Johannes Cabal the Necromancer - Hardcover

Howard, Jonathan L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385528086 ISBN 13: 9780385528085

Publisher: Doubleday, 2009

Synopsis

In this uproarious and clever debut, it’s time to give the Devil his due.

Johannes Cabal, a brilliant scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed in heart and soul with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not soul . . . He hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now, tormented by a dark secret, he travels to the fiery pits of Hell to retrieve it. Satan, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager: Johannes has one year to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever.

To make the bet even more interesting, Satan throws in that diabolical engine of deceit, seduction, and corruption known as a “traveling circus” to aid in the evil bidding. What better place exists to rob poor sad saps of their souls than the traveling carnivals historically run by hucksters and legendary con men?

With little time to lose, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire (an unfortunate side effect of Johannes’s early experiments with necromancy), to be the carnival’s barker. On the road through the pastoral English countryside, this team of reprobates wields their black magic with masterful ease, resulting in mayhem at every turn.

Johannes may have the moral conscience of anthrax, but are his tricks sinful enough to beat the Devil at his own game? You’ll never guess, and that’s a promise!

Brilliantly written and wickedly funny, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer combines the chills and thrills of old-fashioned gothic tales like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the mischievous humor of Wicked, and the sophisticated charms of Jonathan Strange &Mr. Norrell and spins the Faustian legend into a fresh, irreverent, and irresistible new adventure.

About this title

Review:

"Witty, inventive, and thoroughly entertaining, this rollicking Faustian adventure grabs the reader and holds him until the very last page." --Tuc"son Citizen" "The spot-on work of a talented writer." --"Denver Post" "Howard makes it look easy to paint a soul-stealing murdering necromancer as a sympathetic character; that, folks, is worth the price of admission. Step right up!" --"San Diego Union-Tribune" "For anyone whose taste edges towards the intelligent and macabre, this book is a gift." --"Fangoria ""Amusing and clever."--"The Free-lance Star" "Populated with some of the most creative, and odd, characters to be found . . . hysterical and fascinating."--Bookgeeks "A delightfully wicked and inventive story." --Keith Donohue, author of "The Stolen Child" "Cross Susannah Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" with Gregory Maguire's "Wicked," and you have this witty and sometimes touching debut novel in the Faustian traditio

Book Description:

Will appeal to fans of Terry Pratchett and Tim Burton

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0385528086
• ISBN 13: 9780385528085
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 291