Johannes Cabal The Necromancer

By: Jonathan L. Howard

Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Johannes Cabal, a brilliant scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed in heart and soul with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not soul.... He hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now, tormented by a dark secret, he travels to the fiery pits of Hell to retrieve it. Satan, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager: Johannes has one year to persuade 100 people to sign over their souls, or he will be damned forever.

To make the bet even more interesting, Satan throws in that diabolical engine of deceit, seduction, and corruption known as a “traveling circus” to aid in the evil bidding. What better place exists to rob poor sad saps of their souls than the traveling carnivals historically run by hucksters and legendary con men?

With little time to lose, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire, to be the carnival’s barker. On the road through the pastoral English countryside, this team of reprobates wields their black magic with masterful ease, resulting in mayhem at every turn.

©2009 Jonathan L. Howard (P)2009 Random House

Excellent narrator, some issues with the plot

The narrator is really excellent, though he does occasionally stumble. He's got a pleasant singing voice (though he doesn't overestimate how pleasant, which is a plus), and good about doing different voices for characters - it's always really easy to tell who's talking. He really sells the book's humor, too, and how he delivers dialogue really spices up several scenes.

(mild)SPOILERS



I was 100% with Howard until the last hour-ish of the book. I felt like the ending was sort of slapdash, like he had to break characterization to make the end happen like it did. As far as character redemptions go, it was not only half-assed, but supremely unnecessary to the story and character.

That said, the rest of the book makes it worth it, in my opinion. Howard has a side-spliting sense of humor that goes from slap-stick to jokes about mildly obscure artistic movements from the mid 20th century at the drop of a hat, and his similes are to die for. In any case, he was funny enough that I'm planning on continuing the series, lackluster ending or no.

Humourously creative and darkly entertaining.

I greatly enjoyed this listen and have since added his second book to my collection. The narrator give life to the well-written characters and the situations and dialogue kept me hooked from open to close. If you like a little dark British humor and humorous social studies, I highly recommend. Those that gave this a low mark obviously didn't know what type of book this was or were closed minded to characters making wagers with a sarcastic devil and the reanimation of the dead to create light-hearted carnival workers.

Some good writing, but it all falls apart

I believe this book started as a series of well-written passages, but sadly when pushed together, there are gaps. The first half of the book is quite funny, and for the most part, enjoyable. but there are flaws: inconsistent character motivation, lack of a real villain, and the plot completely falls apart by the middle of the book. it's a shame really, because there are some really wonderful sections. Also a fantastic performance by the narrator.

A Hellish fun read!

I came across this book on Audible and never heard of it or the author. Decided to give it a go and loved it. Jonathan L. Howard created a fantastic world dark, strange, and comical. Best way for me to describe this is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy takes a trip to Hell. If you like the style of writing of Douglas Adams then Johannes Cabal The Necromancer will give you a good laugh. In this story Johannes Cabal the Necromancer waltzes through the gates of Hell like he is a regular and wants to speak to the Devil. Why? To get his soul back of course. The Devil bored with his usual duties takes Johannes up on the wager to collect 100 souls in a certain time frame. Question is what would you do or how far would you go to get your soul back? With a Necromancer and the Devil and his Minions involved this definitely will prove to be an interesting wager indeed!

The world building was fun and the Characters were good as well, but although I loved the book, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, I feel some parts lost me or could have been a little more descriptive and I found myself rereading to understand what was happening. I didn't really connect well with the characters as I would have liked although I did enjoy their personalities. If you read this book please read it to the end as it does have a lot of enjoyable moments throughout the book and the ending is fantastic. All in all a very fun read with a lot of laughter in it.

Christopher Cazenove who narrates Johannes Cabal The Necromancer also does a fantastic job bringing the book and characters to life. His voice is easy to listen to and he even shows us his singing voice in a part of the book which I found myself bobbing my head to.

entrertaing

was an okay story The narration was very good. so overall not too bad. read up good

Unique story

The narrator, Christopher, is amazing. He brings everyone to life without giving them over the top voices and I enjoyed listening to him.
The story is pretty unique from what I've read/heard elsewhere, winning his soul back from Satan with a carnival?? Yes.

Clever and imaginative

Loved it. Imaginative, descriptive, and something different. Diverse characters and delicious villains. Loved the dynamic between Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. Very well done.

A great beginning!

Any additional comments?

I first read this book in paperback on the recommendation of a friend. Since then I have devoured every Cabal book as soon as they came out. I wanted to re-read this one before starting on Fall of the House of Cabal, so I decided to get the audio book. Once again I absolutely love this book and Cabal himself, especially the beginning of this book. The wit and satire make this a great read, and the perfect beginning to the entire Cabal series.

Steampunk does Necromancy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is completely outside of my 'normal', which is a good thing - Tired of the same old thing? Take a ride on a demon train - with a carnival from Hell.

Who was your favorite character and why?

All of the characters were very different in their own right - I really can't choose at this point.

What does Christopher Cazenove bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think his way of invoking irony, sarcasm and humor in his voice really adds to the story

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

By the time you cut this down for a movie - most of the interesting stuff would be on the floor

Any additional comments?

I hope Cabal will really develop and become a new 'classic' in the 'classic detective' genre

Crazy ride frim the start!

Story is fun, dark comedy and silliness. I loved it. Wpuld recommend this definitely. Enjoy!