The Dreampits of Aggrathanarath

The New Novel by Ulysses Black & Thomas Harrow, 2020 Quillon Inc & ararita House

book design

Inspired the old pulp cover art of classic era sci-fi and detective fiction, Ulysses designed a cover that would manage to incorporate different visual elements from the narrative, while at the same time portraying a scene that does not feature at any point of the story. The idea was to capture a sense of the playfulness and whimsy associated with the disposable pulp texts, and yet give a nod to the sophistication of some of the narratives found within.
To further distinguish the ‘pulp’ quality the book cover lacks the modern matt or gloss finishes, creating a delightful soft natural card texture

As such the book is also based on the smaller novel size, for ease of carrying, and is PUR bound to ensure the pages, unlike those of the pulp era, stay within the book.

The novel is 321 pages, black and white throughout, features a map and key, carries footnotes and an appendix.

As this is the first edition, it also features an errata slip and occasional typos can be found throughout the text. I’d say that was a deliberate attempt at capturing the pulp feel, but actually, they are just small oversights. The upshot is that the first edition will remain distinct to subsequent editions by this quality at the very least, and will be limited to x50 copies.

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“Exotic Cities, Hypnotic Cults & a Showdown with the Great Creator!”

From the back of the book:

“When a noted architect travels to an exotic city, to walk in his father’s footsteps, a feast for the senses greets him. What begins with lavish meals and psychedelic festivities slides into an obsession with a mysterious cult, as layers of history are peeled back to the very moment of creation.
History, architecture, sensory stimulation and wild hedonism across a myriad of strange islands lead Colim Freelorn to his ultimate destiny.”

Background:

“Recently a text purporting to be the lost diary of missing architect Colim Freelorn appeared on the desk of Marmarian author Thomas Harrow (Beneath Darkening Waves), offering answers to the enigma of Colim’s fate. Here for the first, edited and arranged by Ulysses Black (Alderney: The Devil’s Rock), we present to you, the diaries of Colim Freelorn.”

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book history

Sometime in 2018 I wrote the title of this book as a mention of a fictional book on the shelf of a bookstore in a different story. I wanted a book title that sounded like a trashy pulp novel in the vein of old sci-fi or sword-n-sorcery novels, complete unpronounceable name.
For good measure i wrote the blurb that appeared on the back of this fictitious text.

A little later I found myself wondering what else the book contained. So I decided to write it solely as a creative writing exercise. At night, as my partner slept I would write a chapter, and read it to her in the morning over coffee. This I did almost nightly for around two months, and we both marveled at the degree of internal consistency and strange ideas that seemed to flow onto the keyboard every night.
I say this, not in any aggrandizing way, but because I, as the author, felt as much like a reader as anyone else - I literally only knew what would happen insofar as the blurb on the back directed me. I grieved when the narrative killed a character, my jaw hit the floor when [spoiler removed].

This is a book that wrote itself, and I was but the first reader.

Then, there was some editing, a bit of juggling of text and proofing (this latter not without some occasional omissions) and passing the book around for peer reading. The feedback was good.

Then I set about painting the pulp cover, formatting the book, designing the maps, charts and so forth… and the result is… here