The Starry Wisdom : A Tribute to H P Lovecraft

Rating:
Summary: A Bleary Ineptness
Review: A book consisting largely of senseless, desultory, inept prurience. Save for Burroughs and Ballard, the editors presume much in claiming for these nobodies a place approaching the original Lovecraft's style and wit. No Bloch or Clark Ashton Smith here, these are all lurid, incontinent emulators of weird fiction, and undeserving of that rubric. What's curious is that Lovecraft influenced many a great author, from Michel Houellebecq to Will Self. Why be laden with posers and third-raters? I returned this book with in 24hrs. or receiving it. Buyer be warned.

Rating:
Summary: Unpleasant and disappointing
Review: This anthology, overall, is IMHO quite horrible. There are so many disgusting sexual references and appearances of excrement that one wonders if it was a requirement for the stories' acceptance for the book... In particular, "Walpurgisnachtmusik" brings to mind the ludicrous over-use of the [f word] in the first 10 minutes of Tarantino's "From Dusk Till Dawn."

The ONLY reason I don't condemn it entirely is that there ARE a few good things in here. Most notable is Coulthart's graphical adaptation of "The Call of Cthulhu," an excellent adaptation indeed. Some others stand out- Lumley's "The Night Sea-Maid Went Down" (a reprint, admittedly), Conway's "Black Static" (just ignore the unpleasantness at either end), Webb's "The Sound of a Door Opening," Moore's "The Courtyard" (again, dodge the few unpleasant bits, which seem especially superfluous here), and Mitchell's "Ward 23." Campbell's "Potential" is tolerably good, as well.

In short, if you can buy this book cheap, it's probably worth it; otherwise, give it a pass until you CAN find it cheap. If nothing else, buy it for the Coulthart segment, the one part that Lovecraft might have truly considered a tribute...

Rating:
Summary: When the Stars Smile Back
Review: Within the confines of Lovecraftian tributes there are sometimes successes that combine elements of the fantastical with the bizarre, mixed results that couple the failings of one author with the successes of another, or - in the most rare instances - there are failures that can be found utterly without merit. These are the wonderful worlds that we throw ourselves into whenever purchasing a set of names attributed to a larger creator, and its something I normally fear because I've touched the eye of the proverbial oven one too many times. Still, within The Starry Wisdom, you have something of the middle man of the bunch, giving you pieces of the lore that are actually well-written and concise, as well as pieces that have no redeeming qualities, however. Unfortunately that is the lifeblood of many collected pieces, however, and everything has to be taken as such because of this. Happily, though, I have to say that there are some things in the book that I wouldn't want to be without.

Of all the stories within the chronicled tales here, there is an artistic adaptation of Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu done by John Coulthart that is immaculately done. The quality of the work is fantastic and captures the visions within the madness so very well. Few things merit praise as much as this does, and it truly makes the book worth buying by itself. Still, there are other noteable contributions that add to this as well, including a little Robert M. Price (A Thousand Young), some Brian Lumley (The Night Sea-Maid Went Down), David Conway (Black Static), Ramsey Campbell (Potential), William S. Burroughs (Wind Die, You Die, We Die) and a little Allan Moore (The Courtyard). There are also pieces from Grant Morrison (Lovecraft in Heaven), James Havoc and Mike Philbin (Third Eye Butterfly), Henry Wessel (From This Swamp), JG Ballad (Prisoner of the Coral Deep), Dan Kellet (Red Mass), Simon Whitechapel (Walpurgisnachtmusik), DF Lewis (Meltdown), John Beal (Beyond Reflection), CG Brandrick and DM Mitchell (The Exquisite Corpse), Micheal Gira (Extracted From the Mouth of the Consumer, Rotting Pig), Adele Olivia Glawell (Hypothetical Materfamalias), Don Webb (The Sound of a Door Opening), Rick Grimes (Pills Fro Miss Betsy), Peter Smith (The Dreamers in Darkness), Stephen Sennitt (Nails), and DM Mitchell (Ward)that can be hit-or-miss depending on what you demand from your authors. Many of these titles have come and gone through various books in the past, some more than others, and there are many that I really didn't like in the set. Still, the illustrated portion of the book was done in ways that made it seems so wondrously worth obtaining and I'm glad I put it into my collection because of it.

For fans of HP Lovecraft's works, then you might want to look into these titles - provided that you don't own them already. I would also suggest picking it up because of the reason I listed before, noting that the illustrated portions of the book are something done in the most commendable of ways. Even if you aren't a fan of Lovecraft but you love some of the things doe with his ideas, then this would be worth at least looking into because of the tendrils making sweet music in the background of nightmarish dreams. To a point, depending on your ownership already, it comes recommended.