The Weird Company

The Secret History of H. P. Lovecraft’s Twentieth Century

By: Peter Rawlik

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Shoggoths attack in this adrenaline-pumping novel set in the world of H. P. Lovecraft, where the horrors of the cosmos know no limits.… It was in a way humanoid, as it stood on two legs and possessed two arms that ended in delicate digits that I would dare to call hands. Its skin was a pale blue, like the eggs of a robin, and curiously dry looking. The head was massive with a huge bulbous cranium, a large lipless mouth, and three blood red eyes that stared out at the world with nothing but hate. When it opened its mouth to speak it issued forth the most horrendous of sounds, something empty and hollow, like the wind blowing through a dead tree, and it made me cringe to hear it.… The story of Dr. Hartwell (Reanimators) continues, but now he has company. Weird company: a witch, a changeling, a mad scientist, and a poet trapped in the form of a beast. These are not heroes but monsters… monsters to fight monsters. Their adventures rage across the globe, from the mountains and long-forgotten caves of Antarctica to the dimly lit backstreets of Innsmouth that still hold terrifying secrets. The unholy creatures released upon the world via the ill-fated Lake expedition to Antarctica must be stopped. And only the weird company stands in their way. Continuing in the fashion of Reanimators, The Weird Company finds Lovecraft expert Pete Rawlik taking some of the most well-known of H. P. Lovecraft’s creations and creating a true Frankenstein monster of a story - a tale more horrific than anything Lovecraft could have imagined…

©2014 Peter Rawlik (P)2014 Audible Inc.

For any mythos fan

I loved this story.it was so well done the pacing is great. Opens up new avenues in mythos fiction. It's like an HPL leauge of extraordinary gentlemen.

Fantastic story BUT painful narration in parts

What did you like best about The Weird Company? What did you like least?

Love the story. Too bad the narrator decided to use a painfully whiny and breathless "voice" to read the Robert Olmstead portions and too bad no one forced him to re-do those portions. As they are, they are too irritating to listen to, so I ended up missing a decent portion of the story. To sum up, great story, but Robert Olmstead's voice ruins the experience. Nice job, dummy.

Really better than expected. Great read!

What did you love best about The Weird Company?

I bought this while splurging on a bunch of Lovecraftian fiction. From the description, I expected it to be the low point of the group. When I got around to listening to it I found that it was enthralling. The premise, the character development, the story, and especially the narrative performance were all top notch. I especially enjoyed the detailed explanations of different aspects of Lovecraftian mythos that were previously only hinted at outside of role playing rule books.To say this is a book about shoggoths would be accurate yet it would exclude the entire pantheon which it touches upon. There's a lot to enjoy here and, at its heart, this is an adventure story in the spirit of the Dream Cycle. The only criticism I'd offer, and this is just nit picking, is that the ending was a little weak. However, the epilogue left me wishing I could download the next book in the series. I sincerely hope Rawlik continues to add to these stories and that Audible keeps distributing them.

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

No doubt, this guy is a pro. Some narrators simply read the text and some perform it. Wyman is a performer. Listen to the sample. Each character here is clearly defined and easily recognizable.

Better than REANIMATORS

This story is a follow up to Rawlik's REANIMATORS and like that book, the writings of HP Lovecraft serve as the settings in which the tales takes place. It is an improvement as well, in my opinion, as new angles to classic stories are revealed here to rectify certain fallacies that some believe exist within Lovecraft's original tales. The over all story of this book is more of an original tale too, and I found it quite engaging.

Great book. PHENOMENAL NARRATOR.

Where does The Weird Company rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's in there with Brian Sanderson's Steelheart and any of the Dresden books. Warning: There is heavy reference to the Cthulhu Mythos. I've been a fan most of my life, and I had to look stuff up! It's festooned with references and callbacks.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Weird Company?

The retelling of some of Lovecraft's most famous works. I had some Lovecraft nerd moments where I would get a reference and high five myself. Seriously.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but damn if I don't plan to. He is simply the best audiobook narrator I have ever heard. I had to look at the credits again just to make sure that there was only one narrator. Oliver Wyman has got the acting chops to make this seem like a movie. He gets the candor and cadence just right on the characters. I mean, wow. I will seek audiobooks that are narrated by him just for HIM.

If you could take any character from The Weird Company out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Probably Chandra Putra. I'm not going to spoil anything, but the man has seen his share of crazy.

Any additional comments?

Peter Rawlik delights with a "fill in the blanks" book that takes place in Lovecraft's carefully constructed, but often ambiguous Cthulhu mythos. It reads much like Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Imagine Weird Company is the Avengers to the League's X-men. Same ingredients, similar universe, all the fun. Come for the story and stay for Oliver Wyman's jaw dropping performance. This guy can ACT!

Too many monsters…

…not enough plot. Slightly entertaining, but definitely not worth a credit. Just read Lovecraft again. Narrator was awesome.

A very fun ride.

Rawlik's "Weird Company" is an excellent follow-up to his first book "Reanimators". Imagine a cross between Alan Moore's "A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and John Carpenter's "The Thing" and you have a good starting reference for what you're getting into. Rawlik does a seamless job of bringing together the people, places, and mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and tying them together in a way that creates a storyline that has both adventure and horror in equal parts. While I enjoyed "Reanimators" a great deal, I have to say that I think Rawlik really found a superior pace with "Weird Company". Excellent work.

A Great Story Masterfully Read!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Weird Company to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version, but considering the print version does not come with Oliver Wyman, I will go out on a limb and say yes.

What did you like best about this story?

Wyman!

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

The diversity of character voices, the dramatic pace, the perfectness of everything.....!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, I want more!

Any additional comments?

Wyman for President! :-)

So much fun and scary too

This (and Reanimators) are the sort of Lovecraftian novels I needed to get excited about horror again. After someone has read Lovecraft's greatest hits this book would be an excellent further read. Great voice acting too.

This Book = Fun!

This is not so much a cosmic horror novel as it is a sci-fi action adventure. I found it thoroughly entertaining. Rawlik explains the Mythos in a creative way by bringing together familiar characters for a unifying purpose. I enjoyed "Reanimators" more, as it aligned closer to HPL's traditional style, but The Weird Company was still a treat to listen to.