Line #35 Literature/TheBehemoth


1	[[quoteright:187:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a831e3f2792994a4c72d3a9b289c83aa.jpg]][[caption-width-right:187:The cover, with thanks to Hieronymous Bosch.]]
2	A supernatural fiction novel written by Cameron Summers and released on kindle in early 2015. The Behemoth is the story of Roger Harding, a librarian in a university library whose best friend (and the object of a long-standing crush) is ritualistically murdered. He is drawn into an informal investigation of this incident, and a subsequent revenge plot.
3
4	This incident also released into the world a strange parasite that takes up residence in his skin, giving him a connection to the murderer, increased resilience, and an ability to perceive the parasite's home dimension, a strange otherworld that the murderer seeks entry into and mastery over.
5
6	Can be bought from [[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SMGOMD0 Amazon,]] and the author is answering questions on [[http://http://cameronsummerswrites.com/?p=2112 his website.]]
7
8	----
9	!! Behemoth contains examples of:
10
11	* TheAntiNihilist: Roger's eventual outlook.
12	* ArcWords:
13	** "Don't take life so seriously all the time."
14	** "Life is serious."
15	** "You don't know what you're doing."
16	* BloodFromEveryOrifice: Why becoming the Behemoth is a PainfulTransformation.
17	* BodyHorror: In spades!
18	* CarvedMark: Stephen does this to [[spoiler: Jean]] later in the novel.
19	* TheCorruption: The symbiotes are worm-like creatures that can't survive on their own in the human world but thrive when inhabiting a human body.
20	* DarkWorld: The Otherworld is a distorted reflection of the "real" world.
21	* DespairEventHorizon: Roger crosses it in chapter 2.
22	* DreamLand: The Otherworld, which is distorted by the thoughts of humans in corresponding locations in the "real" world, but which causes resonance on the other side.
23	* TheEeyore: Roger has some elements of this character type, though his internal monologue features a bit of snark.
24	* EldritchAbomination: Several. [[spoiler:The Giant is described as a human-shaped "hole in the world" through which eyes and teeth float.]]
25	* EldritchLocation: The Otherworld, for a hat trick.
26	* EmergencyTransformation: The first time Roger becomes the Behemoth.
27	* {{Epigraph}}: Every chapter opens with a vaguely thematic one.
28	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Jean,]] late in the novel, due to [[spoiler:TheCorruption]]
29	* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Roger and the Giant.]]
30	* GodhoodSeeker: The villain's ultimate goal.
31	* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Given that Roger is crushed, eviscerated, subjected to {{fingore}}, vicious examples of EarAche -- essentially a rather heavy MutilationConga -- this is probably helpful.
32	* GrandTheftMe [[spoiler:the Giant's plan for Roger.]]
33	* HaveYouSeenMyGod: Bently, and those inhabitants of the Otherworld, occasionally refer to "the Truth", but have no more direct knowledge of it than garden-variety human beings.
34	* HealingFactor: All infectees -- Roger, Stephen, [[spoiler:and Jean]] -- possess this. It's the result of having a worm-like symbiote living in their bodies, though, and the symbiote grows more powerful with each healing.
35	* TheHeavy: Stephen Burton and his murders drive the plot.
36	* Myth/HebrewMythology: Some terminology is taken from this -- notably "Chayyoth ha-Qadesh."
37	* HenshinHero: Roger's transformation into the Behemoth occasionally has shades of this.
38	* HeroicHost: Roger, for certain values of "heroic."
39	* HulkingOut: Roger does this a number of times.
40	* InstantArmor: Roger's transformations functions like this.
41	* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: As a result of Roger's asocial behavior.
42	* TheJuggernaut: Roger fears becoming this, and even has a hallucination to this effect.
43	* LadyDrunk: Jean Burton. Interesting in that her drunkenness is never made an issue of -- it's simply a fact of her character.
44	* LovecraftianSuperpower: what the symbiotes grant.
45	* ManBehindTheMan: The thing Stephen serves. [[spoiler:The Giant, who seeks to use the symbiotes as a bridge into the real world.]]
46	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Elly can be considered a deconstruction of this for Roger. Their relationship has some MPDG qualities, but they're the result of him projecting them on to it over years of friendship, and he's unable to move from putting her on a pedestal to actually trying to have a relationship with her. Elly, for her part, has a great deal of affection for Roger, but considers them to be JustFriends.
47	* MrExposition: Professor Bently, the scholar who had a bad habit of GoingNative in the Otherworld.
48	* {{Necromantic}}: [[spoiler: The epilogue features Professor Bently suggesting that there may be a way to restore someone to life.]]
49	* OurGiantsAreBigger: ''The'' Giant is more akin to the mythological conception of a primordial monster than a giant person.
50	* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: It's implied that Roger's circulatory system might be BiggerOnTheInside.
51	* PainfulTransformation: Part and parcel of Roger becoming the Behemoth.
52	* PosthumousCharacter: Elly Watson is only alive in the prologue, but appears through several flashbacks throughout the story.
53	* ThePowerOfBlood: The Behemoth has a carapace seemingly created from coagulated blood.
54	* RecursiveReality: Roger's brief visit to AfterlifeAntechamber implies this.
55	* SerialKiller: Stephen Burton, splitting the difference between mission-based and visionary.
56	* TheSnarkKnight: Roger has some shades of this, when he isn't being TheEeyore.
57	* SuperMode: The Behemoth, though Roger's normal form is simply gifted with a healing factor.
58	* TheSymbiote: The worm that crawls into Roger's ear and lives in his brain, causing him to gain superpowers.
59	* TalkingToTheDead: Roger engages in this late in the novel.
60	* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: [[spoiler:Roger and the Giant.]]
61	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Roger has moments of this after developing his healing factor.

Context Literature / TheBehemoth