Genre Fiction
![Matt Ruff - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APQADQ.jpg)
The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country
"Another virtuoso blend of horror, action, and humor. . . . Fans will find this a worthy sequel."-Publishers Weekly
In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of Lovecraft Country and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present, and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.
Summer, 1957. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina to mark the centennial of their ancestor's escape from slavery, but an encounter with an old nemesis leads to a life-and-death pursuit.
Back in Chicago, George Berry is diagnosed with cancer and strikes a devil's bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure-but only if George brings Winthrop back from the dead.
Fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret-and far more dangerous-agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia's doorstep.
Hippolyta isn't the only one keeping secrets. Letitia's sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.
Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he's found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle . . .
In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of Lovecraft Country and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present, and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.
Summer, 1957. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina to mark the centennial of their ancestor's escape from slavery, but an encounter with an old nemesis leads to a life-and-death pursuit.
Back in Chicago, George Berry is diagnosed with cancer and strikes a devil's bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure-but only if George brings Winthrop back from the dead.
Fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret-and far more dangerous-agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia's doorstep.
Hippolyta isn't the only one keeping secrets. Letitia's sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.
Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he's found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle . . .
Editorial Reviews
"Ruff's sequel to 2016's Lovecraft Country delivers another virtuoso blend of horror, action, and humor. . . . Fans will find this a worthy sequel." - Publishers Weekly
"Immensely entertaining. The pacing is on point, the action set pieces are thrilling, and the stakes are high." - Locus
"A spectacular follow-up to Lovecraft Country . . . Few writers can manage a cast of characters this large with Ruff's deft hand-they are likeable, individual, and we root for all of them . . . It makes for an extremely fast-paced, high-stakes read as we ping-pong around the Jim Crow south and all the way to the end of the universe." - Cory Doctorow
"Another ‘only Matt Ruff could do this' production. Lovecraft Country takes the unlikeliest of premises and spins it into a funny, fast, exciting and affecting read." - Neal Stephenson on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
"Lovecraft Country rubs the pervasive, eldritch dread of Lovecraft's universe against the very real, historical dread of Jim Crow America and sparks fly. . . . Ruff renders a very high-concept, imaginary world with such vividness that you can't help but feel it's disturbingly real." - Christopher Moore on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
"Nonstop adventure that includes time-shifting, shape-shifting, and Lovecraft-like horrors. . . . Ruff, a cult favorite for his mind-bending fiction, vividly portrays racism as a horror worse than anything conceived by Lovecraft in this provocative, chimerical novel." - Booklist (starred review) on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
"Immensely entertaining. The pacing is on point, the action set pieces are thrilling, and the stakes are high." - Locus
"A spectacular follow-up to Lovecraft Country . . . Few writers can manage a cast of characters this large with Ruff's deft hand-they are likeable, individual, and we root for all of them . . . It makes for an extremely fast-paced, high-stakes read as we ping-pong around the Jim Crow south and all the way to the end of the universe." - Cory Doctorow
"Another ‘only Matt Ruff could do this' production. Lovecraft Country takes the unlikeliest of premises and spins it into a funny, fast, exciting and affecting read." - Neal Stephenson on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
"Lovecraft Country rubs the pervasive, eldritch dread of Lovecraft's universe against the very real, historical dread of Jim Crow America and sparks fly. . . . Ruff renders a very high-concept, imaginary world with such vividness that you can't help but feel it's disturbingly real." - Christopher Moore on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
"Nonstop adventure that includes time-shifting, shape-shifting, and Lovecraft-like horrors. . . . Ruff, a cult favorite for his mind-bending fiction, vividly portrays racism as a horror worse than anything conceived by Lovecraft in this provocative, chimerical novel." - Booklist (starred review) on LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
Readers Top Reviews
Tobin ElliottKGBeast
As per usual, I'm going to go against the crowd here and say, I enjoyed this, the sequel to <b><i>Lovecraft Country</i></b> much more than the original. While I enjoyed the first one very much, it was the separated, yet linked story aspect that didn't seem to work that much for me. This one however? While the various stories are largely separate still, they're more interlinked? Not sure if that's it. But overall, this feels more like a cohesive novel. I love the magic, I love the devices, I love the characters. And despite the rage and anger it elicits, I love the way Ruff shows the constant, almost-unconscious way most whites just looked at, and treated the blacks as second class citizens. The best fiction holds up a mirror to reality so we can view it through a different lens. This one does so extremely well. My complaint, much like the first one, is that I really wish there was more of a connection to Lovecraft. But just a good, rich, satisfying read.
TiturelLuluReads365
Solid writing but not nearly as innovative and clever as the first book. This one is more of a set up for further adventures with the same characters. The first book was self contained. This feels like part 1 of 3 or 4.
t2
A little hard to follow since I had not read the original for the time since it came out. Assumes reader has already memorized character definitions from predecessor. Not as much plot elegance in that it seems a little forced as compared with #1. I do suggest going back and rereading that book before reading this book and you will have more appreciation of what must have been a real project in creating this one.
Jayne T.
This is a great sequel in an amazing series. Hope there are more. Includes so many genres, uniquely creative. Ruff is the best!
I couldn't put the novel down and got through it in 3 days. Ruff captures the magic of Lovecraft Country again. It's the same set of characters but a new set of problems. All of the plotlines were interesting and properly scary at times. And the grand conclusion of all of them was cathartic. It was especially interesting to see how all of the characters from the first used whatever relics and trinkets they had kept from their last run in with the world of the occult. Even with literal magic at their fingertips though, they were still not really safe in Jim Crow America.
