The Sea of Ash

In his afterword, author Jeffrey Thomas remarks of his younger brother Scott Thomas's book The Sea of Ash that he envies any reader only now encountering the novella for the first time, and that he envies all the more any reader only now encountering his brother's fiction at large for the first time. I am just such a reader and can say with authority that the elder Mr. Thomas's remarks are made for very good reason.The Sea of Ash is a remarkable work of cosmic horror. A haunting tale, poetically told, it entranced and transported me with its cryptic mystery and evocative rendering of legend-shrouded New England and its chill, stony shores.The story follows an unnamed protagonist in tracing the steps of one Dr. Albert Pond — as recorded in his published journals — across New England prior to his mysterious disappearance in 1920. Intrigued by Dr. Pond’s exploration of supernatural and esoteric matters found in the region, the narrator recreates the doctor’s investigations only soon to find elements of the bizarre past occurrences stretching out across the years to insinuate the mercilessly forgotten eldritch horror that once menaced Dr. Pond back into the present world.As one would expect, the work is steeped in mood, and Mr. Thomas’s poetic prose conjures a pervasive sense of foreboding that drives suspense. But suspense and a compelling mystery aren’t enough for the author, and soon the story erupts to a tale of cosmic horror that utterly captivated my attention. Indeed, the first moment of genuine weird was at once so shocking and thrilling, so ladened in the bizarre, that it instantly plunged me fully into the Well of Dream, where I remained enthralled until the story’s very satisfactory resolution; where I would have stayed even longer were Mr. Thomas’s sense of pacing not so masterful and his conclusion so damnably well-timed.The novella ramps from an initial languid exploration of the story mystery to a swift, tense clip as events unwind. And if I have any complaint, it may be how readily I devoured the work for the ease in which the author drew me through his tale. As I say: I absolutely would have preferred to linger a bit more in Mr. Thomas's New England. It's a mesmerizing conjuration of the strange, and a more leisurely browse among the dusty, fantastic inventions offered within the work's curio shop of the bizarre would have readily been welcome. That said, Mr. Thomas offers a lot for a fledgling writer like myself to learn in regard to plot and pace and the balance of action and detail. So while I yearned for more story, I cannot help but admire the skillful ratcheting of tension affected in the work. It's simply masterful and kept me poised on the edge of my seat. It may in fact well be what I liked best about the book, in at least from the standpoint of trying to develop my own chops.Pace aside, the handling of setting stands as yet another exemplary characteristic of the work. From page one, Mr. Thomas deftly paints a unique vision of both old and present New England, sketching its hills and highways, granite cliffs and mill towns with exacting care. It's clear from the prose that Mr. Thomas loves the region, and he uses it to great effect. Indeed, his authentic details evoke such a powerful verisimilitude, that I - being a New Englander - was persuaded to research a number of the mentioned locales online to learn whether any part of what I was reading held genuine water. And I may yet take a trip to Hancock, the next town over, to explore exactly what *is* under that church.The author's command of detail naturally extends beyond more than just setting, and as with the rest of the dream world Mr. Thomas has wrought, works to ground the reader firmly in his strange new dimension. Evocative descriptions of rituals, alien entities, and mystic devices leaves one with the lingering impression that Mr. Thomas knows more about occult matters than is perhaps good for him. At least I am led to believe there lurks another, secret realm between the trees and hills I love so well, and I wonder - if not fear - that my burning curiosity will soon too lead me to an obsessive quest to verify the truths bound between the covers of the book.And this is Mr. Thomas's true gift: the ability to morph the familiar to the extremes of strange in much the same manner a Dali painting melts the mundane to the surreal so that the reader is left wondering "is any of this actually possible? Actually real?" It's quite a trip.In any event — as you can by now well guess — I highly recommend The Sea of Ash to any aficionado of The Weird. This is cosmic horror at its finest - creepy, bizarre, unsettling — teased out by a master of the genre. You must read it.

A dense, layered puzzle-box of a story that captures the gothic genre that HP Lovecraft so admired, Sea of Ash tells the tale of an amateur enthusiast of the supernatural who satisfies his intellectual curiosity by walking in the footsteps of a true explorer of eldritch realms that converge on our own.Our protagonist traces the life and adventures of a Dr. Pond, who is set on a path of discovery when he finds a naked woman on the beach, only to discover hideous and deadly mutations of the human form, and that is only the least of the wonders and horrors he will encounter and the narrator will related secondhand.Or so he thinks: because when you gaze into the world beyond, perhaps that world will notice you…On finishing this book, I already know it will be due for a reread or two, to catch all the themes, connections and clues I might have missed the first time around as I hurriedly read, goaded by suspense. The book is also worthy of a re-read for all the little gems of evocative prose that set the mood.What I marvel at is the author’s craft: it would be very easy to create a senseless story of bizarre occurrences, but instead he makes use of a consistent set of images, events and themes that hint at the connections between, say, a man who’s face is eaten away and who’s head becomes a tunnel into other dimensions, and a strange device in an old house that purports to put one in touch with the dead, but that may be merely an elaborate con that becomes something more, and an oracle composed of animated junk.At the same time, there is a haunting, surreal quality about the story. A sense that our adventurer is being subtly changed by his journey, judging by the way he seems to accept these experiences and the strange and uncanny things that lurk in the dark corners of our mundane world. The text itself teases, refraining from giving all the answers, but leaving enough detail for a satisfactory resolution and further interpretation of what’s going on.The end result is simply wonder, as our protagonist stands at the periphery of reality’s membrane and looks through the cracks. We strain our eyes along with him to glimpse the brightness and darkness beyond.

This, to my mind, would make a better graphic novel than novel proper. It really needs some decent illustrations to add depth to what, otherwise, merely goes through the motions of Weird.Thomas loves the area he lives in, and knows a lot about its history. His descriptions of the old American houses are some of the better features of this novella. He also has an eye for disquieting set-pieces (the first appearance of an 'overlap', situated behind a shell embedded in a babies' face was very effective), and some ability with plotting. But these things are not enough to rescue matters.Characterisation hardly exists - the protagonists, past and present, are little more than stereotypes where they aren't plain cardboard - and in this kind of thing character is vital. Dialogue is mannered, polite, and less than enthralling. Fantastic encounters are frequent, but lack any kind of real internal logic or even reason/ background: why the recurring themes of trilobites and glass fishes? What exactly are we supposed to understand from the Sixth Ocean Lady? Why are 'overlaps' contained within people's faces?This is Indie-marketed as modern Lovecraft. I suppose it is on a purely basic level of unquiet spirits and adjacent dimensions - but it is sorely in need of depth and meaning to render it into something more than the detailed synopsis of a Lovecraftian tale it reads as. Still, it is a page-turner and by no means outstays its welcome - just be aware that -if you choose to read it- you'll only be paddling in the shallows of the genre and not drowning in its stygian deeps.A note on the physical copy: the book itself would be better served in a smaller format, with shallower gutters, and no indents at the start of chapters or section breaks.

This is a cracking Lovecraftian story by Jeffrey Thomas. Mike Davis who runs the Lovecraft eZine was absolutely correct by saying this story deserves a wider readership and I'm so glad Mike published it. I highly recommend this book.

In Editor Mike Davis' introduction to this book, he states: "I am not exaggerating when I say that it (The Sea of Ash) is one of the best books I have ever read." I will admit, these kinds of statements are huge turn offs when it comes to books, and had I been allowed a preview on Amazon, I would have turned away from the book right then. More so as he raves about Thomas' writing style and dissects it to the clinical point of removing all pleasure from the artistic nature of Thomas' writing. That said, I am glad I decided to look beyond Davis' intro and delve into the book.Thomas has a way with words. This is something that Davis' talks about in his introduction, which unfortunately prevents the reader from enjoying it with a virginal mindset. Thomas writes beautifully, and is something that has to be read to be truly understood. His style is unique and it works really well with the themes he puts forward in The Sea of Ash. Often, his descriptions carry just enough detail to get things across while also leaving you feeling haunted, or a little disturbed. Thomas' writing style is easily one of the best parts of this book.The nature of how the tale is told in this novella is a bit annoying I found. Normally I don't have an issue with nesting stories, but in this novella, there is one point where it's a story within a story within a story, and that's where it started to get on my nerves. The initial nesting story about the protagonist following the path of another man worked really well, especially when you take into account Thomas' ability to conjure up the weird. You genuinely want to find out more about what happened to the man he's following.The protagonist's adventures, as well as the tale of what happened to the man before him, are filled to the brim with the weird. I have to say that Thomas has a mastery over the weird fiction genre that practically oozes from the pages of this story and will keep the reader engaged throughout it in its entirety. There are images presented in this novella that will stick with me a long, long time, and that's a fairly hard thing to do. There were points where it edged into bizzaro, but thankfully, the story didn't linger there long.The Sea of Ash is a wonderful, beautifully written novella that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys weird or Lovecraftian fiction, or to anyone who is looking to experience unique writing styles. Thomas' brother states at the end of the book that he felt this was his brother's best work, and I can easily see why. This novella is something I will be reading over, and over again, and despite accidentally purchasing two e-copies of the book, I still think I got my money's worth. My only suggestion would be to skip the introduction and go back and read it after you are done the book. Enjoy Thomas' writing style without Davis extolling it and taking away from the initial experience. It'll be worth it, trust me.

Jedem der Lovecraft, James, King und auch Derleth mag ist geraten diese Novelle zu lesen. Es gibt in der heutigen Horrorliteratur nur wenige Ausnahmen, die es schaffen ein so schön schauriges Bild zu entwerfen. Leider, wie so oft bei guter Literatur, mir zu kurz!

Fascinante. Muy episódico, repleto de situaciones muy originales, y con un tono de terror weird muy conseguido. Un gran escritor.