The Old Gods Waken-Review

Intro

I have always been keen to read cosmic horror. So when I saw The Old Gods Waken, I was eager to read it. However, I was left feeling lacking. So let me try to explain it better.

Writing

The biggest problem with The Old Gods Waken is how short it is relative to how long the plot should be. John’s family gets kidnapped by strange druids in the Appalachia wilderness, mostly before they get any semblance of characterization (they are bland and forgettable), and John has to team up with a Native American medicine man to save them. What follows is a series of supernatural trials that are over too quickly—and without many long-term (if any) consequences to them.

The relationship between John and Reuben Manco(medicine man)threatens to be interesting but not fully engaged. They bond over their respective struggles, with Reuben was written with remarkable humanity that one wouldn’t expect in a 1979 novella. However, it isn’t enough for me to engage with either John or Reuben as characters. They were remarkably unmemorable. And that is not to say about the near-total absence of any eldrich horror within the text; considering the title, I expected some eldrich horror stuff to appear in the climax. However, the ending resolves itself in the most anti-climatic way possible. I was waiting for chapter two, which ultimately never came.

Conclusion

After finishing The Old Gods Waken, I felt a profound sense of anti-climax. The eldritch horror was muted and weak. The characters were bland, and the story felt rushed and inconsequential.

Acknowledgments

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