The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’d seen this book around and shied away from it for no good reason. Don’t know why or how I overcame my initial reluctance but I’m glad I did. The Necromancer is a fun little book and I’m looking forward to reading the sequels.
The story itself, I have to say, was a bit meager. Johannes Cabal’s been given a demonic carnival so he can harvest 100 souls for Satan, all within one year’s time. We get to see him pluck a few at the beginning, but then we jump to the end when there’s only a few days and a few souls left to go. As a writer, I can sympathize with Jonathan Howard’s challenges, since getting through all of that time and all of those characters would be tough, especially in a book as light-hearted as this. But as a reader, I felt a little let-down.
Also, since I’m complaining: the narrative shifts perspective for a few moments in a few places, and I didn’t care for that much. Seems a bit inconsistent. But then, there was a lot about this book that reminded me of Terry Pratchett, and he does that sort of thing all the time. So maybe I should cut Howard some slack. (Please note: that Pratchett comment is meant as high praise.)
Despite these complaints, like I said, I did enjoy the book, and if we’re proclaiming who’s got talent, Howard does in spades. I enjoyed seeing Johannes deal with Hell’s gatekeeper, deal with his brother, deal with the carnival’s infernal denizans. If, towards the end, when he’s dealing with an actual nemesis, and it feels a bit “too little too late,” maybe the sequels will be better.
So three stars for the first book, and I’m going to hold the next one up to a tougher standard. Expectations!