Image of the Beast/Blown: An Exorcism

Rating:
Summary: Must be read to be believed
Review: An underground classic, a melding of sci-fi and erotica, this book is like no other you'll ever read. I read it 20 years ago, lent my second hand copy to someone, and never saw it again. Not for children, prudes, or the squeemish. If you think you've read it all, read this. You'll never forget it.

Rating:
Summary: Only Philip Jose Farmer could have written this.
Review: No! This is not new fiction, rather tis an old tome written like no one else could have written it. I love Farmer and have read this duo (more a novel followed by a novella) at least four times. As with so many of Farmer's works, there are plots within the plot. You will discover many truths (at least as defined by Farmer) as you read. Among them: where ghosts come from, how to rape a werewolf, the importance of looking a gift whore in the mouth, and the real story of the holy grail. The sex is truly occult kink at its best (or worst) and mind blowing to say the least. Mr. Farmer's main character is very well written. Some of the side players are weak and a few of them are so weak as to not support their existance in the storyline. My only complaint is that Philip did not see fit to carry on this series. It could have been as good as his World of Tiers novels. If you are an adult who likes a little purple in your life, please read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Only Philip Jose Farmer could have written this.
Review: No! This is not new fiction, rather tis an old tome written like no one else could have written it. I love Farmer and have read this duo (more a novel followed by a novella) at least four times. As with so many of Farmer's works, there are plots within the plot. You will discover many truths (at least as defined by Farmer) as you read. Among them: where ghosts come from, how to rape a werewolf, the importance of looking a gift whore in the mouth, and the real story of the holy grail. The sex is truly occult kink at its best (or worst) and mind blowing to say the least. Mr. Farmer's main character is very well written. Some of the side players are weak and a few of them are so weak as to not support their existance in the storyline. My only complaint is that Philip did not see fit to carry on this series. It could have been as good as his World of Tiers novels. If you are an adult who likes a little purple in your life, please read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Bizarre Mix of Genres along with the Unsafest Sex Ever
Review: Perhaps no published writer has had more fun crisscrossing different genres than Phil Farmer. In this particular volume, he puts a science-fiction overlay on some very traditional gothic horror themes, in the context of a classic detective novel, but don't go thinking you've seen this before. Forget that Farmer's explanations of lycanthrope and vampirism are much further out than anything you've heard previously, because that's not even the tip of the iceberg. What really sets this book apart from the crowd is the infusion of bizarre (often inhuman) sexuality that goes well beyond anything in the annals of science fiction. This isn't just the obligatory sex scene to make a weak book marketable - the wild, sadistic, and often scary sex is almost the main thrust of the book.

Harold Childe isn't exactly the typical hard-boiled private investigator who is so essential to the detective genre, although he's pretty close. But the videotape of his partner's murder is anything but typical, and when he fights through the acid-smog of L.A. to the mansion of a rich eccentric, the reader quickly becomes aware that this is not your father's detective novel. Fans already know that Farmer has a real gift for telling action tales, but how many suspected he was capable of dreaming up such twisted sexual fantasies - many of them terrifying, many of them disgusting, and all of them completely over the top?

The main novel in this book, Image of the Beast, is pretty powerful stuff - a brutal murder, a cynical detective, a misery-laden city, a haunted mansion, extra-terrestrials, deviant sexual behavior - something for everyone, really. By itself, it might rate four stars for sheer audacity if only it had a legitimate ending. Sadly, this story has more loose ends than a shag carpet, and the sequel, originally published as the longish short story "Blown", is just plain silly. Farmer gets away from slam/bang action and the detective format, and starts bringing in references to Byron and Joan of Arc, all to no real purpose.

The three star rating reflects the fact that this book is so unlike anything else this reviewer has ever read, that one might be willing to overlook some of its obvious flaws just on the basis of originality, or perhaps more accurately, audacity. The prudish, the squeamish, and the conventionally logical will probably not like this book at all. Recommended only for adult genre fans who aren't afraid to step through a twisted looking glass.

Rating:
Summary: A Bizarre Mix of Genres along with the Unsafest Sex Ever
Review: Perhaps no published writer has had more fun crisscrossing different genres than Phil Farmer. In this particular volume, he puts a science-fiction overlay on some very traditional gothic horror themes, in the context of a classic detective novel, but don't go thinking you've seen this before. Forget that Farmer's explanations of lycanthrope and vampirism are much further out than anything you've heard previously, because that's not even the tip of the iceberg. What really sets this book apart from the crowd is the infusion of bizarre (often inhuman) sexuality that goes well beyond anything in the annals of science fiction. This isn't just the obligatory sex scene to make a weak book marketable - the wild, sadistic, and often scary sex is almost the main thrust of the book.

Harold Childe isn't exactly the typical hard-boiled private investigator who is so essential to the detective genre, although he's pretty close. But the videotape of his partner's murder is anything but typical, and when he fights through the acid-smog of L.A. to the mansion of a rich eccentric, the reader quickly becomes aware that this is not your father's detective novel. Fans already know that Farmer has a real gift for telling action tales, but how many suspected he was capable of dreaming up such twisted sexual fantasies - many of them terrifying, many of them disgusting, and all of them completely over the top?

The main novel in this book, Image of the Beast, is pretty powerful stuff - a brutal murder, a cynical detective, a misery-laden city, a haunted mansion, extra-terrestrials, deviant sexual behavior - something for everyone, really. By itself, it might rate four stars for sheer audacity if only it had a legitimate ending. Sadly, this story has more loose ends than a shag carpet, and the sequel, originally published as the longish short story "Blown", is just plain silly. Farmer gets away from slam/bang action and the detective format, and starts bringing in references to Byron and Joan of Arc, all to no real purpose.

The three star rating reflects the fact that this book is so unlike anything else this reviewer has ever read, that one might be willing to overlook some of its obvious flaws just on the basis of originality, or perhaps more accurately, audacity. The prudish, the squeamish, and the conventionally logical will probably not like this book at all. Recommended only for adult genre fans who aren't afraid to step through a twisted looking glass.

Rating:
Summary: A Out Dated Book By Today's Standards
Review: The book is a little strange and the language is dated (cira 1960's - 1970's).
The story is about takes place sometime in the future, but never fully explains when in the future it takes place in. The story could take place in the 1980's or 2000's, the author never makes it clear to the reader. The sex is extremely softcore and with some references to homosexual acts, the story moves along at a semi-fast clip.
The charaters in the story are a strange assortment of good, bad and fence sitters
IF you can ignore the outdated langage and descriptions and don't mind some extremely (by today's standards) PG rated sex acts, then this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: An Apocalyptic Nightmare
Review: WOW!! This is a far-out book, to say the least! Philip Jose Farmer, the best-selling author of the Riverworld series, and winner of 3 Hugo awards for his unique and creative Science Fiction novels, has written an apocalyptic nightmare of a novel with "The Image Of The Beast: An Exorcism" and "Blown," the sequel. Both books, included in this one volume, were originally released 1968 by the Essex House in California, during the days of flower power, hippies and alternative lifestyles. It swiftly became an underground classic. This is not a novel for the faint of heart. Some readers may find it shocking - others, like myself, will think it "campy" and laugh at many of the characters and images. While reading this book I imagined Robert Crumb, creator of the underground Crumb Comics, (remember him?), illustrating a sci-fi comic book, filled with grotesque, malevolent characters, i.e., aliens, ghosts, witches, a satanic child-killer, werewolves, and a chilling snake woman in a tale which gives new meaning to gothic horror, with lots of kinky sex and fetishes thrown in. For those of you who do not remember Crumb, his work has been described as "...barreling out of his acid-drenched id. Basic desires, perversions, and blinding rage..." are what he depicts. Well, that's Crumb and that is "The Image of the Beast."

The storyline is typical enough. It is about a private detective searching for his partner's murderers. All similarities to other novels end here. P.I. Herald Childe views a snuff movie, starring his partner, who is so brutally murdered on screen that even hardened Investigator Childe takes some time-out to hurl. Childe, is driven into smog-ridden LA to pursue the killers. The smog is so bad the air has taken on greenish, foggy overtones and people need gas masks when they go out into the poisonous environment. Then a second film turns up at police headquarters, graphically portraying another murder. Various clues lead Childe to a horrific gothic mansion in the hills above LA, belonging to Baron Igescu, originally from Transylvania. Hmmmm. Here we meet the supernatural beings that make the Alien look like a kitty cat.

Among the topics Childe discusses with Igescu on this first visit, is the concept that an infinite number of universes may occupy the same space. "They can do this because they are all polarized or at right angels to each other....thus it is possible for more than one cosmos to fill the same space." The Baron speculates that there might be "walls between universes with gates or breaks in them" and that an occasional dweller of one universe might go into another. The plot thickens.

I borrowed this book from a dear, but weird friend. I liked it initially - perhaps "like" is not the word. Anyway, I was initially absorbed. About halfway through the plot weakens, and at last comes to a whimper of a conclusion.

"Blown" which follows "The Image of the Beast" is a continuation of the same terrifying fantasy world dragged out of the darkest depth of someone's unconscious mind. Mr. Farmer's? I am giving the novel 3 stars because the writing is excellent and the plot and characters are certainly original. Hard-core gothic sci-fi fans might enjoy this.
JANA