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Auguste Dupin in the Mythos #5
The Cthulhu Encryption: A Romance of Piracy
The Shoggoths "They had been so horrible before that I dare not say that they were any MORE horrible when they came again.... They were still unspeakable, still unthinkable--but whether I could speak or think of them or not, they were HERE." Auguste Dupin is one of the few persons who can identify the rare Cthulhu Encryption etched in the flesh of a dying woman. The Comte de Saint-Germain owns a companion cryptogram that he believes is the key to finding a fabulous treasure buried by the pirate Levasseur. Harassed by Shoggoths and tracked by Saint-Germain, Dupin must find the key to the complex puzzle. Can the might of Cthulhu be held at bay? And even if he finds an answer, can he and his friends escape with their lives? A riveting horror novel.
222 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2011
4 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Brian M. Stableford
885 books134 followersBrian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 6, 2013
Edgar Allan Poe's great detective, Auguste Dupin, combined with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos? I had to read this novel. And I'm glad I did.
Stableford's novel, which is a first-person account by Dupin's friend, describes the unfolding mystery of the "Cthulhu Encryption," an inscription in the flesh of a dying mental patient who appears to be a prostitute but believes herself to be the legendary Isolde Leonys (of Tristan and Isolde fame). What follows is a mystery-adventure that doubles as a cultural literacy test, invoking not only knowledge of Poe and Lovecraft, but also the history of the 16th-century English occultist and medium Edward Kelley (also known as Edward Talbot) and his alchemist associate John Dee, the so-called "immortal German alchemist" the Comte de Saint-Germain of the 18th century, and both Arthurian romance and Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Did I mention there were pirates, too?
I didn't realize this was part of a series (which includes The Mad Trist, The Quintessence of August, and Valdemar's Daughter) when I first read the book, but I think now I may have to read the others.
What I appreciated most was Stableford's adept handling of Victorian Gothic language and description, as well as the great texture and literacy of his descriptions.
Here is an example.
"I'm surely superfluous to requirements, and far too vulnerable to bad dreams."
"Never superfluous, my friend," he said, "and not as vulnerable as you imagine."
I was flattered by the compliment. "And we have Chapelain too," I added. "All for one and one for all - like the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis."
"More like Ethos, Pathos and Logos," he muttered, drawing his cloak around him to protect him from a sudden gust of wind. He had named the three components of classical rhetoric, from which Dumas had presumably derived two of his musketeers' names, but not the third. Chapelain, I presumed, was Ethos or Athos, and I was Pathos or Porthos. I hoped that the adventure confronting us was one in which a Logos would, after all, prove more useful than an Aramis.
Stableford's novel, which is a first-person account by Dupin's friend, describes the unfolding mystery of the "Cthulhu Encryption," an inscription in the flesh of a dying mental patient who appears to be a prostitute but believes herself to be the legendary Isolde Leonys (of Tristan and Isolde fame). What follows is a mystery-adventure that doubles as a cultural literacy test, invoking not only knowledge of Poe and Lovecraft, but also the history of the 16th-century English occultist and medium Edward Kelley (also known as Edward Talbot) and his alchemist associate John Dee, the so-called "immortal German alchemist" the Comte de Saint-Germain of the 18th century, and both Arthurian romance and Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Did I mention there were pirates, too?
I didn't realize this was part of a series (which includes The Mad Trist, The Quintessence of August, and Valdemar's Daughter) when I first read the book, but I think now I may have to read the others.
What I appreciated most was Stableford's adept handling of Victorian Gothic language and description, as well as the great texture and literacy of his descriptions.
Here is an example.
"I'm surely superfluous to requirements, and far too vulnerable to bad dreams."
"Never superfluous, my friend," he said, "and not as vulnerable as you imagine."
I was flattered by the compliment. "And we have Chapelain too," I added. "All for one and one for all - like the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis."
"More like Ethos, Pathos and Logos," he muttered, drawing his cloak around him to protect him from a sudden gust of wind. He had named the three components of classical rhetoric, from which Dumas had presumably derived two of his musketeers' names, but not the third. Chapelain, I presumed, was Ethos or Athos, and I was Pathos or Porthos. I hoped that the adventure confronting us was one in which a Logos would, after all, prove more useful than an Aramis.
May 9, 2020
Poe's detective Dupin tests his fierce logical mind and vast imagination against cults in the service of Lovecraftian gods, and against the hideous deities they serve. Is a madwoman confined in an asylum more than she seems? The occult tattoo on her back and the strange memories in her mind argue yes, and soon the great detective is pitting his wits against mesmerists, magicians such as the Comte de Saint Germain in pursuit of occult treasures from a time of high-seas piracy.
But can Dupin resist the temptation of forbidden knowledge and the immortality to pursue it, when offered by an enemy of this world and all who are on it?
But can Dupin resist the temptation of forbidden knowledge and the immortality to pursue it, when offered by an enemy of this world and all who are on it?
January 15, 2016
Nada como um lovecraftianismo para ajudar a passar o frio destas noites de inverno. Este romance de Stableford não ganhará certamente pontos por ser uma obra profunda, daquelas que nos apaixona por novas ideias ou muda o sentido da vida, do universo e de tudo o resto, mas é um divertido e muito bem urdido pastiche que remistura personagens clássicas da ficção fantástica com personagens reais de contornos fantasistas, lendas arturianas, folclore bretão, tesouros perdidos de danados piratas, bibliófilos convictos e uma boa dose daquele cujo sono sob as profundezas de R'lyeh não deve ser incomodado.
A história gira à volta de uma misteriosa louca internada num notório asilo parisiense, que manifesta no seu corpo estranhas inscrições que o olhar atento do detective Arséne Dupin detecta ser um criptograma incompleto que invoca o tenebroso Cthulhu. O resto é pura aventura, com shoggots a possuir o corpo de criminosos comuns, amuletos contendo segredos, e homens que talvez sejam mais velhos do que aparentam, semi-imortais graças a técnicas de meditação avançada que lhes permitem dormir e sonhar durante décadas, sendo com isso capazes de ver mais além das fronteiras ténues do real.
Aventura divertida, que se distingue pelo sentido de ambiência com que Stableford constrói a narrativa. Somos levados aos arrepios das noites escuras, aos mistérios dos ocultistas, à colisão entre o lendário e o real, revendo algumas personagens ficcionais clássicas.
A história gira à volta de uma misteriosa louca internada num notório asilo parisiense, que manifesta no seu corpo estranhas inscrições que o olhar atento do detective Arséne Dupin detecta ser um criptograma incompleto que invoca o tenebroso Cthulhu. O resto é pura aventura, com shoggots a possuir o corpo de criminosos comuns, amuletos contendo segredos, e homens que talvez sejam mais velhos do que aparentam, semi-imortais graças a técnicas de meditação avançada que lhes permitem dormir e sonhar durante décadas, sendo com isso capazes de ver mais além das fronteiras ténues do real.
Aventura divertida, que se distingue pelo sentido de ambiência com que Stableford constrói a narrativa. Somos levados aos arrepios das noites escuras, aos mistérios dos ocultistas, à colisão entre o lendário e o real, revendo algumas personagens ficcionais clássicas.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews