Johannes Cabal the Necromancer

A brilliant scientist and possible sociopath sells his soul to learn the secrets of necromancy, only to find out that not having a soul is quite inconvenient - his necromancy never quite works right without having one. So he gets himself into another wager with the Devil, this time to collect one hundred souls in exchange for his, using the diabolical means of...a carnival. Johannes is not especially charming, nor is he good at having fun, so he enlists his brother Horst, a vampire, and an army of the dead to help him out. Then, after that book is over, he ends up having to solve a murder on board an aeroship (while on the run from the secret police of a dictatorship), with only one frenemy by his side. So basically: awesome.

4.5 stars. This was actually more fun than I expected. It took a while to get going, but when it did I was hooked.

Right from the get-go, I was cautiously delighted by the sharp humour that characterizes Howard's writing style, particularly suitable for the atmosphere of this book. If I had to nitpick, I'd say sarcasm as a device was used perhaps just a tad bit too often and it made the book felt a little dated, but luckily it was nowhere near overused and insufferable, so I could close an eye to it.

The premise was pretty interesting too, although it took me quite a number of chapters to really get into the groove of things. Johannes Cabal is a brilliant scientist and necromancer who travels into Hell to make a bet with Satan - to get a hundred souls in the span of a year in exchange for his own soul back. To help him do it, Satan provides him with a diabolical carnival which he must run and use to tempt people to sign over their souls. Cabal enlists the help of his brother, charismatic vampire Horst Cabal, to help him run the place.

At first it felt a bit aimless, like I wasn't sure what I was waiting for and what the whole aim of everything was, but when I realised that this was going to be a somewhat episodic adventure where we follow Cabal and Horst as they meet different people and situations along the travels of the carnival, I felt like I could settle into that vibe and finally found the groove of the story.

The ragtag bunch of people/demons Cabal surrounds himself with are generally also quite memorable, if not endearing. The most outstanding of the bunch is definitely Horst Cabal, and the love-hate, push-pull relationship between Johannes and himself. I enjoyed their dynamic and the way Horst was written. Johannes himself as a character was also intriguing - we know he wants his soul back for a reason but he never quite reveals that reason until right at the end. We're given enough glimpses and hints along the way to want to continue reading though. Importantly, Johannes and Horst are also distinctive enough characters that they don't blend into each other, which forms the basis of having a believable and strong character dynamic.

Though this book wasn't without its flaws, ultimately it felt like everything worked out pretty well for me. I enjoyed the tone, the writing style, the premise, and the characters, and I'm curious to know what will happen next, so that's gonna keep me going for the next book!

What a great book!!! 4.5 stars

It was so much fun to read: the writing was amazing, descriptions and dialogue were immaculate, and the characters were endearing. It was short but vivid and the only reason its not 5 stars is cuz the conclusion was a bit unsatisfying in the way it played out

This book was so funny I laughed out loud multiple times while reading. Love the story and the characters from beginning to end although there was a bit of a wobble there in between. The writing style was really fun and read fast. 

Though I would have liked to see more of Horst, I am glad that many side characters were fairly worked out. Although the little women that were there were fairly one-dimensional, it is forgiven. I would definitely recommend this book to people. 

Witty and fun Steampunk fantasy.

Let's start with the title character, Cabal himself. Not exactly likeable or relatable–but so much fun. First of all, he's very cold, superior, manipulative. As the plot takes off I wasn't actually sure if I wanted to root for this guy to win or see him fall on his face. Of course his nemesis was the devil himself, so as unpleasant and badass as Cabal may be, he's still the underdog in the competition. Howard absolutely brings this guy to life. I can imagine his appearance, voice, facial expressions. He carries himself with such gravity that when incidents occur to thwart him or even just humiliate him, it creates a lot of humor. For Discworld fans, (like myself) he brought to mind both Vetinari and Moist; an odd combination but it works.

I enjoyed the story too. Cabal had forfeited his soul to the Devil but finds he needs it back for professional rather than spiritual reasons. His deal with the devil–to get one hundred souls to replace his own–is off and running. Cabal goes after his goal mercilessly as you'd expect, and this is the point where I wondered if I really wanted to see him succeed. A plot that offers a little conflict in the reader is a fine thing. The other characters that balance Cabal (his brother, the retired police chief) give the book a moral center. Ironically, his undead vampire brother has a lot more warmth than Cabal. He at least didn't want Cabal to win at the expense of the innocent.

I had a little trouble getting oriented to the time the story took place. It felt sort of Victorian, but then the styles, technology, culture, and so on were more advanced. It's definitely a fantasy world where necromancers, demons, and so on exist. It has a pulp adventure type of vibe. Steampunk-pulp-fantasy is a good way to describe Cabal's world. (The follow-up book, Johannes Cabal, Detective solidifies the Steampunk vibe for me.)

There were a lot of influences present from other classic works. Lovecraft, Through the Looking Glass, Faust, and Something Wicked This Way Comes all come to mind along with a nice dose of Discworld-style humor. Not to say I don't think this is original; all those allusions and resonances of other stories made this even more enticing.

“Cabal dimly recalled that the musical genius who'd decided to put on Necronomicon: The Musical had got everything he deserved: money, fame, and torn to pieces by an invisible monster.”

A Faustian bargain AND a supernatural carnival? Should be a can't miss combination... but it's not.

Pretty good, but not nearly as funny as I was hoping for!

Probably wouldn't bother with the others in the series. Some interesting ideas and plot points though.

I read this book back in January - what a great way to kick off this year's reads. The storyline of necromancer Cabal trying to get what he wants by duping the devil is genius and hysterical. A bit like The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon, Cabal is a socially inept scientist. This doesn't necessarily make him a bad person...just a sort of misunderstood one.

I enjoyed the Johannes Cabal series as a whole. Dark carnivals in particular hold a soft spot in my heart, so this first book of “The Necromancer” kept me entertained. I laughed and had a fun time reading it, and the book has joined the ranks of my transient favourites. I would not recommend this series to everyone, however, because much of the humour is based around in-jokes and nods towards the culture. The Johannes Cabal series is stylistically similar to a tabletop campaign, with a protagonist-centric view and a focus on questing. Tabletop gamers and other geeks will probably find this right up their alley.

For the technical aspects, I must reiterate the in-crowd effect: the novel is built upon references to other literature, most notably the Cthulhu mythos. The story is self-contained, but the reading will be less fun if you aren't with the in-crowd and therefore miss the jokes.
For the characters, they are about as average as any player character–which is to say, driven and with enough complexity as to be interesting. Special mention must be made of Horst, though he receives less than his fair share of the spotlight in the novel. The plot appears contrived, but I found it simple enough to suspend disbelief and to enjoy the aesthetic.

While not a perfect book by any means– it lacked a certain weight to the action and character that made it seem like a series of scenes, rather than a fluid whole– it was overall highly enjoyable, and I recommend it enthusiastically to anyone looking for a light read with fantasy characters and good humor.

It can be very refreshing when the main character is a bit of a douchebag. The haughty, cold-hearted Johannes Cabal has sold his soul to the Devil in return for knowledge in necromancy. However, not having a soul, is throwing a wrench in occult studies, so he wagers with the Devil to get his soul back. He only has one year to sign over 100 souls to Hell or else forfeit his life and his soul forever. The Devil throws in a fiendish carnival to make things interesting. To call this book unusual seems fairly obvious by this point. But I ended up enjoying this tale very much. It had me snickering in places and as much as Johannes is a bit of an ass, he can be very amusing which is all that I ask of a character. Plus, he's aided by his charismatic brother, Horst, a vampire. I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up tale in which Johannes tries his hand at detective work.

An enjoyable read, but it's a book whose plot skips over huge parts of the story and whose titular protagonist is the second or third most interesting character in the book. The resolution is disappointedly contrived, but the final page or so leaves the opening for a sequel (Johannes Cabal the Detective) that has some promise.

An enjoyable read, but it's a book whose plot skips over huge parts of the story and whose titular protagonist is the second or third most interesting character in the book. The resolution is disappointedly contrived, but the final page or so leaves the opening for a sequel (Johannes Cabal the Detective) that has some promise.