Clock of Dreams

By: Brian Lumley

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The story features the adventures of two intrepid crusaders against the forces of dread Cthulhu, Titus Crow and Henri de Marigny, as they continue their epic battle against the powers of an evil so ancient that its sinister roots stretch back to a time long before human history began.

©1978 Brian Lumley (P)2017 David N. Wilson

Must save Titus Crow!

The Clock of Dreams is the third novel in the Titus Crow novels and shows a big change in the narrative. Instead of the titular character, the protagonist is now Henri de Marginy. Having been bequeathed Titus Crow's TARDIS-like coffin and a magical cloak, he proceeds to go on a mission to rescue his friend and his friend's new wife from forces that have imprisoned them in the Dreamlands. Henri is a more grounded character than Titus Crow and more rounded. Those who expect a more traditional Lovecraftian set of scares will be disappointed as this is more a psychedelic sci-fi journey across the multiverse. Brian Lumley is clearly fascinated rather than appalled by the Cthulhu Mythos and there's a lot of beauty here instead of grotesques. I think every dedicated fan should check it out, though. If you don't mind the Old Ones being evil and the heroes being good as well as the former getting spanked badly ala Ghostbusters, this is definitely the series for you.

Least favorite so far...

This is easily my least favorite Titus Crow story, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising as the "Dream Cycle" is my least favorite part of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

Simon Vance is, as always, an excellent narrator. His voices are varied and distinct. His tempo shifts are effective. And if somewhat less (accurate to the text) than I'd like, his inflections are skillful.

Apart from my general dislike of the dream cycle this book does do some interesting things.

Although it felt very much like an unneeded departure, there is a recounting of one of Lumley's dream cycle stories as it's related to de Marigny (who I'm still not overly fond of).

There are a few really neat scenes, including a few cool battle scenes, Titus suddenly falling it if the sky when his "flying cloak" vanishes work few Marigny, and the scene of de Marigny trying to pilot the clock and fight a battle while utterly sloshed!

As with other of Lumley's work though, there are some clear problems in sensibilities regarding race and gender. The women in the book seem to be present purely for the purpose of pairing up with the male characters.

Finally, the ending.
In truth, the climax of the book comes around the mid point. I'm not exactly clear on why it continues part that point apart from the author's need to pad his word count.

The climax is well presented and satisfying. But the end of the book is... less so. It comes across as very "Deus Ex Machina." It's almost like the author wrote himself into a corner and couldn't figure another way out of it.