Lovecraft Country by Matt RuffMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Matt Ruff's theme becomes clear very quickly in this novel twist on Lovecraftian motifs -- when it comes to existential peril, Americans of colour face direr consequences when confronted by their country's white citizens than by any encounter with the Ancient Ones and their various ephemera. Ruff's juxtaposition is persuasive -- so much so that his characters' experience of Lovecraft's tropes is almost blasé by contrast. This strikes me as an opportunity lamentably missed, but emotional mileage will vary from reader to reader. In the end it's thought-provoking entertainment, akin to the better episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.
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