DREAMLAND

A genre-melding adventure focuses on a parallel world.

Voltz’s novel presents Kevin Quinn, a Los Angeles–based musician with a heroin problem who, after dying, wakes up in a strange place. Quinn finds himself in a land called Ouros. Ouros is divided into distinct territories and each has its own set of outlandish dangers. Take Darke, for example, a place home to “demons, spirits and all manner of unnatural things.” Quinn befriends a gunslinging cowboy named Merrick, who hunts down bad guys. Soon, Merrick is killed by a giant metal cyclops known as Midnight. Quinn then partners with a different gun-toting badass: Faline Bristowe. Faline is a woman who locates people, and part of the reason she’s so good at it is because she’s a werewolf. For some reason, Midnight is abducting blond girls, and Faline vows to get to the bottom of it. Faline and Quinn must track down Midnight in colorful places that feature everything from nanobot law enforcement agents to highly aggressive, albeit slovenly, vampires. Although some early portions may lead readers to believe Quinn has merely landed in a technologically advanced dystopia, later chapters take the story in unexpected, creative directions. Standout scenes include a chilling village of people without eyes, and a law firm–like company where clients can receive protection provided by demons. In the latter episode, a salesman assures Quinn and Faline that the company’s employees, though they are demons, “are highly trained and screened professionals.” While the tale offers many such gems, progress is slowed by an overabundance of backstories. For instance, Merrick explains to Quinn in an earnest Old West style not only the town he is from, but also how the place got its name and how he became bent on a life of revenge. His account is not particularly gripping or important. After all, who has time for origin stories when a giant cyclops is on the loose, capable of vaporizing anything that dares to cross its path?

This meandering tale combines fantastical components into an entertainingly bizarre ride.