Dreams of Great Cthulhu

“Weird of Hali” is a series of fantasy novels written by John Michael Greer, who also stints as operating mage, archdruid emeritus, translator of grimoires, and peak oil blogger. Yes, really! This is the fourth volume of the “Weird of Hali” saga, subtitled “Dreamlands”. The novels are very freely based on H P Lovecraft´s fictional universe, with nods to other authors (including C S Lewis, Clark Ashton Smith, J R R Tolkien and Robert W Chambers). “Dreamlands” is apparently based on Lovecraft´s “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, which I haven´t read (yet). Some parts of the plot *did* seem eerily familiar, suggesting that I might have read another pastiche of this material. Unless I too really belong in the Dreamlands…

The main protagonist of the story is Professor Miriam Akeley from Miskatonic University in Arkham (supposedly in New England but actually a fictitious place in Lovecraft´s novels). In previous volumes of the series, Akeley is a minor character, but now she takes center stage. In secret, Akeley has studied Lovecraft´s most obscure sources and realized that the tales of the Eldritch and Great Cthulhu are *real*. This knowledge is also known to a secret society known as the Radiance, opponents of the Old Ones. The Radiance has made several bids to take over Miskatonic University, but are stopped by Akeley, who has realized that the Great Old Ones are the *good* guys, while the “scientific” Radiance are really black magicians. Chased by the thugs of the Radiance, Akeley manages to escape to the mysterious Dreamlands through a supernatural portal between dimensions. There, she meets the American fantasy writer Randolph Carter (a fictional character from several of Lovecraft´s stories) who has somehow managed to become king of a portion of the imaginal realm. Unfortunately, a Radiance operative carrying the enchanted Blade of Uoht has also managed to enter Dreamlands with the mission to destroy it and thereby depriving humanity of its capability of dreaming, and the stage is set for a final cataclysmic confrontation at the Temple of the Flame…

“The Weird of Hali: Dreamlands” is very well written, indeed it might be the best volume of the series so far, at least as far as writing skill goes. Several previously unknown aspects of Greer´s in-story universe are revealed. Thus, it seems that Great Cthulhu isn´t entirely passive during his deep sleep until the stars are right. Dreamlands are actually Cthulhu´s dream, and inside the dream, Cthulhu is alive and a being of immense power. Small wonder the Radiance wants to destroy it! Dreamlands are also necessary for humanity, and one of the points of the story is that dreams are real or “real” (an occultist would presumably call it the astral world). Cthulhu is said to be a puny being compared to even more powerful entities as high above the Eldritch as the Eldritch are above humanity. While the Great Old Ones are “gods” in one sense, they are not particularly similar to the Christian God. The Old Ones are neither all powerful nor perfect, and the story reveals that they sometimes fight each other. In other words: they are pagan gods. The evil of the Radiance entered the world when Cthulhu and the King in Yellow had a violent disagreement, leading to a kind of “fall” within the cosmos.

Another interesting facet of this series is that the human protagonists are invariably rather dull everyday people (or seemingly dull and everyday people!). Professor Akeley, an old lady suffering from cancer, is an unlikely heroine, and so are her former students. The pagan networks worshipping the Old Ones have most of their supporters in obscure and seemingly run-down communities in “fly over country”. Many belong to ethnic minority groups. The superstitious common folk turn out to be more knowledgeable about how the world *really* looks like than the elitist scientists and professors. I´m not sure if I buy the author´s worldview, but there it is, warts and all. The only elite type in the story (on the good side) seems to be Randolph Carter, who turns out to be a flamboyant homosexual!

Recommended. Three additional volumes are set to be published already this year…