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4.0 out of 5 stars
Swash-buckling adventure in Lovecraft's Dreamlands, Mar 16 2001
Continuing with the characters and swords-and-sorcery style of the first Dreamlands book, this book moves the action into the seas and skies. Plenty of swashbuckling adventure aboard ships, with cannons roaring, fierce battles by boarding parties, and prisoners forced to walk the plank. However, since these ships spend most of their time flying through the air, this isn't your normal naval adventure! If you like a rip-snorting adventure tale, there's plenty of action here, which I think you'll enjoy whether or not you're interested in the Lovecraftian setting.The hard-core Lovecraft fan might react a bit differently. Although the story is set in H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, Lumley puts his own twist on things. In the original dreamlands stories, magic and mystery surrounded most of the amazing aspects of the setting. Lumley puts a more pragmatic, scientific explanation behind things. For example, he provides a scientific, practical explanation for how the floating city of Serranian stays airborne, and how the sky ships fly. Another twist on the original HPL stories is the role of the Nightgaunts. In Lovecraft's stories, they are loathesome, inscrutable, and usually operating on behalf of greater powers. Lumley has a human character who can control a grim of Nightgaunts to do his bidding, whether his goal be evil or good. Lovecraft fans who like pulp adventure and are not bothered by Lumley's shift of style, emphasis and detail from the original will have a great time sailing the skies of the Dreamlands and wandering the streets of Serranian. Purists will take offense.
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