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norahbringer's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a couple of tries to get into this book, and I’m so glad I gave it a second chance. It’s an incredibly imaginative adventure story. I had a bit of a hard time getting through the relatively long stretches where the central character (an intriguing and strong woman) is traveling on her own (where the story is mostly descriptive about what she sees and encounters), but it was so worth it. Not life-changing but definitely interesting and enjoyable.
yeetmemequeen's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
lesserjoke's review against another edition
4.0
I've never read H.P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, the story that so directly inspired this one, but I've read enough of his other works to have a sense of the racism and violent misogyny that pervade the man's writing. Those facets make for uncomfortable reading, and it's no wonder that most authors who have dabbled in Lovecraftian horror over the past century have generally elided that portion of the author's legacy. They wisely choose to take up Lovecraft's vision of humanity's smallness in a chaotic universe of unknowable gods, and leave behind his own human weaknesses.
What makes Kij Johnson's The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe so remarkable is that she is not content to simply set her story in the sanitized Cthulhu mythos that so many other authors favor and pretend that Lovecraft has always stood for equal-opportunity cosmic madness. Instead, hers is a Lovecraftian story that fiercely carves out a space for women at its center, demanding that we pay attention to the ways in which that gender was sidelined and demeaned in the original tales. Thus, her Dream-Quest follows an older woman -- a professor at a Women's College that could never have come from Lovecraft's pen -- tracking her wayward star pupil across the indifferent dreamlands, hoping that both women can return before a dreaming god awakens and destroys their home in his wrath. The fate of the College rests on female shoulders, and the male authority figures Boe encounters can offer little help in her quest.
The story itself is well-told, with ghasts and gugs and other Lovecraftian fixtures, all horrible yet familiar to a woman like Boe who has long traveled among them. I would have liked for it to be longer -- especially if that additional space could have let Johnson interrogate Lovecraft's racism as effectively as she does his sexism -- but for what it is and what it's aiming to do, The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe is a triumph.
What makes Kij Johnson's The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe so remarkable is that she is not content to simply set her story in the sanitized Cthulhu mythos that so many other authors favor and pretend that Lovecraft has always stood for equal-opportunity cosmic madness. Instead, hers is a Lovecraftian story that fiercely carves out a space for women at its center, demanding that we pay attention to the ways in which that gender was sidelined and demeaned in the original tales. Thus, her Dream-Quest follows an older woman -- a professor at a Women's College that could never have come from Lovecraft's pen -- tracking her wayward star pupil across the indifferent dreamlands, hoping that both women can return before a dreaming god awakens and destroys their home in his wrath. The fate of the College rests on female shoulders, and the male authority figures Boe encounters can offer little help in her quest.
The story itself is well-told, with ghasts and gugs and other Lovecraftian fixtures, all horrible yet familiar to a woman like Boe who has long traveled among them. I would have liked for it to be longer -- especially if that additional space could have let Johnson interrogate Lovecraft's racism as effectively as she does his sexism -- but for what it is and what it's aiming to do, The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe is a triumph.
booksarebetter's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 ⭐ rounded up. It started off strong then I slowly grew more and more bored.
trankz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
strigine's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely and strange. I have never read Lovecraft and I think there probably would have been another layer to my enjoyment if I had, but still interesting.
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this 3.5/5, but went 4 because the book does what the author set out to do.
The descriptive writing is good, maybe a little too good because I regularly noticed it instead of just blissfully absorbing it.
Boe's a believable character, and the cat is great.
The two-worlds bit was a stretch, but I was willing to be persuaded. And it was OK until quite late in the story we suddenly have? Feh. that's just updated "With a mighty leap, Tarzan escaped the pit that we were clearly told was inescapable."
And author, c'mon, no fair, you have to explain how the cat ….
If I see another KJ that isn't Lovecraftian, I'll check it out.
The descriptive writing is good, maybe a little too good because I regularly noticed it instead of just blissfully absorbing it.
Boe's a believable character, and the cat is great.
The two-worlds bit was a stretch, but I was willing to be persuaded. And it was OK until quite late in the story we suddenly have
Spoiler
a gug turning into a Buick Riviera with keys, and an odd cube turning into a fully-charged working cellphone programmed with what she needs.And author, c'mon, no fair, you have to explain how the cat ….
If I see another KJ that isn't Lovecraftian, I'll check it out.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
There have been a lot of revisitings and reenvisionings of Lovecraft these past few years--all to the good, in my opinion. While the Lovecraft mythos is rich, his writing is also HUGELY problematic (news to no one, I know). To have authors I admire and trust dig into that mythos and remake and retell it is a real pleasure for me. This happens to be one of my favourites so far, so rich and strange and creepy and wonderful.
magic_miles's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
arielkirst's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
This book was so immersive I fell into it and forgot what the real world was for a bit