The Andrew Doran series is a Cthulhu Mythos Two-Fisted Tales action adventure series by Matthew Davenport. Doctor Andrew Doran is an Adventurer Archaeologist in the employ of Miskatonic University during the build-up to World War 2. An expert on the Cthulhu Mythos and its various monsters, he is shocked and horrified to discover the Nazis have started using the occult in their plots to Take Over the World.
Rather than a Cosmic Horror story, the Andrew Doran series is a mostly Black-and-White Morality tale of our arrogant protagonist working to engage in larger-than-life battles agaisnt supernatural monsters. The resemblance to Indiana Jones is deliberate and frequently homaged in-universe.
Summoned by his boss at Miskatonic University via a shoggoth, Andrew Doran is informed of grim tidings: the Nazis have stolen the Necronomicon. Charged by Dean Smythe with recovering it, Andrew journeys to Barcelona and through Occupied France to Berlin during the height of World War 2. Allying with a local French Resistance cell, he is stymied at every turn by supernatural events as forces attempt to bring about The End of the World as We Know It.
It is followed by Andrew Doran at the Mountains of Madness.
The Statement of Andrew Doran contains the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Olivia is a member of the French Resistance and solid ally to Andrew. Until The Reveal.
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Justified as they're in France and there are quite a few large tunnels throughout the country. More justified in that it is the Cthulhu Mythos and these tunnels lead unpleasant places.
- Action Girl: Olivia is a young female leader of French Resistance cell as well as extremely good at shooting Nazis.
- Adventure Town: The book is basically divided into chapters of Andrew stumbling onto the Cthulhu Mythos in every single location he visits on his way to Berlin. Something even he comments on his bad luck with.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Andrew Doran maintains this opinion about shoggoths and we have very little evidence they aren't, even if they're mystically enslaved.
- Apocalyptic Log: Andrew Doran talks to a sailor about three ships that were destroyed by the Deep Ones, their crews dragged underwater and presumably turned into chattel.
- Artificial Human: Andrew turns out to have accidentally created Olivia from his insanity and magical experiments.
- Bedlam House: Andrew Doran describes Arkham Asylum (no, not that one) as full of mad men driven insane by horrific creatures or things that had replaced people.
- Big Bad: Dean Smythe turns out to have been a member of the Traum Kult the entire time.
- Brain in a Jar: Robert has this happen to him when they're captured by Nazis working with the Mi-Go. With no way to reverse the process, Andrew gives him a Mercy Kill.
- Dean Bitterman: An odd example with Dean Smythe in that he's a stick in the mud who uses the Mythos to Fight Fire with Fire and Andrew Doran who is a Hunter of Monsters who doesn't. Then he turns out to be a Nazi agent.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Doctor Stoll is a shoggoth controlled by Miskatonic University and wants to destroy humanity. Unsurprisingly, it Turned Against Their Masters.
- Future Me Scares Me: Andrew discovers that his future self is supposed to be the one who reads from the Necronomicon and brings Cthulhu from deepest R'lyeh.
- History Repeats: Miskatonic University is using shoggoths as slaves despite the thing the shoggoths most being known for is turning around and slaughtering their masters.
- I Gave My Word: Andrew honors his word to let the Deep Ones go even though they tried to kill the entire crew.
- Kill and Replace: Doctor Stoll was planning on doing this to Dean Smythe.
- La Résistance: The original in the French Resistance helps Andrew throughout this adventure. Notably, they're not particularly interested in helping Andrew as he draws a lot of attention and is cagey about what exactly he's trying to do.
- Macguffin: Andrew has to infiltrate Berlin in 1941 to recover the Necronomicon.
- Mercy Kill: Andrew gives one of these to Robert.
- The Mole: Andrew suspects that Olivia might be this. She's actually a product of his magic gone amuck.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Andrew Doran compared shoggotsh to cockroaches during one inner monologue. Doctor Stoll later informs Andrew Doran he's considered a cockroach by shoggoths.
- Oh, Crap!: When Andrew realizes his cruise ship has Deep One hybrids aboard it.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Andrew gives Smythe one of these when he finds out the Necronomicon has been stolen by the Nazis.
- Dean Smythe blames Andrew Doran for killing his pet shoggoth when it goes rogue and tries to kill the latter.
- The Reveal: Olivia is a product of Andrew staring into the void and creating an ally to help him out of his insanity.
- Shout-Out: The Clock of Dreams from HP Lovecraft's Dreamquest and Titus Crow by Brian Lumley shows up.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Dean Brandon Smythe holds Andrew Doran in contempt and vice versa but they both need one another to navigate Miskatonic Universtiy's academia versus adventuring lifestyle. All of this is thrown out the window with the revelation he's an American Nazi and Cthulhu cultist.
- Teleportation: Andrew Doran can teleport around the world with the help of a shoggoth but absolutely hates it.
- Teleportation Sickness: Traveling through the void of a shoggoth's folds is horrifying and sanity blasting but preferrable to dying in the desert from heat stroke.
- Token Evil Teammate: Doctor Stoll is apparently an employee at Miskatonic University despite being a magically bound creature of absolute evil.
- Wall of Weapons: The Miskatonic University armory is full of supernatural objects ready and capable of killing Mythos entities. These range from machine guns and flame throwers to spell books as well as enchanted knives.
