Book review: Cthulhu Armageddon – C. T. Phipps

The synopsis for this book promises much and Charles Phipps delivers in his own weird and wonderful way. The Great Old Ones have reduced the planet to a wasteland where monsters roam free and pockets of human survivors plod on with their insignificant lives. It all sounds a little depressing but ‘Cthulhu Armageddon’ is a cosmos load of fun. The star of the show is former ranger John Henry Booth, who is on a mission to hunt down and destroy Dr Alan Ward, an other world tyrant that killed his team of rangers and set him up to take the fall.

‘Cthulhu Armageddon’ is the bomb. With everything that is going on in this book it could well have been a train wreck. The slow, creeping, suggestive horror that is the staple of H. P. Lovecraft’s work is thrown out the window in favour of high-octane, full-throttle set pieces featuring Shoggoths and other inter dimensional beasts as Booth and his fellow travellers blast their way towards the infamous Black Cathedral where Ward resides.

‘Cthulhu Armageddon’ doesn’t take itself very seriously and that is a good thing. I felt like I was watching a Manga cartoon as I was reading this and credit to Phipps for the entertaining way he tells this story. The pacing is excellent and barely a breath is drawn between the next action packed sequence. Of the characters, Booth is a bit of a wise ass and it took a while to warm to him. Some of the secondary characters were very good, especially Richard, although his appearance is cut rather short, which is kind of unfortunate as I really enjoyed the scenes with him in. Ward is particularly nasty as you would expect and there is a strong female character in Takahashi.

My only slight niggle would be the confrontation with Ward near the books close. It seems to be over before you know it but aside from this I had a ball with ‘Cthulhu Armageddon’ and have no hesitation in recommending it to fans of post-apocalyptic horror with a dash of fantasy. Great stuff.

Pick up a copy from here.