I really enjoyed this installment of the Arkham Horror series. I love how each author brings their individual flair to each book. Tim Pratt was no different. We got to visit the sea and meet a hungry god ready to return to Earth. The only gripe I had was the author used way more italics than necessary, but great book overall.


Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

It feels like it's been a long while since I was able to read an Arkham Horror novel (the start of the year was my last one), and it's so good to dive back into this universe; and The Ravening Deep is such an engaging, exciting, and tense novel that it stands out as one of the best examples of the series.

The start of The Ravening Deep focuses on a fisherman down on his luck, and at the end of his rope. Abel Davenport has lost his home, is living on a boat that's falling to pieces, and is barely making enough fishing to feed himself, with whatever little he does make doing towards drink. When a huge storm starts to roll in he's the only fisherman who heads out that day, part of him not caring if the storm ends up killing him. The sea is rough, and the ship goes down, and Abel loses consciousness. When he awakes he finds himself on a spur of rock jutting out of the middle of the ocean, a great stone spire in the middle of the sea. Finding a hidden cave on the spire, a cave bigger than it could possibly be, Abel discovers the remains of an altar, and a strange gemstone necklace. When Abel puts on the necklace he is assaulted with visions of a great, ancient power, one that needs his help to reawaken. Finding himself back on the mainland, Abel sets out to bring his new god back to life.

Jumping forward weeks, and now in the city or Arkham, we meet Diana, a young woman who moved to the city to open her own business. Trying to cater to the rich and powerful in Arkham, Diana joined the Silver Twilight Lodge, a well respected social club within the Arkham. However, Diana soon learns that the Lodge is the public face for a cult, one headed up by the powerful Carl Sanford, and Diana learns that there are dark things in the universe. Desperate to get out of the cult, and to bring it down, she encounters a drunk, dishevelled Abel in the alley behind her shop, and is ready to move him on when he mumbles something about the Lodge.

Once Abel sobers up he tells Diana about his story, about how the powers granted to him by his god allowed him to quite literally create a cult of his own, growing copies of himself; but that one of these copies called Cain, betrayed him. Learning that Cain is trying to access the Silver Twilight Lodge in hopes of stealing back a piece of his god, Abel and Diana agree to team up to stop him. It's then that they meet Ruby Standish, a daring female thief who's nearly killed by Cain's ever growing army of monstrous duplicate Arkhamites. Knowing that anyone could have been replaced, and that the fate of the world hangs in the balance, the three of them come up with a plan to try and stop Cain.

The Ravening Deep is part Lovecraftian cosmic horror, part crime caper, part cult thriller, and part Invasion of the Body Snatcher, and its utterly delightful in its execution. Tim Pratt does a wonderful job at weaving multiple narratives together, taking characters on separate paths and bringing them together in a way that not only feels believable, but creates new and exciting additions to the narrative. There are four main characters in the story, and each of them brings something new and interesting to the group.

Our first character, Abel, makes for an interesting figure, a man who'd given up on life and was ready to die who finds new purpose and meaning when he discovers an ancient power. But when we re-meet him in Arkham he's a drunk living in back alleys. His life fell apart a second time; but rather than give up, he gets inspired to fight against the dark forces that he's let loose on the world even if that likely means that he will die in the process.

Diana is an odd mirror for Abel, like him she got involved in a cult without knowing the full extent of what it was. Abel started his cult not really realising the evil of his god and what it would mean for the fate of the world, whilst Diana thought she was in a social club with some eccentric activities and a focus on history. When she's confronted with the true horror she's a part of she realises that she's been complicit in evil acts, and wants to try and make amends for it despite being wholly unequipped to do so. She's a kind and decent person who ended up making a few bad choices and is trying to make up for it. She's a kind of character that we rarely see in the Arkham Horror series, as we don't often see a cultist trying to make good.

Ruby, however, does feel a bit like characters we've seen in the series before. She's not the first female adventurer thief in the Arkham Horror line; the first book released (Wrath of N'Kai) featured a similar character in Countess Alessandra Zori. But despite being a recognisable archetype Ruby manages to feel different from the others that we've seen before. She has a sense of self preservation and greed that means whilst she does fall on the side of good she's not above skirting the line of bad if things require it. She's something of more in the grey than Abel and Diana, and her quick wits, her skills, and her ability to jump into action make her the most competent of the trio.

There is, however, another character we focus on, one who eventually comes to join the group in their fight against Cain and his cult. Carl Sanford. Sanford is an evil character. He knows that he's messing with dark powers, he's happy to make sacrifices to ancient powers, and he knows that he makes deals with monsters, but as long as it brings him power and wealth he doesn't care. He's cold, calculating, and puts his own interests first every single time. But thanks to the ever growing threat Cain presents he's forced to work alongside the real heroes of the book; and this is the best decision the book makes. Sanford should not be a hero, he shouldn't be working with the good guys, but he works so well as part of the team, and adds a lot of fun whenever he's with them. It takes the book from incredibly good to absolutely delightful to read.

Pratt has a lot of fun with the horror of the book too. The opening scenes with Abel finding the ancient church feel right out of Lovecrafts stories of discoveries of ancient civilisations and long dead religions. Cain's cults ability to replace and duplicate anyone means that both the heroes and the reader can never trust any character that comes along, and a simple scene like walking down the street becomes a tense moment as you're waiting for something bad to happen. And, there are also monsters. Ghouls, shoggoths, and monster men pop up here and there and add an extra dose of horror into the mix in wonderful ways.

The Ravening Deep is a incredibly well crafted story, one that draws you in super quickly and gets you interested in finding out what happens next. It's paced and structured in such a way that even the quieter moments feel tense and exciting, and there's always something new and exciting to discover. A masterclass in how to bring the game series to life.

Thank you to Aconyte Books for providing me with an advance review copy

The Ravening Deep was a thoroughly enjoyable and uncomplicated romp through Lovecraft's version of 1920s Americana. While Pratt wisely doesn't attempt to recapture Lovecraft's trademark brand of horror, he still manages to create some rather eerie and tense moments which complement the more adventurous tone of this story quite well.

Set in Arkham, we mainly follow the story of three people who have (more or less) inadvertently gotten themselves embroiled in a conspiracy to resurrect a long dead god and a new race of horrible starfish monsters. I was pleasantly surprised by how well fleshed out our protagonists were by the end and how invested I was for everyone to get their happy ending.

4.5 stars, I would certainly like to see more entries from Pratt in this series.

Can cultists still be heroes? In Arkham, sometimes the only ones who can fight eldritch monsters are the ones who summoned them in the first place. When dissolute fisherman Abel Davenport discovers an ancient temple in the deep ocean, he under the influence of a long dead god. In his attempts to restore the god’s cult, Abel unleashes a plague of twisted doppelgangers on Arkham. Horrified by the consequences, Davenport realizes that he alone cannot stop the monsters from resurrecting the Ancient One. Sometimes the only way to end one cult is to start another… Teaming up with redeemed cultist Diana Stanley and notorious thief Ruby Standish is the first step. The second is convincing Carl Sanford, the powerful leader of Arkham’s Silver Twilight Lodge, to join their cause. Together they might be the only hope of averting a cataclysmic eldritch invasion. A fun, fast read that grapples with the difficulty of choosing to stop doing wrong and starting to do right.

I've read every Arkham Horror book that has been put out, even the ones from before Acolyte was the publisher, and The Ravening Deep stands amongst the greats. Even when read through the lens of a horror and Lovecraft fan, this book does not disappoint!
The Ravening Deep follows three protagonists as they try to stop a cult from raising their God. This book is fantastically written and has a great number of callbacks to the Arkham Horror franchise as well as Lovecraft stories.
The Ravening Deep has made me a Tim Pratt fan for life.

While definitely eldritch horror, reading this felt like watching a game where the player gets to control their characters and make choices that may or may not pan out and they may not get the "good" ending after all is said and done. Adventurous and grotesque at the same time, this was an absolute blast to read. I adored the characters, my favorite is a toss up between Diana and Ruby, and I was pleasantly surprised that I even enjoyed Sanford's voice when I wasn't sure I would. A book I can't wait to add to my shelf.

“I must say, the healing properties of your amulet were oversold in your letter. You have not been healed – you’ve been transformed into the appetizer platter at a seafood restaurant.”

My thanks to Aconyte Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Ravening Deep’ by Tim Pratt.

It’s always a treat to read one of the pulp horror adventures of this Lovecraft-inspired series of historical mysteries that are aligned to Fantasy Flight Games popular Arkham Horror board game system. Each book in the series can be read as a standalone, though some share characters.

When his boat is wrecked in a storm, fisherman Abel Davenport finds an ancient temple in the deep ocean. There is a mysterious amulet, which never bodes well for the finder. Here it causes Abel to fall under the influence of a long dead god . He then dedicates himself to restoring the god’s cult and in the process unleashes a plague of twisted doppelgangers on Arkham.

Yet he is quickly horrified by the consequences and seeks to stop the resurrection of the Ancient One. He initially reaches out to Diana Stanley, a member of Arkham’s Silver Twilight Lodge, and notorious cat burglar, Ruby Standish. Diana suggests that their best plan is to convince the Lodge’s powerful leader, Carl Sanford, to join their cause and so avert a cataclysmic eldritch invasion.

‘The Ravening Deep’ definitely proved satisfying.
I am a big fan of Lovecraft-inspired fiction as well as novels that contain sea lore and nautical horror. I also have great confidence in the commissioning editors of the Arkham Horror series to select their authors carefully.

Tim Pratt is well established as a writer of fantasy and science fiction, and has written a number of stories inspired by Lovecraft. He also is familiar with the Arkham Horror game having played it “for ages”.

The horror elements are strong in places though never too much as the AH franchise aims for PG-13 in its fiction. Plus, throughout the cosmic and body horror is tempered by a liberal dose of wry humour.

Some of the characters do appear in the board game including Diana, Ruby, and the wickedly louche Carl Sanford.

Overall, I found ‘The Ravening Deep’ an excellent instalment in the Arkham Horror collection. Pratt certainly captured the ambiance of classic pulp fiction as well as period details for its 1920s setting. I certainly hope that he writes more for the series.

Another title in the Lovecraftian Arkham series from Aconyte - and once again, it follows paths that Lovecraft himself would never have approved of! In this case, it's sympathetic cultists and strong women.

We follow a variety of narratives here, from fisherman and plot instigator Abel Davenport, to businesswoman Diana Stanley and professional thief Ruby Standish. The three come together in pursuit of the most recent Arkham cult to attempt resurrection of their evil Old One god - but this time it's not quite that simple. This isn't the cult they should be looking for...

I loved the mix of traditional Lovecraftian secrecy and angst here being combined with out-and-out action. Who steals all those cursed antifacts, after all? Could it be a nimble lady cat-burglar working for an egotistical cult leader? And could that leader actually be surprisingly sympathetic when challenged by an even worse (or perhaps embarrassingly threatening) Great Old One?

We have fish/crab men, reproducing clones, double-crossing agents and daring rescues. The action pauses every so often for an Agatha Christie-like perusing of the facts, before zipping off again as our heroes race against the clock to save Arkham (whose residents seem mostly unaware of what's going on, as per usual).

The reader is carried along for the ride, never in the dark about what's happening as the plot threads intertwine. Sometimes it's a little frustrating to know exactly what's going on and where as the characters themselves gradually figure things out, but I did enjoy seeing the initially wicked Cult Master (who in my head is played by Charles Grey from 'The Devil Rides Out') prove himself as both a powerful and resourceful hero-adjacent.

A fun story, well-realised characters that I'd love to see again, and a worthy addition to this series of titles.

Introduction
I was given an e-ARC to review by Netgalley and Aconyte Books. Reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. I will always try to avoid spoilers in all reviews as well. #TheRaveningDeep #TimPratt #AconyteBooks #ArkhamHorror #Netgalley #ARCReview

Review
I have to say while I do enjoy the full line of Aconyte Books the Arkham Horror series is one of my favourites, most likely because I adore Horror and despite his problematic issues Lovecraftian cosmic horror. So when I can enjoy the Lovecraftian elements with less problems it makes it 110% better. In The Ravening Deep we meet Abel Devonport who is a dissolute fisherman until he finds an ancient temple deep in the ocean under the influence of a long dead god. Abel’s attempt to restore the god’s cult he unwitting unleashes a plague of twisted doppelgangers on Arkham. Davenport quickly realises that he alone can stop the monsters from resurrecting the Ancient One that has tricked him. But sometimes the only way to fight fire is with fire or one cult with another. Thus Abel teams up with redeemed cultist of the Silver Twilight Lodge Diana Stanley and the notorious thief Ruby Standish. Now they just need one more member, the powerful and illustrious leader of the Silver Twilight Lodge himself, Carl Sanford. It is only together they might stand a chance of stopping the eldritch invasion.

I have to say I adored Tim Pratt’s foray into Twilight Imperium so was excited to not only read something by him again but see how he handled Arkham and let me tell you he does not disappoint. From the very first page I was dragged back into the world of Arkham and despite the terrors of the Ancient Ones and secret societies I loved every minute. From the start you can tell two things that Pratt knows the source material but is going to make it into something totally unique and that you are going to have one hell of a ride. The writing style is beautiful in both is prose and tone. We get the bleak and dangerous vastness of the ocean and Ancient Ones and the eerie and shadowy secret society side of Arkham. On top of this we get characters that are fleshed out and that help drive the narrative. You instantly get dragged into the their world and plight. You understand their motives, desires and despair and it makes the novel that much more interesting because of it.

Of course with anything dealing with Ancient Ones and eldritch horrors you may think it may end up far-fetched. Well let me tell you Pratt weaves his story in such a way that within the world of Arkham Horror it seems completely real and plausible. As I already mentioned the world is brought to life so well that you never question if this could happen because it is and it’s happening subtly at first as well. This one has it all, the pulpy action you’d expect, chilling and uncanny horror, characters with ulterior motives and a completely rag tag group hopefully putting aside their differences long enough to save Arkham and perhaps the world. I honestly cannot recommend this one enough for fans of Arkham Horror but also fans of Lovecraftian horrors with no knowledge of the fan world or horror fans in general will love this one just as much.

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Alex wakes up the god of the deep and must resurrect him by finding his living piece. Then he realizes the depravity of this god and he will bring the end of the world. He meets up with a female cat burglar, and a dress shopkeeper who for their own reasons join him in stopping "the bad guys". The plot is so convoluted I could hardly say more.

This was fantastic. It admits it is camp and pulp and tries to recreate a penny dreadful atmosphere. Set in the 1920s the atmosphere and language are authentic. There are some (but not too many) contemporary references. I understood most of them. A great adventure full of derring-do and supernatural elements galore. Set in Lovecraft's Arkham City there are many references to his themes and having read all his short stories I revelled in the imagery. A ton of fun and the series will become a new guilty pleasure.

I enjoyed reading this thought provoking book. The Arkham Horror novel is written very well and you really feel like you know the characters. It had me on the edge of my seat while reading

Although horror is not normally my genre of choice, this Lovecraftian horror tale was very enjoyable with just the right amount of dread and a good cast of characters. I'm sure for fans of Lovecraftian horror this will be a gem worth reading and even for non fans it's a good entry point into that type of book in my opinion.

This story starts when Abel is saved from certain death by a forgotten god. The story then follows multiple POV's as our team of heroes go up against forgotten gods and mysterious cults with eerie supernatural powers.

The plot was certainly full of action around every corner which kept me engaged, the overall narrative arc isn't anything ground-breaking but the ride to get there was enjoyable with a few twists and turns along the way. I didn't ever feel bored and I did really enjoy the ending which felt surprising and inevitable at the same time.

The cast of heroes are likeable when they needed to be, particular standouts for me were Carl and Diana.. Are they the most deeply written characters? No, but they serve their purpose as heroes or villains of the piece with just enough depth to make us care about them. However I would have liked to have learned more about Ruby because I feel like we really didn't get a glimpse into her past the way we did for Abel or Diana for example. I will say though, I liked how proactive and smart the cast of characters (heroes and antagonists) were, routinely predicting and foiling each others moves and countermoves.

Overall is was an enjoyable read that toed a good balance between being eerie and creepy but not so horror focused that I (as a non horror fan) was turned off. It might be too tame for hardcore horror fans but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

A review of The Ravening Deep by Tim Pratt

cover by John Coulthart…

Thank you to Aconyte Publishing who provided a preview copy of this release for a review. Per Aconyte’s site…

“A nightmarish power unleashed from the depths infiltrates Arkham in this nautical-horror pulp adventure from the acclaimed Arkham Horror game world.

When dissolute fisherman Abel Davenport discovers an ancient temple in the deep ocean, he falls under the influence of a long-dead god. In his attempts to restore the god’s cult, Abel unleashes a plague of twisted doppelgangers on Arkham. Horrified by the consequences, Davenport realizes that he alone cannot stop the monsters from resurrecting the Ancient One.

Sometimes the only way to end one cult is to start another… Teaming up with redeemed cultist Diana Stanley and notorious thief Ruby Standish is the first step. The second is convincing Carl Sanford, the powerful leader of Arkham’s Silver Twilight Lodge, to join their cause. Together they might be the only hope of averting a cataclysmic eldritch invasion.”

Mr. Pratt, an author with over twenty released novels to his credit, has been producing work in the sci-fi field for over two decades. Although this is his first contribution to the Arkham Files universe, he has written all but one of the entries in Aconyte’s Twilight Imperium line. As the blurb implies, this novel presents us with four primary point-of-view characters, with each bringing something different to this battle against the mythos.

I suspect the main hook for many Arkham Files fans, that are not familiar with Mr. Pratt’s work already, will be the appearance of Diana Stanley, the redeemed cultist. Diana, who first appeared in the Arkham Files universe as part of 2006’s Dunwich Horror expansion, appears here for the first time in Aconyte’s take on the universe. However, Diana is a primary character in 2013’s “Feeders from Within” by Peter J Evans which was published directly by Fantasy Flight Games. That release was part of the universe that was soft rebooted with the release of the “Investigators of Arkham Horror” collection in 2017. The resulting absence of content, directly referencing Diana’s history, left Mr. Pratt with a wide field to work with and he has done an admiral job of weaving a backstory for Diana that feels authentic to the character and the setting. Diana’s reasoning for ending up in Arkham and her life as a small businesswoman in the 20s, as given by the author, provides relatable context for her actions, not only as they relate to “The Ravening Deep” but also for players to keep in mind while using Diana in future games.

The next big draw to fans of the IP is the inclusion of the Silver Twilight Lodge and Carl Sanford. This is Carl’s third appearance in Aconyte’s publishing, following Josh Reynold’s use of him in both Wrath of N’kai and Shadows of P’nath. The standout difference is Mr. Pratt’s use of Carl as a point of view character as opposed to the guest star. As presented here Carl is a man of remarkable talents and as the story expands, with the primary characters interacting more and more with each other, the presentation of Sanford becomes more and more bold. At no point during my read-through did I question whether the Carl Sanford, whom players have been interacting with for decades of gaming, would behave the way he did within this story. His choices and perspective fall in line with everything I’ve seen presented of the head of the Lodge and the enjoyment Mr. Pratt likely had crafting the inner monologue and actions of Carl is evident in the reading which left me smiling every time Carl appeared. In so doing Mr. Pratt again demonstrated his fantastic grasp of the IP he is working in. In this era of interconnected narratives presented in media, I would have enjoyed a reference to Carl’s actions in the other Aconyte novels, but it certainly doesn’t detract from the story happening on the page in any meaningful way.

Ruby Standish is the last preexisting member of the Arkham Files IP to appear in the story. Ruby started out in the IP as a thief ally you could earn via an encounter at the Silver Twilight Lodge in the second edition of the board game and up until now, I don’t think her art has been reused in the LCG or had her story developed in any other releases. As such Mr. Pratt deserves some kudos for pulling a deep cut and giving Ruby a wonderful debut in fiction. Mr. Pratt developed a great story hook for Ruby’s involvement in this novel via in-game reference. Intentional or otherwise, I assume Mr. Pratt knew what he was doing, Ruby’s backstory stems primarily from having successfully infiltrated the Silver Twilight Lodge in the past and the results of that job color her interactions with everyone else in this story. I feel it is worth pointing out to readers of the aforementioned Josh Reynold’s releases that both Ruby and the Contessa Alessandra Zorzi do share some overlap in terms of profession and process. I did find that when all was said and done in The Ravening Deep that although both ladies make their living as curriers of the arcane, they are at significantly different stages of their journey in their chosen profession, and that results in significantly different personalities to distinguish them as being able to operate within the same setting without stealing each other’s stories.

Mr. Pratt’s new character, Abel Davenport, falls into Aconyte’s tradition of their authors bringing a new investigator into the mythos. What I feel separates Abel from his classmates, Alessandra Zorzi, Andy Van Nortwick, Eliott Raslo, Betsy Baxter and Miranda Ventham, is his wide range of perspectives on the events he is involved in. Mr. Pratt does a great job of showing the mental state and personality of the failing fisherman as he is first exposed to the Mythos and then goes through a range of experiences, from cult leader to desperate exile. Abel’s personal need to atone for his actions drives him forward while giving him a unique take on the events as they unfold, which combines to provide an engaging new addition to the Arkham Files IP.

Those events, which make up the thrust of “The Ravening Deep”, are full of enjoyable twists as the four protagonists sort their way through an invasion of Arkham by horrible body-stealing starfish monsters bent on raising their long-banished master. Mr. Pratt paced out the story to provide plenty of revelations to engage the reader, more than one scene where you are uncertain that everyone present is who they say they are, and some top-tier action sequences. It is also worth noting that the villains of this novel are quirky and stand out as truly unique in the Arkham Files IP. When the story wraps up, the characters have all been affected in significant ways but not necessarily in the way that I was expecting. Plenty of interesting seeds are left for continued work and although The Ravening Deep is my first exposure to Mr. Pratt’s writing I truly hope he opts to return to Arkham soon as his aesthetic, timing, and dialogue are a great fit for the universe.

I hope you enjoyed this look at “The Ravening Deep”. If you would like more updates about the history of Arkham, its residents, and the events tied to the area please check out @arkhamhistorian on Twitter and bookmark this site for future updates. If you have any questions or wish to request specific content, please use this contact form.

Best regards

Dude in progress

Abel Davenport is increasingly strapped for cash. The fisherman used to have a nice sized crew and make good profits fishing. Now, however, his luck has turned around: he's lost his house and slowly had to lay off his crew leaving just himself to do the job of several men. When a massive storm is heading in, and all the other fishermen are packing it in, Abel goes out and straps himself down: he needs a good catch. As the storm hits he finds himself in an ancient temple out to sea where he discovers the an amulet belonging to a long-dead sea god known by many names: That Which When Divided, Multiples, The Seven-Pointed Star, The Great Divider, The Ravening Deep....Asterias.
As the new priest of this long forgotten cult, Abel unwittingly unleashes a plague of doppelgangers upon Arkham. Learning of the consequences of his actions, Abel realizes that he alone cannot stop the monsters from resurrecting the apocalyptic deity who will take over the world. Eventually teaming up with Diana Stanley (a playable character in the Arkham Files board games) a redeemed cultist from the Silver Twilight Lodge as well as the notorious cat burglar Ruby Standish, the trio face off against the coming wave of Asterias' cultists to try to save the world.

This is absolutely, hands down, my favorite Arkham Horror novel that I've read in a long time. I always enjoy these AH novels but this one completely slaps. The characters are all likeable and the horror, while mostly body horror, is real and uncomfortable. The lore that Pratt puts into the story in creating this new Ancient Old One was truly a stroke of genious. It feels like such a believable horrible Lovecraftian monster. I would LOVE to have this AOO added into the board game series as some special promos or something. As an avid Eldritch Horror player I think that would be super cool (Aconyte, use your influence on Fantasy Flight, please!). Seeing Diana working against the Silver Twilight Lodge is really cool and getting to witness the Magus of the Lodge Carl Sanford being shockingly badass with all of his magic etc. was a lot of fun. I wish more of these AH novels would lean into the fun magical parts of the Arkham Files lore. I would love Pratt to write more AH novels and will absolutely be checking out his other books.

I highly recommend this book and am really looking forward to publication day so I can buy a physical copy of this one for my shelves.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aconyte Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Tim Prats Ravening deep, is a fun nautical themed horror that will have you on the edge of your seat. The world itself is described in grat deatil and brings Arkham Horror to life. The eldritch plot felt fresh and interesting and it is the biggest selling point of this book. As I feel at times I was missing some information on the character Dian Stanley even though Tim did do a good job in her introduction of fleshing out her past, but there was something missing that maybe long time fans will understand. This book does however have a lot of interesting ideas and plot that newer fans will love, and vivid world building that fans of Arkham Horror will love.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Aconyte Books for providing me my FIRST ARC for an honest review.

3.5* rounded up. (A solid 7/10) A well written, thrilling Lovecraftian adventure you can whizz through in no time.

When Abel, a down-on-his-luck fisherman, stumbles upon an ancient temple in the Atlantic Ocean, he unwittingly sets in motion events that will lead to the reawakening of one of the Elder Gods and the end of the world. In order to redeem his mistakes, he teams up with a reformed cultist and a plucky thief, and together they attempt to avert the coming apocalypse.

I am a Lovecraft fan. Not a scholar by any stretch, but controversies aside, I enjoy the mythos, if often mystified by it. What we have here is a solid, easily accessible adventure blending the Cthulhu mythos themes and Fantasy Flight Games’ Arkham Horror LCG (Living Card Game).

I play and enjoy the Arkham LCGs and can easily see how this fits with that structure.

I have also read other non-Lovecraft Cthulhu works like John Langan’s The Fisherman and Peter Clines Threshold series, and never realised books based in the LCG universe existed. Something for me to explore further.

The characters are uncomplicated, but fun. Not hugely layered in detail, but fleshed out enough to make you care about them and understand their motivations. One character in particular turns out to be especially engaging and fun to read, and more of them in future instalments would be a blast.

The plot is easy to follow and full of action, intrigue and even a bit of gore. I like the technique Pratt uses to introduce the reader to events leading up to the present, using Dianne as our eyes and ears as the story unfolds, and Abel as the one to informs us. It felt very natural, unlike clunky flashbacks some novels use.

Once the Scooby-gang get together, the action begins to ramp up towards the final Good vs. Evil showdown.

There are some small heist features in this book, and as I was reading it I thought it would have made an excellent side plot if this heist aspect was more emphasised and integral to the overall story. Not having it didn’t detract from the story, but might have been an exiting way to push the page count over its short(ish) 289 pages, and add a tenseness that I felt was lacking.

My only (personal) disappointment is that there is no real depth to the mythos particular to this specific work. However, that is from the point of view of someone, like me, who knows the mythos. But perhaps it is this simplification that allows it to be more accessible and l, dare I say, enjoyable. The Cthulhu mythos can get very dense and ‘out-there’ to completely melt your brain. That’s not to say there aren’t some intriguing concepts here that will hurt your brain to think about as you chew them around; it just won’t make you close the book and say “I’ll need to recover a bit and come back to this later!”

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and will definitely be trying some others. One can only hope that reading this type of adventure leads readers to explore beyond the boundaries of these books to Lovecraft’s own work…if you dare. You have been warned!

…and play the game, it’s complex to learn, but awesome.

Desperation sent fisherman Able Davenport out into the teeth of a storm that kept every other boat in dock. A storm that should have killed him. Should have torn him apart as readily as his ship. But he was saved by a long dead god, a hungry god. Chosen though he may be, Able cannot be the high priest Asterias requires. Hunted by cultists, he will have to team up with a charming cat burglar, out to save her own skin, and an occultist out to escape the Silver Twilight Lodge, if he hopes to destroy the Ravening Deep before it is revived by his terrifying doppelganger and begins its feast.

Often Arkham Horror books feel more like adventure novels than horror novels, the threat is there but it feels like there is a sort of distance between what the protagonists are doing and the horror. A feeling like they cannot actually be touched by it in a meaningful way. That is not the case with The Ravening Deep. Tim Pratt plays nicely with the things that horrify his protagonists and focuses in on the tension of not being able to know if the person next to you is really the person you know. The visceral wrongness of Cain and the later comets as they slide further from humanity. Add in the bonus danger of going against the Silver Twilight Lodge and you get delightful layers of trouble for the protagonists to deal with as they go, plus that twist of adventure that keeps things moving.

I will admit that there is one layer of trouble that I kind of wish we had seen more of in the book. The whole lead up with Able and the cult of Asterias feels really short, like maybe a week or two at the most. And while there are reasons why Cain would still be after Able related to the cult, the feel that things went wrong for Able very quickly makes the bit in the blurb about him building this terrifying cult a little funny. Not exactly a complaint, but a source of amusement and a pretty big what if.

But that is kind of an off shoot of my enjoyment of the characters too. Able’s fear of Cain and the cult and just what Asterias expected of him was fantastic. Because of the way the fear sits in his chest, weighing him down as surly as an anchor, the point where Able decides that the thing to do is to follow Diana’s lead and fight back feels amazing. I like that this is a character who found himself so desperate to be safe from the things hunting him that he drank himself into oblivion, but that he is also the sort who will choose to face the monsters because he feels responsible for setting them loose. It is a nice bit of character work from Pratt.

That’s a quality that continues into the other characters in The Ravening Deep, they all seem sort of slotted in to face the thing that directly concerns them. Diana joined the Silver Twilight Lodge as a matter of social climbing to help her business grow, only to get far enough into it to discover the true horrors behind the façade. So, she becomes determined to see it taken down despite the fact that it might ruin her if she gets caught. Stopping the revival of Asterias is part of that, part of keeping the god’s secrets out of Carl Sanford’s hands. Ruby is helping because the comets attacked her, proving that they are dangerous, and she is the best hope of getting to the artifact before the cult does. The characters work so well here because all of them have their own motives for stopping Cain, their thing that is the priority just below saving mankind from a hungry god, and they work well enough together but also keep how very different each character’s priorities leading to this point are. They contrast nicely.

I really quite enjoyed The Ravening Deep, Pratt does a fantastic job of juggling his characters and the horrors they face. The story moves at a good clip with solid attention to tension and a really good sense of danger. I want to see more of his work, especially if he does more in the Arkham Horror setting. The Ravening Deep earns a five out of five from me.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I find that it is part of a series. If you like droll, mediocre horror then this is the book for you. Based very loosely on the master Lovecraft. The hype describes this book as adult horror but to me it reads more as YA. So disappointed, definitely not what I was expecting.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for allowing this.

I’ve read several Arkham Horror books and I think this might be my favourite!

The nautical setting was excellent, it worked so well with the Ravening Deep as the monster to overcome. The cult was so creepy and created a real sense of menace and not knowing who to trust.

The three protagonists come from very different backgrounds and it made a really interesting dynamic. Three completely different people coming together to fight a great evil. There were fascinating alliances throughout this book that really reinforced the scale of the evil they were facing.

I found this a riveting read and one I kept reading late into the night so I could finish it.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Aconyte Books for an advanced copy of this book of Echinodermata horror from the depths of the oceans, filled with dead gods, cults, murder and sacrifice.

To paraphrase a writer and poet from New England: The seas are lonely, dark and deep. Filled with dangers known and unknown. Rocks, reefs even orcas to rip open a ships belly, and send it deep under the waves. Even islands that suddenly appear, spits of land in the middle of the emptiest of seas, with towers covered in carvings, or nail marks from those who dragged inside. Where a dead god awaits the response to its summonings, planning to take over the world like some twisted Noah from Biblical myths, in creatures two, by twos, covering the world in its own image a dark star with many arms reaching everywhere. This it the world of The Ravening Deep: An Arkham Horror Novel by Hugo award-winning author Tim Pratt. Based on the board game Arkham Horror, the book deals with cults, thieves, murders, doubles, triples, and other things that dwell in darkest Massachusetts.

Abel Davenport has seen better days. Alone in the world, with only his fishing boat that he can't afford to crew, Abel has set out to sea in a storm just to gather anything he can in his nets. If Abel dies on the sea, fine. Abel's boat is destroyed and he finds himself on a desolate rocky island with only a tower of some sort as company. Entering Abel finds first an amulet and something more. Abel finds himself back in his small fishing town, not far from the city of Arkham, without a clue of how he came home. His pockets are loaded with gems, and soon he sets himself up with a sanctuary, his old family home. Strange events occur and Abel finds that he is the only one that can stop a mad cult from bringing back a dead god, and his enemy knows more about Abel than he remembers. Teaming with a renegade cultist, a mysterious mystic, and clever cat burglar, Abel sets off to stop the evil that he knows is coming. However he might be too late.

Another great book in this series, that both balances the lore of Lovecraft, diversity in characters and even humor. Pratt has a very good story, though it might remind certain people of a character named Starro, and tells it really well. Abel is a bit of a loser, who redeems himself when he realizes that something has been controlling him, and tries to do right. Diana Stanley entered the world of cults more to gain power and cheaper rent, but when things went wrong, again tried to do the right thing. And the other characters are just as interesting. This is s a surprisingly violent book, people you don't expect get killed quite easily, and it did keep a reader on their toes. There are references to other books, and the ending leaves a lot of hints for future stories, though I was surprised by which characters became a couple, but also makes sense story wise.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books in this series, and this one is no exception. This might be a good one to start with for people new to the series, as this one has a good mix of lore, horror, humor and a strong plot. And one does not even have to be familiar with the game to enjoy, as this is a very good stand-alone novel, and a lot of fun.