120522c

A sort of mini book review.

I just read H.P. Lovecraft's Dagon for Beginning Readers, by R. J. Ivankovic. Ivankovic has reimagined the classic Lovecraft horror story as if written, and illustrated, by Dr. Seuss. I'm sorry to say that this book is not as charming as its predecessor, The Call of Cthulhu for Beginning Readers. I recommend that book unreservedly. Dagon was not as interesting a story as The Call of Cthulhu, and I think most Lovecraft fans would agree with that assessment. So this book began with a disadvantage.The illustrations are just as Dr Seussy, and the rhymes are charming, apt, and unforced, but Ivankovic didn't have as much to work with. I cannot recommend buying this book at full price ($20). For the completist, I recommend it (you can find new copies discounted from the original price), but for everyone else, you should look elsewhere.

The book was published by Chaosium, which can be found at www.chaosium.com. The ISBN is 978-1-56882-183-2.