Johannes Cabal The Necromancer

I've read this book 100 times through kindle and audible but finally started collecting them in hardback to place on my bookshelf. JLH is by far my favorite author, and I can't wait to get the rest of the series in hardback and his other series!

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (2009) is an amusing, folklorish tale from Jonathan Howard.Cabal is, unsuprisingly, a necromancer. He's traded his soul for the power of life and death, but now he's discovered that his soulless state is impacting his (otherwise rigorous) experimentation. Cabal is exactly the sort of meticulous proto-scientific sort that can't stand this sort of unpredictable involvement in his research. Therefore, he needs his soul back.Satan, ever up for a good time, is willing to wager. If Cabal can get 100 souls in the next year, the Devil will return the original (slightly worn for wear). Hell, being an accommodating sort of archfiend, Satan will even chuck in the means of soul-gathering: a carnival.Cabal knows that the Devil will cheat, but any chance is better than none, and the narcissistic necromancer has a very high opinion of his own cunning.What follows is a somewhat-blackly humorous series of episodic adventures as Cabal and his cronies attempt to outwit the Devil and reach their quota. The "somewhat-blackly" comes from the fact that Cabal, despite name & profession, isn't really a bad guy. For the most part, he's off preying on those beasties and blackguards that are even more reprehensible than he is. Despite some efforts to create moral quandaries, there's never really any tension about it. If Cabal were unlikable, the book wouldn't work. Fortunately, the reader can back him with only the barest amount of unease.The book is also very funny. Howard has a very polished, supremely composed style. The closest comparison, if one were necessary, would be Stroud's Bartimaeus - except without the tangential footnotes. Cabal's dry sarcasm combines with a strong sense of comedic timing (always tough in written form) to create a book that's slick and wry, as opposed to laugh out loud. There are a few set-piece comedic bits that are perhaps a little over-composed - the occasional stretched, near-Pratchettian silliness, for example - but largely, Howard is channeling a voice of his own.There is, however, something about humorous genre pieces that necessitates an episodic structure. No one since (or possibly including) Adams has been able to create a holistic storytelling experience and keep the laughs coming. The carnival set-up is a good one: Cabal moves from town to town, having a different encounter in each. But Johannes Cabal is a child of the TV era. Each chapter has a beginning, an end, some appropriate chuckles and a nod towards a larger plot arc. For Howard, it works - down to the special double-episode season finale. (And appropriate cliff-hanger to start season 2).Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is a clever, well-crafted book. It sets up a sequel (which is already out) that I'm extremely curious to read. I could see the central conceit of the story getting very old, very quickly. Or, in the hands of a talented author (like Howard seems to be) becoming a cult cultural icon. Either way, this is a book worth reading: light, entertaining and extremely polished.

This book was recommended to me by a friend who compared the writing to Douglas Adams, writer of the wonderful Hitchhikers Guide series. I can see where my friend is coming from but if anything Jonathan L. Howard seems to be inspired more by Neil Gaiman than Adams in particular with the way he names his chapters as short, witty descriptions of upcoming events. However, to say someone has similarities to another author does not mean they produce the same quality. The story of Johannes Cabal is a roller coaster ride in that it starts off weak, builds in quality slowly but surely until it reaches a fevered pitch before dropping off quickly in the last few pages with a conclusion that is overly obvious and lacking in creativity. Likewise the score I planned on giving this book peaked at a solid four before plopping like the ending down to a weak three.It feels like Jonathan Howard wrote a hundred or so ideas down on index cards, tossed them onto a table and tried to compose a story around them. Douglas Adams was also accused of lacking in plot but he more than made up for it with clever writing. Howard is not clever enough to pull that off. There are chapters that seem almost completely detached from the central storyline like something you might find in the deleted scenes section of a DVD. In other sections it seemed like the author was trying to build to something only to drop the idea or cut it off quickly. Suffice to say the story could have used some serious tightening.Unlike Douglas Adams everyman protagonist Arthur Dent, Cabal is a character that's very difficult to relate to. He's rather pompous and full of himself and even when he's talking to the Devil keeps up an air of superiority. When the protagonist in the story is in a battle of wits with the Devil and you find yourself rooting for the Devil that's a bit of a problem. Apparently years ago Cabal willingly gave up his soul to the Devil for what appears to be no good reason and now wants it back so he makes a wager that he will acquire 100 souls for the Prince of Darkness within one year to get his own soul back. In other words he will commit an unspeakably evil crime in order to get back something he stupidly gave up and that's the premise of the book. Johannes Cabal, ladies and gentlemen, our hero.There is a lot of one on one dialogue between Cabal and other characters and these interactions tended to irritate me the most as, like I said, Cabal is just supposed to be so clever and too cool for the room that you kind of wish someone would smack him. The Devil gives him a mobile amusement park in order to lure in unsuspecting souls and this was where the book started improving. There was even one part where I spontaneously laughed out loud and I rarely do that when reading a book. Howard tends to throw a lot of jokes against the wall and every once in a while one of them sticks. I do see occasional flashes of brilliance. In one section Cabal is trying to lure an unsuspecting woman into a trap using a diabolic machine in the parks arcade and I actually found it quite riveting and spooky but these moments just didn't amount to enough to convince me to invest in another Johannes Cabal book. The final nail in the coffin for me was the ending and if the final few pages had been better I might have given the series a second chance.

How did I not read this book earlier? I loved most things about this book – the main character Johannes Cabal, who is definitely not a good guy, but is he evil, as another character much later in the book believes him to be? And what of his brother, and reluctant partner in ‘crime’, Horst? Who has a very creepy introduction in the book.Apart from it’s Faustian influence that we see straightaway from the beginning of the book, It is quite obvious this book takes inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s classic – Something Wicked This Way Comes. This time though, the story is mostly from the perspective of the carnival owner. Luckily, I read Something Wicked very recently, and it was therefore easier for me to pick up on the connections. If you ever wondered where Mr Dark and his carnival may have come from, well, here’s one possible origin. Of course, it is not at all necessary that you read Something Wicked before delving into this, but why miss out on such an excellent classic that I can’t recommend enough?One of the highlights of this book was the humour, which, if done well, is usually something that adds a star rating to almost any book I read. Despite the somewhat dark premise, humour is almost ever present, dark, mostly, at times comic, but almost always funny.Love the fact that this is a series, and I’ll get to read more of Johannes Cabal’s adventures.

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is a brilliant dark comedy with a protagonist that is a bit of git but is totally cool with that. The eponymous necromancer is not the only great character though the book is packed with them from Arthur Trubshaw, hell’s gatekeeper to Bones, the demon and Johannes brother Horst. All the characters feel real and not just plot devices to move the story forward.The story itself is a straightforward one, Johannes has sold his soul and in order to win it back he must win a bet with the devil, but it provides great scope to display the brilliant characters the author has created. The writing is good and the book is packed with interesting words like insouciance, so if you're anything like me you might want to have a dictionary handy. It's not a bad thing, by the way, every day is a school day and all that...Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is wicked and funny in equal measure with some brilliant characters and top class ideas; the book is worth reading for Arthur Trubshaw and the entry system for hell alone. I'm very much looking forward to reading book two.

After reading  The Fear Institute  at a frantic pace, I picked this up straight away & read it in a matter of days. And now I'm speeding my way through  book 2 , unable to put that down either!In times past, the infamous necromancer Cabal sold his soul to Satan in exchange for knowledge - knowledge to further his researches into conquering death. He has since found that owning a soul is necessary for his work, so somewhat dispassionately makes a further deal with the devil - if he can get 100 people to sign away their souls within a year, his own will be returned to him. And just to make things interesting, Satan provides him with an infernal carnival to help tempt the unsuspecting. This would be a wretched task for anyone but since Cabal's moral compass no longer points North, it's easier for him than most people - but Satan's determined not to make it too straightforward.This charming book brings to mind a darker, more adult Terry Pratchett, combined with some very thorny ethical dilemmas. Like a vampire, it weaves a seductive charm but after a while, throws some unexpectedly thorny moral dillemas your way. Funny & thought-provoking with an iconic main character, this book is difficult to put down & constantly entertaining, with a couple of subtle references to  H.P. Lovecraft  - hints of things to come in  book 3 , which is set in a world realised by the master of eldrich fiction. It's unique, darkly amusing & very compelling. The Fear Institutebook 2H.P. Lovecraftbook 3

This was one of the most entertaining and enjoyable, laugh-a-page books I have read for a while. Johannes Cabal sold his soul to Satan and now he wants it back.What I love about this book is that it promotes my view of Hell, which is that it's really rather a comical place to be, with a boss who changes the rules whenever he is want to do, which is most of the time.In order to reclaim his soul, Johannes is set a challange by the devil, who of course has no intention of making anything easy. But with the reluctant help of his vampire brother, Johannes sees no reason why he can't play Satan at his own game, and win, even with all the little distractions sent to put him off along the way.This book kept me turning the pages at a pace. Not was was I bored or tempted to skim. I loved the easy flowing syntax and constant humour on every page. A really good, light-hearted read with an unexpeccted twist of the tail at the very end.Did I hear there was a sequel?

Grumpy necromancer who has sold his soul to the devil is trying to get it back. Hilarity ensues.Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is a quirky, dark fantasy adventure, combining light horror with dry humour. It's delightfully witty and sarcastic but adds an emotional depth at the right moments that lifts it above mere dark comedy.Thoroughly enjoyed it.