Dreams of Shreds and Tatters

Liz Drake travels to Vancouver to investigate her best friend Blake's mysterious coma. Her search leads her into the city's underground art scene and a group of painters who share strange, dark visions. The story draws from the cosmic horror tradition of Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow, incorporating elements of dreams, madness, and forbidden knowledge. Ancient myths and occult practices intertwine with modern urban life as Liz and her allies race to understand what happened to Blake. Reality and nightmare begin to blur as characters confront forces beyond human comprehension. The narrative moves between waking life and a threatening dreamworld where boundaries dissolve and impossible things take form. This contemporary dark fantasy explores themes of artistic obsession, the price of forbidden knowledge, and the bonds between friends who face cosmic horror together. The novel questions what people will sacrifice for truth and whether some mysteries are better left unexplored.

Readers note the book's slow pace and heavy focus on atmosphere over action. The Lovecraftian horror elements and detailed art world descriptions resonate with some readers, while others find these aspects make the story drag. Liked: - Vivid descriptions of the dream sequences - LGBTQ representation and relationships - Vancouver setting and art scene details - References to the Yellow King mythos Disliked: - Plot moves too slowly - Characters feel distant and hard to connect with - Dream sequences can be confusing - Resolution feels rushed compared to buildup Ratings: Goodreads: 3.4/5 (178 ratings) Amazon: 3.3/5 (15 ratings) Common reader comments mention struggling to finish despite interesting concepts. One reviewer notes: "Beautiful prose but needed more forward momentum." Another states: "The dream sections were compelling but the real-world portions felt stagnant."

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🌟 The novel draws heavily from the cosmic horror work "The King in Yellow" by Robert W. Chambers, published in 1895, which later influenced H.P. Lovecraft's writings. 🎨 Author Amanda Downum incorporated her real-life experiences as a professional piercer and body modification artist into the novel's alternative art scene elements. 🌙 The book's title comes from a line in "Cassilda's Song," a fictional play fragment from "The King in Yellow": "Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through the skies, But stranger still is Lost Carcosa." 📚 The story blends elements of modern urban fantasy with classical mythology, particularly focusing on the dream-walking abilities of ancient Greek and Roman traditions. 🎭 The fictional city of Carcosa, which features prominently in the book's mythology, has appeared in numerous other works, including HBO's "True Detective" and various tabletop role-playing games.