Book Review - Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll

Synopsis:  Cullen James is a young woman whose life dictates her dreams and whose dreams control her life.In her first dream, she found the perfect man and the same thing promptly happened in life. Now, she has begun to dream of Rondua, a fantasy world of high adventure. And slowly her dream world is spilling over into her reality, and beginning to threaten everything she loves in life. Her friends are gathered to help her but even her new-found courage may not be enough.

First Line:  "The Axe Boy lived downstairs."

Random Quote:  "If someone wants to rule Rondua, they must possess all five of the Bones.  What's wonderful about the rule is that to acquire each one, a person must possess a certain good quality.  For example, to find the first, Obnoy, one must be loved; must be lovable.  Taken together, these qualities are what make someone a great ruler."

Review:  Quite a wonderful book with moments of beautiful writing. I read this because Neil Gaiman borrowed heavily from it in A Game of You - probably my favorite story arc from Sandman. Neil definitely owes a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Carroll for giving him the outlines of this story.

New York City in the fog as seen from Hobeken, NJ - Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It is audacious for a man to write about abortion and its impact on a woman's life and later motherhood. It is too easy for such a man to come off as judgmental, but Carroll shows that imagination can take you many places. The narrator of this book, Cullen, lives in a world where the lines between dreams and reality are blurry at best. She is warm and genuine and struggling to find who she is in the aftermath of her abortion, subsequent whirlwind marriage, and the birth of her first child.

I loved the way Carroll refuses to treat the dreaming world differently from the "real" world - transitioning back and forth between both much as we all do in our own lives. It's a good story, too, although I found the ending a bit abrupt. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author - he's got a great imagination and there's not nearly enough of that in the world.

Reading Challenges:  Once Upon a Time IV Reading Challenge, Random Reading Challenge, Speculative Fiction Challenge 2010, 2010 100+ Reading Challenge