Johannes Cabal the Necromancer question

The way the author told this quirky story, his tone and tenor, made me feel like he was sitting around a campfire telling a story, keeping everyone in stitches. You know the type--the hilarious cousin who tells the great stories that never bore. It's a step above a lot of writers these days. I loved how it was a short, breezy read that was very entertaining. I'll listen to his stories again anytime.

I'm probably going to sound odd here, but I liked how the dialogue sounded so obviously made-up.

I've noticed a depressing trend in fiction to give characters the vocabulary of a fourth-grader to add a sense of "realism" to the text. I found Howard's oddly sophisticated dialogue a refreshing change; all of the characters—it seemed—always knew what to say, and that made it more entertaining for me, instead of having to wade through paragraphs of one-word responses and bland chatter.

I loved Johannes' sarcastic sense of humor. The story reminded me of A. Lee Martinez's story, Monster, by the sense of humor the author used. I liked the ending and plan to read the next book in the series.

There isn't any summary or a perfect adjective to label Cabal. He's one of a kind! A good mix of dark, humour, fantasy, good characters, storyline packed into one. Definitely looking forward to the next book.

Luke> Agreed! A. Lee Martinez also has a knack of creating absurd characters which I enjoy reading.

At first, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the topic and the selling of souls. However, as the piece progressed, I became more and more involved, and at a point, I came to completely love Johannes. He was a great character! The one part that really upset me, however, was (view spoiler)[ when Horst goes out into the sun and dies; he was one of my favorite characters (hide spoiler)]

None of the characters surrounding the brothers, whose POVs we heard, actually stuck to the story. They became victims, died, were left behind or satisfied somehow so they wouldn't bother them again. I grew attached and I wanted them to stick around.

I most enjoyed Howard's dark humor and his vocabulary of dark humor: "eldritch" angles; "tatterdemalion"; so many other examples in a lexicon unparalleled since Angela Carter...

My favorite part of the book by far is when his brother Horst confronts him in the end. He tries to convince his brother Johannes he has been played by the devil, that it was always about him. You get the sense Johannes believes him but is too far gone to stop. It was a powerful moment and it put this book above the sequels that follow.