madness

THIS COVER OMGOSH

 
   PICTURE THIS: you are in a ship, headed for Antarctica ("this again?!" yes.) you aren't sure how close you are to the coldest continent, and you look up and notice something weird. The cloud cover seems to get oddly bright up ahead of you, illuminated more than the clouds directly above you. What could it mean??? SURPRISE: it's land blink, you're almost there. Since the light is reflecting off of snow instead of the wine-dark sea, the clouds are brighter above land than above ocean. Land Blink. It's science. It's also some knowledge which you may never need again UNLESS: You get your hot little paws on a copy of At the Mountains of Madness / HP Lovecraft.

   If you haven't read any Lovecraft, you are missing out. I'd been meaning to read something of his for a long time, and was made more determined when I started listening to Welcome to Nightvale (soooo goooood) and heard that it draws some inspiration from good ol' HP. I can tell you unequivocally: HP Lovecraft, like Wolverine, is the best at what he does. HP, where have you been all these years? Sweet mystery of life, at last I've found thee.

   OKAY: here's the sitch: it's the early/mid 1900's and peeps are wanting to head down to Antarctica and go exploring, ostensibly for king and country, and William Dyer is all "aw hellz no" because when he was there with some geologists and his pal Danforth, some craaaaazy stuff went down and he says Antarctica is an eon dead home of horror and the book is a tell-all of his experiences there. He's all "of course you will have heard of our mission, but now I will tell you the shocking truth, believe me, it'll drive you batty, just look at that nutso Danforth" (may or may not be a paraphrase). Also: here be monsters.

   Nothing in this story is benign. They find some odd rocks and I was all "this will not end well". Then they find some remarkably well-preserved THINGS and I was all "this will really not end well". This effect is partially produced by our narrator Dyer constantly referring to how they lied when they reported things that happened and how many times he calls Antarctica "eon dead" and how HP Lovecraft is a SINISTER WIZARD.

   Friends, I didn't even know this book was set in Antarctica. OMGosh, I love Antarctica. AND HP Lovecraft DEFINITELY mentions not only my present fave Douglas Mawson BUT ALSO everyone's other faves: Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and that ill-prepared dunce, Robert Falcon Scott. Ponies, Robert?? PONIES?!?! I mean COME ON. Also: you thought you could beat this guy?????

Roald don`t give a care

    Don`t even get me started.