Review

Love and War by Paul Cornell

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The novel “Love and War” by Paul Cornell was published for the first time in 1992. It’s No. 9 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “Nightshade”.

Ace passed through Perivale to go to the funeral of her old friend Julian. Having completed that sad task, the Seventh Doctor takes her forward in time nearly half a millennium to the planet Heaven, on the border between human and Draconian space. It’s a neutral place for the two powers, and life is supposed to be peaceful, but various events suggest otherwise.

The Doctor is searching for a lost manuscript and can’t find it, but he has other things on his mind and seems lost in thought. Ace seeks distraction by contacting a group of Travellers who have been on Heaven for some time. On the planet, the paths of very different entities intersect, while its past seems to interest only archaeologist Bernice “Benny” Summerfield and a few other researchers engaged in an excavation.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

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The novel “At the Mountains of Madness” by H.P. Lovecraft was published for the first time in 1936 serialized in the magazine “Astounding Stories” and later as a book.

Professor William Dyer of Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, decided to write an account of the expedition he led to Antarctica as a warning of the horrors he encountered there. Dyer discovered a new exploration project and wanted to explain how the horrors in what he decided to call the Mountains of Madness had caused the deaths of nearly all the members of his expedition and all the members of a previous expedition.

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The novella “Ogres” by Adrian Tchaikovsky was published for the first time in 2022. In 2023, it was published as part of the anthology “Terrible Worlds: Revolutions” as well.

Torquell is a lovable rogue who usually gets into minor trouble and gets off with light punishments, especially since he’s the son of the village headman. However, even he knows he must behave well towards the ogres, as the Masters are nicknamed, because breaking their laws means very serious punishment.

Despite knowing the consequences would be severe, Torquell loses his temper when the local landlord’s son treats him like a common underling and reacts by hitting him. His father tells him to go into the woods to let the situation cool down and that he will settle the matter with the Masters. However, when Torquell returns to the village, he discovers that the ogres have killed his father as punishment.

Elsewhere by Dean Koontz

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The novel “Elsewhere” by Dean Koontz was published for the first time in 2020.

Jeffy Coltrane lives with his daughter Amity, and things seem to be going well for them, even though seven years earlier his wife, Michelle, had abandoned her husband and daughter. When Ed, a homeless man who makes ends meet in the area, shows up at their house and gives Jeffy a box that he claims holds the key to everything, warning him never to open it, Jeffy thinks he has a screw loose and agrees to take it simply to get rid of the man.

Shortly after that strange visit, a team of agents led by John Falkirk, who has an NSA badge, goes around the area asking everyone for information about Ed, or rather, Dr. Edwin Harkenbach. Surprised and a little scared, Jeffy decides to examine the contents of the box Ed had entrusted to him. The device in the box gets accidentally activated, bringing Jeffy and Amity to a house that isn’t entirely like their own and in a city that has some significant differences from the one they know.

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe

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The novel “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket” by Edgar Allan Poe was published for the first time in a partial version in 1837, serialized in the “Southern Literary Messenger” and in its entirety as a book in 1838.

Arthur Gordon Pym grew up on Nuntucket Island and was deeply attached to the sea. Despite a negative experience, in June 1827, he secretly boarded the brig Grampus, commanded by the father of his best friend Augustus Barnard, who helped him find a hiding place aboard.

What was supposed to be an exciting sea adventure soon turns into a nightmare for Arthur Gordon Pym. Trapped in his hideout, he nearly dies of thirst. Augustus rescues him after several days of agony and Pym discovers that there was a mutiny on the Grampus. More misadventures await Arthur.