Japanese Cthulhu Mythos novel review
Dec. 31st, 2008 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ankh_hplIs it possible to enjoy a book review of a book you've never heard of? In the case of Kari Sperring's review of Queen of K'n-Yan by Asamatsu Ken (translated by Kathleen Taiji), definitely.
This relatively brief review from last week's Strange Horizons not only familiarizes the reader with various plot points of this intriguing novel -- a decidedly different take on Lovecraft's "The Mound" -- but also opens a window onto the Japanese way of writing HPL homages, and what this culture's fascination with the Mythos might mean.
I started reading this review because my own story "Paradigm Wash" (Hon. Mention in Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, 2007) was also inspired by "The Mound." By the end, however, I had added Japanese Mythos fiction to my "must read" list for 2009.
This relatively brief review from last week's Strange Horizons not only familiarizes the reader with various plot points of this intriguing novel -- a decidedly different take on Lovecraft's "The Mound" -- but also opens a window onto the Japanese way of writing HPL homages, and what this culture's fascination with the Mythos might mean.
I started reading this review because my own story "Paradigm Wash" (Hon. Mention in Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, 2007) was also inspired by "The Mound." By the end, however, I had added Japanese Mythos fiction to my "must read" list for 2009.
