Bones of the Moon
Bones of the Moon is a novel by American writer Jonathan Carroll, depicting the real and dream life of a young woman, Cullen James. Like many of Carroll's works, this work straddles the horror and fantasy genres.
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | Jonathan Carroll |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror, fantasy |
| Publisher | Century (UK) Arbor House (US) |
Publication date | 31 May 1987 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 216 (1st ed. HB) |
| ISBN | 0-7126-1504-0 (1st ed. HB) |
| OCLC | 17850838 |
Plot introduction
Cullen James is a young woman dwelling in two worlds. A happy housewife by day, by dream she is one of several questers after the Bones of the Moon. Somehow, though, one of these worlds is starting to carry over into the other, in frightening ways.
The Bones of the Moon of the title are five bones that give power over the dream world in which Cullen James spends her time.
Plot summary
Living in New York, Cullen James's best wishes were being fulfilled. Her best friend marries her; she travels in Europe; she has a baby daughter. But strange dreams begin to intrude.
By night, in dreams, she begins to visit a strange land called Rondua, where the sea is full of fish with mysterious names, where she and a huge, behatted dog escort a young boy named Pepsi across places such as the Northern Stroke, the Mountains of Coin and Brick, the Plain of Forgotten Machines.
As her days become more disjointed and episodic, her dreams grow in intensity, and she learns more about the adversary she and her dream friends race against, searching for the last of the Bones of the Moon. Bit by bit, the events in Rondua start affecting her life on earth, intersecting in unpleasant, then frightening ways.
- Danny James, her husband
- Mae, their daughter
- Pepsi (in Rondua), a young boy collecting a set of the Bones of the Moon
- Mr. Tracy (in Rondua), a dog the size of a hot-air balloon, wearing a bowler hat
- Weber Gregston, a movie director
- Eliot, her upstairs neighbor
- DeFazio (in Rondua)
- Alvin Williams, the Axe Boy, a polite young man who kills his mother and sister
- Jack Chili, the ruler of Rondua
Major themes
- The novel deals heavily with the emotional consequences of abortion.
Allusions/references from other works
- Weber Gregston, a minor character in this novel, is the main character in A Child Across the Sky
- The "A Game of You" story arc of the Neil Gaiman Sandman comic book is very similar to this novel, acknowledged in the preface to the graphic novel of the same name. The two stories were written separately with no knowledge of each other. When Gaiman read Bones of the Moon he was about to scrap the storyline but Carroll told him to go ahead. This is why there is a copy of Bones of the moon visible in the lead character's bookcase in the comics.
Reception
Dave Langford reviewed Bones of the Moon for White Dwarf #94, and stated that "As in Carroll's fine novel The Land of Laughs, the apparent whimsies are heavily booby-trapped and the sudden conclusion leaves you shaken. Highly recommended."[1]
References
- Langford, Dave (October 1987). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf. Games Workshop (Issue 94): 12.