[Review] Tales of Promethea, A Fiction Anthology for Dark Harvest: The Legacy of Frankenstein

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the DH:LoF setting. Promethea, dark, disturbing and terrifyingly wonderful is the kind of rpg setting that gives even the GM nightmares. Iain Lowson, the mad scientist and author that came up with this setting was kind enough to give me a copy of the anthology to review and here it is.

Tales of Promethea is an anthology of short fiction that give a disturbing look at what life is like in Promethea. It explores a variety of differing points of view, from the victims to the authorities and it hammers home a very interesting fact: nobody is actually immune to the horrors of the setting. It’s a lovely truth, as far as horror settings go. In a time when people would much rather think in terms of Black and White, Promethea is presented very much in lovely shades of gray. While horrible things happen to people, it doesn’t seem to pick sides. Even the rich elite of Promethea find themselves experiencing horror, if coming from an entirely different angle.

Among the stories, my favorites include “A Rending Crack of Thunder” by Stuart Boon and “Scar Gang” by Matt Gibbs. Both stories were very compelling and kept me going at a fevered pace towards their respective endings. There’s no sense that the Anthology is meant to be a “meta-plot” of any sort, so RPG readers who are adverse to that sort of thing should find that the anthology doesn’t look to overwrite your Promethea as much as augment it, and perhaps convey a mood to inspire your gaming.

Overall, Tales of Promethea is a powerful addition to the DH:LoF line. It offers an intimate, and visceral look into the setting, leaving you wading knee deep in just what makes DH:LoF unique among rpg settings. Many times in reading the stories I’ve found myself thoroughly unsettled by what was happening, not because it went for a gross-out, but rather from the subtle, soul-crushing horror of the setting and if that isn’t a compliment to horror fiction, then I don’t know what is.

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The excellent Tales of Promethea fiction anthology is available for $3.99 from DriveThruFiction