Seconded. The original Doom books (not the ones released based on post-90s Doom) are insane in the best possible way.
138
1963
The book really is quite good. Interesting choice for a protagonist, too.
Added to my list when it becomes cheaper than $9.99.
IIRC, that’s the same John Shirley that wrote lyrics to a bunch of Blue Oyster Cult songs.
Oh no “would you kindly” go go Andrew Ryan
?
Maybe the best endorsement I’ve seen of a writer off game novels! BOC were one of the bands I actually would camp out to get tickets for back in the, um, seventies.
Guys… I gotta have more cowbell!
Scuzz
1969
I have probably seen them 8-10 times. From the 17k seat Long Beach arena to the old Winterland in SF to a local 150 seat bar that featured them as “Soft White Underbelly”. I last saw them in a small local venue probably 20 years ago, but they still tour.
I must admit though, I never thought their lyrics were what made them great. :)
Depends on the songs, but yeah, the music was the draw. At a time when a lot off bands were rather lackluster in their actual playing, BOC I thought was pretty serious about sounding good. That said, songs like “Astronomy,” “ETI,” “Dominance, Submission,” etc. are pretty wild.
Chuck
1971
I grew up on the Oyster boys. For me, this is peak BOC:
It occurred to me just this morning, listening to a podcast discussion of Loki and how it supposedly sets up the next stage of the Marvel universe, that I just don’t have the nerd gene that wants this sort of expanded canon/lore. The whole idea of the Marvel universe turns me off - I like my stories to be self-contained, though I don’t have an issue with sequels (within reason). Even when I was into Star Wars as a kid, I only ever read one of the books, and it didn’t really do anything for me. The only time I’ve been even remotely tempted to read a book of a game was The Witcher, which a) doesn’t really count, and b) didn’t happen anyway. It simply wouldn’t even occur to me to seek out a novelisation of Doom. There’s all this lore for DotA, and I just don’t give a shit about it (and I gave up on the TV show after one episode).
To be fair, you don’t read the Doom novels for the lore. You read them to glimpse the dark glistening heart throbbing deep within the most fearful recesses of the human psyche.
Also some weirdly specific deep dives into Mormon theology.
Did anything from the novels make it to the game?
If you noclip into Samuel Hayden’s character model, you can see he’s wearing secret Mormon underwear.
Oh man Secret Treaties is a killer album. I have the remastered catalog of their work, which helps a bit because the original recordings were pretty low-fi really.
I remember one show where they all picked up guitars and got in a line to do I think it was either “Me-262” or “Godzilla.” Kind of like that photo.
Scuzz
1977
The end of one song (which like you I am not sure of) always has a bit at the end with all five band members playing guitar, even the drummer. Then they return to their normal instrument and finish the song.
Their double live On Your Feet, Or on Your Knees album is, IMHO, the best live album ever made.
I wish.
(I think the new ones might reference them briefly but only in an easter-eggy sort of way.)
Those books are so much more entertainingly batshit than the actual game(s).
It is.
But I’m not about to choose a favorite among those first three albums.
However, Tyranny And Mutation was the album that got me through high school. I had installed an under-dash 8-track player in my car, and that was one of three tapes I owned (the others being Rush’s A Farewell To Kings and BTO’s self-titled first album (the one that sounds like CCR).
So I looked up the first book on Amazon and read some sample pages, and wow, that is written in a style very similar to this book:
Which is not a bad thing.
