Book Review – Green Unpleasant Land by Matt Thomas
Cosmic horror is a genre that tends to be filled with dread and rather dreary, but Matt Thomas turns that notion on its head with Green Unpleasant Land. Make no mistake, the Eldritch existential dread is still there, but the story is also shot through with great moments of humor that will have you laughing out loud.
The tale takes place in Victorian London, but this is not the city that we have come to know via history and other novels set in that time. Instead, we are treated to an alternate universe, where things are still familiar, but also very different.
In this world, Paris is living under the gaze of a portal to another dimension, from which all manner of Lovecraftian creatures have emerged to create a no-go zone, although you will be delighted to hear that it does not stop the heroes of this piece making a trip across the English Channel to visit that blighted land.
The main hero is Bill, a man in service to Sir Alexander Faversham, a bit of a dullard that the London press adore due to his questionable heroics. Bill is tasked with recovering mysterious book that, in the wrong hands, could lead to London suffering a similar fate to Paris. He is aided by Gwen, a “woman” from another timeline who has been sent to stop the rise of a cult hell bent on bringing The King in Yellow into this dimension.
It is a rip-roaring story filled with great action set pieces and a host of quirky characters, some real, some imagined, that bring everything to life. Another great part of this genius little novel is the nods to all manner of pop culture things, from Sherlock Holmes to Blade Runner and Alien. The book is filled to the brim with Easter Eggs that you will love hatching.
Green Unpleasant Land is one of my favorite reads of the year to this point, and I am delighted to report that Bill will be returning for more adventures. We can only hope that Gwen also finds her way back to ride shotgun.