What do you think?
Rate this book
Titus Crow #1-3
Brian Lumley's Mythos Omnibus, Vol 1
From the Creator of Necroscope- three landmark novels of the Cthulhu Mythos:
THE SAGA OF TITUS CROW!
THE BURROWERS BENEATH: In which Crow is alerted to a menace in the earth that gnaws at the very foundations of Man's domination of his home planet - and seeks to usurp him! Two men share a terrible secret and make their lonely stand against subterranean terror.
THE TRANSITIONS OF TITUS CROW: Fleeing from the Burrowers, Crow discovers the secrets of time and space and learns the lore of the Great Old Ones. But Lord Cthulhu seeks not only the domination of Earth but the destruction of the Elder Gods and the space-time continuum itself! De Marigny answers Crow's call from the depths of space to join him in the battle for universal sanity against all the forces of evil.
THE CLOCK OF DREAMS: From fathomless ocean depths, Cthulhu's dreams disturb the minds of men to reshape the waking world. Diverted from his search for the lost Elysia, de Marigny pilots his space-time machine into subconscious worlds of dream and nightmare in a bid to save the lives and very souls of Titus Crow and Tiania of Elysia.
655 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
5 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lumley
450 books1,367 followersBrian Lumley was born near Newcastle. In 22 years as a Military Policeman he served in many of the Cold War hotspots, including Berlin, as well as Cyprus in partition days. He reached the rank of Sergeant-Major before retiring to Devon to write full-time, and his work was first published in 1970. The vampire series, 'Necroscope', has been translated into ten languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 24, 2019
I liked The Burrowers Beneath (I'd give that 3 or 4 stars), but was disappointed with The Transition of Titus Crow. Maybe Lumley lost me somewhere (or maybe he got lost himself). All I know is suddenly I was reading science fiction and fantasy instead of horror (not that I don't like sci-fi and fantasy, but I was expecting the book to lean towards more horror). While reading The Transition of Titus Crow, I kept waiting for the story to turn back to the CCD - it did so only vaguely. The elements of The Burrowers Beneath that I liked was the distinct Holmesian mood of it and was looking forward to more of that. Sadly, I was disappointed.
Suffice it to say, I didn't read The Clock of Dreams. Though, maybe curiosity will bring me back to this series at a later date.
Suffice it to say, I didn't read The Clock of Dreams. Though, maybe curiosity will bring me back to this series at a later date.
March 16, 2018
I can understand why the reviews are so mixed on this book. I have yet to read Lovecraft's stories (they're next on my list), so my expectations were totally different from everyone else's. If you're looking for Lovecraft standard horror then you're probably not likely to enjoy this book as much as I did. But if you start reading this knowing that there is very tame horror, then I think you'll enjoy it.
Full review to come later.
Full review to come later.
September 3, 2012
Tales from the Cthulhu Mythos with added serendipity, huzzah!
The main thing that drew me to Lovecraft's work was the futility of man's struggle against the Great Old Ones and the grinding powerlessness of the protagonists. Here was a level of misanthropy and pessimism that oozed from every page, the machinations of man frequently leading to nothing and I love it. Very few authors have such negative endings to their stories let alone with the frequency that H.P did.
So imagine my dismay when I read the collected tales of Titus Crow, part wizard, part scholar, part Ian McKellen that can batter Cthulhu and all his mates with his corner shop full of psychic doodads, magical geegaws and a wicked clock. Combined with his address book chock full of people who own everything ever written on the denizens of Ry'leh he is truly unstoppable. Which is missing the point entirely...
By the time the dust settles after the third installment, mankind has won. An unexpected twist for all the wrong reasons. It's a fundamental misreading of the mythos. It's like Darth Vader winning. It's like King Kong settling down in Brooklyn with an office job. It is to the universe created by Lovecraft what Indiana Jones 4 was, inexcusable.
The main thing that drew me to Lovecraft's work was the futility of man's struggle against the Great Old Ones and the grinding powerlessness of the protagonists. Here was a level of misanthropy and pessimism that oozed from every page, the machinations of man frequently leading to nothing and I love it. Very few authors have such negative endings to their stories let alone with the frequency that H.P did.
So imagine my dismay when I read the collected tales of Titus Crow, part wizard, part scholar, part Ian McKellen that can batter Cthulhu and all his mates with his corner shop full of psychic doodads, magical geegaws and a wicked clock. Combined with his address book chock full of people who own everything ever written on the denizens of Ry'leh he is truly unstoppable. Which is missing the point entirely...
By the time the dust settles after the third installment, mankind has won. An unexpected twist for all the wrong reasons. It's a fundamental misreading of the mythos. It's like Darth Vader winning. It's like King Kong settling down in Brooklyn with an office job. It is to the universe created by Lovecraft what Indiana Jones 4 was, inexcusable.
August 25, 2022
Aside from The Burrowers Beneath, which makes at least a token effort at cosmic horror, Brian Lumley's Titus Crow novels read like clumsy fan fiction, committing a range of errors more capable fanfic authors would balk at (over-perfect main character shows up in fiction setting, solves all the problems and kicks ass and gets a hot girlfriend, author doesn't respect the style or atmosphere or themes of the setting, etc.). These omnibus editions are the most cost-effective way of reading them, I suppose, but why would you ever subject yourself to that? https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
October 20, 2018
Too much like Lovecraft for me tried too hard to be like it and failed, wanted more and wanted it to be its own.
March 20, 2023
So many, many authors have written in the style of HP Lovecraft and borrowed heavily from his mythos. You might say, that Lovecraft was a clunky and ropey writer and better authors came along and made better use of his toys and monsters. Don't get me wrong. I love Lovecraft and all his dire pessimism and hopelessness. Oh the madness, the madness! However Mr Lumley doesn't write like that. Brian writes in a very British manner and Titus Crow and his Watsonian sidekick, Henri Laurent de Marigny, are very obviously from the same mold as Holmes and Watson. The heroes may be on the ropes for a little while, but then they come out with powerful friends, better and more advanced magicks and the monsters will get their comeuppances.
I mean, when you read Lovecraft did you not wish someone would rock up and throw a bomb on Dagon, Cthulhu and all those other brutes and blast them back to whence they came. Well, that's these stories. Horror has always been about the battle between good and evil. This is very British, very stiff upperlip, very derring-do. The Burrowers Beneath is very fun to read and the other stories are great too, but they stories get progressively worse though. I like my horror mucky and weird (first story). I am less keen on science-fiction and time travel (the latter two stories). In the end, Brian clearly had fun writing these and I enjoyed reading them. 4 stars.
At the end of the day, monsters gotta pay....
I mean, when you read Lovecraft did you not wish someone would rock up and throw a bomb on Dagon, Cthulhu and all those other brutes and blast them back to whence they came. Well, that's these stories. Horror has always been about the battle between good and evil. This is very British, very stiff upperlip, very derring-do. The Burrowers Beneath is very fun to read and the other stories are great too, but they stories get progressively worse though. I like my horror mucky and weird (first story). I am less keen on science-fiction and time travel (the latter two stories). In the end, Brian clearly had fun writing these and I enjoyed reading them. 4 stars.
At the end of the day, monsters gotta pay....
August 9, 2011
This book of three novels was alright. The first story, The burrowers Beneath was the Lovecraft mythos I enjoy, unspeakable monsters, crazy cults coming after you. Great stuff.
The second book went on a weird turn with time travel in a old grandfather clock, where you step inside and its bigger on the inside then the outside. (Doctor who?), he uses a nice piece from whisperers in darkness to good use, but I wasn't too excited about what happens to Titus Crow in this book. Seemed to much like science fiction superhero stuff, instead of unspeakable horror and sights that drive a man insane.
The third book uses the mythos in a different way. Lumley uses the mythos here of the Dreamlands and a couple other locations that Lovecraft made up. A bit of a fast twist from the last book.
I look forward to reading the other Mythos Omnibus, but I hope the stories come back to the strange and scary, not flying cloaks and plastic men.
The second book went on a weird turn with time travel in a old grandfather clock, where you step inside and its bigger on the inside then the outside. (Doctor who?), he uses a nice piece from whisperers in darkness to good use, but I wasn't too excited about what happens to Titus Crow in this book. Seemed to much like science fiction superhero stuff, instead of unspeakable horror and sights that drive a man insane.
The third book uses the mythos in a different way. Lumley uses the mythos here of the Dreamlands and a couple other locations that Lovecraft made up. A bit of a fast twist from the last book.
I look forward to reading the other Mythos Omnibus, but I hope the stories come back to the strange and scary, not flying cloaks and plastic men.
February 24, 2014
I didn't have high hopes for this series but the books get a lot better as you progress. By the end of these three, I've rather fallen in love with the series. It's creative and expansive. I'd definitely recommend reading it.
February 6, 2016
I have to say that I was looking forward to reading this material. I had already picked up an edition of Volume 1 and had enjoyed most of what I found there; I was destined to be very disappointed with the second round.
June 26, 2016
It started so well, but by the end of the second book I feel it was drifting off. Still well worth reading, but not as good as it could have been.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews