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lanko's review
5.0
Can't express how much I enjoyed reading this. I actually picked up this expecting an Horror novella, but it's actually one of the few works of Lovecraft that has a very strong Sci-Fi vibe and actually no disturbing or terror aspect, at least comparing to some of his other works.
The premise is amazing: a professor of economics is giving his usual lecture when he starts having visions and collapses. He returns to "normal" 5 years later without any memories, but "he" was actually traveling the globe in search of obscure libraries, books and hidden cults.
Suddenly, speaking in the middle of nowhere, the professor continues his economical lecture that he was giving his class 5 years ago.
And then he starts having dreams about alien beings, worlds and buildings, each time becoming more and more real.
Turns out he was possessed by one of the Yith, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time. And not only to the past, but to the future as well. They possess someone, and this someone is sent back (or forward) in time to the body of the Yith.
This allowed this race to create a library of all the knowledge available in the universe, both from the past and the future. The person who is now inhabiting the body of one of the Yith can talk with other Yith or possessed aliens from other worlds or time periods and even access the library of the Yith.
Sometimes this gets disastrous results when the host returns to his world, be it the future or the past, with their forbidden knowledge.
But this is not the only use of this ability. For example, the Yith all migrated to another planet by switching minds with another race when their home planet was about to be destroyed. So they moved to live, and the other race was left to die in their original bodies.
Imagine you are going about your daily routine and the next moment you are in an alien body, staring up at the sky and see a freaking meteor or the sun approaching, no possibility of salvation. You are gonna die, and you are not even allowed to be yourself at that moment. Disturbingly awesome.
Even more disturbing is that the Yith will transfer their minds to Earth at some point to save themselves again. But not with us humans, but with the race that will inherit the planet after we are gone. It's subtle, but we can only guess what terrible calamity will happen to us that the planet will still be inhabitable, but we are no longer here.
The psychic time travel would be considered today a great "magic system" and Lovecraft naturally imbues this race with it.
Just look at some passages:
Most of the tales and impressions concerned a relatively late race, of a queer and intricate shape resembling no life-form known to science, which had lived till only fifty million years before the advent of man. This, they indicated, was the greatest race of all; because it alone had conquered the secret of time. It had learned all things that ever were known or ever would be known on the earth, through the power of its keener minds to project themselves into the past and future, even through gulfs of millions of years, and study the lore of every age. From the accomplishments of this race arose all legends of prophets, including those in human mythology.
....
In the latter case the course was easier and more material. With suitable mechanical aid a mind would project itself forward in time, feeling its dim, extra-sensory way till it approached the desired period. Then, after preliminary trials, it would seize on the best discoverable representative of the highest of that period’s life-forms; entering the organism’s brain and setting up therein its own vibrations while the displaced mind would strike back to the period of the displacer, remaining in the latter’s body till a reverse process was set up. The projected mind, in the body of the organism of the future, would then pose as a member of the race whose outward form it wore; learning as quickly as possible all that could be learned of the chosen age and its massed information and techniques.
....
The beings of a dying elder world, wise with the ultimate secrets, had looked ahead for a new world and species wherein they might have long life; and had sent their minds en masse into that future race best adapted to house them — the cone-shaped things that peopled our earth a billion years ago. Thus the Great Race came to be, while the myriad minds sent backward were left to die in the horror of strange shapes. Later the race would again face death, yet would live through another forward migration of its best minds into the bodies of others who had a longer physical span ahead of them.
Speaking of the races (and places) described, I'm not sure if even Lovecraft himself understood what he was describing. Probably intentional.
Mostly, new races in Fantasy that I have read assume humanoid or animal-humanoid shapes. No such thing here remotely resembling anything familiar. Things are truly... alien.
This also has a nice ending. It may be a bit slow on some parts, but the set up is definitely worth it. It's also pretty short (around 70 pages).
So totally recommended.
The premise is amazing: a professor of economics is giving his usual lecture when he starts having visions and collapses. He returns to "normal" 5 years later without any memories, but "he" was actually traveling the globe in search of obscure libraries, books and hidden cults.
Suddenly, speaking in the middle of nowhere, the professor continues his economical lecture that he was giving his class 5 years ago.
And then he starts having dreams about alien beings, worlds and buildings, each time becoming more and more real.
Turns out he was possessed by one of the Yith, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time. And not only to the past, but to the future as well. They possess someone, and this someone is sent back (or forward) in time to the body of the Yith.
This allowed this race to create a library of all the knowledge available in the universe, both from the past and the future. The person who is now inhabiting the body of one of the Yith can talk with other Yith or possessed aliens from other worlds or time periods and even access the library of the Yith.
Sometimes this gets disastrous results when the host returns to his world, be it the future or the past, with their forbidden knowledge.
But this is not the only use of this ability. For example, the Yith all migrated to another planet by switching minds with another race when their home planet was about to be destroyed. So they moved to live, and the other race was left to die in their original bodies.
Imagine you are going about your daily routine and the next moment you are in an alien body, staring up at the sky and see a freaking meteor or the sun approaching, no possibility of salvation. You are gonna die, and you are not even allowed to be yourself at that moment. Disturbingly awesome.
Even more disturbing is that the Yith will transfer their minds to Earth at some point to save themselves again. But not with us humans, but with the race that will inherit the planet after we are gone. It's subtle, but we can only guess what terrible calamity will happen to us that the planet will still be inhabitable, but we are no longer here.
The psychic time travel would be considered today a great "magic system" and Lovecraft naturally imbues this race with it.
Just look at some passages:
Spoiler
Most of the tales and impressions concerned a relatively late race, of a queer and intricate shape resembling no life-form known to science, which had lived till only fifty million years before the advent of man. This, they indicated, was the greatest race of all; because it alone had conquered the secret of time. It had learned all things that ever were known or ever would be known on the earth, through the power of its keener minds to project themselves into the past and future, even through gulfs of millions of years, and study the lore of every age. From the accomplishments of this race arose all legends of prophets, including those in human mythology.
....
In the latter case the course was easier and more material. With suitable mechanical aid a mind would project itself forward in time, feeling its dim, extra-sensory way till it approached the desired period. Then, after preliminary trials, it would seize on the best discoverable representative of the highest of that period’s life-forms; entering the organism’s brain and setting up therein its own vibrations while the displaced mind would strike back to the period of the displacer, remaining in the latter’s body till a reverse process was set up. The projected mind, in the body of the organism of the future, would then pose as a member of the race whose outward form it wore; learning as quickly as possible all that could be learned of the chosen age and its massed information and techniques.
....
The beings of a dying elder world, wise with the ultimate secrets, had looked ahead for a new world and species wherein they might have long life; and had sent their minds en masse into that future race best adapted to house them — the cone-shaped things that peopled our earth a billion years ago. Thus the Great Race came to be, while the myriad minds sent backward were left to die in the horror of strange shapes. Later the race would again face death, yet would live through another forward migration of its best minds into the bodies of others who had a longer physical span ahead of them.
Speaking of the races (and places) described, I'm not sure if even Lovecraft himself understood what he was describing. Probably intentional.
Mostly, new races in Fantasy that I have read assume humanoid or animal-humanoid shapes. No such thing here remotely resembling anything familiar. Things are truly... alien.
This also has a nice ending. It may be a bit slow on some parts, but the set up is definitely worth it. It's also pretty short (around 70 pages).
So totally recommended.
famel's review against another edition
5.0
There is a lot of cosmic horror and I liked it SO MUCH. The story is terrifying, ominous and unforgettable. The ending is simply one of the greatest.
hyacinth_girl's review
4.0
A creepy and bizarre story made even creepier and more bizarre with the amazing illustrations in this graphic novel.
akmargie's review
3.0
Not my favorite of Culbard's Lovecraft adaptations but the art is still stellar and interesting.
thecommonswings's review
4.0
I like the idea of Lovecraft far more than I actually like the stories themselves. I find his prose dense, frustrating and florid, and his attempts to emulate the eras of his heroes feels too clumsy and distancing to me. I’ve always felt on some level he is not only the father of fanfic but that this is in some way because he himself was writing fanfic himself: a turgid mix of MR James, Lord Dumsany, Hope Hodgson and Poe, with the writing dragging down his frankly astonishing ideas. It’s no surprise so many fanfic writers turn to the Cthulhu mythos, because on some level they must recognise he’s their forefather
This adaptation, thankfully, takes most of Lovecraft himself out of the problem and instead allows INJ Culbard to lift the ideas out of the bog of Lovecraft’s labyrinthine prose and allow them to sing. One of Culbard’s great skills - and I think he’s a genius, by the way - is his use of colour and shade and fluidity of line to tell stories. And this means that a lot of the denser stuff gets to really work because Culbard is such a fine artist. There’s a palpable state of dread towards the end of the book, oppressive blacks and dark blues exploded with dashes of red for contrast and dread. It’s exquisitely done. And the story - which I don’t think is one of Lovecraft’s best because it doesn’t really fully use the brilliant central idea - is adapted incredibly well, using only some of the original prose for strong effect
This adaptation, thankfully, takes most of Lovecraft himself out of the problem and instead allows INJ Culbard to lift the ideas out of the bog of Lovecraft’s labyrinthine prose and allow them to sing. One of Culbard’s great skills - and I think he’s a genius, by the way - is his use of colour and shade and fluidity of line to tell stories. And this means that a lot of the denser stuff gets to really work because Culbard is such a fine artist. There’s a palpable state of dread towards the end of the book, oppressive blacks and dark blues exploded with dashes of red for contrast and dread. It’s exquisitely done. And the story - which I don’t think is one of Lovecraft’s best because it doesn’t really fully use the brilliant central idea - is adapted incredibly well, using only some of the original prose for strong effect
roshonline12's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The art work by Culbard was phenomenal!
unfoldingdrama's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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