''The Spiraling Worm'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

Lovecraftian horror Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

novel written in the style of a

spy thriller Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelli ...

, by authors

David Conyers David Conyers (born 30 May 1971) is an Australian author. Conyers writes predominantly science fiction and Lovecraftian horror. Biography Conyers was born in Sydney. Most of his childhood was spent in the Adelaide Hills, before moving to Melb ...

and John Sunseri. Published in 2007, the novel went received an Honourable Mention for Best Australian Horror Novel in the 12th Annual

Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...

(2007) and the

Australian Shadows Award The Australian Shadows Awards, also known as the Australasian Shadows Awards, are annual literary awards established by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) in 2005 to honour the best published works of horror fiction written or edit ...

(2007). The last three stories received honorable mentions in the ''

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1988 to 2007. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospect ...

'' Volume 21.

Plot introduction

''The Spiraling Worm'' consists of seven interconnected tales. Each story features spies and government agents battling

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and government

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

who wish to release cosmic horrors of the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

from their hidden dimensions to destroy the Earth. The seven stories are: *"Made of Meat" by David Conyers *"To What Green Altar" by John Sunseri *"Impossible Object" by David Conyers *"False Containment" by David Conyers *"Resurgence" by John Sunseri *"Weapon Grade" by David Conyers *"The Spiraling Worm" by David Conyers and John Sunseri

Plot summary

The book is introduced by C. J. Henderson with an After Word by the authors. The plot summaries of the seven stories are: *"Made of Meat": In the

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n jungles, Major Harrison Peel of the

Australian Army Intelligence Corps The Australian Intelligence Corps (AUSTINT) is a corps within the Australian Army. It was formed on 6 December 1907 and provides intelligence personnel in every formation headquarters in the Army.Dennis (et al) 2008, p. 65. , the corps consisted ...

and

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

spy James Figgs, are involved in covert operations fighting a losing war against Tcho-Tcho terrorists. The Tcho-Tcho are able to predict Peel's and Figgs’ every move, efficiently eliminating the foreigner's agents under their very noses. Peel seeks the aid of a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran who provides him with the intelligence he requires to bring the Tcho-Tchos’ reign to an end. *"To What Green Altar": In

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, Middle Eastern cultists slaughter every single employee at a remote Russian mine. In

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, James Figgs calls

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

agent Jack Dixon to aid in the investigation of this attack, and together they uncover its connection to the 1908

Tunguska event The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 TNT equivalent, megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over ...

. A trail leads to the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

, where the summoning of a Cthulhu Mythos deity almost forces a global religious war between Muslims and Christians. *"Impossible Object": The ancient city of Pnakotus in Australia's

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

, a city that was once home to the

Great Race of Yith The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify the ...

, has been unearthed by the Australian government. Their secret investigation of its ruins found nothing of value except for a strange artifact, the Impossible Object, which no one can describe or classify. Harrison Peel, now head of security at the city, tries to understand its purpose before more scientific researchers die, or are erased from existence altogether by the Object's unpredictable properties. *"False Containment": Harrison Peel travels from Australia to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and then into the deserts of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, spurred on by a strange encounter with himself from the future with disturbing news of a

wormhole A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are base ...

leading to a monstrous god called the Many-Thing that devours worlds. Toxic and nuclear waste is materializing all over the world, and Peel becomes convinced its source is a new waste treatment plant in Nevada, utilizing technology of great interest to

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, and derived from knowledge offered by the Impossible Object. *"Resurgence":

Shoggoths A shoggoth (occasionally shaggoth) is a fictional creature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings were mentioned in passing in H. P. Lovecraft's sonnet cycle ''Fungi from Yuggoth'' (1929–30), and later mentioned in other works, before being describ ...

from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

are waking. Discovering that there is nothing to feed their hunger in the icy wastelands, and freed from their incarceration as slaves to the ancient alien race of the

Elder Things The Elder Things (also known as the Old Ones and Elder Ones) are fictional extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella, ''At the Mountains of Madness'' (published in 1936, but written in 1931) ...

, they advance northwards. In

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Jack Dixon's expertise is called upon to defeat a bold shoggoth, which he destroys with a nuclear weapon. Facing a similar foe in Australia, Harrison Peel is not able to deploy weapons of mass destruction because no one in the Australian or United States government will provide him with one, fearful of the political ramifications if a nuclear bomb is detonated on Australian soil. *"Weapon Grade": After suffering severe radiation poisoning from his encounter with a shoggoth in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Peel is dying. He hopes to go quietly, but Dixon calls upon Peel's expertise, taking him to

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, Antarctica and finally another universe, to secret US bases where Dixon's government has long been studying the properties of shoggoths. Meanwhile, a rogue Israeli

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

spy plans to steal a tissue sample of a shoggoth, only to be defeated by Peel as they pass between dimensions. The effects of higher-dimensional time flow, cures Peel of his radiation poisoning. *"The Spiraling Worm": In the jungle of the Eastern

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

the cult of the Spiraling Worm is building an army, whose primary goal is to restore the powers of the Outer Gods. A team of British and American

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

, led by Peel, Dixon and Figgs, are sent into Africa to stop the army.

External links

Publisher Website

Amazon.com Product Page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiraling Worm 2007 American novels 2007 science fiction novels 2000s horror novels Cthulhu Mythos novels American spy novels Chaosium books

Plot introduction

Plot summary

See also

External links