In the Tree of Azathoth, CT Phipps finds new levels of cosmic horror - it’s like Cthulhu Christmas!

 When I read Cthulhu Apocalypse by C. T. Phipps, I knew I wanted to read the rest of the series. And I didn't feel the need to write  about the second book, the Tower of Zhaal, because I figured it was a trilogy and that I could write a summary of my thoughts of the finished work, the full arc of the work.

… Yeah, it turns out that not the right way to approach the series.

What I realized while reading the third book, the Tree is Azathoth, is how much each book is its own beast, is a stand alone, complete thought.

John Henry Booth is a serial hero in the sense that he isn’t the hero of one story but of ongoing stories. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. King Arthur and Robin Hood are serial heroes, for crying out loud. And Phipps, as I later learned, used him in short stories as well.

At the same time, the John Henry Booth at the start of Cthulhu Apocalypse and the end of the Tree of Azathoth, they are not the same character. The later Booth is so much more messed up for one thing.

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The first two books in the series are Weird West works, set after the stars were right  and the Great Old Ones rise up. Heck, the Tower of Zhaal is a clear riff on The Magnificent Seven. (Which, to be fair, I have never seen. I have seen Seven Samurai though)

And the Tower of Zhaal is a rip roaring fun ride. It is a roller coaster of an adventure with the heroes (spoilers) summoning Cthulhu itself to save the day at the end. 

Then, in the Tree of Azathoth, Phipps completely changes gears and we go from Weird West to Film Noire. Booth ends up in a city in the dream lands and find the role of hard boiled detective coming over him. And the genre flip is acknowledged in context.

The books are a well balanced blend of Cthulhu Lite and Cosmic Horror. The heroes are able to defeat eldritch abominations. Beings like deep ones and ghouls are humanized. Booth has civil conversations with shogoths and Nyarlathotep and more. But, in the big picture, the Great Old Ones won, every victory is fleeting and hollow, and humanity is entirely meaningless.

And the Tree of Azathoth is the bleakest book, at least unless Phipps writes another one. The remnants of humanity are ghosts living in a dream world. That was a nightmarish outcome that Booth fought against in the first book and now that is as good as it gets. 

I was impressed by how bleak it got. By the end, it was full on cosmic horror while still giving Booth agency. It’s good enough I don’t want to spoil it beyond saying that.

Through out all the books, Phipps makes shoutouts to many authors but Brian Lumley get a lot of them. Lumley was important both as a proponent of Cthulhu Lite and keeping Lovecraft alive before his worked made the jump to pop culture. 

But I just keep thinking that Phipps does it so much better every time he references Lumley. Phipps normalizes the Mythos more effectively with making monsters normal people. But when he goes for abyssal horror, it hits hard.

Since Phipps makes several references to Howard, particularly in the third book, I’m expecting swords and sorcery if we get a fourth one.

Cthulhu Armageddon is a delightful Halloween read for after the world ends

In his foreword to Cthulhu Armageddon, the author C.T. Phipps compares his book to Brian Lumley’s work, specifically The Transition of Titus Crow.

Really? No. Phipps is selling himself far short with such a comparison. 

While both works deal with idea that humanity can win at least some battles with Mythos horrors, Lumley includes Titus scaring off Yug-Sothoth and befriending Cthulhu’s twin brother.

In comparison, Cthulhu Armageddon is an existential scream of despair.

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In the world of Cthulhu Armageddon, the stars have already become right. The Great Old Ones have risen. The world has been razed. Tiny remnants of humanity desperately try to survive and will be entirely gone in less than a century.

It’s Mad Max: Beyond R’lyeh.

The main character is former military ranger named John Henry Booth and the book is ultimately about his conflict with the necromancer Alan Ward. So, while the setting is a Lovecraftian nightmare, it’s about two guys duking it out. And their battle, which escalated to a small war (there’s not enough people left for a big war), is still inconsequential for the Great Old Ones.

Mind you, Ward has mutated himself into an eldritch abomination and Booth is blessed by Nyarlathotep (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg ) so it’s ultimately a stretch to call either of them human. And they are still beneath Cthulhu’s notice.

Yeah, there are some cool action scenes in the book that would look great with a big special effects budget. And Booth does come out the winner against Ward. However, it is clear that these are fleeting, momentary victories. In the end, it charges nothing for Cthulhu and its kin.

So I think C.T. Phipps has done a good job creating a story of cosmic horror and despair. Which is what I want when Cthulhu is in the title. It’s the first of three books and I now want to read them all.

And if Booth punches Cthulhu out in the last book, I’ll revise the cosmic horror opinion.