My Goodreads review: The Night Land

[ankh_hpl]

The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Three stars only for the world-building here, which is really remarkable. This novel is an early example of the Dying Earth SF trope, & possibly one of the best worked out. First published in 1912, it uses the device of the POV character falling into a dream (here, in some vaguely medieval period) to bring the reader into a tale of the far future days of Earth, when the sun has gone out & the planet is slowly falling into eternal darkness.

Hodgson's choice of a faux-medieval style gets in the way of enjoying a suspenseful trek across a truly weird landscape, but that's not the worst of it -- or at least, it wasn't for me. The Night Land is also -- possibly primarily -- a romance novel, based on the concept of true lovers being reborn again & again, finding each other, losing each other, repeat. Unfortunately, the sexism and physically abusive behavior of the POV character after he finds his Only One had me gritting my teeth for most of the book.

Granted, this was published in 1912, & perhaps Hodgson was attempting to portray the POV character as a man of his medieval era. Or, perhaps, Hodgson's imagination couldn't move far enough past his own time to create a more egalitarian future society. Either way, I as a 21st century female reader had a tough time making it through.

I'd say this one is worth reading for those seriously interested in the origins of the Dying Earth trope, or those who enjoy early weird fiction in general & are curious. Otherwise, though this has been called a "flawed classic," I'd say the flaws are pretty deep. This was my first experience of Hodgson, & it may be quite some time before I try him again. YMMV, as always.





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