulp sci-fi as much as the next person, but this was just bad. Disappointing!

[Reagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this series when I was in grade school and that's about the level that it's at. I'll probably keep reading them but only because I have a few memories of various plot points which I'm curious to put in context. It really doesn't hold up as an adult.

[Vader · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick candy brain entertainment

[Kevinatierney · Rating 1 out of 5]

not exactly my cup of tea

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

They're goofy and go downhill quickly. I don't care - I love these books...

[Andy]

1ST UK PUBLICATION. COVER BY JOSH KIRBY.

[Yvensong · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 stars

Light, silly, (maybe goofy is a better descriptor) piece of pulp fiction.

[Chris Gamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

an entertaining trip through some classic movie cliches

[Andy Whitfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, an excellently humorous read by Craig Shaw Gardener, this one revolving around the world of B Movies

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny SiFi book. Gardner make you laugh ever few pages. Recommended