This is a Lovecraftian story set against the backdrop of one of the more interesting locations in fiction: Punktown. Even though the Lovecraft references (Necronomicon, Elder Gods, Old Ones) are of the Derleth school (i.e., Elder Gods are good guys, Old Ones are evil) it is still a riveting creepy adventure.
I enjoyed the short stories in the first Punktown book ("Punktown") but I found their mood universally dark and it would bring me down to where I'd take a short break after each story. The setting, a gritty and disturbing city of the future where outcasts from various civilizations try to scrape by, is fascinating as are several of the alien races (especially the Choom and Tikkihotto).
This book, although arguably darker in places, is a full-length story with a few little bits of lightness scattered throughout to help balance it. It is set in "Punktown" which is has even more sinister connotations than previously as a cosmic threat unfolds.
I'm reading these in the order they were released, but I hereby give you permission to jump right to this one and skip the short stories for now. This is stand-alone and doesn't reference anything from the earlier short stories. ( )

I like a dose of Lovecraftian horror from time to time, but cannot stand Lovecraft's writing style (which many other authors in that sub-genre seem to consider essential). Thus, I was excited to stumble across Monstrocity, billed as combining "elements of science fiction with horror in the vein of H. P. Lovecraft," and written by an author with more of a scifi, noir-ish style.

Unfortunately, what I ended up with was a book that had all the trappings of Lovecraft- the Old Ones, the Elder Gods, creepy things with tentacles, weird rituals, a protagonist who starts seeing patterns in everything that may or may not be there- but lacked the spirit of Lovecraftian horror. I mean, it had a happy-ish ending! The protagonist turned out to be right AND is still mentally functioning in the end! And worst of all, our protag takes his new understanding of the horrific underpinnings of his universe and systematically and effectively applies that logic to fight the enemy. That isn't how Lovecraftian horror works! Any glimpse of the true unknowable chaos and horror underpinning the universe should cause our protagonist to go utterly nuts, and his every attempt to fight should ultimately bring about the birth of the very abomination he meant to prevent. That's BASIC. My favorite thing about Lovecraftian horror is that the safest-seeming place is where the monster will be hiding. This book was basically the opposite of that- our hero is introduced to a scary and mystical undercurrent in his city, and eventually masters it to the point of being able to successfully fight back. Blah.

The other negative point is the author's treatment of women. I originally thought our protagonist was a woman, so when we opened with our protag lusting after and then hooking up with a hot, curvy goth chick, I was all in favor. Then I discovered our protag was a dude and we were not going to be having Sapphic gothpunk adventures. Then the chick gets possessed and our protag has to fridge her, followed by much angsting about her body, which he had "penetrated in love and in death" (he shot her, I mean, not necrophilia). I really should have just stopped there, because ew. Later on he meets another chick with an identical body type, described in creepy detail, who he introduces to the joys of oral sex because she's all conservative and hasn't "embraced her passion" or some shit. They fall in love (our protag makes sure we know that he wasn't in love with chick #1, that was Just Sex) and end up fighting Lovecraftian horrors together. The book ends with her telling him a story "from her culture" about a hero who vanquishes a monster and then everyone loves him. Blarg.

Not to mention all the references to rape, Japanese computer games simulating rape, custom computer games where men hunt and kill their exes, etc, that exist as part of the window dressing for the city our protag lives in. These are all described as bad things, but it's not hard to imagine the author's glee- "Oh look at me, I'm so daring, my worldbuilding is so dark." The city itself, called Punktown, is the setting for most of the author's books, and you can tell he's proud of every dark, rainy, filthy, bug-infested, murderous, rapetastic inch of it.

I admit I am willing to give horror a little more leeway on misogyny than most genres, as long as it is, you know, meant to be horrifying. I was actually more bothered by the author's two-dimensional treatment of the hero's two identical girlfriends, either of whom had the potential to be more interesting to read about than he was. That's why I won't be back to read more of J.T.'s work- I can deal with somebody writing Lovecraftian horror in a way I don't care for, and sometimes I want to read over-the-top grimdark nonsense, but treating female characters as interchangeable status-pieces is the kind of shit up with which I will not put. ( )

This book is about Punktown , the creation of Jeffrey Thomas that is similar to Ambergris, and Bas Lag. A strange surreal city that encompasses humans, aliens, gods, demons, magic, religion and technology.

The story revolves around a a young man who seems to be a slacker who can't get a date. The whole early part of the book seems to be about getting him hooked up. The object of his affection turns out to be into the occult, magic, dead gods, and thinks dabbling is fun. Needless to say she opens up a portal for something evil. Her indiscretion changes his life, and a new cast of characters join the story.

Once the change happens the story takes off and is much more interesting.

I enjoyed the story, the writing and the setting. The main character is a bit bland, but he comes into his own as the book progresses. His 2nd girlfriend is a great character from the start, and the mutants and demons under the street are also memorable even though they only appear briefly.

This is just one of the books about Punktown . I look forward to reading them, even though they are not abut the same characters. ( )