The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe
Kij Johnson
Tor
August 16, 2016
Vellitt Boe is a professor at the famous Ulthar Women’s College. When one of her students elopes with a dreamer from the waking world, Vellitt must journey to retrieve her.
The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe is almost the reverse of the journey in the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath–instead of a man from the waking world wanting to journey to Kadath, we have a middle aged woman in the dream lands journeying to the waking world. It’s set in the same overall world, as Kadath is mentioned when it’s discovered that her student is the grandchild of one of the mad gods of Kadath.
The style evokes the same style and tone in its use of these fantastical place names, and its brevity in the description of the journey. To me the greater difference is that Vellitt and her journey is the far more compelling one. The book is a short 166 pages.
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.