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The Necromancer (Johannes Cabal #1)

by Jonathan L. Howard (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 4,378 ratings · 636 reviews

Johannes Cabal has never pretended to be a hero of any kind. There is, after all, little heroic about robbing graves, stealing occult volumes, and being on middling terms with demons.

His purpose, however, is noble. His researches are all directed to raising the dead. Not as monstrosities but as people, just as they were when they lived: physically, mentally, and spirituall...more

ebook, 288 pages

Published July 7th 2009 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

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Sep 06, 2010 Jessica Vitela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-crush, hilarious, dark-and-creepy, fantasy, reviewed-books, favorites, snarky-narrator, witty

This book was just what I needed after coming out of my Mockingjay funk. Mockingjay was brilliant, don’t get me wrong, but it also sucked my will to live in 7 loaded hours. I was in a daze for, like, two days. I think I could only move on to other books because my mom started reading it after I finished, preventing me from a re-read, and I got to meet up with my best friend to discuss and have group therapy over our very similar, life-ending experiences.

So yes, dry British humor was what I need...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Jordan Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jonathan L. Howard's writing is rich, wry, and creepy as fuck.

Admittedly, I had trouble getting into this book. I don't really understand why, honestly.
Purgatory as a bureaucratic nightmare? A vampiric crypt-dwelling brother? A carnival of death, chaos, and latex ladies? Totally my style. So, the story inevitably grabbed me, especially as Cabal started collecting souls to exchange with Satan for his own lost soul, and Howard's imagination was given the chance to shine. An abusive boyfriend is...more Jonathan L. Howard's writing is rich, wry, and creepy as fuck.

Admittedly, I had trouble getting into this book. I don't really understand why, honestly.
Purgatory as a bureaucratic nightmare? A vampiric crypt-dwelling brother? A carnival of death, chaos, and latex ladies? Totally my style. So, the story inevitably grabbed me, especially as Cabal started collecting souls to exchange with Satan for his own lost soul, and Howard's imagination was given the chance to shine. An abusive boyfriend is forcibly seduced by an enchanted doll, a mother kills her baby because an arcade game told her to, and winsome Layla the Latex Lady sucks the life out of widowed Detective Barrow. Everything was delightfully uncomfortable, and kept me reading voraciously until the very end.

My one qualm: parts of the ending seemed too contrived, and distracted me from all that is so wonderful about this book.

Johannes's brother, Horst Cabal, while having a slight moralizing bent to his soul-stealing throughout the book (see: Boyfriend+Doll=SOUL vignette), is still an undead freak hoping to regain normalcy through assisting Cabal. But at the end, suddenly Horst finds the whole enterprise TOO evil, and turns against Cabal? I didn't really get that.

The other thing: Johannes Cabal emulates Sherlock Holmes, and solves all problems via the scientific method and a dash of sardonic commentary. But at the end of the book, Cabal becomes hell-bent (pun intended) on making Detective Barrow's soul his 100th and final soul for the Satan-soul-swap package? With only minutes to spare? There must have been plenty of passable souls wandering around a CARNIVAL just waiting to be stolen, but Cabal had to make things needlessly difficult and (I guess) climactic. The Johannes Cabal I had grown accustomed to in this book would not hinge so much on so little; a soulless necromancer should be fairly emotionless, not overly afflicted by them.

However, Howard threw enough plot twists into this inexplicable time crunch to leave me sated, and excited to read his other books. (less)

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Sep 07, 2012 Nikki Love rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 100% enjoyed the story until the last 20 pages.

Johannes Cabal is an interesting character, a caricature given a great deal of fleshing out from the outside in. Like many of the readers I enjoyed his floundering and his triumphs until the end. I also liked the risks the author took in writing this story, the shifting perspectives, the out of the way jaunts that the story took you to better understand that Cabal is a complex, conflicted, yet still simple man.

There are negatives. Pacing issues ex...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Rui rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Rui by: Rafaela

Shelves: favorites

So... Johannes Cabal, The Necromancer... what to say about this book?

Let me put it like this, when I started I was expecting an enjoyable read, when I finished I was absolutely in love with this, its characters, its concept, its writing style, its universe... everything!

This book, for a start, is marvellously well written; it manages to be funny, dark, clever (very), sad and surprising, every scene hitting exactly the emotion it is aiming at. That is no small feat.
I found myself laughing out la...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Trudi added it · review of another edition

Shelves: angels-and-demons, fantastical-speculative, urban-fantasy, 2013-reads, audiobook, series, abandoned, not-for-me

I tried. Oh how I tried. The premise for this book had me at hello. The audiobook starts out very charming and engaging with a winsome scene of Hell's bureaucracy. The dialogue is crisp, witty and very British. Narrator Christopher Cazenove reminded me of Alan Rickman, which is made of win for me.

Then there's the confrontation with Lucifer that's just as delightful and intriguing. Johannes Cabal is a Necromancer who traded his soul to the Devil. But now he needs it back. However, known neither...more I tried. Oh how I tried. The premise for this book had me at hello. The audiobook starts out very charming and engaging with a winsome scene of Hell's bureaucracy. The dialogue is crisp, witty and very British. Narrator Christopher Cazenove reminded me of Alan Rickman, which is made of win for me.

Then there's the confrontation with Lucifer that's just as delightful and intriguing. Johannes Cabal is a Necromancer who traded his soul to the Devil. But now he needs it back. However, known neither for his mercy nor sense of fairness, Lucifer offers Cabal a wager he cannot refuse -- get 100 people to sign over their souls in one year and his soul will be returned. Fail to accomplish this task and Cabal forfeits the rest of his mortal life as well as his already misbegotten soul. Fun, right? I mean, if you're not the Silver-Tongued Devil himself, how do you get not just one but one hundred people to trade away their souls? That would be a neat trick.

So things started out on a high note. I was having a lot of fun. Then the exacting, fussy paragraphs of dense description of every single miniscule detail (or so it seemed in the listening) started to bog the story down. I would listen to loooooong mintues of prose and feel like the story had made very little progress at all. Even the snappy dialogue started to lose its snap. I was getting impatient. Rather than tickle my funny bone and engage my senses, everything started to feel oh so droll and pip pip cheerio, you know?

I'm not going to say I *hated* this book, because that would mean I thought it was poorly written and bad for everyone. No, it's not bad for everyone, it just isn't for me. I ran into the same problem with Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. I have friends who that is their favorite book, but it did very little for me. And this book reminded me a lot of that one, so I'm going to make a bold suggestion here that if you're a Zelazny fan, then you might love this too. I could be way off, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway just in case it sweetens the deal. (less)

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Dec 28, 2011 Dean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Did Goethe have a sense of humor?
A fantastic Faustian tale.

First of all, kudos to Jonathan L. Howard for giving us a protagonist prick. Definitely refreshing to read an anti-hero who has so few moral compunctions. The moral turpitude sways and rocks now and again, but the essence is there. All for none and Me for Me.
Also, just as refreshing, to read the English language written so well. Mr. Howard gives us our Johannes Cabal as an incredible wordsmith and he is a joy to read.

A Necromancer attem...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Seth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A bunch of things annoyed me about this book. Most egregious is that it tried too hard to be funny... then it would get all serious and try to be moral... then it would go back to funny. Some of the humor wasn't bad, but the scenes in hell were especially grating. Just trying too hard for a Good Omens sort of dynamic--which, obviously, has been done. I'm a bit tired of whimsical hell stories, to be honest.

Secondly, actual carnies didn't/don't use the term "barker." And I'm pedantic enough to let...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Lea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, love-the-cover, read-2012, reviews

For me, this book was the perfect example of how important it is to read a book at the right time -- the last time I tried reading it, I distinctly remember thinking it was kind of . . . dull. I was so disappointed that it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be, and I put it down, not really sure I'd try it again in future.

At the urging of a GR friend, I decided to give it another try -- and it was like reading an entirely different book. I'm not really sure why I found it so dull last t...more
For me, this book was the perfect example of how important it is to read a book at the right time -- the last time I tried reading it, I distinctly remember thinking it was kind of . . . dull. I was so disappointed that it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be, and I put it down, not really sure I'd try it again in future.

At the urging of a GR friend, I decided to give it another try -- and it was like reading an entirely different book. I'm not really sure why I found it so dull last time -- although it might have been when I had pneumonia last summer, so I think I can be forgiven -- but this time I could really appreciate the wonderful, uniquely British humor.

The story itself is fairly simple -- Johannes Cabal has one year in which to obtain 100 souls, in order to win his own soul back from Satan. To achieve this goal, Satan gives him use of a diabolical carnival (because one's defenses are lower in such places.) The main draw here is the writing -- which is wonderful -- and the really interesting characters Jonathan L Howard has created.

Johannes Cabal is purely logical -- he is also calculating and ruthless, the perfect character to match wits with Satan. You feel from the start that Cabal has at least a fighting chance at winning the wager, while a lesser character would have seemed doomed from the start.

Cabal is joined by several other interesting characters: (view spoiler)

I will absolutely continue following this series -- I already have the second book, and the third is on its way. I can't wait to see what happens next in Johannes Cabal's world.

Highly recommend!(less)

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Jul 04, 2011 Woodge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: other douchebags like you

Shelves: fantasy, horror

It can be very refreshing when the main character is a bit of a douchebag. The haughty, cold-hearted Johannes Cabal has sold his soul to the Devil in return for knowledge in necromancy. However, not having a soul, is throwing a wrench in occult studies, so he wagers with the Devil to get his soul back. He only has one year to sign over 100 souls to Hell or else forfeit his life and his soul forever. The Devil throws in a fiendish carnival to make things interesting. To call this book unusual see...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Peter Darbyshire added it · review of another edition

The sort of book Tim Burton would write, if he wanted to write a book about a necromancer who's bet his soul on a wager with the devil and then travels the country side with a hellish fair. So, really, Burton should adapt this book.

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Dec 30, 2012 Juliet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reclusive scientist Johannes Cabal wants his soul back. He travels to Hell, where a bored Satan proposes a wager: Cabal has a year to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls. If he fails, he'll lose his own soul forever.

Cabal raises a crew of dead, enlists his own undead brother to help out, and proceeds to seek his hundred signatures. He has not expected to be doing so while running a travelling carnival, but that's the way things work out, and the weirdness of the Cabal Brothers'...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Johannes Cabal is a necromancer, a cynic, and a bit of a prig (well, quite a bit, really). In this wildly--and intelligently--funny novel, Cabal's goal is to beat the Devil at his own game.

I'm not going to describe the plot because I don't want to spoil one second of the tremendous fun you'll have reading this book. I will simply say that the book, like Johannes himself, is by turns maddening, hilarious, frightening, gruesome, and touching. Sometimes all in the same paragraph. I almost wish I ha...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I can't thank her enough for having fantastic taste in literature and everything else. It's so darkly whimsical and charming. And, at the same time, it tells a legitimately moving story about one man's wish to be slightly redeemed.

Johannes Cabal is a necromancer, and if you're a fan of fantasy and horror lit, then you should know what that is. Simply for the sake of accessibility, I'll tell you anyway. Johannes Cabal has magical power over the de...more This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I can't thank her enough for having fantastic taste in literature and everything else. It's so darkly whimsical and charming. And, at the same time, it tells a legitimately moving story about one man's wish to be slightly redeemed.

Johannes Cabal is a necromancer, and if you're a fan of fantasy and horror lit, then you should know what that is. Simply for the sake of accessibility, I'll tell you anyway. Johannes Cabal has magical power over the dead, and that power was steeply bought from the Prince of Lies, Satan. Johannes can summon dead spirits to have a chat or he can reanimate corpses to do his bidding. All that fun stuff usually requires decades to learn, and that was where Satan came in. Johannes agreed to give up his soul in order to instantly learn the tenets of necromancy.

But there's one problem that arises in this book: Johannes wants his soul back. So Satan makes him a deal. He must convince one-hundred other souls to sign themselves over to Satan. If he can complete this task over the span of a year then he will receive his soul and retain his knowledge of necromancy. In order to do this, he is given a traveling monstrosity called the Carnival of Discord. And to help him with issues that require associating with other normal humans, he enlists his brother, a vampire named Horst.

Now, judging from this description you may not thing this book sounds very funny. You need a dark sense of humor in order to accept the events of the books as they happen. One part that I found especially great was a chapter written partly from the point of view of a young child. The grammar was comically bad and I just loved it. Johannes can be a pretty heartless guy, but in the end he redeems himself in several ways. So it wasn't long before I was won over by the Cabal brothers.

Now, despite my high score, I did find it hard to get into the book at some times. It took me over a year to finish, actually, because I kept abandoning it for other books that I wanted to read more urgently. That shouldn't scare you off, though. I'm a teenager, and so my attention span is just abysmal. If you're a fan of dark laughter and devilish machinations, then you should put aside all reservations and pick up this book immediately. (less)

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Aug 26, 2012 Fel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

If I start off saying “one of the best things—” I will never say anything else, so instead I'm going to begin with a key factor in the novel: its sense of humour. Some might call it 'dry', and others might describe it as 'British', but I consider it 'dark'. The perspective is limited mostly to the titular character and Cabal's opinions on the world would put the most bitter and cynical teenagers to shame. To put it simply, if you, as a reader, are not drawn to at least sympathise with a highly i...more If I start off saying “one of the best things—” I will never say anything else, so instead I'm going to begin with a key factor in the novel: its sense of humour. Some might call it 'dry', and others might describe it as 'British', but I consider it 'dark'. The perspective is limited mostly to the titular character and Cabal's opinions on the world would put the most bitter and cynical teenagers to shame. To put it simply, if you, as a reader, are not drawn to at least sympathise with a highly intelligent man who suffers a great deal of prejudice for his profession and lacks basic human empathy, you probably shouldn't be reading Cabal.

Or rather, you should read this one and focus all your attention on Horst Cabal. I refuse to reference the concept of “foils” since I have always hated it, but Horst and Johannes complement each other perfectly. Where Johannes is cynical, Horst is optimistic; where Johannes is straight-necked, Horst is fun and easy-going. I'm not going to really delve into all there is between them, because I feel that the book itself deals with the subtleties of their relationship better than I'd ever manage to, but... There's a scene near the end of the book where Horst reaches out to Johannes, and in that moment you can so see that Johannes was once the younger brother. Then it's gone. The wordless emotional thrust in that scene is something I really can't express in a several-paragraph summary of the book.

I suppose I should say a word about the plot, though, since referencing it as Faustian really doesn't explain anything. In order to progress as a necromancer, Cabal signed his soul away to the devil. After scientific experimentation proved a lack of soul was more trouble than it was worth, the logical Cabal returned to hell in the interest of securing his soul once more. The devil promised to return it to him on the condition of Cabal offering him 100 other souls after a single year. I'm not going to tell you how it turns out and I'm willing to grant that you're correct if you assume there's more than one twist involved, but I have to say that watching Cabal's development—both progressive and regressive—is rewarding, enjoyable, and not the least bit unamusing.

Although Cabal the Necromancer is the first full-length published novel following Cabal, Jonathan L. Howard has also had several short stories featuring him published in H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, and I think that shows. Cabal is exactly the sort of character I love: multi-dimensional, with the weight of unexplained history informing his actions and thoughts. I don't need to know all those details—they're a part of the person, not a part of the story. That plays directly into my personal theories on writing and is something I always appreciate finding in other authors' works.

I don't think 'bittersweet' is the right sort of word to apply to Cabal, and I can't think of a single word to apply to it other than 'fantastic'. It really is catering to a niche audience and my mother thinks I'm crazy for having enjoyed it so much as I did, but it's short and well-developed, and well worth at least one read.(less)

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Jun 16, 2012 Tina Rath rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Cthulhu
Cosmic horror coming to you,
The Old Ones are back now with a view to
Sucking out your brains!

A rollicking chorus from a song sung by Rufus Maleficarus “and his army of the mad” in one of the less edifying episodes in the career of Johannes Cabal (and if you are anything like me, quite enough to whet your appetite for hearing about the rest of that career, or at least the year covered by this novel.)
Johannes is not a nice person. His garden is “a remand home for criminal...more

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May 12, 2012 planetkimi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, fiction, fantasy, five-stars

I enjoyed Johannes Cabal the Necromancer so much that I didn't want it to end. I would stop reading and sigh at the realization that the number of remaining pages was slowly shrinking. Usually these pauses occurred after laughing uproariously at Cabal's adventures.

This is a wicked little book in the best sense of the word. Cabal (the necromancer) discovers to his annoyance that he shouldn't have traded his soul to Satan because he needs it after all and goes back to Hell to get it. Satan propose...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Lydia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer centers around the main character, Johannes Cabal, who is ( you guessed it!) a Necromancer. Cabal must obtain 100 souls, all obtained with the help of a carnival within a year, in order to reclaim his soul. Here we wonder, why does the seemingly immoral Cabal need his soul? Although Cabal himself says he needs it in order to continue his experiments in Necromancy, this seems like a vague answer and one that is never made entirely clear.
Obviously Cabals supposed...more

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Feb 08, 2012 forestsprite rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

I enjoyed the use of language and imagery, for the most part. I think I liked the ideas a bit better than the execution, and wish the story was a bit more compelling. This wasn't a novel that I absolutely had to stay up all night reading just to know what would happen next.

Basically, Johannes Cabal is a necromancer who makes a deal with the devil to win back his soul, given up to learn mastery over death. He must garner one hundred souls over the course of a year, with only a beat-up old carniva...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Kim Dallaire rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book drew me in from about ten feet away on the shelf. The whole thing is beautiful and feels old in your hand. The story of Johannes Cabal’s fight with the devil takes place in a demonic fair ground, where he is charged with stealing away 100 people’s souls in a year in order to exchange it for his own (which he carelessly sold to the devil a few years back). The fair ground staff work for him but are, in the end, loyal to Satan, making for an interesting dynamic between Johannes and his c...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Buffra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bought it at HPB this afternoon and finished it this evening. This was a fun read!

Johannes Cabal is a necromancer, mostly merciless and disdainful of common people. He's nearly fearless, too, which is good because he's made a few deals with the Devil.

The first is his soul for the secrets of the necromancer. But the second is where the story really starts. Johannes wants his soul back.

He and the Devil make a wager: He has one year to contract 100 souls for Satan or he sacrifices not only his so...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Justus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An update on the standard Faustian tale, Johannes Cabal starts out strong and then gradually peters out over the remainder of its run. The problem with retelling an old tale -- Faust's -- is that the audience knows the basic contour because we've heard versions on it for so long. This is a fun book with some great parts but it doesn't do quite enough to elevate itself out of the murk it intentionally places itself in. In my opinion this is because it spends so little time on its characters. Inst...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Gena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Johannes Cabal has a problem, to become a Necromancer he had to sell his soul to Satan but much to his chagrin he’s discovered that without that fundamental piece of himself, his success in bringing the dead back to life is nil. What to do? Johannes marches down into Hell, bypassing the endless line of souls awaiting entrance but stymied by the bureaucratic red tape required, and makes a bargain with the Devil himself. Given one year and the use of a decrepit and sinister (you expected anything...more

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May 19, 2011 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: The mysterious and ooky

Recommended to Alan by: Amanda

Somehow, I'd gathered the impression that Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was a serious novel. My mistake... and one that was corrected quite quickly, in fact, just as soon as Cabal has his first encounter with a demon.

This is a funny book, a wacky situation comedy of a book... Johannes Cabal is a great character, utterly serious himself, and that contrast between his sober determination and the situations he finds himself in is what makes this book as funny as it is. Well, that, and the sort of...more

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Mar 10, 2011 sabisteb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: buch, fantasy

Johannes Cabal tritt den unangenehmen Weg in die Hölle an, nein nicht tot, sondern quicklebendig und unangenehm sind eigentlich nur dir Formulare, die er am Eingang ausfüllen soll. Er hat eine Verabredung mit Satan, den der hat etwas, was Johannes wiederhaben möchte: seine Seele. Nicht da Johannes seine Seele wirklich fehlen würde, jahrelang kam er prima ohne sie zurecht. Das Problem ist einfach, dass sie oder besser das Fehler der Seele, seine Messergebnisse versaut, denn Johannes ist Nekromant...more Johannes Cabal tritt den unangenehmen Weg in die Hölle an, nein nicht tot, sondern quicklebendig und unangenehm sind eigentlich nur dir Formulare, die er am Eingang ausfüllen soll. Er hat eine Verabredung mit Satan, den der hat etwas, was Johannes wiederhaben möchte: seine Seele. Nicht da Johannes seine Seele wirklich fehlen würde, jahrelang kam er prima ohne sie zurecht. Das Problem ist einfach, dass sie oder besser das Fehler der Seele, seine Messergebnisse versaut, denn Johannes ist Nekromant und forscht über das Thema der Unsterblichkeit.
Natürlich will Satan Johannes seine Seele nicht einfach so wiedergeben, sondern nur im Austausch gegen 100 andere Seelen, ein klassischer Deal, bei dem beide Seiten versuchen den anderen übers Ohr zu hauen, nur wer wird hier den Kürzeren ziehen Johannes oder doch Satan?
Satan ist auf jeden Fall so fair Johannes bei der Seelensammlung entsprechendes Handwerkszeug zur Verfügung zu stellen: einen alten, abgewrackten Jahrmarkt und eine Kompanie Untoter. Naturgemäß traut Johannes diesem Angebot nicht, und holt sich selbst Hilfe an Bord: seinen Bruder Horst einen Vampir, aber da Jahrmärkte bekanntlich abends offen sind, ist dies kein Handikap für Horst.
Jüngere Leser und Leser die neu in diesem Genre sind, werden möglicherweise irritiert über den Stil des Buches sein. Es ist weder klassische Fantasy, noch klassischer Horror, aber auch nicht wirklich eine Persiflage eines dieses Genre. Am ehesten wird es einige wohl an Terry Pratchett erinnern der sich in Horrogenre verirrt hat. Mich, die ich jedoch schon ein wenig älter bin erinnert das ganze Buch und auch der Schreibstil des Autors sehr stark an Tom Holt, und besonders an sein Buch Faust und Konsorten.
Johannes Cabal ist nicht wirklich böse, er hat seine guten Seiten, aber diese sind tief, tief vergraben, möglicherweise auch mangels einer Seele. Er tut Böses, aber auch Gutes, und immer verfolgt er ein bestimmtes Ziel und erinnert teilweise doch ein wenig an Gregory House mit seinem Gehstock.
Satan hingegen ist eher der gelangweilte Kumpeltyp, dem das Leben in der Hölle seit Jahrhunderten nichts Neues mehr bietet und der sich auf das Spielchen mit Johannes richtiggehend freut und es auch noch ein Weilchen länger genießen will, weil er Johannes unterhaltsam findet.
Insgesamt ein unterhaltsames, teils extrem witziges Buch, das jedoch nicht durch neue Ideen oder einen innovativen Plot überrascht. Die Geschichte bewegt sich auf klassischen, teils sehr ausgetretenen faustischen Pfaden und viele Wendungen sind daher schon lange vorher vorhersehbar. Dennoch durchaus unterhaltsam und man darf auf die Fortsetzung gespannt sein. Für Leser die Pratchett und Holt mögen ist diese Buch absolut empfehlenswert.(less)

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Dec 29, 2010 Karissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got this book on loan from a friend. It sounded right up my alley, a darkly humorous book about a necromancer. It was a wonderful book; creative and intriguing, with just the right touch of dark humor combined with thoughtfulness to give it a darkly ironic, yet meaningful feel.

Johannes Cabal sold his soul to Satan in return for the knowledge of Necromancy. Now he finds that not having a soul is causing problems with his research and he wants his soul back. He makes a deal with Satan...if he ca...more I got this book on loan from a friend. It sounded right up my alley, a darkly humorous book about a necromancer. It was a wonderful book; creative and intriguing, with just the right touch of dark humor combined with thoughtfulness to give it a darkly ironic, yet meaningful feel.

Johannes Cabal sold his soul to Satan in return for the knowledge of Necromancy. Now he finds that not having a soul is causing problems with his research and he wants his soul back. He makes a deal with Satan...if he can sign over 100 souls to Satan in the time of one year than he can have his soul back. Johannes gets the help of a dark carnival and proscribes his undead brother to assist with the set up. Now him, his brother, and a carnival of dark things are wandering the landscape in search of souls. Of course, nothing ever goes how Johannes plans and Satan never plays fair.

This was a wonderful book. Johannes is a conceited and somewhat bad man, but he isn't evil. Howard gives Johannes enough feeling and humanity that you always kind of understand where Johannes is coming from. Johannes isn't after power, he merely wants to defeat death. The cast of characters in this book is fabulous; they are all well characterized with interesting histories. Even the briefest characters really come alive on the page.

A number of darkly humorous things happen on their journey. Of course the story is incredibly engaging and quite the page turner. The whole time you are wondering what will happen to Johannes; will he get 100 souls? will he find a loop hole in the contract? To add to these questions, as the journey continues Johannes's brother becomes increasingly upset about the morality of what they are doing and this adds a lot of tension to the story.

Howard's writing style took a little bit to get used but after the first couple chapters I found it to be very readable and loved the detail he puts into describing his surroundings.

While, for the most part, this book is a darkly humorous story about one necromancer's quest to outwit Satan; it touches on a number of issues dealing with morality and death. And despite Johannes's cold and abrupt manner you can't help but understand him by the end of the book and perhaps even find him somewhat likable.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. There is not a thing I would change about it. I think this is something that most adults would find an interesting read. If you like dark humor you are sure to get into this, if you like reading about the supernatural this is a great read too. I recommend picking it up because it is engaging, creative, humorous, different, and yet meaningful. The sequel to this book Johannes Cabal the Detective comes out on July 13th, 2010 and I am eager to read it.(less)

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Nov 24, 2010 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, quirky

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jonathan Howard came up with a unique spin on the "selling your soul to the Devil" plot line. Johannes Cabal traded his soul to the Devil in exchange for the secret to immortality but Johannes found it didn't do him any good and if anything, made things more difficult. So Johannes travelled to the depths of Hell to reclaim his soul, only to enter into bargain. Johannes must commit 100 souls to damnation within one year or he himself would be damned for eternity. To lure the souls, Johannes was g...more

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Sep 05, 2010 David rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Cabal is another one of those difficult books to review. On the one hand it’s any interesting concept piece…where does an evil carnival come from (thank you Bradbury for the idea….Something Wicked This Way Comes)…but on the other it lacks all the components of a compelling read.

First a little about the narrative. This is your basic quest narrative…a necromancer sets off to win his soul back from Satan by finding one hundred souls/people to damn in his place. The vehicle for this ‘damnation game’...more Cabal is another one of those difficult books to review. On the one hand it’s any interesting concept piece…where does an evil carnival come from (thank you Bradbury for the idea….Something Wicked This Way Comes)…but on the other it lacks all the components of a compelling read.

First a little about the narrative. This is your basic quest narrative…a necromancer sets off to win his soul back from Satan by finding one hundred souls/people to damn in his place. The vehicle for this ‘damnation game’ (echoes of Barker here) is Bradbury’s wicked Carnival….or something very like it. Beyond this I won’t go so as not spoil the story.

These are pretty rich fields to mine (quest plot, Wicked Carnival, and necromancy…not to mention the Faustian elements) but Howard displays all the grace, eloquence, and perception of a retarded Simpson child…Cartman (see South Park) on a good day. His use of dialogue is flat, his characters one dimensional, his use of metaphor trite, his scenes clichéd drivel, his narratives weak. There minimal investigation of motivation, psychology, history, mythology, and all the components which would, could have, made this a compelling read. If I had not known this had been published by a Doubleday I would have thought this was one of the two month novels the self-publishing group like to brag about. [Not that I am opposed to self-publishing…just ‘some’ of the people involved in this].

The essential idea for the book is brilliant and could have been a great comic novel…if the author was capable of humour. For a comic novel this was profoundly lacking in humour….especially when compared with other writers in this milieu…Fforde, Pratchett, Robert Rankin, Douglas Adams, etc. In the end, the reader is left with a sad affair that has moments of amusement but nothing consistent. Which is the greatest weakness of this book…inconsistency ~ style, character, direction, etc. Perhaps this is supposed to be the first in a series. Hope this isn’t the case….not worth the trees killed to print this on…nor the e-ink on my Kindle…nor my two days of reading time.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK…IF YOU MUST READ THIS STEAL IT!!! (less)

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Sep 04, 2010 asteroidbuckle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: funny-satirical

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow, I really loved this book. It's been a while since I've read such a fun story filled with unusual and original characters.

Johannes Cabal, the protagonist, despite being an amoral 'good guy,' has a depth that makes him sympathetic and likeable. And while we don't find out his true reason for doing what he does until the very end - though most readers will probably figure it out well before then, as I did - it's obvious that he, at least, believes it's a very good one. Johannes doesn't really...more Wow, I really loved this book. It's been a while since I've read such a fun story filled with unusual and original characters.

Johannes Cabal, the protagonist, despite being an amoral 'good guy,' has a depth that makes him sympathetic and likeable. And while we don't find out his true reason for doing what he does until the very end - though most readers will probably figure it out well before then, as I did - it's obvious that he, at least, believes it's a very good one. Johannes doesn't really lack a conscience, it's just very well hidden, for a conscience, he discovers, only serves to inhibit scientific advancement.

So does not having a soul, as it turns out. Which is why when we first meet Johannes, he's summoning a demon that can take him to Hell, where he demands to meet with Satan face-to-face. And after a funny scene involving what can only be called Hell's waiting room (for those of you who've been to college, think the Financial Aid or the Registrar's office) - task-master receptionists, endless paperwork, long lines - Johannes gets his meeting with Satan. He wants to make a deal. He needs his soul back in order to continue his necromancy experiments without interference and he wants to make a deal. After a bit of finagling, Satan makes Johannes a deal: Johannes' soul in exchange for a hundred new ones.

The plot isn't a new one - a man sells his soul to the devil for something he really wants, then decides he wants to renege - but Howard adds a new twist: Cabal, the protagonist, gets to use a demonic carnival to lure in potential 'customers' to help him fulfill his quote The carnival itself is all things to all people and is described in such vivid detail that I felt like I was there. And even though what Cabal did wasn't exactly good, I found myself rooting for him just the same.

What follows is a clever and riveting story. At times funny, at times suprisingly poignant, Johannes' adventure brings him ever closer to his goal. Written with amazing imagination and obvious care, Howard does a great job of parceling out pieces of Johannes' character without having to set aside whole chunks of backstory to fill in the gaps. He also uses Johannes' brother Horst, a moral, idealistic vampire, as the voice of Johannes' conscience, the counterbalance to Johannes' cold, calculated determination.

If I have any beefs with the story, it's the too-easy way Johannes dupes the devil at the end. After so much build-up, the fact that he beats Satan with semantics seemed like a bit of a letdown. I would have preferred something more, I don't know, devious. But considering that Satan himself stated that he created lawyers, I suppose the ending fits in a poetic justice kind of way.

All in all, an excellent, well-written, highly enjoyable book. And I look forward to the sequel, Johannes Cabal the Detective, coming out in paperback.(less)

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Aug 07, 2010 Matthew DeCostanza rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Awful, worthless shit.

Cabal wins the award for most unrealistic and stupidly one-dimensional character, hands down; he blunders through the half-realized Goethe-via-Christopher Paolini landscapes like a retarded tax collector, blindly following instructions without voicing his opinions or even doing so much as to emote at all. However, Meursault he is not; the apathy and neutrality are replaced by obliviousness and irrationality. The rest of the characters, while not as offputting as the hero, a...more

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Aug 02, 2010 Don Corcoran rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

This book was a joy to read. Aside from one criticism I would highly recommend Johannes Cabal to anyone interested in the macabre. Jonathan Howard brings to the page the tenor of Something Wicked This Way Comes and the wit of Christopher Moore, with a healthy dose of the endearing antics of John Constantine. Tragic and funny this romp through the world of infernal carnies did nothing less than make me scramble to read the next installment, Johannes Cabal: the Detective. Well written with a hint...more

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About Jonathan L. Howard

Jonathan L Howard is a game designer, scriptwriter, and a veteran of the computer games industry since the early 1990s, with titles such as the 'Broken Sword' series to his credit.

After publishing two short stories featuring Johannes Cabal (Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day and Exeunt Demon King) in H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was published in 2009 as his...more

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Quotes from Johannes Cabal The Nec...

“Not entirely fair?" His voice became that of the inferno: a rushing, booming howl of icy evil that flew around the great cavern, as swift and cold as the Wendigo on skates. "I am Satan, also called Lucifer the Light Bearer..."
Cabal winced. What was it about devils that they always had to give you their whole family history?
"I was cast down from the presence of God himself into this dark, sulfurous pit and condemned to spend eternity here-"
"Have you tried saying sorry?" interrupted Cabal.
"No, I haven't! I was sent down for a sin of pride. It rather undermines my position if I say 'sorry'!” — 34 people liked it

“Horst passed him a bottle he had picked up in his rapid trip from there to here. Remarkably, it's contents had survived the transit. "Drink this," he said, unmoved by Cabal's anger. "You need to save your voice for your next session."
Cabal took the bottle testily and swigged from it. there was a moments pause, just long enough for Cabal's expression to change from testy to horrified revulsion. He spat the liquid violently onto the grass like a man who has got absent-minded with the concentrated nitric acid and a mouth pipette. He glared at Horst as he took off his spectacles and wiped his suddenly weeping eyes "Disinfectant? You give me disinfectant to drink?"
Horst's surprise was replaced with mild amusement. "It's root beer, Johannes. Have you never had root beer?"
Cabal looked suspiciously at him, then at the bottle "People drink this?"
"Yes."
"For non-medical reasons?"
"That's right."
Cabal shook his head in open disbelief. "They must be insane.” — 15 people liked it

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The Necromancer (Johannes Cabal #1)

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