The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan is a wonderfully inventive extrapolation of a future Mythos setting where Cthulhu emerges to begin an apocalyptic reign of psychotic madness, and the titular Tsan Chan Empire becomes the primary surviving human civilization. But this is not a story of plucky survivors who prevail against daunting odds - appropriately for a setting with Old Ones stomping around the Earth, things are only slightly less awful for the time being, and doom seems assured. It's very much in keeping with a Lovecraftian interpretation of the future, where our choice is extinction or transforation into something terrible and alien.

This is also the primary weakness of The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan as a campaign setting: it's bleak as hell. There are no happy endings in Tsan Chan, even less so than in your typical CoC campaign. Some groups will definitely be into this, but it might grow old, after a while. Personally, I would prefer to use TCEoTC as some kind of alternate timeline or planet in another campaign. Or you could just take advantage of the many excellent and atmospheric details, like The Empress: a toxic gelatinous mass as large as a city, godlike in power, but only capable of communicating through cryptic pronouncements and dreams to be interpreted by the surgically-tortured Eunuchs.

There's a lot of great gonzo detail here, and plenty of intriguing dangers and rewards that could be introduced into any campaign. I really like TCEoTC's interpretation of the Tcho-Tcho, and the terrible implications of what could happen if they allied with the ghouls. Traditional Mythos entities are given slightly tweaked interpretations to fit into a coherent setting. Why are the Elder Things giving Tsan Chan access to their technology? Because we have agreed to serve as their foot soldiers against the Shoggoth in Antarctica. Who even Cthulhu might be a little afraid of. It all fits together very nicely, while staying true to what the Mythos is all about. All the while, this creates a setting rife with possible "adventure" (generally ending in madness and mutation or death).

This monograph is mostly setting detail, with very little in terms of mechanics, which is fine for what I'd want to use it for. There are some guidelines on creating characters, campaigns and plot hooks for this setting. The latter are more useful for me since, as I mentioned, I'd probably not use this as a primary setting. Tsan Chan would be a great place to have your players visit through a gateway in a more contemporary CoC campaign, or even via a portal in a more fantasy-oriented game. This is a solid and inventive use of Mythos ideas for roleplaying purposes.

A fascinating read, "The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan" extrapolates a post-Cthulhu society from a few fragmentary mentions in Lovecraft's work. Witthout losing any of the stark horror of the Mythos, this monograph creates a decadant empire that hangs by a thread over a world gone mad. While it may not be for everyone, it will definite find a place in the heart of those who like exotic civilizations with a "Sword & Planet" feel to them.

The lack of illustrations is the only thing keeping this product from earing a full five-stars. A world this rich and strange begs for an artist to render it in full.