Dream of the Serpent by Alan Ryker
My rating: 5/5 cats
alan ryker just destroyed me.
this is the fifth book of his i have read. three have been pretty straight-ahead horror novellas, and the fourth was a blend of horror and psychology with a little bit of metaphysics.
this one runs circles around all of them, even Burden Kansas, which is one of the best vampire books i have ever read, second only to The Stress of Her Regard.
it’s not really horror, even though it does describe some horrible things. i have never before been so squeamish reading about the things fire can do to a human body. those scenes are written with a devastating immediacy and they are powerful and affecting. as are the horrifying aftermath scenes describing the prolonged physical, emotional, and psychological agony of the burn victim. it is incredibly uncomfortable.
and then the fun begins. and by “fun,” i mean intensely smart dark fantasy that begins to peel away our understanding of reality and causality and then transitions into a very moving story of selflessness and sacrifice and utter hopelessness. but a hopelessness into which a last-ditch selfless effort is still possible.
and it elevates what i was expecting to be an enjoyable horror piece into something that almost made me cry. me! and that alone is worth the price of admission, since i am always trying to find a book that will scare me or make me cry, with very little success. but i felt it stirring in me, even though it never resulted in actual tears.
this book isn’t even 200 pages, but it manages to tell such a complex story about love and possibilities and that painful process of reliving memories and the hell of hindsight and that wonderful thomas hardy theme of how one regrettable moment of distraction can determine our whole life’s course. it is gorgeous and violent and heart-shattering. and that whole o. henry scene was quiet perfection.
i know i am really dancing around plot here, but i don’t want to ruin the journey. i just want people to read this guy, and i’m pretty sure this particular one will appeal to people who don’t see themselves as horror fans, because there is such a potent real-world message in here that isn’t dependent on its horror trappings.
plus, one million points for the millennium reference!
love. just love.
