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Shadow Over Odiome
From the dark corners of the world to the outskirts of civilization, Cthulhu Cults embrace the madness of their dead god's call through murderous rites intent upon his resurrection and the re-enslavement of all human kind. Waging hidden war against the rising tide of darkness is Solomon Kane, father of the slain and Venator, one of few solitary hunters who battle beyond hope to find and destroy the cults before the sacrificial dagger falls. But when Kane investigates the seaside town of Odiome, he discovers a more ancient cult at work, more secretive, more organized and determined, capable of succeeding where the insane Cthulhu Cults have The Followers of Dagon. Now, though relentlessly pursued by The Followers and racing against the approaching eon's end, Kane must uncover where and how the mass sacrifice will be conducted that resurrects Cthulhu and heralds human kind's demise.
428 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2014
8 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Seth W. James
11 books14 followersSeth W. James is the author of Ethos of Cain and The Cain Series of episodic, near-future, cyberpunk science-fiction novels. Growing up in New Jersey, Seth served in the United States Army Infantry, rising to the rank of sergeant before leaving to pursue his education, taking a degree in English and History from Rutgers College, Rutgers University; Seth has also worked in scientific publishing for more than twenty years. Though now exclusively a cyberpunk novelist, Seth’s backlist includes novels in several other genres. The full list of Seth W. James books can be found on SethWJames.com. Seth lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 18, 2023
Well, this is the second Lovecraftian lore inspired book I've read that's disappointed me. I'm not a huge fan of Lovecraft, but I think there is potential for some good modern horror based on his mythos. Sadly, Shadow Over Odiome isn't it. Hell, Shadow Over Odiome, isn't even Shadow Over Odiome.
The deceptive summary did this book a great disservice. Only the first "Book" is the story Shadow Over Odiome, while the remainder of the novel is choppily broken up into individual stories that are loosely connected by Kane's stalks - think your typical episodical television show. This is not a writing style/format I am fond of, let alone was expecting, so I was already against the book by the time I turned the page and saw "Book 2".
Someone may point out that this is to be expected, since this is how Lovecraft wrote many of his short stories, but I've only ever read/heard of Lovecraft inspired fiction that was written into full length novels.
Still, I was going to give it a chance, despite the fact that I wasn't thrilled with the horribly rushed Shadow Over Odiome story as it was. The remaining segments weren't much better. After a while, Kane started to sound like a weird self-insert character for the author to vicariously live out some gross fantasies. I've no proof for this, just a creepy vibe I got from two of the stories in particular.
Kane was downright unlikeable at times, the side characters had less personality than NPCs, a complete lack of tension or horror, segments felt weirdly condensed like someone took an hour length video and cut it down to 10 minutes-this mostly showed in the dialogue where blather mouth civilians would just tell Kane what he needed to know with barely a push, and one of my biggest pet peeves: fatally obvious lack of research.
If you are writing a story that takes place in the modern-day/our world, then doing basic google searches, let alone having a simple knowledge of how physics work is a must. It also makes for far more compelling stories.
Dear author:
-I work in the steel industry. What the hell kind of vertical girders were the cultists climbing? I couldn't freaking figure it out, let alone the layout of the building that allows a girder to be that close to a door that Kane could lean on it while trying to get it open.
-You cannot light up a large building with a single lamp. It will actually create deeper shadows for people to hide in.
-Leather is far more fire resistant than you think it is. How did What's-His-Face get as badly burned as he did by simply aiming through a fire. In your own words, the leather jacket was also reinforced with ballistic material. And if it's that dangerous-why do it?
-Hiding your side arm in a television set breaks one of the rules of hiding spots: That they should be hidden but accessible. Hiding spots should also not be chosen based on whether or not they have appeared in movies or books. This decision makes Kane look stupid.
-Naturalism should not be that appealing to that many people. The second a college student has to sit in the sticky, sweaty, secretion covered chair of a previous mystery student, they're going to go right back to wearing clothes.
-Clothes have pockets. You know what is a life saver on a college campus? Pockets.
-Not every person can be bribed, either by money or drugs. Yes, people can be, but you can't just walk into a room and pick out any rando. If Kane had approached me, my anxiety ridden ass would have reported him within minutes. You may have put this in the book for a slight comedy effect, or because it seemed exciting or interesting, but for me it killed tension and ruined any sliver of emersion I may have had. Heaven forbid Kane have to do any actual investigation work. Yeah, it's way more exciting if he can just bribe any one person with drugs and they'll spill their guts (read sarcasm)
-I grew up in a small town. What kinds of "small towns" were you thinking of that have auto repair shops that have five hydraulic lifts?
These are just a few examples of Odiome's ridiculous logic, and that's not taking into account any of the mass of grammar mistakes I found.
If the summary had mentioned something about the episodic format I may have avoided the book altogether, but it didn't, I read it, and I don't like quitting books, so here we are.
The deceptive summary did this book a great disservice. Only the first "Book" is the story Shadow Over Odiome, while the remainder of the novel is choppily broken up into individual stories that are loosely connected by Kane's stalks - think your typical episodical television show. This is not a writing style/format I am fond of, let alone was expecting, so I was already against the book by the time I turned the page and saw "Book 2".
Someone may point out that this is to be expected, since this is how Lovecraft wrote many of his short stories, but I've only ever read/heard of Lovecraft inspired fiction that was written into full length novels.
Still, I was going to give it a chance, despite the fact that I wasn't thrilled with the horribly rushed Shadow Over Odiome story as it was. The remaining segments weren't much better. After a while, Kane started to sound like a weird self-insert character for the author to vicariously live out some gross fantasies. I've no proof for this, just a creepy vibe I got from two of the stories in particular.
Kane was downright unlikeable at times, the side characters had less personality than NPCs, a complete lack of tension or horror, segments felt weirdly condensed like someone took an hour length video and cut it down to 10 minutes-this mostly showed in the dialogue where blather mouth civilians would just tell Kane what he needed to know with barely a push, and one of my biggest pet peeves: fatally obvious lack of research.
If you are writing a story that takes place in the modern-day/our world, then doing basic google searches, let alone having a simple knowledge of how physics work is a must. It also makes for far more compelling stories.
Dear author:
-I work in the steel industry. What the hell kind of vertical girders were the cultists climbing? I couldn't freaking figure it out, let alone the layout of the building that allows a girder to be that close to a door that Kane could lean on it while trying to get it open.
-You cannot light up a large building with a single lamp. It will actually create deeper shadows for people to hide in.
-Leather is far more fire resistant than you think it is. How did What's-His-Face get as badly burned as he did by simply aiming through a fire. In your own words, the leather jacket was also reinforced with ballistic material. And if it's that dangerous-why do it?
-Hiding your side arm in a television set breaks one of the rules of hiding spots: That they should be hidden but accessible. Hiding spots should also not be chosen based on whether or not they have appeared in movies or books. This decision makes Kane look stupid.
-Naturalism should not be that appealing to that many people. The second a college student has to sit in the sticky, sweaty, secretion covered chair of a previous mystery student, they're going to go right back to wearing clothes.
-Clothes have pockets. You know what is a life saver on a college campus? Pockets.
-Not every person can be bribed, either by money or drugs. Yes, people can be, but you can't just walk into a room and pick out any rando. If Kane had approached me, my anxiety ridden ass would have reported him within minutes. You may have put this in the book for a slight comedy effect, or because it seemed exciting or interesting, but for me it killed tension and ruined any sliver of emersion I may have had. Heaven forbid Kane have to do any actual investigation work. Yeah, it's way more exciting if he can just bribe any one person with drugs and they'll spill their guts (read sarcasm)
-I grew up in a small town. What kinds of "small towns" were you thinking of that have auto repair shops that have five hydraulic lifts?
These are just a few examples of Odiome's ridiculous logic, and that's not taking into account any of the mass of grammar mistakes I found.
If the summary had mentioned something about the episodic format I may have avoided the book altogether, but it didn't, I read it, and I don't like quitting books, so here we are.
Displaying 1 of 1 review