Editorial Content for The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
How do you follow up a book that was not only a huge bestseller but also a global phenomenon? If you’re Matt Ruff, you write THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS, a continuation of 2016’s LOVECRAFT COUNTRY.
"THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS has more of an epic feel to it than LOVECRAFT COUNTRY because of the personal journeys each character is on, both physically and spiritually."
This enthralling sequel is set in the summer of 1957. Sprinkled throughout are chapter and section headings drawn from various horror novels. The first is from THE KING IN YELLOW and introduces us to the latest journey of Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose. Montrose is the great-grandson of Nat Turner, and they’re journeying from Chicago to North Carolina to visit the territory of their legendary relative. Regrettably, they run into a racist face from their past who remembers his hatred of them. He turns their trip into a nightmare pursuit and a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Meanwhile, 2,000 miles to the west, Atticus’ aunt Hippolyta is traveling across Arizona on a mission given to her in Chicago. Her husband, George Berry, has been diagnosed with cancer, and she is gathering information for his publication, The Safe Negro Travel Guide. She is heading towards Las Vegas with her teenage son, Horace, and her friend, Letitia Dandridge. Eventually we learn that Hippolyta and Horace have another agenda, one that will put Letitia in unexpected peril.
George’s health issues are so bad that he does the unthinkable. He conjures the spirit of Hiram Winthrop and makes a devilish deal with him in a desperate attempt to save his life, potentially forfeiting his soul in the process.
THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS has more of an epic feel to it than LOVECRAFT COUNTRY because of the personal journeys each character is on, both physically and spiritually. At the heart of the novel remains the specter of prejudice and racism against Black people in 1950s America, which grounds the story with a historical perspective that is all too true. The way that Ruff explores this subject with elements of fantasy and horror is a wonder to behold, making this an important and extremely relevant series to digest and think about.
Teaser
Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor’s escape from slavery by retracing the route he took. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit. Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil’s bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure. But to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Horace Berry joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend, Letitia Dandridge, on a research trip to Nevada. But Hippolyta has a secret agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia’s doorstep.
Promo
Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor’s escape from slavery by retracing the route he took. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit. Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil’s bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure. But to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Horace Berry joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend, Letitia Dandridge, on a research trip to Nevada. But Hippolyta has a secret agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia’s doorstep.
About the Book
In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.
Summer, 1957. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor’s escape from slavery by retracing the route he took into the Great Dismal Swamp. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their historical reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit.
Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil’s bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure --- but to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead.
Fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend, Letitia Dandridge, on a research trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret --- and far more dangerous --- agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia’s doorstep.
Hippolyta isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Letitia’s sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.
Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, he’s found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle.
Audiobook available, read by Kevin Kenerly
