The Book of Dreams [Hardcover]

Nick Gevers (Editor), J. K. Potter (Illustrator), Robert Silverberg (Contributor), Lucius Shepard (Contributor), Jay Lake (Contributor), Kage Baker (Contributor), Jeffrey Ford (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2010

Perchance to dream...

To dream is to enter inner worlds of terror and revelation, to look the collective unconscious in the face. In this ground-breaking anthology, five modern masters of the fantastic conjure especially potent encounters with the stuff of the sleeping mind, unveiling dark hints about who (or what) we truly are, about our uncertain relationships with the waking world. The stories in The Book of Dreams are bold ventures into the kingdom of Morpheus, upon which individual destinies crucially depend--or perhaps the destiny of the entire human species.

In The Prisoner , Grand Master Robert Silverberg, long an explorer of visionary realms, indicates just how dangerous it can be to respond to a cry for help--especially when you are unconscious at the time.

In Dream Burgers At The Mouth of Hell , the commanding prose of Lucius Shepard explores the secret dream factories of Hollywood, tracing where the inspiration of scriptwriters really originates.

In Testaments , Jay Lake brilliantly employs the language of prophecy to consider the totality of human history, and where its contradictory trends may lead us as new kings dream of glory.

In Rex Nemorensis , Kage Baker incisively considers the violent dream landscape of Vietnam veterans, and fuses it with the territory of ancient myth and ritual.

And in 86 Deathdick Road , Jeffrey Ford, dreamer of dreamers, plunges into an oneiric domain in which fateful symbols are everywhere, but truth is forever elusive.

The Book of Dreams is a cornucopia of strange enlightenment, a quintet of voyages to wonderful yet disturbing worlds within.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Editor Gevers is fairly new to the theme anthology, but this slim, high-quality compilation reinforces the impression given by his and Jay Lake’s Other Earths (2009) that any more coming from his direction will be don’t-miss items. Besides Lake, he gets Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, Kage Baker, and Jeffrey Ford to contribute to this book, and a better quintet of fantasists is barely conceivable. Silverberg’s “Prisoner,” about how a man determines to rescue the imperiled protagonist of his nightmares, neatly exploits the alternate-reality trope. In immediate succession, Shepard’s characteristically colorful “Dream Burgers at the Mouth of Hell” reveals the parallel reality of Hollywood (it ain’t pretty—did you think it would be?). Lake merges the themes of this and his collaboration with Gevers in “Testaments,” which affirms that epochal historical changes are the results of great leaders’ dreams. Baker’s “Rex Nemorensis” absorbingly, chillingly posits combat stress syndrome as a perpetual dream, and in conclusion, Ford’s “66 Deathdick Road” is so slyly managed that it’s impossible to know just when it becomes a nightmare. --Ray Olson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean; 1st edition (January 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596062843
• ISBN-13: 978-1596062849
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Short but satisfying, August 6, 2010

By 

Stefan "Stefan" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Book of Dreams (Hardcover)

The Book of Dreams is a small but satisfying collection of short stories that are thematically, albeit loosely, connected by the theme of "dreams." The book features original stories by Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, Jay Lake, Kage Baker and Jeffrey Ford, and was edited by Nick Gevers for Subterranean Press.

Somewhat surprisingly, my least favorite story in the collection comes courtesy of Grand Master Robert Silverberg. "The Prisoner" is a somewhat repetitive and heavily symbolic story about a man facing an onslaught of nightmares that gradually threaten his sanity. It's not a bad story, but I found it a bit predictable. (2 stars)

"Dream Burgers at the Mouth of Hell" by Lucius Shepard, on the other hand, is wildly inventive and completely unpredictable. This story about a Hollywood screenwriter's surreal business lunch is funny, trippy and at times almost uncomfortable to read. I think Philip K. Dick would have been proud of this one. As a bonus, Lucius Shepard's prose is simply a pleasure to read. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but based on this story, I plan to seek out more of his works very soon. (4 stars)

The quality continues to be very high with "Testaments" by Jay Lake. The sequence of six (plus one) miniatures paints a powerful story, filled with prophetic language and gorgeous imagery. This is definitely one of those stories you can read and re-read. The final sentence of the story is a perfect summation of the entire collection: "For now, dreaming is enough. There is no higher truth." Jay Lake is another author who's going on my must-read-more list. (4 stars)

Next up is "Rex Nemorensis" by the consistently excellent Kage Baker. A Vietnam veteran tells his story, and as always, Baker manages to capture the voice of her narrator perfectly. If you're not familiar with the phrase "rex nemorensis," look it up after reading the story to see how cleverly Kage Baker connects the scars of post-traumatic stress disorder to a millennia-old myth. (4.5 stars)

The final story is the somewhat unpleasantly titled "86 Deathdick Road" by Jeffrey Ford. This one really captures the hallucinatory character that some dreams have, and the way they gather the scattered images we collect during the day into a surreal stream of symbols. I admired how Jeffrey Ford captured the feeling of powerlessness during unpleasant dreams and infused the story with touches of dark sexuality. (3 stars)

At just under 120 pages, The Book of Dreams may be a bit short, but it contains some great stories that justify the price of admittance, especially the contributions by Lucius Shepard, Jay Lake and Kage Baker.