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Nécromancien
A spine-chilling novel of terror, obsession and agonizing suspense. In a quiet town, west of London, stand the ruins of a burned-out church. Within the ruins is a stone font. Legends surround it, dark stories of blood, suicide and madness.
To June Hunter, it is a prison—holding in its cold grasp the soul of her young son... To Lee Kline, it is a puzzle, a challenge for his questing mind... To Francoise Jeury, it is a key to the deep past, a memory stone bearing the secrets of an ancient people...
For all of them it is a deadly danger.
To June Hunter, it is a prison—holding in its cold grasp the soul of her young son... To Lee Kline, it is a puzzle, a challenge for his questing mind... To Francoise Jeury, it is a key to the deep past, a memory stone bearing the secrets of an ancient people...
For all of them it is a deadly danger.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
3 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Robert Holdstock
113 books385 followersRobert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author who is best known for his works of fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.
Holdstock's writing was first published in 1968. His science fiction and fantasy works explore philosophical, psychological, anthropological, spiritual, and woodland themes. He has received three BSFA awards and won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novel in 1985.
Pseudonyms are Chris Carlsen, Robert Faulcon,Robert Black, Steven Eisler and Richard Kirk.
Holdstock's writing was first published in 1968. His science fiction and fantasy works explore philosophical, psychological, anthropological, spiritual, and woodland themes. He has received three BSFA awards and won the World Fantasy Award in the category of Best Novel in 1985.
Pseudonyms are Chris Carlsen, Robert Faulcon,Robert Black, Steven Eisler and Richard Kirk.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 28, 2015
Hugely entertaining horror novel that proved to be the archetypal, late-night page-turner. The zesty narrative of a demon-possessed font and the desperate fight to battle the tumultuous forces of an ancient evil is a fun ride, and Holdstock's grasp of his three dimensional characters dire predicament is a sure one. It's a shame that 'Necromancer' is currently out of print as it is a cracking read, and I'm sure many James Herbert /Stephen King / Ramsey Campell fans would find much traction in Holdstock's brisk and clear writing style: and those who appreciated 'The Omen', 'The Exorcist' and eternal cult classic 'The Children of The Stones' should attempt to track down a copy of 'Necromancer' as it will prove to be a most worthy purchase; and I will certainly add some additional Holdstock titles to my tottering pile of genre fiction. I,for one,would be greatly interested to find some other horror novels based on ancient pagan lore, as it is field of interest that I find especially engrossing. (as a final abstraction, I thought the eerie premise for 'Necromancer' would have made a particularly thrilling episode of 'Sapphire & Steel')
December 28, 2017
I very much enjoyed the Mythago Cycle and the Merlin Codex, but this book just never grabbed me. The characters were far too inconsistent for me, with personality swings that I couldn't identify with or like. Since it was more of a character piece with a rather thin plot, that ended up being its downfall where I was concerned. I don't shy away from character complexity (in fact I consider such to be a plus), but I just couldn't get hooked into these characters, as I would start to get to know a character and then get whiplash as they did something that just didn't match up with any logical expectation. Which may have been the point, but it wasn't what I was looking for.
February 3, 2021
A classic 70s possession story - very reminiscent for me of stories such as The Exorcist and The Omen. There are many tropes and narrative choices that wouldn't hold up very well in today's age (the treatment of disability and women alike is shocking) and thus has to detract from my rating a little, but I understand the contextual basis of the time does hold some impact on such. I liked the pagan origins of the lore itself: the basis upon which a possessed baptism font is built seemed a lot less absurd than the concept itself. All the same, I enjoyed the gritty deaths scattered in Necromancer and the climactic nature of the ending. I can't with good faith recommend this book but I did enjoy my time reading it.
December 3, 2024
Loopy story about how the standing stone in a family's backyard causes all kinds of unexpected trouble. Very Seventies, full of weird situations with people channeling their past lives from the Stonehenge era and practically having sex with any chunk of stone they can get their hands on. I loved it.
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October 31, 2019Scanning my shelves for a suitably spooky Hallowe'en week read, I spotted this, which I bought nearly 30 years ago and of which I never read more than a few pages – so there's hope yet for every long-suffering inmate of our To Read piles. Given how much I loved some of Holdstock's other books, especially Lavondyss, and even persevered through a couple of the wobblier ones, I honestly can't recall whether I abandoned this because it was boring me, because it shat the younger me up too much, or simply because I got distracted. Though with the intervening decades a new and greater problem has arisen. To wit, as the story of a small Berkshire town menaced by a cursed font, this is in places one of the most Garth Marenghi books I have ever read, and I was thinking that even before the hero turned up – maverick historian Dr Liam Kline, a man people can't help liking despite his abrasive side. Irresistibly attractive to traumatised women he's upset not five minutes prior, and prone to coming out with lines like "That's why I came back. I said that already. I just don't promise that I'll be able to do anything. Why should I? I'm just a crazy historian who wandered in by chance." And if you think that's a bit old-fashioned, well, just wait until you get to the crux of the plot. The first traumatised woman who's irresistibly compelled to make out with Dagless, sorry, Kline, is June Hunter. Years before, when her son Adrian was being baptised in St Mary's church, the vicar dropped him, he banged his head on the font, and he's never been right since. Edward, the dad, is always looking on the bright side, convinced Adrian will start speaking and moving any day now. June, on the other hand, thinks the font is a demon rock which has trapped his soul. From a modern perspective, there are a few obvious issues with this, and it's by no means the only thing in the book which reads as deeply problematic now. But even upon first publication in 1978, with an acknowledged debt to the then comparatively recent Stone Tape, it must surely have verged on the silly. It doesn't help that while Stephen King (still a big new thing at that point, I suppose) makes this kind of modern small-town horror look easy, settling us within the issues of a recognisable family before gradually amping up the strange events encircling them, the young-ish Holdstock lacks anything like the same fluency in that mode; with their qualms, circular rows and leaps of logic, the Hunters and associates can often come across as at best the duller cousins of Iris Murdoch characters, and at worst refugees from some entirely forgettable litfic. And as for the undigested research delivered as exposition...
Set against which, at its best it can be very creepy. Yes, it may have helped that I've been able to read decent chunks of it in churchyards and churches, one of them also half-destroyed by fire, but for all the sentences which don't hold together, the awkward scenes and leaden lines, there's still that ability to write powerfully about the land and the wild places, the stones and deep time, which made Holdstock's Mythago stories so compelling, that knack of conjuring up ancient ceremonies which seem both horrifyingly barbarous and entirely understandable, even seductive. Which can sometimes verge on Men Writing Women territory, it's true, but anyone who remembers what 'touching Earth' meant in Moorcock's other works will know he can write just as weirdly about the male body. Similarly, it gradually becomes clear that the story has a lot less sympathy for Kline than those Darkplace echoes had initially made me assume. The central idea, of a megalith which has been carved into a font, and a corrupted power within it, is a compelling riff on the Christian repurposing of old sacred sites. Kline's notions of approaching research into standing stones scientifically, finding out whether eg another stone would have the same effect in the same spot, prefigures that fascinating though shocking idea the KLF had of giving Stonehenge a tune-up. There's something strong here, buried under a load of excrescences, and I suppose in a sense that's apt. Given enough of a free rein, someone could make an excellent film which would still be recognisable as Necromancer, only good. Or could have in the eighties, at any rate - I'm not sure the treatment of disability would be salvageable now. As a book, I don't think I'd recommend it. But I'm glad all the same that I've finally read it.
Set against which, at its best it can be very creepy. Yes, it may have helped that I've been able to read decent chunks of it in churchyards and churches, one of them also half-destroyed by fire, but for all the sentences which don't hold together, the awkward scenes and leaden lines, there's still that ability to write powerfully about the land and the wild places, the stones and deep time, which made Holdstock's Mythago stories so compelling, that knack of conjuring up ancient ceremonies which seem both horrifyingly barbarous and entirely understandable, even seductive. Which can sometimes verge on Men Writing Women territory, it's true, but anyone who remembers what 'touching Earth' meant in Moorcock's other works will know he can write just as weirdly about the male body. Similarly, it gradually becomes clear that the story has a lot less sympathy for Kline than those Darkplace echoes had initially made me assume. The central idea, of a megalith which has been carved into a font, and a corrupted power within it, is a compelling riff on the Christian repurposing of old sacred sites. Kline's notions of approaching research into standing stones scientifically, finding out whether eg another stone would have the same effect in the same spot, prefigures that fascinating though shocking idea the KLF had of giving Stonehenge a tune-up. There's something strong here, buried under a load of excrescences, and I suppose in a sense that's apt. Given enough of a free rein, someone could make an excellent film which would still be recognisable as Necromancer, only good. Or could have in the eighties, at any rate - I'm not sure the treatment of disability would be salvageable now. As a book, I don't think I'd recommend it. But I'm glad all the same that I've finally read it.
May 9, 2021
Very much like James Herbert horror books but with a bit more of a mythical twist that you might expect from Holdstock. Enjoyable but started well and lost its way a little around half way through.
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December 6, 2024Necromancer is a horror novel by Robert Holdstock. It is the first in a two book series featuring the character Francoise Jeury. It is about a possessed stone font which stands in the ruins of a burned out church. June Hunter believes her child, Adrian, is trapped inside the font. She enlists the help of Lee Kline, professor, to discover the secret. He in turn reaches out to Francoise Jeury, a woman he had called the "crazy lady" for letters he had been receiving from her.
Robert Holdstock was an English novelist whose work was mainly involved with Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature. He was well regarded with David Pringle, Patrick Curry, Michael D.C. Drout and Ursula Le Guin amongst people who praised his work.
Holdstock wrote 27 short stories (including two novellas), three novelised screenplays, five stand alone novels, 28 novels in various series and eight non fiction books.
I found this a bit of a struggle at times. None of the characters were particularly likeable, the closest for me being Karen and Don. Kline and June Hunter's husband were particularly annoying. In any case, the old adage don't judge a book by its cover certainly is true here. At least with this edition, which makes it look like a pulp horror novel. I am not sure whether it is better than what it appears or takes itself too seriously at times. I think there is a bit of both.
Robert Holdstock was an English novelist whose work was mainly involved with Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature. He was well regarded with David Pringle, Patrick Curry, Michael D.C. Drout and Ursula Le Guin amongst people who praised his work.
Holdstock wrote 27 short stories (including two novellas), three novelised screenplays, five stand alone novels, 28 novels in various series and eight non fiction books.
I found this a bit of a struggle at times. None of the characters were particularly likeable, the closest for me being Karen and Don. Kline and June Hunter's husband were particularly annoying. In any case, the old adage don't judge a book by its cover certainly is true here. At least with this edition, which makes it look like a pulp horror novel. I am not sure whether it is better than what it appears or takes itself too seriously at times. I think there is a bit of both.
January 24, 2015
Slow, talky, brooding.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews