Subject: NECROM by Mick Farren

From: [email-masked] (Alan Wexelblat)
Date: 28 Dec 92 21:22:31 GMT

NECROM
			by Mick Farren
			Review Copyright (c) 1992 Alan Wexelblat

I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this book.  As I was reading it,
I bounced between being amused, being bored, and being enchanted by the
sheer lunacy of it.  Farren manages to pull it out in the end, though, which
makes the book almost worth the cover price (mutter, grumble).

Necrom is the story of Joe Gibson who is either a loony with an invented
past and weird hallucinations he won't stop believing, or a down-on-his-luck
rock&roll star with some *very* strange friends.  The story is told by
Gibson in a series of interviews with his psychiatrist.  He tells her how he
came to meet an assortment of truly weird demons, magicians, and associated
maniacs, be kidnapped by them, and be taken to a series of other dimensions
to participate in ever-more bizarre activities surrounding the possible
awakening of an elder god.

As the story is being told, the narrator Joe Gibson must deal with the
apparent fact that in the reality where he finds himself, the rock-star Joe
Gibson never existed.  There are no records, no videos, nothing to document
even the most mundane portions of his story.  He fights against this as he
fights against the drugs and restraints in an attempt to escape the mental
hospital.  At the same time, he is telling a story that would be thought
insane even if the mundane parts could be documented.  Real demons, UFOs,
multiple dimensions, magic that works... it all sounds crazy.

>From a plot point of view, Farren appears to have bit off more than he can
chew.  There are loose ends that don't make sense anywhere (like the UFOs --
anyone want to tell me what they're doing in this book?).  But the main line
hangs together and has a satisfying ending.

Character-wise, I think the book fails.  The reader realizes early on that
Joe Gibson believes the story he is telling.  We only have the word of minor
characters that Gibson is not being truthful and we don't have any reason to
trust them.  This kills a major element of the suspense and forces us to
deal with Gibson more straightforwardly than we might otherwise.  He's not
all that likable, except in comparison to the company he is forced to keep.

And yet, Farren kept me from being disappointed.  The book is funny enough
in places, weird enough in places, and well enough written to keep me going.
If you like strange stories and don't mind a few loose ends, this is one you
should get.

%T Necrom
%A Mick Farren
%I Del Rey SF Paperback
%G ISBN 0-345-36185-7
%D 1991
%O $4.95
%P 371 pp