Blood Brothers

This second volume of two horror novels--part of a cycle published for the first time in England nearly 20 years ago-- should prove a welcome sequel to readers of Titus Crow: Volume One (Forecasts, Nov. 11, 1996). In this double-header, Lumley again follows psychic sleuth Titus Crow and his monster-mashing cronies in their adventures of love and time travel. In contrast to the first volume, this work is more heroic fantasy than horror. The Clock of Dreams revisits the landscape of H.P. Lovecraft's Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, plotting a battle in which Henri-Laurent de Marigny, second-in-command to Crow, uses a magical grandfather clock to rescue the boss and his beloved Tiania from the clutches of the abominable Cthulhu. In Spawn of the Winds, Crow's clone, Hank Silberhutte, gets banished to the mystical land of Borea, where he woos the Woman of the Winds and encourages her to rebel against her father. Both novels are patchworks of gothic horror, space opera and lost-race fantasies. Lumley's exuberant portrayal of petty gods who meet their match in ingenious mortals has the charm of a J.M. Barrie Lost Boys fantasy for adults. Seeds of the vivid cosmic layers that so distinguish Lumley's Necroscope series flourish in this collection, and loyal fans will surely admire their flowering. (July) FYI: In August, Lumley will be guest of honor at NecronomiCon, a Lovecraft-oriented fantasy convention.