Book Review: The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

I have to admit that I'm a lover of books. I read voraciously--normally three or four fiction books a week as well as one (maybe two) non-fiction books a week. I invariably have stacks of books in my "To Read" pile (even if that stack is mostly electronic these days), and even more in my Wish List at Amazon. Earlier this week I decided that I would pick a book from my To Read pile at random, by rolling a d20.The idea was that maybe it would bring up something that's been there for awhile and get me something to read that's a bit different than what I would normally choose on my own. I rolled a d20 and the result was _The Keep_, a novel by F. Paul Wilson.

The blurb from Amazon is fantastic:

""Something is murdering my men."

Thus reads the message received from a Nazi commander stationed in a small castle high in the remote Transylvanian Alps. And when an elite SS extermination squad is dispatched to solve the problem, the men find a something that's both powerful and terrifying. Invisible and silent, the enemy selects one victim per night, leaving the bloodless and mutilated corpses behind to terrify its future victims. Panicked, the Nazis bring in a local expert on folklore--who just happens to be Jewish--to shed some light on the mysterious happenings. And unbeknownst to anyone, there is another visitor on his way--a man who awoke from a nightmare and immediately set out to meet his destiny.

The battle has begun: On one side, the ultimate evil created by man, and on the other...the unthinkable, unstoppable, unknowing terror that man has inevitably awakened."

The first thing I wanted to point out from the blurb is the word "Something" in the letter the commander sends back. This is what catches the attention of the Nazi leadership to send someone to handle this situation. The second thing to point out is that the German army officer leading the detachment is not a Nazi, which is why he's there in the first place.

Captain Klaus Woermann is a decorated Army officer. During WWI he won the Iron Cross for gallantry for single handedly holding off a British platoon from overrunning his position. However his refusal to join the Nazi part means he's been condemned to guard duty, rather than leading troops in the front line. He is sent with a small detachment of men to a remote pass in Romania to set up a guard post in an ancient keep. 

When the captain arrives at the castle he notices a few things immediately. The first is that it's in impeccable condition. No debris or dust, no ruined buildings, nothing. The second is that the walls of the castle are completely covered in what appear to be crosses. These crosses cover every surface of the walls of the castle and appear to be made of gold and silver. The third unusual thing is that there are no birds in the castle. 

He finds out that the castle has been maintained and cleaned by a man and his two sons. The man's father watched over the castle and his grandfather and great-grandfather, all the way back. The money for the upkeep is delivered to the local inn keeper who pays them in gold coins. The man is adamant that the men not stay the night in the keep, and when he sees a soldier trying to pry one of the crosses off the wall he warns the Captain not to allow that to happen or dire things will happen. This soldier's name is Lutz, and he is assigned guard duty for a week as punishment. 

The Captain excuses the man and dismisses him, but has an uneasy feeling about the situation.

Later that night, while on guard duty, Lutz notices that there is a discrepancy in the thickness of the walls. He knows that there must be a treasure or secret tunnel and is convinced that it's papal treasure. Why else all the crosses? He pries at the cross, eventually managing to pop it loose and when he does so he's able to shift the block out of the way, exposing the entrance to a tunnel. Getting the other soldier on sentry to come help him, he then heads into the dark looking for treasure.

He's the first to die. 

Eventually German command sends an SS commander to clean things up. He's just been assigned to the task of setting up a death camp in Romania and knows that if he doesn't get this resolved quickly his chance to command the camp will be put in jeopardy. There's an added bonus--he knows the Captain from WWI. He ran when the British platoon advanced, while the Captain stayed to fight. 

I won't go through the rest of the plot, but I did want to point out some things I liked and some things I didn't like about the book.

--the keep is fantastic.

--the idea of a family who have maintained for generations is great

--who doesn't like secret passages and rooms?

--the characters are done very well. Distinct voices for all the main ones, and even the minor ones. 

--I loved the conflict between the Captain and the SS commander

--the Jewish professor and his daughter were a great element

--F. Paul Wilson's plot was great. There were some fairly predictable things, but a few things that caught me by surprise.

--I loved how he treated the vampire myth.

Things I didn't like:

--the final conflict. It was very anti-climatic

--the ending in general. He'd set up this fantastically creepy scenario and then it felt like he didn't know what to do with it.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Despite my disappointment with the ending (which I felt was weak), I'd still give this a 4 star rating. 

Twenty Dungeon Entrances

For your enjoyment here are twenty images to use as inspiration for your dungeon's entrance. Many of them come from _Subterranean Design_, a tumblr blog that I can't recommend too highly.


1.) A small hole in the side of a hill

2.) A sea cave

3.) What's behind the doors?

4.) A hole in the ground

5.) Old mine shaft?

6.) Underneath the tower is the entrance to the dungeon.

7.) At least three ways into the dungeon--or are there three separate dungeons?

8.) Even mega dungeons have separate entrances for servants.

9.) Another sea cave.

10.) The guardian of the entrance

11.) Hopefully you can pick the lock--I don't think this door can be broken down.

12.)  Creepy entrance

13.) A jungle entrance

14.) Hobbiton?

15.) This looks like something that Bran Mak Morn would take on. Not me though.

16.) This doesn't look safe.

17.) The way is shut. It was made by those who were dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut.

18.) Sometimes even the wizard is helpless.

19.) Ice cave

20.) Secret fortress for the super villain? 

And a bonus. I hope there aren't any alligators down there.

Five Minute Maps: Doctor Teslo's Amazing Circus & Carnival

Matt Jackson over at lapus calumni has done a great thing. Just recently he's started drawing a map every day in a new moleskine that he purchased. He's then come up with an idea to get everybody involved in doing maps and he's called it Five Minute Map Friday. The idea behind it is as simple as the title. You have five minutes to draw a map of whatever you want. At five minutes you're done with it. If you want to share it on G+ use the hashtag  #fridayfiveminutemap. If you don't want to share it, no big deal.

I suck at drawing maps. While they do all manage to convey the information needed (where things are at and how far apart things are from each other) they look awful. Despite this (or maybe because of it) I absolutely love looking at maps. I love maps that are of historical value, I love maps that have interesting information and maps that don't. In fact, one of my favorite D&D characters that I ever played was a ranger who was basically sent out to explore and map new lands.

My goal is to do a map every day. Since I actually want to learn how to make them pretty I'll probably spend longer than five minutes on them, but every Friday I'll do a five minute map. Some of them I'll show here, some of them I won't. 

Today's map is of the traveling circus of one Doctor Teslo. Nobody knows what he actually looks like--he keeps hidden in his big tent all the time. Most of the performers have never seen him because the ringmaster Darakshan Anayis does all the hiring and firing. She's not to be crossed. Foul tempered, quick with her curved daggers, and some say she has magic that she stole from a djinn. 

The circus keeps to it's own schedule. It never posts times when it'll be in town and it disappears at a whim. Sometimes it stays in a place for weeks, sometimes barely 24 hours. Townsfolk will see an empty field one day and then the next a fully set up circus and they'll have no idea how it happened.

Even with the sudden arrivals and departures the circus is always packed. Those who go there are drawn like moths to a flame. Work, family, pleasure are all unimportant--what they know is that something that they must see is in one of those tents. 

They're correct. Every tent has something unusual and unique. The trained horses do impossible tricks. The food stalls sell food that seems to enhance the senses. The freak shows are truly freakish. As special as these attractions are, there are a few tents that are even more amazing and that only a few manage to find.

The tent of Arjeta the Toothless

Arjeta is an old crone with no teeth. For the right price she'll cast her bones and tell your fortune (it's rumored that she yanked out her own teeth to use as her bones for casting) or answer one question. Her answers are always correct, even if the listener can't understand them. 

The tent of Esaro the fat

Esaro is an enormously fat man, but don't let that bulk fool you. He's surprisingly quick and nimble and has prodigious strength. In his tent you can find your heart's desire. If you don't know what your heart's desire is, he'll gladly show it to you. Be careful about bargaining with him, because his price is always the thing that means the most to you. 

The tent of Blanat the Ageless

If you manage to find Blanat's tent then you are a special individual indeed. Those who find her tent have a wandering spark inside them that drives them on. These are they who are not happy with the mundane and ordinary and who want to achieve great things or see wondrous lands. Blanat has the power to send travelers to worlds beyond mortal knowing. She holds to a higher oath and seeks those who will labor for a cause in a strange land. Time works differently in other worlds, so if you accept the call to go and fight if you return you may find that no time at all has passed or that decades have passed. 

Every traveler who has completed a mission she has set them to will find themselves immortalized by the bards and poets of that world.