Titus Crow Book

Clock of Clock of Dreams
By Brian Lumley
Narrated by Simon Vance

The Story of Titus Crow Continues...
Well, it's more a story of Titus's friend and Titus just happens to be in it… a lot.

In my typical review style, I don't waste a bunch of space telling a synopsis of the book, but focus on the storytelling/plot direction. Spotting spelling, word usage and typo's should be left for the editors. (Not that there was much of a problem with that for this installment of the Titus Crow series.) The story is the thing!

I had always associated the Clock with the TARDIS from Doctor Who, but with a more intense control device/interface. With this 'issue,' I was surprised to see a marked change. In the past, the main character/s had relied upon their cleverness and luck, but now it seems to have an added feature. My worry that this 'feature' would turn into a deus ex machina filled me with dread. It did for a little bit. That said, I can say that there was enough other tense and exciting moments to curl your toes and widen your eyes to more than make up for it.

As for the characters… and the dreamers and the inhabitants of the Dreamlands the story mainly covers, I was disappointed that Lumley didn't make more use of the abilities of the goddess Tiana (Titus's girlfriend). Considering her background and, what should have been extraordinary abilities to rival that of even Titus Crow, she fell upon the age-old stereotype of the helpless damsel (who tends to lose her clothing). While the initial reason for the story and Titus' best friends' involvement was based on an unlikely event happening in Dreamland, it did make for an exciting overall story.

Yes, there were some underpowering of the Cthulhu family. As speculation on my part, this might be due to the strictures put on the actual mechanics that the Dreamlands are built upon. Victories came just a tad too easily against some of the power powerful of their types. But the most disappointing part was the final encounter became the ultimate of deus ex machine (not related to the 'the feature' mentioned). Again, I can only point a victory given because of the fabric of the Dreamlands and the physical presence of the Clock. Otherwise, the battle there would have gone on for another book. The next book, 'Spawn of the Winds' seems to be somewhat of an answer to the dilemma above.

Now, a quick word about the audiobook version of this book. Simon Vance. Honestly, I'm thinking he could make any book sound amazing. I know he's been doing this for years, but Wow (notice the capitalization)! Pronunciation King! These are some of the most difficult words to say and he breezed through them like they were part of his everyday vocabulary. Everything was clear and distinct and there was never a question of intent or chosen word. Very Classy Gent.

I'm looking forward to reviewing more by this amazing team of Lumley and Vance.