Name: Kelly Gorman's review of Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Item: Agents of Dreamland
Rating: 3
Author: Kelly Gorman

Caitlin R. Kiernan

A government special agent known only as the Signalman gets off a train on a stunningly hot morning in Winslow, Arizona. Later that day he meets a woman in a diner to exchange information about an event that happened a week earlier for which neither has an explanation, but which haunts the Signalman. In a ranch house near the shore of the Salton Sea a cult leader gathers up the weak and susceptible — the Children of the Next Level — and offers them something to believe in and a chance for transcendence. The future is coming and they will help to usher it in. A day after the events at the ranch house which disturbed the Signalman so deeply that he and his government sought out help from ‘other’ sources, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory abruptly loses contact with NASA's interplanetary probe New Horizons. Something out beyond the orbit of Pluto has made contact. And a woman floating outside of time looks to the future and the past for answers to what can save humanity. Agents of Dreamland is a new Lovecraftian horror novella from award-winning author Caitlín R. Kiernan.

Agents of Dreamland

Kelly Gorman

A government special agent known only as the Signalman gets off a train on a stunningly hot morning in Winslow, Arizona. Later that day he meets a woman in a diner to exchange information about an event that happened a week earlier for which neither has an explanation, but which haunts the Signalman. In a ranch house near the shore of the Salton Sea a cult leader gathers up the weak and susceptible — the Children of the Next Level — and offers them something to believe in and a chance for transcendence. The future is coming and they will help to usher it in. A day after the events at the ranch house which disturbed the Signalman so deeply that he and his government sought out help from ‘other’ sources, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory abruptly loses contact with NASA's interplanetary probe New Horizons. Something out beyond the orbit of Pluto has made contact. And a woman floating outside of time looks to the future and the past for answers to what can save humanity. Agents of Dreamland is a new Lovecraftian horror novella from award-winning author Caitlín R. Kiernan. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This was pretty short, so knocke dit out pretty quick. Liked it! I'm a sucker for the whole "mushrooms" thing - Amergris trilogy is one of my favourites, after all. Definitely going to read the sequel.

Janice Hopper

Maggie Gordon

If you enjoy Jeff Vandermeer's work and Lovecraft, Kiernan's novella, Agent of Dreams, is a delightful mashup of the two! Readers follow a strange, "man in black" type fellow as he deals with the immediate fall-out of a cult that seems to have unleashed a terrible, sentient fungus on the world. It's such a creepy, otherworldy narrative, and the flips between narrators and time periods keep readers constantly guessing. If you like stories that end all wrapped up in a nice bow, this one isn't for you. But if fungus horror is your think, and narratives with multiple interpretations, Agents of Dreamland is a worthwhile novella to spend some time with!

Kyle S

My kind of weird. If you're into things like the X Files, Twin Peaks, Welcome to Nightvale or Fringe this book is a great suggestion. My only complaint is that it's so short, it honestly felt like the first episode of a TV series. I'll be checking out the rest of the series for sure!

John Harkabus

** spoiler alert **
           I guess I was expecting this weird fiction to be a little more readable. But I found each chapter to be its own confusing mess of prose. I didn’t know whose thoughts were being shared, who was the point of view and more importantly what was going on. 

Unfortunately, I also didn’t find it very interesting. With weird fungal mutations and aliens, one would think it would not be so dry. Don’t think I’ll be reading the sequels.

I really need to learn to read the reviews before I pick up certain books. If a book is described as Lovecraftian, I will likely not enjoy it.

This had such an interesting premise, but it was jarringly divided and jumped around so much that I had a hard time grasping what was happening. It felt like all the words were floating over my head instead of me really absorbing them. That type of lofty writing may be for some people, but it's certainly not for me.

Kelly Gorman &
Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Reviews

Join the club

Kelly Gorman &Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Reviews

Join the club

Kelly Gorman &
Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan