- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Headline (1 Sep 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755347986
- ISBN-13: 978-0755347988
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.2 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 293,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Johannes Cabal
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Praise for JOHANNES CABAL THE DETECTIVE:
"Johannes Cabal would kill me for saying this, but he's my favorite Zeppelin-hopping detective. The fellow has got all the charm of Bond and the smarts of Holmes -- without the pesky morality. Seriously though, don't tell Cabal I so much as mentioned his name."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, "New York Times" bestselling author of "How to Survive a Robot""Uprising" and the forthcoming "Robopacolypse"
"Is there life beyond death? Definitely! That is, if Johannes Cabal is on your side...The mysteries of past and future--science fiction and the occult, Jules Verne and Robert Anton Wilson--are all wrapped up in Jonathan L. Howard's fast-paced escapade of esoteric adventure."
-- Katherine Neville, "New York Times" bestselling author of --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Johannes Cabal would kill me for saying this, but he's my favorite Zeppelin-hopping detective. The fellow has got all the charm of Bond and the smarts of Holmes -- without the pesky morality. Seriously though, don't tell Cabal I so much as mentioned his name."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, "New York Times" bestselling author of "How to Survive a Robot""Uprising" and the forthcoming "Robopacolypse"
"Is there life beyond death? Definitely! That is, if Johannes Cabal is on your side...The mysteries of past and future--science fiction and the occult, Jules Verne and Robert Anton Wilson--are all wrapped up in Jonathan L. Howard's fast-paced escapade of esoteric adventure."
-- Katherine Neville, "New York Times" bestselling author of --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Beyond the wall of sleep lie the Dreamlands, a whole world formed by dreams, but not a dream itself. For countless millennia, it has been explored only by those with a certain detachment from the mundane realities of our own world, its strange seas navigated, and its vast mountains climbed by philosophers, and mystics, and poets.
Well, those halcyon days are over, beatniks.
Johannes Cabal is coming.
Cabal, a necromancer of some little infamy, is employed by the mysterious Fear Institute to lead an expedition into the Dreamlands, an expedition whose goal is nothing less than to hunt and destroy the dread Phobic Animus, the font of terrors, the very source of all the world’s fear. They will enter exotic lands where magic is common and monsters abound, see wonders, and suffer dreadful hardships. Cabal will encounter witches, vile abominations, and far too many zebras.
And, when they finally come close to their goal, Cabal will have to face his own nightmares, but for a man who communes easily with devils and the dead, there is surely nothing left to fear.
Is there?
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Let's start off by saying I have read the other two books before this one and was already a fan going in to this third novel. There are other reviewers saying this book stands alone (if that's how you wish to read it) however I must recommend reading the others first.
There is a progression in character for Johannes Cabal through the books. It's a subtle change but enjoyable to see through the three novels. Then there will be the odd mention of a character or event from one of the past adventures. Though fans of the series may be sad to see certain characters not making a reappearance.
To be completely honest I don't know why anyone would read this first but perhaps others aren't as fussy when it comes to books as I am. And I suppose the three books all do seem to have their own "flavour" after all. The first, a mad race to beat the devil. The second, a murder mystery detective novel. Then this one, a boy's own adventure in to the strange dreamlands.
The fun of Johannes Cabal is, for me at least, in Johannes Cabal. A man that walks a fine line. He could be easily unlike-able but isn't. There's fun in reading his thoughts on whether or not to just shove his employers over a cliff and have the stupid adventure over and done with. Herr Cabal is a man not afraid to kill if it means having his way or not having to listen to someone's annoying chatter anymore. He's smarter than those around him which leads to a constant sarcastic tone.
The setting of the book, The Dreamlands, is a wonderful exercise of the imagination. The idea is that it is a land created by people's dreams. Time is subjective and things don't quite happen how you would expect them to. Witches live in graveyards and discuss your future, hermits live in far off cities when only they hold the answer.
The story is a fantastic journey and will have you laughing at Cabal's comments or the sheer joy of what's happening. As with the other books, I reached a point when I didn't want to stop reading. The final chapters especially were the highlight with the book going in interesting directions you may not have expected.
The only down side to the Kindle edition is with the map. The map is viewable but as with other Kindle books it doesn't lend itself to easily flicking to it if you're curious about where the characters are. It's not overly important to know but it's a shame there wasn't a version online that I could consult. (Perhaps the cloud Kindle reader holds the answer.)
If you're new to Johannes Cabal you can probably guess that I'll now recommend you to give the first book a try first and if you're already a fan what are you waiting for?
There is a progression in character for Johannes Cabal through the books. It's a subtle change but enjoyable to see through the three novels. Then there will be the odd mention of a character or event from one of the past adventures. Though fans of the series may be sad to see certain characters not making a reappearance.
To be completely honest I don't know why anyone would read this first but perhaps others aren't as fussy when it comes to books as I am. And I suppose the three books all do seem to have their own "flavour" after all. The first, a mad race to beat the devil. The second, a murder mystery detective novel. Then this one, a boy's own adventure in to the strange dreamlands.
The fun of Johannes Cabal is, for me at least, in Johannes Cabal. A man that walks a fine line. He could be easily unlike-able but isn't. There's fun in reading his thoughts on whether or not to just shove his employers over a cliff and have the stupid adventure over and done with. Herr Cabal is a man not afraid to kill if it means having his way or not having to listen to someone's annoying chatter anymore. He's smarter than those around him which leads to a constant sarcastic tone.
The setting of the book, The Dreamlands, is a wonderful exercise of the imagination. The idea is that it is a land created by people's dreams. Time is subjective and things don't quite happen how you would expect them to. Witches live in graveyards and discuss your future, hermits live in far off cities when only they hold the answer.
The story is a fantastic journey and will have you laughing at Cabal's comments or the sheer joy of what's happening. As with the other books, I reached a point when I didn't want to stop reading. The final chapters especially were the highlight with the book going in interesting directions you may not have expected.
The only down side to the Kindle edition is with the map. The map is viewable but as with other Kindle books it doesn't lend itself to easily flicking to it if you're curious about where the characters are. It's not overly important to know but it's a shame there wasn't a version online that I could consult. (Perhaps the cloud Kindle reader holds the answer.)
If you're new to Johannes Cabal you can probably guess that I'll now recommend you to give the first book a try first and if you're already a fan what are you waiting for?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Johannes Cabal novels just keep getting better. While I liked them all, in the first one he was a touch too maudlin for my taste, and in the second one he fully found his delightful sarcastic self but I thought the detective story a bit boring. In this one however, we experience Johannes at his sarcastic best, together with a great story line. I absolutely love his attitude as well as the incredible amount of lovely nasty offhand one-liner comments (other reviewers have quoted some).
I really liked how different the 3 Johannes Cabal books were - the first one while funny had quite a lot of tragic undertones, the second was a genuine detective story, and this one is a merry tale heavily playing with the worlds of H.P.Lovecraft. I'm really hoping there's more Johannes Cabal books coming.
I really liked how different the 3 Johannes Cabal books were - the first one while funny had quite a lot of tragic undertones, the second was a genuine detective story, and this one is a merry tale heavily playing with the worlds of H.P.Lovecraft. I'm really hoping there's more Johannes Cabal books coming.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Part magic-fantasy, part steam-punk, part surrealist comedy, Johannes Cabal is a fascinating protagonist, a most unusual hero, not in the least bit (or, in fact, in any way) admirable or worthy, lacking almost all redeeming human qualities bar a fast intelligence and a fine, biting, bitchy sarcastic wit, he is a man with `several faults, several of which were also capital crimes'.
In many ways, it's a very visual novel; Jonathan L Howard's day job as a game-designer is very much to the fore. At times, The Fear Institute reads like the script for a super-elaborate, fantastically detailed, heavily back-story'd game. I'm not much of a gamer myself and this was, for me, the least successful aspect of this novel, mainly serving to over-complicate an already pretty complex storyline. I found my mind wandering a little during these bits - then having to go back and re-read what I'd missed because the intricately-stitched plot requires that you Stay Awake! at all times.
The plot is the least of it, however; it's the language, the humour, that raises this novel above the norm. For example:
`We has deck quoits,' said the second merchant gleefully, the only phrase in human speech it knew.
`Done then!' roared the first adventurer, confident that good voice projection and a waxed chest would see him through every predicament...
`Presumably waste is thereby conducted to some distant place where raining excrement is not regarded as unusual. Like Tartarus,' he guessed. `Or Ipswich.'
This is the third part of a trilogy, but it doesn't seem to matter much if you haven't read the previous novels. There were only a few occasions when I realised something was being alluded to from previous books, but The Fear Institute can easily be read as a stand-alone; it did make me want to read parts 1 and 2.
In short, it's a fast-moving, twisty-turny, timey-wimey, complicated, terribly (literally!) entertaining read, surreal and dark and - best of all - unremittingly and brilliantly funny. From the foreword (forget the warning. Read the book. Go insane. See if I care) to the cliff-hanger end - which isn't really an end, but the beginning of another novel - I was gripped and thrilled and laughing out loud.
In many ways, it's a very visual novel; Jonathan L Howard's day job as a game-designer is very much to the fore. At times, The Fear Institute reads like the script for a super-elaborate, fantastically detailed, heavily back-story'd game. I'm not much of a gamer myself and this was, for me, the least successful aspect of this novel, mainly serving to over-complicate an already pretty complex storyline. I found my mind wandering a little during these bits - then having to go back and re-read what I'd missed because the intricately-stitched plot requires that you Stay Awake! at all times.
The plot is the least of it, however; it's the language, the humour, that raises this novel above the norm. For example:
`We has deck quoits,' said the second merchant gleefully, the only phrase in human speech it knew.
`Done then!' roared the first adventurer, confident that good voice projection and a waxed chest would see him through every predicament...
`Presumably waste is thereby conducted to some distant place where raining excrement is not regarded as unusual. Like Tartarus,' he guessed. `Or Ipswich.'
This is the third part of a trilogy, but it doesn't seem to matter much if you haven't read the previous novels. There were only a few occasions when I realised something was being alluded to from previous books, but The Fear Institute can easily be read as a stand-alone; it did make me want to read parts 1 and 2.
In short, it's a fast-moving, twisty-turny, timey-wimey, complicated, terribly (literally!) entertaining read, surreal and dark and - best of all - unremittingly and brilliantly funny. From the foreword (forget the warning. Read the book. Go insane. See if I care) to the cliff-hanger end - which isn't really an end, but the beginning of another novel - I was gripped and thrilled and laughing out loud.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Best Cabal yet
This is probably the best book in the series, though you needn't have read the earlier ones to understand the story, as each book is independent. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Shantnu Tiwari
please keep writing!
I have to say, this is the best series, for macabe horror comedy mix that i've read, I just want more! the 3rd book really ties in with H. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. T. Dure
Amusing enough tome......
I'd not read the previous two books in the Johannes Cabal series so approached this with no preconceptions. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. K. Cross
Best so far!!
Riffing off Lovecraft and even a bit of CS Lewis' the Magician's Nephew, this was a real tour de force: funny, bitter, violent and twisted, I loved every bit of it! Read more
Published 3 months ago by The Saint
A viciously funny character study, wrapped in a fantastic adventure...
"The Fear Institute" is the third in the Johannes Cabal series. I'd echo other reviewers and say that you don't need to have read the first two to enjoy this latest outing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Christopher Meadows
Kindle price
Having read the other 2 books in the series was looking forward to downloading this to my kindle, then I saw the price, I really do not see how double the price of the paperback... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sean Quinn
I did try, really
When I got this book I though I would buy the first two in the series. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy any of them and I find it hard to pinpoint why. Read more
Published 5 months ago by F. Proctor
What to say of Johannes Cabal?
Johannes Cabal : The Fear Institute. Jonathan L. Howard
This was my first encounter with Mr. Cabal although from the linked website [... Read more
This was my first encounter with Mr. Cabal although from the linked website [... Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. J. Russell-pattison
Wonderful writing, brilliant ideas, mediocre plot
The Fear Institute is a story about the necromancer Johannes Cabal, who is commissioned to enter the world of dreams in order to seek out and kill the Phobic Animus, the embodiment... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Max
What Dreams Are Made Of
Fantasy and science fiction are genres that can open the mind to all possibilities, but what happens when there are no rules? Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sam
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