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The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
42,608 words (119 pages)
Excerpt
and from all this one could perhaps learn old secrets of Kadath, or gain hints of the marvellous sunset city which the gods held secret. And more, one might in certain cases seize some well-loved child of a god as hostage; or even capture some young god himself, disguised and dwelling amongst men with a comely peasant maiden as his bride.
Atal, however, did not know how to find Ngranek on its isle of Oriab; and recommended that Carter follow the singing Skai under its bridges down to the Southern Sea; where no burgess of Ulthar has ever been, but whence the merchants come in boats or with long caravans of mules and two-wheeled carts. There is a great city there, Dylath-Leen, but in Ulthar its reputation is bad because of the black three-banked galleys that sail to it with rubies from no clearly named shore. The traders that come from those galleys to deal with the jewellers are human, or nearly so, but the rowers are never beheld; and it is not thought wholesome in Ulthar that merchants should trade wi
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath was published posthumously and many scholars believe if Lovecraft had lived long enough, he would have rewritten the story. Nonetheless, even in its raw form, the novella is a powerful entry into the dark fantasy genre and I find myself rereading it often just for the sheer joy of the wonderful mental imagery the story evokes.
There are a number of references to the Cthulhu Mythos and Lovecraft borrows generously from his other works.
A master of description, the reader will remember the cities of Sarkomand, Dylath-Leen, Ulthar, as well as the Plateau of Leng, the Vale of Pnath, and the city of the the gugs long after the book is done. You also get to meet Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, the emissary of the Other Gods in his 1,001th form (and the only one in which he appears human).
All in all, a very satisfying read.
This is in my humble opinion One of the greatest of all horror novels. Simply an exlosion of imagination and richly textured
layers of imagery and thought provoking underlying implied psychology, this is the work of a master of the highest order. Lovecraft, both yesterday and today will continue to influence great authors of all genres of literature. This is one of his best works; truely fantastic.
A beatiful fantasy, by the master of horror and fantasy.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft does in this short story what he does best, paints a picture of another kind of existence, a cosmic horror beyond the understanding of mere humans.
It's a horrid but yet so compelling dream, a true masterpiece in literature, but so underrated. Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath continues the dream-world of Lovecraft that began with The Tomb. How can anyone read about the plateau of Leng and survive? It is a terrible dream, and as such it is one of the best works of horror to grace this earth.
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