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  • The Burrowers Beneath

  • By: Brian Lumley
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (99 ratings)
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The Burrowers Beneath

By: Brian Lumley
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Summary

For millennia men have strutted their pride over the fragile surface of the Earth, arrogantly proclaiming themselves masters of creation. But now their feeble investigations have disturbed the planet's original rulers far beneath the globe's crust.

©1974 Brian Lumley (P)2016 David N. Wilson

What listeners say about The Burrowers Beneath

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great narration...awful writing.

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

The book seems to be written by a 12 year old. There is much better fan fic out there than this. Can't imagine anyone enjoying this drivel. The writer clearly has read Lovecraft but hasn't understood Lovecraft.

What was most disappointing about Brian Lumley’s story?

The terrible writing, ridiculous characters, poor story. Nothing good about it at all.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Simon Vance is always great but even he couldn't save this one.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Burrowers Beneath?

All of it. Spend six hours on anything other than this.

Any additional comments?

I finished this book out of morbid curiosity and so that you don't have to. Try a different book. Any book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

PLENTY TO CROWE ABOUT!

This is by far the best book I have read in the entire Cthulhu Mythos canon - by Lovecraft or anyone else, and the superb narration by Simon Vance makes it all the more enthralling. The fact this is being typed as I listen for the third time bears testament to that, and the more I hear the more I want to read on.

Written very much in the Lovecraft vein, but thankfully with far less archaic purple prose or swooning male heroes, this thrilling cosmic horror novel was right up my street. Being the first in the Titus Crowe series, it is written in epistolary fashion, leading off with a series of exchanges between Titus and others, before continuing into Henri de-Marigny's notebooks. Marigny is very much the Watson to Crowe's Holmes (not surprisingly, Vance has also narrated several Sherlock Holmes books) and I found the story equally captivating.

The story regards the mysterious disappearance of a noted professor and his "weird writer"nephew following strange tremors which began after said professor unearths mysterious buried globes and brings them home. The globes are actually eggs, belonging to monstrous Cthonian monsters who, not surprisingly, are a bit upset and burrow their way to the surface doing nasty things to any humans they meet - such as removing a living brain and implanting it into a globulous "thing" which then visits Crowe and Henri before dissolving into yuk. Simon Vance deserves his fifth star for this scene alone, a masterly yet poignant performance.

As the first in a series, this book introduced people and organisations which will become regulars in future stories, and I'm already looking forward to book 2. One big query - the monsters are seemingly allergic to water, which doesn't explain why one of the most exciting passages (the attempted sinking of Henri's river boat by a Cthonian) almost succeeds, the monster blithely striking out for the open sea having menacingly attacked them with all tentacles seemingly oblivious to corrosion. Maybe this repulsion doesn't apply to "big poppa"Shudde M'Ell, the leader and the largest of the Burrowers who I'm assuming this was? I'll have to read again, as I'm pretty sure Lumley wouldn't have overlooked this in light of how tightly the rest of the book is written.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

The Burrowers Beneath

I couldn't get into this book. I wasn't a fan of the narration style or the extensive letter writing between characters.

I was given this book for free of my own choosing and I voluntarily left this review.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent Lovecraftian story

A good, if somewhat rambling, tale of Lovecraftian horror. There's no single story but a series of narratives that chronicle the Titus Crow's first encounters with the 'burrowers' (together with his friend Henri-Laurent de Marigny) and his later adventures allied with the New England 'Wilmarth Foundation'. I enjoyed it enough to get the second book in the series.

Fantastic narration by Simon Vance. Very impressive.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

While The Compleat Crow has some great moments, this one's the best in the whole Titus Crow series in my opinion. I've never got on with the Dreamland stuff, even by Lovecraft himself, so something grounded in our world is perfect. Written in the same manner as Call of Cthulhu makes it even better.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An oldie but a goodie

I first read this book back in the 90s and was very happy to see it on Audible and read by Simon Vance who I really enjoy listening to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

A very well narrated story of the start of Titus Crows adventure with the Cthulhu cycle. Highly recommended!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful intro. to Lumley, the Cthulhu Mythos etc

A wonderful intro. to Lumley, the Cthulhu Mythos etc. It is far superior to his Dreamlands series, and not so dated. A must for all Mythos fans!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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Lovecraft would be proud

Being familiar with the Necroscope series and a fan of H.P. Lovecraft this is my first experience of Lumley's work within the Cthulhu Mythos. This is an excellent novel which really embodies the essence of cosmic horror that Lovecraft developed.

Simon Vance's narration is clear and audible but his characterisations of the two main characters lacks depth in comparison to the side characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Beginning to an Epic Series

The Burrowers Beneath is the fantastic opening chapter in the Titus Crow series. This story finds Crow and his companion Henri-Laurent de Marigny battling an ancient evil that has been lurking beneath the earth for centuries. The story is told via a series of letters, articles and diary entries.
Simon Vance provides a classy and compelling narration. Each character is clearly differentiated and his work on regional UK accents is superb.
Another absolute gem from the guys at Crossroad Press.
Highly recommended.

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