cover image Alhazred: Author of the Necronomicon

Alhazred: Author of the Necronomicon

Donald Tyson, . . Llewellyn, $24.95 (667pp) ISBN 978-0-7387-0892-8

Having already written a "translation" of H.P. Lovecraft's imaginary book of occult lore, the Necronomicon , Tyson (Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred ) takes fictional homage one step further with this "autobiography" of the forbidden tome's author, the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. Maimed and cast out into the desert for carnal indiscretions with the king's daughter, young Abdul takes up with a group of ghouls and travels to the fabled Nameless City. Under the tutelage of Nyarlathotep, the messenger of the monstrous Great Old Ones, he learns unspeakable necromantic secrets and has fantastic adventures based on Lovecraft's stories. This embellished Arabian Nights fantasy is targeted largely at Lovecraft fans, some of whom will likely balk at a pastiche nearly as long as Lovecraft's complete collected fiction. (July)