Review by Booklist Review
Can we ever get enough of Culbard's ambitious, bookish, whiskey-toned Lovecraft adaptations? After such successes as At the Mountains of Madness (2012) and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (2013), Culbard chucks caution to the wind and tackles the famously free-floating weirdness of this late Lovecraft tale. The plot, such as it is, follows H. P. look-alike Randolph Carter as he submerges himself into a dream state in order to find the marvelous sunset city of his obsession. His odyssey takes him from mushroom forests and towering monoliths to sacred pyramids and purple caves, each location brought to majestic life in widescreen panels of grandeur intercut with slit-sized close-ups of ancient eyes and fanged mouths uttering highly dramatic, if mostly nonsensical, gibberish. It truly feels like a dream: Carter is often falling or flying, while characters both good and evil help or hinder his progress. For the most part, madness-spawning deities are replaced by minor devils, including gugs, ghasts, zoogs, and other things nowhere near as cute as they sound. Totally, enjoyably bonkers.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Randolph Carter's journey to find the mysterious "sunset city" of his dreams is the latest entry by Culbard (At the Mountains of Madness; The Case of Charles Dexter Ward) in a series of graphic novel adaptations of stories by Lovecraft (1890-1937). Deft use of line and color, along with creative page layouts, brings to life the fascinating landscapes and terrifying denizens of the Dreamlands. Despite the visual appeal, the novella can be rather difficult to follow owing to the setting's shifting, largely unexplained geography and flow of time. Those familiar with the source material, though, will enjoy the large role played by Nyarlahotep and references to other works in Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. Verdict Recommended for fans of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and dark fantasy and Lovecraft devotees, as well as collections in which graphic novel classics are popular.-Neil Derksen, Pierce Cty. Lib. Syst., Tacoma (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
