The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country

As per usual, I'm going to go against the crowd here and say, I enjoyed this, the sequel to Lovecraft Country much more than the original.

While I enjoyed the first one very much, it was the separated, yet linked story aspect that didn't seem to work that much for me.

This one however? While the various stories are largely separate still, they're more interlinked? Not sure if that's it. But overall, this feels more like a cohesive novel. I love the magic, I love the devices, I love the characters.

And despite the rage and anger it elicits, I love the way Ruff shows the constant, almost-unconscious way most whites just looked at, and treated the blacks as second class citizens.

The best fiction holds up a mirror to reality so we can view show more it through a different lens. This one does so extremely well.

My complaint, much like the first one, is that I really wish there was more of a connection to Lovecraft. But just a good, rich, satisfying read. show less

It's a good sequel, but something felt lacking. The plot is well developed and more connected than the episodic approach of the first book, which was appreciated. But it's also a lot more mundane. Sure, there are still ghosts and racists and lots of adventures, but it's not as interesting. The themes are more Faustian than Lovecraftian this time around, which results in difficult decisions and compromises. More thought provoking, but less entertaining.

Stories set in Lovecraftian worlds are interesting when they don't do the obvious - wrestle with the threat of Giant Old Ones showing up and laying waste to reality in a casual god-shrugging of way - and instead work in the margins with more down-to-earth threats, like ghosts, dead alien worlds, and the like, as this one did. Made it all feel really unsafe, like at some point someone will accidentally cross the line and then it'll all go to hell. So, recommended.

The Destroyer of Worlds is a follow-up to 2016's Lovecraft Country, which was also made into a series by HBO. Both books combine sci-fi/fantasy horror with the real-world horror of trying to safely navigate 1950s U.S. while being Black. The otherworldly horrors are superseded by the risks of daily life.

I loved this book, but it really is a title that works best if you've first read Lovecraft Country. The two books are built around the same cast of characters, but Lovecraft Country eases the reader into the dual types of horror at their heart. The Destroyer of Worlds offers no easing—readers are thrown into action sequences, jumping between narrative threads without transitions. Unless you've already met the characters and understand show more the world they live in, reading The Destroyer of Worlds will feel a great deal like straddling an active earthquake fault, with all the shaking and uncertainty that implies. This is not intended to discourage you from reading The Destroyer of Worlds, it's just to suggest that you read Lovecraft Country first.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own show less

In the time between publication of [Lovecraft Country] and this book, my enthusiasm had cooled. But the audiobook was on sale, so I picked it up. I need not have hesitated. Ruff had me pulled in immediately. I finished the entire book in one day during a road trip.
NOTE: you really need to have read the prior book for this one to make any sense at all.

Building upon the world first shared in Lovecraft Country, Ruff's sequel, The Destroyer of Worlds presents a more focused story addressing many of the issues I found in that first journey into a world of secret societies, dark magick, and the racially charged, tail end of Jim Crow mid twentieth century America. Despite being a better written story, it does suffer slightly from not bringing anything really new to to the table; but if you enjoyed the first and are interested in joining Atticus, Montrose, Letitia, Ruby, Hippolytta, George and Horace in another occult adventure, then you'll likely enjoy this one too. A complete story on its own, knowledge of the first is nevertheless recommended, and it does leaves enough space for further show more adventures, so you may want to prepare for a third. show less

The Destroyer of Wold is an excellent novel and I love returning back to this alternative world and all the characters from the first book. It's good that we at least have the book since we did only get one season on tv. My hope is now that we will get at least one more book because, well it feels like there are more in store for the characters. Fingers crossed!

I listened to the audio version narrated by Kevin Kenerly who narrated the first book. He does an excellent job with the first book and I'm pleased he voiced this book as well. I'm also glad I listened to the first book right before I started this one so that I had the story from that one fresh in my memory.