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A review by bookwoods
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson
5.0
4.5/5 stars
”In a land defined by dreaming men and bickering gods, there were no sure rules, but there was also no certain randomness.”
Dreamlands is where each star has its own god and where everything from distances to mathematics is everchanging. In this world that’s inhabitet by the most imaginative creatures exists the Ulthar Women’s College and in the college lives a professor called Vellitt Boe. Vellitt’s past of wandering through the dreamlands gives her the required confidence to embark on a quest to find a former student. The importance of this quest keeps growing with Vellitt’s progression - soon she finds herself being the focus of the gods' games.
The Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe is a feminist take on Lovecraft’s original tale, which I had not read. And I don’t think I ever will, as its supposed to be quite racist and feature exclusively male characters. Kij Johnson’s version on the other hand is the best kind of fantasy adventure I could hope for. However, following the story demands continuous focus: it was easy to loose track of what was happening because the text is swarming with difficult words and phenomenons that follow arbitrary dream logic.
On the cover of the book there’s a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin which goes like this: ”Kij Johnson has the unrivaled gift for making the unreal real and the real unreal”, and that perfectly sums up my thoughts as well.
”In a land defined by dreaming men and bickering gods, there were no sure rules, but there was also no certain randomness.”
Dreamlands is where each star has its own god and where everything from distances to mathematics is everchanging. In this world that’s inhabitet by the most imaginative creatures exists the Ulthar Women’s College and in the college lives a professor called Vellitt Boe. Vellitt’s past of wandering through the dreamlands gives her the required confidence to embark on a quest to find a former student. The importance of this quest keeps growing with Vellitt’s progression - soon she finds herself being the focus of the gods' games.
The Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe is a feminist take on Lovecraft’s original tale, which I had not read. And I don’t think I ever will, as its supposed to be quite racist and feature exclusively male characters. Kij Johnson’s version on the other hand is the best kind of fantasy adventure I could hope for. However, following the story demands continuous focus: it was easy to loose track of what was happening because the text is swarming with difficult words and phenomenons that follow arbitrary dream logic.
On the cover of the book there’s a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin which goes like this: ”Kij Johnson has the unrivaled gift for making the unreal real and the real unreal”, and that perfectly sums up my thoughts as well.