Dreams of Shreds and Tatters, by Amanda Downum, 2015
256 pages
This was in the science fiction section :0
I always get frustrated that there's different sections for scifi and mystery and I could be missing out on stuff cuz I'm always forgetting about that and just in the fiction.
This book was pretty decent I'd say. They kept talking about the Lovecraftness which was one of the things that intrigued me most in the first place but it's pretty toned down. There's virtually no Lovecraftian excess that's always fun (everything being infinitely this and ineffably that) but there are clear references/influences, with the dream cities and night gaunts.
It's about a girl who comes to learn a friend of hers that she hasn't heard from for some time has in fact been involved in some accident and is now in a coma, so this girl and her partner travel to Vancouver to check it out, and get involved with Mr. Coma's circle of starving artists/mystics. They find out about a whack drug they take supposed to bestow stronger abilities for like, dreaming and artistic visions and power and bliss, but with very undesirable negative effects.
So basically, within the coma, this guy is trapped in a weird underworld that coincides with the earthly dreamworld (I guess) so our main character has to plunge deep therein to rescue her friend from the demons and whatnot leeching his artistic prowess and ultimately coaxing him further into the realm ie to never wake from the coma ie dying, or something like that.
There's not a whole lot of mystery and mind blowing but it's fun to read, with all kinds of magical themes and darkness and shadow monsters. It goes by quick, as well. The prose is not overly complicated or simplistic, and there's clear nods to other fantasy worlds that are not subtle at all. Good but probably could be a lot bigger.
6.5/10