So I finally got my hands on final volume. And it is a very mixed bag.

I wont go into details since that would be ruining experience for others. Lets just say that third act is basically a tie in between Providence story-line and Neonomicon story.
Ending is very reminiscent of the birth of Christ but turned around for 180 degrees because we are talking about the dark forces here.

We have St John-like character here (our curious and ultimately darn weird and stupid-on-oh-so-many-level's Mr. Black), that agent women from Neonomicon (that plays the role comparable to Mary) carrying something that will usher our world into darkness and all the others - call them wise three man (from the dark side) and locals witnessing the event (no shepherds here, this folk is sick and scary to the bone).

Black finally realizes that horrid things he saw and witnessed in previous volumes actually exist and consequently goes off the rails - he acts very much like Sam Neil's character from the movie "In the Mouth of Madness" but it is too late. Finally he ends up in that weird room for listening records [that you will most surely remember from act 1].

Of course since this books aims at being artistic we have same elements that I mentioned in my previous reviews. We have Black chasing down guys wherever he goes (I can only say thankfully no monster raping in this volume) and finally he gets ... serviced? ... by a messenger from these monstrosities from beyond that has entire face in form of female genitals and of course goes down on Black.

Most interesting part of the story is when Black finally connects the dots - when he realizes who is he talking to, ancestry and links between all these characters he came across. He then becomes aware they need to be stopped but unfortunately it is too late. Like in movie "The Fallen" he knows and they know he knows - he spirals into madness and ..... we bloody lose him from the story, one third in (???)

And this is my second issue with this novel - ending is like stuff from bad dreams (as one of the remaining normal [I hope] characters says - is this all dream?). Art as always is gorgeous and Jacen Burrows shows that dream-like quality of all the events in great form and detail.

But be it dream or not (everything looks like it is being erased in slow-motion by a giant eraser) ending is so abrupt and so unsatisfying ... its incredible. I dont ask for details in order to nit-pick them but ending is such reader is not sure what happened (I know I was asking myself "am I missing pages?").

Atmosphere and art are on the spot. But authors decision to abruptly pull the breaks and stop everything before ... I dont get it. Take for the example [b: The Books of Magic|17727|The Books of Magic|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367303662l/17727._SY75_.jpg|2986314] by Neil Gaiman. Same dreamy out-of-this-world events, shadows lurking everywhere but book has start and the end. Even if this book ended in a similar way like "In the Mouth of Madness" (which is a variation of "I am Legend" book ending) it would be great. In order to detect lunacy story needs to give us same sane character - reader cannot be the one.

All in all, not so good ending for the series. Could have been much better [for me at least since lots of people are truly enjoying it].

If you like Lovecraftian horror treat yourself and give this 4-volume story a try (4th being Neonomicon that should be read first - if you ask me). Although it has its bad sides story is good enough and brings horror to the mind of the reader (which is not something comics usually manage to do). ( )

Well this was a roller coaster ride. I rather liked this series overall. I'm not sure it's Moore's best, but it certainly makes my top 5. The last two issues get really weird. I liked Issue 11, but I can see some getting lost if they don't get the references. William S. Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and Jorge Luis Borges all make small appearances for a reason. The last issue left me a little clueless. I think I have to read Moore's original Lovecraftian comic book now to fully get this series. If you like Lovecraft (and more than just reading his stories) and you like Moore when his is at his most bizarre this comic is a good read. Moore clearly did his Lovecraftin homework before writing Providence. ( )

"Lovecraft went on to write his stories, and they somehow came to permeate most Western culture. That's what's most inexplicable. I mean, why didn't anybody notice how unlikely that was?

"Not just his work's improbable popularity, but its effects: all those people insisting the Necronomicon was real, all the hoax editions, other writers playing along... Think about it. Has that ever happened before, with any work of fiction?"

"Well, probably not since the first Christians didn't realize the Gnostics were being symbolic."

"Y'know, that's not a bad comparison. Religions are fictions that modify the world. It's just this fiction is more radical and aggressive."

Well, thank the Great Cthulhu, Moore finally managed a story with a satisfying conclusion. It's been a hell of a long time since I read something of his that wrapped up in a decent way.

Yes, there were bumps along the road, such as the drawn out pace of the first eight chapters (covered in Acts 1 and 2), though he does manage to pay it off in the tenth chapter. Having said that, the eleventh chapter was an often irritating and purposely disjointed way to span the next 90-odd years and bring us back up to the end of Neonomicon.

The final chapter, while ultimately satisfying, was also a stunning info-dump, while still managing to turn the entire Lovecraftian mythos on its ear and give us something new.

I'll say this for Moore: when he wants to write a story based on something that's come earlier, he certainly does his research. But for all that, what's most off-putting is his incredible self-indulgence in his writing. He's good when he wants to be, but he always seems to have an agenda that he also needs to ram down the readers' collective throats.

Regardless, dude, despite some serious fuck-ups along the way, did manage to get the job done in the end.

And I'd be completely remiss if I didn't, one last time, highlight the absolutely gorgeous artwork that accompanied this story. As far as I'm concerned Burrows is the Lovecraft artist.

Having said that, I'm also glad I'm done the story. ( )

"If I'm reading this right, our dreams and our world are two extremes of a bi-polar reality, that can flip from one state to the other. It shifted in our favour aeons ago, commencing human history. Ever since, interests from the displaced reality have tried to shift it back."
"S-So... our dreams are a vanquished country, and it's trying to overthrow us?"

So, I didn't realize that Providence was a sequel prequel to [b:Neonomicon|11036352|Neonomicon|Alan Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347512252s/11036352.jpg|15956441] , instead of just a prequel. This book makes no sense whatsoever without the other one, so I stopped and read that. And then I wondered why the hell Moore didn't just leave it alone at the one book. Because really Robert Black's long meander through his final days is totally superfluous and fatuous. Also, the cosmic horror apparently really does come down to sex, which makes Moore seem prude and vaguely homophobic. Would not read again. ( )

A story about how fiction and dreams affect reality, interspersed with references to H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, H.G. Wells, Robert Loveman, Colin Wilson, Robert W. Chambers, Carl Jung, and more. You can enjoy the story without knowing the references, but knowing them makes the story more fun. ( )