Fury From the Tomb is a very weird mash-up of horror and western genres in the late 1800s. The protagonist is a young archeologist who is hired by a rich old man to hunt for artifacts in Egypt. With guidance from his patron, he makes a very strange find and barely escapes with the mummies from Egypt only to lose them to a ghouls in the American Southwest. Accompanied by his patron's daughter, a young Chinese busboy, and a gunslinger for hire, he ventures into Mexico to retrieve the mummies, face mad monks,giant worms, and Chinese vampires only to have to overcome a monster from the past now reborn! The fun is reading exactly how the party will manage to escape this time!

Romulus Hardy is an academic Egyptologist and now, in 1888, he has made a discovery that could shock the world and give him some great academic recognition. He has found a tomb in Egypt with five undisturbed coffins and a very large sarcophagus. Retrieving these, however, seems dangerous as all on the expedition but Romulus die horribly.

Romulus manages to get his items to the United States, but while on the train to his recluse backer, the train is hijacked and Romulus and an odd assortment of others must track down his stolen goods, now in Mexico. But the goods themselves have other ideas. Now released from their cursed imprisonment, the mummies, led by Amun Odji-Kek, Sorcerer of Set. It will be no small feat for Hardy to just survive his encounter with Kek, much less restore order.

I had a lot of fun with this. It reads like classic pulp fiction. There's a bit of Lovecraft style here with Romulus going on and on, telling us what is happening and how he's feeling about things, but then there is more action, as though it were combined with some better B-grade horror movie.

I know that the popularity of horror 'monsters' ebbs and flows. Vampires will be the hot things, then zombies or other forms of the 'undead' will be big. I haven't stayed very current with horror pop culture, but I wonder if this is a sign that evil/cursed mummies will be the next wave of horror creatures. I had seen evidence that dark mermaids or other evil sea creatures were popping up in books, but they've waned a bit.

It's nearly impossible to not make any comparisons to Indiana Jones here. We've got an academic going to the desert to unearth some ancient artifacts. How do you NOT think of Indiana Jones unless you are under twenty and haven't been exposed to the films? But the comparison only lasted for a chapter or two, and then the darker aspects took over.

This isn't the sort of book you take too seriously. It's guilty fun while it lasts. I can't imagine I'll think back on it too much, but I enjoyed it.

Looking for a good book? <em>Fury from the Tomb</em> by S.A. Sidor is fun horror fiction, complete with evil mummies and curses.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Fury From the Tomb is the kind of book that requires adjectives like "riproaring" and "rollicking". It's Indiana Jones, but with a little more Egyptian lore and a lot more of the American Southwest. The cover pretty much sums it up; this is a great adventure with a little romance, a bit of humor, and a lot of action, broad characterization, and a highly enjoyable plot.

I was initially interested in reading this book, however my tastes have shifted and I do not think I will be able to get to it now. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a digital copy!

The shifting sands, the mouth of stone, the claustrophobia, the river of blood, the massive man-eating worm, the earthquake . . . damn! The opening 50 pages of Fury From the Tomb: The Institute for Singular Antiquities was some of the most exciting stuff I've read in ages. It's just a shame SA Sidor had to go and shift genres, and an even bigger shame he didn't pick a more engaging narrator.

Romulous Hardy (Rom) is a young Egyptologist, in over his head on his first dig and constantly playing catch-up with the figures around him. He narrates the story from decades after the fact, so that immediately removes some of the tension, and he tends to wallow in deep thoughts and philosophical musings, which often drags the story to a halt. It is entirely fitting for the pulp Victorian adventure genre, but it still makes for a difficult read.

Unfortunately, the most interesting secondary character dies before the book hits 100 pages, and the characters who join Rom later (especially Evangeline) are simply not strong enough to carry a story. Maybe it's just hard to capture their personality through Rom's narration, but that excuse doesn't help the story.

The other problem for me was that this epic, pulp adventure tale of hidden tombs and mummies suddenly shifts genres into a violent western, complete with bandits, cowboys, and a great train robbery, and that's not the story I wanted to read. I got bored, plain and simple. I started skimming passages, then pages, and finally chapters, hoping for another shift in a better direction, but it was not to be.

There is a sequel on the way, The Beast of Nightfall Lodge, but being that it's another story of Rom and Evangeline, I doubt I'll be giving it a read.

I loved the idea of this, a pulpy horror story in the tradition of something like The Mummy (not that I’ve seen that film). And honestly, it was quite a lot of fun, in a fast-paced way, with interesting stuff going on with the various mythical stuff brought into the story. It’s fairly tropey and predictable, and the pacing is a bit jerky, but I stuck with it and had a reasonable amount of fun. Not something that I’d recommend unless you really love pulpy Penny Dreadful type stories with mummies and vampires and all kinds of weirdness, but it wasn’t the worst way to spend the time either.

Things that would have made me like it more… more of Evangeline, less of Evangeline being an object of desire for Rom and apparently everyone else; more flesh on the bones of McTroy and what went on in his head; and… some kind of change to Rom’s character. He struck me as stuck up and ignorant in many ways, and the effect was something like Simon Tam from Firefly, except with no willingness to get his hands dirty (except maybe with grave dirt) and no trust of the people around him. Basically, Simon Tam without the good bits.

Fury from the Tomb is a wild pulpy romp start to finish.

For me, the cover is what sold me (I totally judge books by their cover). Before I even read the description I knew I had to experience this story reminisce of a 1980s B-movie-esque tape cover. Boy did it deliver!

It has everything your adventurous heart desires: mummies, magic, Egyptologists, excessive amounts of blood, vampires, gunslingers, and even a train heist. Of course when you have these elements altogether you can’t help but compare it to Indiana Jones and The Mummy. Safe to say if you liked those movies, you’ll eat this book up. In fact, Fury from the Tomb would make a fantastic movie (shut up and take my money!)

Personally, I believe this story should have been in third person POV rather than first person. Rom’s inner monologues could be a bit long winded, deterring the plot from progressing. At times, it could take you out of the story when really you just want to read about the giant worm.

Despite the moments where you want to shush Rom, we see our main man go from bumbling archaeologist to action hero. And of course, he would be incredibly dead if it weren’t for the help of his adventure companions: the woman who would most likely beat your ass, the Chinese busboy with a secret, and the gunslinger. The dynamic between the four was solid.

You’ll read this one quickly–it’s a fast paced top notch adventure story filled with silly moments and sprinkled with some truly WTF horror bits.

Thanks Angry Robot Books for a copy through Netgalley!

Saqqara, Egypt, 1888, and in the booby-trapped tomb of an ancient sorcerer, Rom, a young Egyptologist, makes the discovery of a lifetime: five coffins and an eerie, oversized sarcophagus. But the expedition seems cursed, for after unearthing the mummies, all but Rom die horribly. He faithfully returns to America with his disturbing cargo, continuing by train to Los Angeles, home of his reclusive sponsor. When the train is hijacked by murderous banditos in the Arizona desert, who steal the mummies and flee over the border, Rom – with his benefactor’s rebellious daughter, an orphaned Chinese busboy, and a cold-blooded gunslinger – must ride into Mexico to bring the malevolent mummies back. If only mummies were their biggest problem…

Angry Robot have long been one of my favourite imprints; their authors always deliver the most delightfully quirky reads. Based on experience I know that anything they publish is going to be a treat. When it comes to genre fiction, the self-styled Exasperated Automatons consistently deliver books that are hugely entertaining and blissfully easy to lose yourself in. I’m pleased to report that their latest, Fury From The Tomb by S A Sidor, continues this trend.

Take it from me, I work in higher education, Dr Romulus Hugo Hardy is your quintessential academic. He is the consummate scholar, happy to wax lyrical about bygone ages and learn the secrets of times past. He dreams about travelling to Egypt and discovering what once was lost. Enter mysterious benefactor, Montague Pythagoras Waterson. Hardy is offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Throwing caution to the wind Hardy embraces his inner explorer and engages in some suitably action-packed field work. Far from the safe confines of the reference library, deep in the desert, our erstwhile hero finds himself coming face to face with an ancient evil.

I think the thing I like most about the good doctor is his transformation as the story unfolds. That dawning realisation when Hardy admits to himself that he needs to fight the horrors, feels palpable. Turns out attempting to derail the forces of darkness is going to change anyone however staid they may be.

The plot has a globetrotting feel. From New York to Egypt and then onwards to the American/Mexico border the narrative rattles along, keeping the reader on their toes. In the fine tradition of vintage heroes like Indiana Jones* or Doc Savage, there is much derring-do on display. Hardy meets some interesting characters along the way. Miss Evangeline is the embodiment of practicality. Far smarter than just about everyone around her, she is more than a match for any one of them. Then there is the enigmatic gunslinger Rex McTroy. Hardy is more of a thinker than a doer, so having a sharpshooter onside is more than a little use.

The reverential nods towards its cinematic forebears are well handled. Fury From The Tomb does a grand job of tapping into that sense of adventure. Where things differ is the tone of the novel. Fury has a nice vein of Cthulhu flavoured otherworldliness running straight through the middle of it. Turns out, mummies are a vile bunch. Add to that some cannibalistic monks and undead banditos, and you’ll start to see a trend developing. There are flashes of horror dotted throughout the text that manage to add both a sinister and gross overtone to proceedings. From a personal perspective I found the giant maggots were particularly gruesome. I was repulsed and entranced in equal measure.

As an aside, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the first-rate cover design. The artwork by Daniel Strange enhances the retro stylings of the text it is partnered with. It’s exactly the sort of image I would happily make into a poster, frame it and put it up on a wall. The distinctive classic B movie cover art is one of the first reasons I was keen to read the book. It is very effective in suggesting the delights that lie within.

The first book featuring the exploits of The Institute for Singular Antiquities is a rare find. This homage to old school adventure is great fun and delivers exactly what it promises. Entertaining, exciting and unexpected, Fury From The Tomb will keep any action and adventure fan hooked from page one. My only hope is that this story is the first of many.

Picking music to accompany Fury From The Tomb really couldn’t have been easier. The soundtrack to The Mummy, the Brendan Fraser rather than Tom Cruise variant, is a damn near perfect fit. Jerry Goldsmith knows his stuff when it comes to scoring rip-snorting adventure. Part of me also likes to think Rick O’Connell and Romulus Hardy are genre blood brothers of a sort.

Fury From The Tomb is published by Angry Robot and is available now.

*Seriously, I could almost picture a thick red line moving from destination to destination on a tattered old map.

I believed I only barely just liked this book, but when I thought I'd accidentally deleted it from my device before finishing it I was surprised at how crestfallen I was. I really wanted to know what happened next! Sure, the main character/narrator was kind of annoying (and had a ridiculous habit of waxing rhapsodic over the virtues of the cowboy guide out of nowhere in the middle of the action), but the plot and creepy supernatural elements kept me going. I would rate this as a good beach/poolside pulp fiction read.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

It’s 1888. A time when it was still possible to make wondrous discoveries of antiquities in ancient Egyptian tombs.
When young Romulus Hugo Hardy sets forth to make his name in the world of Egyptology, little does he know what remarkable and terrifying events his uncovering of a booby-trapped tomb of an ancient sorcerer will set in motion.
After surviving a near-death experience, Rom makes it to America with his cargo of mummies, only to have them stolen by individuals who are as unsavoury as the bevy of reanimated mummies which end up careering around Mexico hell bent on restoring their great leader to his former self.
All that now stands between normality and an impending apocalypse are the hapless and naïve archaeologist, a feisty young woman, an orphaned Chinese busboy and a gunslinger of very dubious character, but with a heart of gold.
Fury From the Tomb is a full-on, red blooded assembly of dead things that should really be dead, but don’t know how to lie down, necrotically-challenged ghouls, the really undead, and the living trying their damnedest to remain that way. In other words, the sort of thing you would sit down and gleefully watch at your local flea pit while your mates try to steal your oversized tub of horrifically sweet popcorn. S A Sidor takes all the cliches in this classic B-movie mashup, throws in a bit of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Nosferatu, The Mummy etc., then really goes to town on them.
The action, in the form of a constant stream of fantastic perils which our heroes must extricate themselves from, is relentless.
The narration of this escapade by Rom reveals him to be the type of pompous individual who cannot understand why his unusual take on Egyptology is not being appreciated by his peers. His attitude and physical capabilities in the role of a hero gradually change and develop during the telling of this outrageous hokum, largely because he is a gentleman and feels compelled to rescue the damsel in distress (who mostly gives a good showing of herself) and the defenceless orphan (who is remarkably stoic and worldly wise). Most of all, Rom’s morality drives him to sort out the mess he feels responsible for.
The characters work really well together as an ensemble cast because their interactions are great, making an effortless and constant shift from humorous to, literally, dead serious dialogue.
Although this is a plot that leaves little to the imagination, you know that you, the reader, are there just to enjoy the ride. But for all that, take a good look at the quality of the writing, because it is far more sophisticated than the rattling good yarn would lead you believe. If the characters could be accused of clichés (which they are, but deliberately and brilliantly so), the descriptions are priceless, “Dawn broke a hot runny egg across the horizon behind us”. The dialogue is crafted with equally as much care.
I’m really looking forward to the next in the series, so bring it on. Meanwhile Fury From the Tomb is another in my comfort reads of the year. Now where’s my popcorn?

Horror, adventure, the supernatural, and Egyptology seasoned with a spice of the wild-west fuel this journey into the unknown.

Romulus Hardy, an eager Egyptologst is commissioned to travel to Egypt to unearth the tomb of a mysterious yet powerful Pharaoh - he ultimately succeeds but success comes at great cost with the band of men on his expedition loosing their lives.

On bringing the sarcophagus back to America, his mysterious benefactor remains aloof, communicating only by letters and messages passed down by minions. Promptly re-routed from New York, his journey lands him and his precious cargo on a train heading towards LA, only for it to be hijacked by a criminal gang but that's only the start of the horrors.

There's a lot to like about Fury from the Tomb, however I really enjoyed the character dynamic the most; there's a gunslinger, a young and fierce companion, the attractive Evangeline daughter of the benefactor, a ghoul who adds a comical element and the sorcerer himself; they all complement one other and bring a little something to the broader story.

This Indian Jones pulpy adventure circa 1888 won't appeal to everyone but it does have loads of tense and horror-infused moments that are a joy to read.

My rating: 5/5 stars, reading well as a standalone, I'm interested to see what direction future installments take.

Romulus Hardy, Egyptologist, heads to Egypt to go a-digging and unearths a sarcophagus and six caskets. Upon getting them to America, the mummies are stolen by ghouls and hauled off to Mexico. Will Rom ever find his mummies?

This was a Netgalley find, chosen by my love of Indiana Jones and similar tales.

Okay, I didn't technically finish reading this book but I'm finished for all intents and purposes. I'm not going to tear into the book. I'll just say what I liked and why the book didn't work for me and we can all move on with our lives, hopefully without shots fired.

The book had potential that just wouldn't quit. There's tomb crawling, mummies, vampires, a giant worm or two, gunslinging, and all sorts of other makings for a grand adventure.

My big problem with the book is that it's written in the first person. In and of itself, that's fine, and the writing was good in a technical sense. However... to put it gently, imagine how you would feel about Star Wars if C3PO was narrating it? The narrator is an Egyptologist in the late 19th century who manages to suck the excitement out of every situation with his overwrought vocabulary. While I'm sure his wordiness has some degree of authenticity, that does not a good story make. Every time I picked the book back up, I sighed, thinking "Will this windbag just get on with it?"

Now, if you enjoy this book, more power to you. It was not my particular cup of tea at this time. Two out of five stars.

In 1888, young Egyptologist Romulous Hardy is offered a vast sum of money by a reclusive millionaire to search for ancient tombs in Egypt. Hardy jumps at the chance to get out of the library and into the field, but soon finds himself dealing with things no one could have forseen. After tragedy befalls his expedition, Hardy is charged with bringing the mummies he recovered (six in all, though one sarcophagus is twice as big as any normal human) back to LA. When his train is waylaid in the Arizona desert, he learns that his cargo may be more dangerous than he ever suspected, and that cursed mummies are only the tip of the iceberg.

This was a fun, entertaining, and wild ride. Told in the style of old weird fiction stories, Sidor brings quite a bit of HP Lovecraft and The Mummy to the table. The latter half of the book, which takes place in Arizona and Mexico is evocative of Weird West stories. There are monsters and mummies and cultists and vampires. There are cowboys and banditos and Pinkertons and train heists. There’s cannibalism and curses and ancient legends. This book is a mashup of everything that makes weird fiction fun.

In fact, my biggest complaint is that in including everything, the story loses focus in places and drifts along, detached. Sometimes the actions runs along at breakneck pace, and sometimes it stutters to a halt to gaze for a while at the supernatural scenery.

Still, anyone who is looking for a good time with some good, old-fashioned pulp will probably enjoy this book. I mean, just look at that epic cover art! If the cover sings to you, then more than likely the book will as well.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.