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I Am Providence A Novel Nick Mamatas Books

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I Am Providence A Novel Nick Mamatas Books

I've read and greatly enjoyed other work by Mamatas (Under My Roof and Sensation) but not his most closely related novel, Move Under Ground, which is, as I understand it, a mash-up of Lovecraft and Jack Kerouac, much like the fictionalized The Catcher in R'Iyeh mashup of Lovecraft and Salinger featured in I Am Providence. After I Am Providence, I feel like I should repair that lapse, because although I have (still) never read a Lovecraft story in my life, this murder mystery set at a Providence, Rhode Island fan convention for Lovecraft, um, idolaters and lesser enthusiasts is extremely fun, as well as vastly informative. I now have the background to appreciate the Cthulhuian (Cthulhuish?) plot points in the hipster road trip odyssey of Move Under Ground.

The mystery has two narrators, one of whom is an excellent nod to horror fiction and fantasy, as well as a neat-footed switch in murder mystery tropes. I also appreciated the deliberate send up of fan culture and the temporary hothouse community of a fan convention. The novel may read a bit like a roman à clef, but there is a reassuring (to some) disclaimer at the beginning. Meanwhile, everything from awkward panel discussions to concentric rings of fan and writer in-crowds to the contextual development of fandom from 'zines to Twitter wars is joyously (a sardonic joy, to be sure) laid bare to the reader's gaze. The politics of both H. P. Lovecraft and his modern supporters form an undercurrent to the mystery, and the police procedural elements were realistic in their absolute lack of bravura. I loved this mystery, and I hope Mamatas writes more.


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I Am Providence A Novel Nick Mamatas Books Reviews

An extremely inventive novel with Lovecraftian themes and considerable humor. Many novels are strongly similar to other novels. This one is different from almost anything I've read before. So, if that were all, I'd give it five stars.

However, the story didn't really hold my interest, and it was a bit difficult to finish the novel. Thus my rating.
When a writer is murdered at the Summer Tentacular, the annual Providence-based HP Lovecraft convention, Colleen Danzig plumbs the depths of the assembled fandom to find his killer. Can she stay alive long enough to find the murderer?

I Am Providence is a murder mystery set at an HP Lovecraft convention. It shows the dark underbelly of fandom, putting the fans under the microscope.

Colleen Danzig, the plucky heroine, goes through quite a bit of hell over the course of the book, both in her sleuthing and in the way fandom sometimes treats women in general. The other patrons of the convention remind me all too much of the kind of vocal fans one finds online.

The plot was very serpentine, or squamous, I guess. I had no idea who the killer was up until the end. Mamatas threw a barrel's worth of red herrings into the mix.

I really liked the parallel structure of the book, alternating between Colleen's point of view and that of the murder victim as his body decayed on a slab at the morgue. While free of Lovecraftian beasties, the book still had a undercurrent of nihilism and cosmic horror throughout.

I guess my only gripe would be that I didn't care for the ending. However, it rang true to most Lovecraft endings so it was pretty fitting.

With I Am Providence, Nick Mamatas tears the face off of Lovecraftian fandom and shows what lies beneath, warts and all. Four out of five stars.
A maddening mixture of, on the one hand, witty satire and sharp observations and, on the other hand, convoluted mystery and flat characters. I think I enjoyed the book, the alternation of live narrator (and Lovecraftian newbie author) and murder victim (established Lovecraftian regular) was a neat conceit, especially the chapters from the newly dead point of view. Having briefly frequented a few anime conventions, the portrait of the Lovecraft convention circuit was believable and sometimes painfully funny (and desperate). The author hits the right notes in making the cast of characters ring true and the petty infighting, awkward social interactions, and sometimes myopic fawning of the community can be cutting. But the driver behind the novel, the murder mystery, sputters and lurches and is just largely unsatisfying. The conclusion felt thrown together and the purposely vague ending was forced. Not entirely wasted time, but not a book I'd easily recommend.
I've read and greatly enjoyed other work by Mamatas (Under My Roof and Sensation) but not his most closely related novel, Move Under Ground, which is, as I understand it, a mash-up of Lovecraft and Jack Kerouac, much like the fictionalized The Catcher in R'Iyeh mashup of Lovecraft and Salinger featured in I Am Providence. After I Am Providence, I feel like I should repair that lapse, because although I have (still) never read a Lovecraft story in my life, this murder mystery set at a Providence, Rhode Island fan convention for Lovecraft, um, idolaters and lesser enthusiasts is extremely fun, as well as vastly informative. I now have the background to appreciate the Cthulhuian (Cthulhuish?) plot points in the hipster road trip odyssey of Move Under Ground.

The mystery has two narrators, one of whom is an excellent nod to horror fiction and fantasy, as well as a neat-footed switch in murder mystery tropes. I also appreciated the deliberate send up of fan culture and the temporary hothouse community of a fan convention. The novel may read a bit like a roman à clef, but there is a reassuring (to some) disclaimer at the beginning. Meanwhile, everything from awkward panel discussions to concentric rings of fan and writer in-crowds to the contextual development of fandom from 'zines to Twitter wars is joyously (a sardonic joy, to be sure) laid bare to the reader's gaze. The politics of both H. P. Lovecraft and his modern supporters form an undercurrent to the mystery, and the police procedural elements were realistic in their absolute lack of bravura. I loved this mystery, and I hope Mamatas writes more.