'The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe' by Kij Johnson is the story of a lost student and the teacher sent to find her.

When one of Professor Vellitt Boe's student elopes with someone from the waking world, Vellitt is sent from the Ulthar Women's College to find her. Her journey will take her across lands familiar and strange in the company of strange companions.

This felt like a weird travelogue and I loved the lands and descriptions. In reality, it's a redemption of a similar story by H.P. Lovecraft. I loved this unusual story and it's compelling main character.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This book wasn't for me.
The plot was dull and the characters were not compelling.
I expected more.

The best thing about this book, for me, is how huge and ancient the story-world feels, though not having read the Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, to which this is a direct feminist response, I can't say how much of the world-building was already done for Kij Johnson and how much of it is entirely hers. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

Professor Vellitt Boe goes on an important quest that manages not to feel like a series of random, surreal encounters (which I find is a problem with many "dream realm" stories I've encountered in the past), but rather like a meaningful discovery of her Self. There is a bit of heavy-handed messaging at times (see: feminist response to Lovecraft) but it didn't detract much from the pleasures of the text.

This novella follow Vellit Boe, a middle-aged professor teaching at a women’s college, who also happens to be an inhabitant of the dream world. When her most talented student elopes with someone from the walking world, she has to drop everything to find her. Indeed, this student is the daughter of a really influencial member of the Academy and the disappereance of his little girl could have harsh consequences on the future of the only place where women can be instructed.

This story is based on a H.P. Lovecraft story called The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, I have not read it and you don’t have to read it either if you don’t want to since the story stands well on its own. I just know that this novella is inspired by Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle without all the sexism and racism that we can find in his stories.

The writing of this little story was really good. While reading, I had the feeling that I could picture everything and that was probably my favorite thing about this novella. The story was interesting but what made the story was for me the character of Vellit Boe and how she changed during her journey. Indeed, before becoming a professor she used to be an adventurer and it was great to see her reconnect with the person she was in her youth.

So I really enjoyed Johnson’s use of setting and her main character’s perspective on the dream world. I also liked the discussions on feminism, race and the fear of the unknown raised in this work. However, I expected to like it more than I did, it sure was an interesting piece and I read it fast but the plot in itself wasn’t that original to me. I don’t know if I should have read the Lovecraft story beforehand, it might have helped to keep me invested in the story a bit more.

I found the ending to be really strong though, I read a few reviews where the ending was a bit criticized but I thought that it really suited the tone of the story.



If you’re intrigued about this title, give it a try, especially if you have strong feelings about Lovecraft (conflicted or not, this novella seems to be enjoyed by both his admirers and detractors).