The Tree of Azathoth

Cthulhu Armageddon, Book 3

By: C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Cary Hite

"The Dreaming City has a million stories."

The world has finally reached its final hours with Yog-Sothoth devouring time itself. John Henry Booth is not content to die and seeks out an old enemy to provide him an escape from the dying Earth. This results in him being transported to a strange monster-filled city where millions of humans live in a bizarre hodgepodge of eras. John soon finds out he's been here before, or at least some variant of him has, and he is soon founded by faces long thought dead. And what is his lost son's connection to the mysterious metropolis?

The Tree of Azathoth is the third novel of the Cthulhu Armageddon series, a post-apocalypse continuation of H.P. Lovecraft's popular Cthulhu Mythos.

©2023 C. T. Phpps (P)2024 David N. Wilson

A Fever Dream of Apocalyptic Proportions

Diving into The Tree of Azathoth by C.T. Phipps, narrated by Cary Hite, felt like stepping into a whirlwind of cosmic chaos and existential dread—typical Monday, right? From the moment John Henry Booth refuses to surrender to the inevitable consumption of time, I knew this book wouldn’t just be a read; it would be an experience.

As the third installment in the Cthulhu Armageddon series, it not only lives up to its predecessors but also elevates the saga to new heights. (I know I’m not the only one who was eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.)

Phipps has penned what I can only describe as a heartfelt homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos. The energy pulsating through each chapter made it clear this wasn’t just a story written to continue a series, but a passionate tribute to the Lovecraftian world. The complexity of being transported to a dream/nightmare city that is a bizarre amalgamation of eras provided a backdrop so vivid, it was like watching an epic film unfold in my mind.

Navigating this labyrinthine plot without giving away spoilers is a challenge, but suffice it to say, the return of familiar characters—or are they?—added layers of intrigue and nostalgia that kept me hooked. The entire search for his son in this dream world was fascinating.

There’s something uniquely thrilling about not only exploring a dream world but recognizing faces within that dream (and even recognizing it’s a dream/dream world). And let’s talk about that fever dream vibe! The narrative had a surreal quality that made the boundaries between reality and fantasy deliciously blurred, enhancing the immersive experience.

Cary Hite’s narration was the cherry on top. His ability to capture the essence of this apocalyptic fever dream with his voice added an extra layer of depth to the storytelling. His pacing and tone perfectly matched the unfolding drama, making it easy to get lost in Booth’s adventures and misadventures.

Overall, The Tree of Azathoth is a wild ride through a dying universe filled with love, loss, and the quest for a sliver of hope in the chaos. It’s a must-listen for fans of the series and newcomers alike (read the other two first), provided they’re ready to dive headfirst into a beautifully chaotic world. For those who revel in stories that push the boundaries of imagination, this audiobook is a compelling journey through time, memory, and the unknown.

An excellent addition to the series.

When The Tree of Azathoth was released, I was excited to see where the story would go, because so much had gone on in book two with Booth and his companions. Booth finally knew what he was becoming, and had a firm idea of where the world was headed. Unfortunately, it was a place where humanity meets its end in some form or another in 60 years, although what that really means is in doubt. This book shows just how it may not be what has been predicted, though.

The world building is excellent, as usual. Starting about 20 years after the end of book two, the world is still slowly sliding into disrepair and chaos. It's basically Judge Dredd's Cursed Earth, only caused by the return of the Elder gods, and with more mutants and monsters. It's a dying world, and people are losing hope, although they will go down kicking, screaming and fighting the entire way.

That's how the story begins. However, due to a surprise sacrifice I won't spoil, Booth is hurled into the dream lands, the realm outside time and space where dreams become the stuff of reality. In this case, Booth is stuck in an alternate version of himself, who wasn't raised in the dystopian weird west cataclysm, but instead a 1930's type noir dystopia, run by a fascistic dictatorship that lives down to every expectation you'd have for that kind of system. Mix that with mutant gangs and it's just as dangerous, of not quite so dirty, as the dystopia Booth just left. It's quite apparent the author has more than a passing familiarity with noir mystery stories, and that knowledge permeates the world he has created, in a good way. It's an interesting direction to go, and it pays off.

The characters are excellent as usual. Booth is such a complex character, tragically doomed to become something much different than human, but still holding onto his humanity as much as he can. He believes in honor in a remnants of society that has none, and finds himself more and more an outsider, alone and waiting for the inevitable end. The shift to the Dream Lands is interesting, because he has to make some drastic changes to his approach, because he is shifting from more of an old west type enforcer to a private detective type mentality, and those are distinctly different. It is a lot of fun watching him adjust to his new circumstances, especially since here, he has lost most of the protections he had in the wastes. His choices here have greater consequences than he could have ever imagined.

The secondary characters are familiar, since in most cases, they are kind of different timeline versions of his previous friends and enemies. They all get their own interesting arcs within Booth's main arc, and it is interesting the changes they have undergone with the change of setting. They are definitely different than their outlaw personas, but their cores are still the same, and Booth just works so well with them. It's a tonal change, but not in a bad way, and it will keep the reader turning pages.

The narration is performed by Cary Hite, who is new to the series. He has a different take on the character, who doesn't come off as quite as cynical and world weary, but he does an excellent job bringing Booth to life, infusing him with emotional resonance. He makes the listener feel as though Booth is flesh and blood, a man struggling with the end of the world, and he is trying to hold off despair, and it bleeds through into his performance. It is a worthy addition to the audible versions.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to the series. The tonal changes could have fallen flat, but instead just added spice to a complex character and the world he inhabits. I think the story has a lot of appeal to to a wide range of genres fans, and I highly recommend checking the series out today.

Cthulhu mythos meets noir detective story

This book was a lot of fun! The author blends classic noir detective stories with Lovecraft. The result is a unique blend that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
The narrator was amazing, too. He has one of those voices that are a delight to listen to.

Cthulhu Armageddon goes Noir

I am a big fan of the Cthulhu Armageddon series, and even when this entrance is different in tone and scope, and it has a different narrator, I really enjoyed the book.

The story goes from post-apocalyptic dystopia to noir detective story. We change the landscape and reinforce parts of the lore stablished in the previous 2 books, without erasing what has already happened. I quite like the way Mr. Phipps uses familiar tropes and characters to reinvent the story in a very special corner of his universe.

I think Cary Hite does a great job as the new narrator, and it fits very well the tone of this book. I hope he continues the series.

I will be waiting for the next installment of this saga.

Long awaited book 3!

I've been waiting a while for this book! I love the Cthulhu Armageddon series. I wasn't too crazy about the change in narrator. Jeffrey Kafer was much better in my opinion, but Cary Hite did a decent job. The story itself was good and I'm looking forward to the next one.

John Henry Booth is my spirit animal.

Interesting and Violent, references to the Phipps world throughout text.

A great read, but beware, madness lies between these pages.

World Shattering Truths!

Cthulhu Armageddon is a series that takes the pulp pastiche normally sewn directly into the fabric of the Cthulhu Mythos and shoves it firmly into the post-apocalypse. A series that merges the genres of horror, pulp adventure, and western heroes into a conglomerate study in the ways to torture a protagonist.
Given the novels and the anthology stories tied to this universe, it's easy to lose track of where our hero, John Henry Booth, is on his journey. Last that we knew, he was trying to find a method to save humanity from completely dying off. An impressive feat if it could be pulled off, but we realize very early into book 3, Tree of Azathoth, that it can't be pulled off. Humanity is over, at least in this reality, and that's where we get caught up with our would-be hero. He makes a deal, the closest thing to death that this 'abomination' can conjure for himself, and decides to shift to the nexus of the multiverse, the Dreamlands.
It is a move that both allows our Sherlock to also become our Watson, as he's as unfamiliar with the Dreamlands as we are, and acts as our guide as he discovers the odd nature of this 'reality.'
To sum it up for this review, this is the last refuge for humanity (and everything that once claimed to be humanity) and it has been developing over the centuries into a pulp 30's world that has collected the better (and some worse) parts of every time period that its denizens have every dreamed of. It's a writer's dream. We get Booth diving fully into the role of Cthulhu RPG investigator, but the nature of the environment is entirely alien and literally made of the stuff of dreams (and nightmares). This means that long dead characters can return, Jim-Bob from accounting is actually an eldritch god, and cats can talk.
Not only is it an entirely new world with mostly the same characters and all of the same problems, but our former cowboy of the Wastelands turned detective is hunting murderers along with family as he discovers this is where his children, ex-wife, and ex-lovers have all sought refuge in the same place. Where are they and were they responsible for the very personal assassination that Booth finds himself mired in the very moment he arrives.
I'm a long-time fan of Phipp's writings and appreciate Mythos stories more than anything. This story is great, just under those descriptors, but it levers itself above the writer with the Lovecraft Wiki tab open with the deep-cut references, the inclusion of characters and references from a myriad of other artistic endeavors and artists, and the great pulp adventure that gives off Dick Tracy vibes, if Dick Tracy was more self-reflective and was able to dream up his love interests.
I received my copy when I went on a trip overseas and I burned through it like it was a match covered in gasoline. It was the kind of good that only that first cup of coffee overlooking a lake in the fall. It felt right, and, as this trilogy has taken a few years to release, long overdue.
11 out of 5 stars. I look forward for what other unpredictable adventures befall our hero and his team next.

Not like the previous books

The narrator doesn’t know how to do gritty horror, and the story was too bland. They phone it in for this one

This is not a Cthulhu Armageddon story, this is a detective story

Has a huge C.T. Phipps fan I am quite disappointed with this story. I'm not sure what's up with him recently but the last couple stories he's written have not been up to his typical quality. It's like he's forgotten key details of his own stories and there isn't a lot of character consistency. I get that everything in the story should be slightly shifted because of the circumstances of the story but it just feels very off-putting.