Book Review: The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky by John Hornor Jacobs
The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky is a dark and intently written horror novella that shows the breadth of the author’s skill. A fictional South American Country. Two expatriates, an old poet with a long history of tangling with the autocratic regime that runs his homeland, and his young protege, a young college professor who is drawn to him, and his connection to their homeland of Magera. An unlikely friendship, a manuscript telling awful secrets, and a compulsion to return to her homeland. These and much more are the elements of The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky, a literary cosmic horror novella from John Hornor Jacobs.
Book Review: Three Neo-Lovecraftian novellas from Tor.com Publishing
In the last two years, Tor.Com’s publishing division has been publishing novellas and novels engaging with elements of Lovecraft’s Mythos. With the body of Lovecraft’s work outside of copyright or at least in dispute, the Mythos has proven a fertile ground in recent years for authors who want to explore Lovecraft, react to it, make it their own. In Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin Kiernan, the author ties together elements of Lovecraft along with her own creation of the mysterious Signalman, a government agent of rather unusual provenance. Add in a mysterious contact in the vicinity of Pluto, a distinctive narrative voice, and a narrative told out of sequence. It’s Lovecraft as seen through a strong literary bent, which is perhaps 180 degrees away from Lovecraft’s Pulp homeground. And amazingly, for being everything that Lovecraft is not, it is unquestionably in dialogue and an addition to the Mythos. Kieran manages to bring the Mythos to literary fiction. Kiernan’s skills bring a whole new look at Lovecraft’s work. The Signalman as a character is a real star whose development and direction by the author makes him leap off of the page. It’s perhaps the less accessible of the new crop of Neo-Lovecraftian fiction of what I have read from Tor, meaning that I would not recommend readers from a SFF and Lovecraft bent start here. The unique voice and style are singular and are not really indicative of the form. This is a novella, though, that I would hand someone who was deeply immersed in literary fiction, familiar with its forms, and wanted to try something with a fantastic bent. In some ways, they are an even better audience than someone who has read Lovecraft and SFF. The other two novellas are on far more solid SFF ground, although with their own twist.
