Originally appeared in Talebones magazine in the Boneyard capsule review section late 1998 or early 1999.
This book is out of print. If you can find a copy, read it before selling it to a collector.
THE BOOK OF LOST PLACES
by
Jeff Vandermeer
Dark Regions Press, 1996
P.O. Box 6301
Concord CA 94524
118 pgs. $8.95 + 1.24 p/h (chapbook)
ISBN-13: 9781888993066 - ISBN-10: 1888993065
Patrick must have been cleaning out his office when he unearthed this gem from 1996. Wish I had known about the stories when they were first published in various small press and prozines as I'd have recommended a few of the stories for Stoker Awards. Jeff Vandermeer's grasp of slipstream fantasy grips you by the throat and doesn't let go.
The nine stories that make up this chapbook are all good, with some standouts that imprint their strangeness on you and may alter the way you look at the world. A slim volume, LOST PLACES will convey you to uncharted territories of imagination.
A strange and terrible fate awaits a mercenary soldier in "Falling Into the Arms of Death He Found a Beautiful Place". The life of a librarian is changed forever after meeting one of the Fey in "Greensleeves". A psychic suffers with the elephant he trains in "Mahout". These unique characters, strange locales and more await you during your journeys in THE BOOK OF LOST PLACES.
Highly recommended.
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