The Tower of Zhaal

Cthulhu Armageddon, Book 2

De: C. T. Phipps

Narrado por: Jeffrey Kafer

It has been a year since John Henry Booth's exile from New America and the fall of the Black Cathedral. Cursed with a slow transformation into a monster, he has begun a doomed relationship with fellow escapee Mercury Halsey as they seek some way to arrest his transformation.

Dubious hope arrives in the form of the University, the deranged scientists and cultists descended from the staff of Miskatonic University. Except their offer of help comes at a price. Having sold themselves to ancient aliens called the Yith, they wish John and Mercury to join a group of rogues in hunting down a wayward member of their faculty: a man who intends to release the last of the sleeping Great Old Ones on an already ravaged planet. If they're telling the truth, John and Mercury will be heroes. If.

The Tower of Zhaal is the second novel of the Cthulhu Armageddon series, a post-apocalyptic continuation of H.P. Lovecraft's popular Cthulhu Mythos.

©2017 Charles Phipps (P)2017 David N. Wilson

A Strong Follow Up to Cthulhu Armageddon

Up front, I was given an audiobook copy by CT Phipps for an honest review
 
The follow-up novel to Cthulhu Armageddon, Tower of Zhaal, greatly expands on an already impressive world building. 
John Henry Booth (JHB), the protagonist from book one, is continuing his adventures thought the apocalyptic cosmic-horror hellscape roughly a year later, following the events of book one. 
 
JHB and Mercury have been kidnapped by a secretive society who represent a surviving academy of mind and science. Led by a Yithian being, the academy tasks JHB and Mercury to team up with a rag-tag band of badasses to go in search for an academy outcast who is seeking to find the titular Tower of Zhaal and release a cosmic horror. Along the way, JHB comes to grips with the monstrous presence growing inside him while simultaneously dealing with the elder god Nyerlathotep whispering in his ear the whole time.
 
Still with me so far? If you’ve read book one, then all of this should be making sense. If not, I highly recommend picking up book one first and giving it a read. 
 
Naturally the team does as teams do in these types of stories and suffers through attacks, murderous hordes, ghouls, genocide and pain to accomplish their mission. 
 
Now, I did have an issue or two with the story and its structure. We are introduced to several supporting characters who are very surface level and despite CT’s hard work, some of them are nothing more than filler. As well, the forward momentum of the story sometimes slows, or halts, for world building. As well, events of the missing year between book 1 and 2 play heavily, and you as the reader must march onward. Lastly, the final conflict I felt was a touch too short. 
 
Now, if you’re a fan of the Cthulhu mythos, or just a rough and tumble type who enjoys horror and/or films like Seven Samurai, Magnificent Seven, the Dirty Dozen, or the recent Rogue One, then you’ll have no problem with this story. 
 
In summation, I like it. Sadly, I didn’t like it as much as I did the first novel, but Tower of Zhaal IS a strong follow-up to Cthulhu Armageddon and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of CT’s writing. 

When you thought things could not get worse...

The second volume of this series happens some time after the end of the first book. It builds on the Cthulhu Armageddon world adding more action and higher stakes to the mix.

This book also takes us to some of the most iconic locales in Lovecraft's work: Arkham (including the Miskatonic University) and Insmouth. The world building is very solid and it was very interesting to see how Mr. Phipps imagined life in these places after the Old Ones took over.

I also enjoyed the new characters that were introduced in the story and how they interacted with the survivors from the events in the Black Cathedral. And of course I am a big fan of the West Boys!

One of my favorite things from this book is how Booth reacts to what is happening to him and around him. Listening to his thoughts is very enlightening and makes you think about how his morals work in that world that is doomed.

The book is full of struggles and when you thought things could not get worse... something else happens that takes to even higher stakes up to the epic final confrontation. Trust me, you don't want to miss it.

I liked this book more than the first one on the series and I am eager to enjoy the last one.

Better and Better!

I was glad that I had this one to listen to after the first ended. Of course, it's a stand alone book and felt very organic. But I wanted more from this world. Glad CT Phipps delivered with this, I also believe there's a third coming sometime soon. :)

I am not very up with Cthulhu and their myths and legends, of course, this just made me want to dig into this very weird and terrifying world.

The Tower of Zhaal kicks off with just as much action as the first. Where Booth and Mercury are kidnapped and taken to save the world. A Very weird way of asking, but I can also see why the society might need to do it this way.

What I really enjoyed about this, was that even though we thought Booth and Mercury couldn't get more involved, the character development around these two was still exemplary. So deep and emotional that I felt for their relationship as odd as it was, and as loving as it seemed.

I still think every woman Booth comes across is one he's been in love with at some point, and the re-introduction of his wife made this much more interesting. So many things to go wrong, so much to lose.

This book will defo have you on the edge of your seat, high action, high horror. Booth changes a lot, not just physically as he embraces the person he really is, or the alien that he is, but also on a mental level. And I really liked this about him. There was a great strength in him and it showed in his decision and of course, some non-decision as life just seemed to roll on around him.

I admit getting to know these characters made a better impact on me storywise, it flowed on from the first, kept me hanging and engage, and emotionally invested. The monsters were terrifying, the world so detailed I thought I was there...

When's the next one out! I'm having a book hangover... Although I am starting on the super villainy books, it won't be the same. : (

Great, great job. Thank you for the entertainment guys!

Even better the tge first one

Story: Perfect
Narration :Awsome

This story had more depth and world building than the first one. I can't wait to see what book three will bring.

Wow, now THAT was an experience!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I didn't read, or listen to, the first book. So, it was hard to get into this book at first. However, it didn't take long to get drawn deeply into it. This book is equally fascinating and disturbing. I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely seek our more in this series.

The narrator was also really good. He had a gritty and interesting voice that made the story gripping and fun.

Buckle Your Seatbelts, This Is Action Packed

I don't know why I didn't see a sequel coming from the first book, but I'm really glad that Phipps wrote one. The benefit of a sequel is that you've already had time to explain out certain characters and their characteristics, but it also allows you to explain the world a little bit allowing you to jump right into the continuation of a story.

Well, Phipps did that for sure. I thought that Cthulhu Armageddon was non-stop action. I would be wrong compared to Tower of Zhaal. Holy cow, I need to catch my breath from this one. Another thing that I really enjoyed was the addition of new characters. Phipps was able to weave new people into the story without them feeling like complete outsiders.

The story itself from the first book wasn't normally my cup of tea, but darn it did I still enjoy it. The Tower of Zhaal was the same way. I went into it with an open mind and having read the first book. I wasn't sure what was going to happen in this book, but I was bucked up for the ride. I'm glad that I was buckled up though because this one too me for a ride.

Anytime you can get the amazing Jeffrey Kafer to narrator your books, you already have an edge up on the competition. But when you combine Kafer's great narration of this book with Phipps great writing you have a winner.

The Tower of Zhaal was even more enjoyable than Cthulhu Armageddon and took me on a roller coaster ride that I wasn't sure I was coming back from. a

I was given a free copy of this audiobook, it has not affected my review in any way.

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The Man with the Teratoid Arm

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
This was a great story. I actually had to revisit some old Lovecraft and listen to this again to get the full depth of the novel. The narration was great, to have to pronounce all these crazy words must be hard. If you were my friend and liked the Lovecraft mythos, I would recommend this to you.

WOW!

I love the Cthulu mythos and this is a GREAT series that expands on it. I love the diverse characters and love the protagonist and how this book and the first don't skimp on the beautiful horrors of this universe. I suggest you evolve to something more than human, enjoy battle and breed your own immortal species(only immortal until you are not!)!

No sequel blues here

Any additional comments?

I love this action-packed follow-up to Cthulhu Armageddon. I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom for my unbiased review.

Great sequel to the Cthulhu Armageddon Series

John Henry Booth is one bad A$$ Futuristic Cowboy, with way too many problems on his hands. First he can't fully trust anyone, his current girlfriend is scared of him, his former best friend tried to kill him, his ex wife is both crazy and a super-genius, his body is changing, and oh yeah Demigods, cultists, demons and undead hordes are attacking and killing everyone around him. Non stop action with a great story and performance from the Author (C.T Phipps) and Narrator (Jeffrey Kafer).