The Dinosaur Tourist
by Caitlin R. Kiernan
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Pub Date Nov 30 2018 | Archive Date Dec 01 2018
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Description
Almost nothing is only what it seems to be at first glance. Appearances can be deceiving and first impressions often lead us disastrously astray. If we're not careful, assumption and expectation can betray us all the way to madness and death and damnation. In The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan's fifteenth collection of short fiction, nineteen tales of the unexpected and the uncanny explore that treacherous gulf between what we suppose the world to be and what might actually be waiting out beyond the edges of our day-to-day experience. A mirror may be a window into another time. A cat may be our salvation. Your lover may be a fabulous being. And a hitchhiker may turn out to be anyone at all.
Advance Praise
From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
“This superb collection of 19 genre-bending reprints is distinguished by gorgeous prose, haunting beauty, and visceral imagery… Kiernan puts her exceptional talent for navigating the dark, cold depths of Lovecraftian mythos to excellent use in ‘Far from Any Shore’ and ‘Excerpts from an Eschatology Quadrille,’ both featuring artifacts that leave chaos and madness in their wake, and the glorious ‘The Cats of River Street (1925),’ about a ragtag group of cats that are the only thing standing between humanity and the tentacled horrors of the deeps.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781596068827 |
| PRICE | $40.00 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Dan S, Reviewer
The Dinosaur Tourist is a collection of tales by Caitlin R. Kiernan.
I have to confess that I grabbed this ARC from Netgalley because I'm a dino-dork from way back. Fortunately for me, the impulse paid off. This was a really good short story collection from an author I've never read before.
Kiernan worked as a paleontologist and paleontology is worked into the periphery of most of the stories. Some of the stories have a Lovecraftian feel, only written in Kiernan's noir-ish style. I don't know that she's ever written a straight up noir tale before but if she did, I'd read the hell out of it. Her style has the doomed feel of the old noir masters.
The title story was my favorite one, partly because it involves a long ass drive across South Dakota, something I've done in the last few years, and it's damn authentic. I had a feeling how it would end but it was still pretty great. I'm a little disappointed they got ensnared by the Wall tourist trap.
It's tricky to review a book of short stories without spoiling too much or writing a review the lenght of a short story yourself. I'll say I was never disappointed and I'll be reading more Caitlin Kiernan in the future. Four out of five stars.
Elizabeth R, Reviewer
The Dinosaur Tourist takes us to places both familiar and strange, dancing in and out in a way that often defines the strict boundaries of genre to become something more. Kiernan is unafraid to tackle the classics, from her cats that guard Lovecraft's Innsmouth, while also creating so much that is utterly new. Strange idols appear in the earth. Holes open up in bathroom floors.
Throughout many of the stories, the theme of fossil hunting or paleontology runs. Some characters are fossil hunters, while some are merely named for them. It's a uniting theme in any otherwise disparate collection, and one that I was more than happy to see. Short story collections don't have to fit together evenly, at least to me, and this is one that clearly exists to show off Kiernan's best work and then some.
If you're prepared to dive deep into wondrous worlds, I highly recommend The Dinosaur Tourist. Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!
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