BOOK REVIEW - I DREAM OF MIRRORS BY CHRIS KELSO

It requires something rather special to impress this grumpy middle-aged man with that in mind, for one author to make my book of the year pick two years in a row, they must be rather special.  Scottish author Chris Kelso had that honour in 2017 for Unger House Radicals and in 2018 for Shrapnel Apartments.  

Both of these novels pushed the boundaries both regarding content and style to create two similar but unique reading experiences.  Fractured narratives, multilayered viewpoints, and sense of "what the hell am I reading" combined in a bizarre and at times testing reading experience, until that point in the narrative where it all  comes into focus, like one of those magic eye pictures, leaving you with an overriding sense of awe and wonder at the sheer brilliance of the story and the sheer gutsy bravado of an author who has an immense talent.  

Next month see the release of what can be best described as Chris Kelso's most "normal"  or traditional novel.  That might seem like a disservice, but normal and traditional for Kelso isn't what most of us would describe as traditional.  Gone are the multiple and fractured narrative threads, to replaced with a more linear narrative, lending the novel with a leaner and more frantic pacing.  This also results in it being  easier to understand from the get-go; you won't be left scratching your head wondering what the hell is going on for the most of the novel.  That's not to say that you won't be taken on a mystery tour while reading I Dream of Mirrors,  trust me, Kelso has a couple of great twists and turns up his sleeve when it comes to pulling the rug from under the reader's feet.  The final act of the novel still manages to reach that Kelsotastic level of "OH MY GOD I didn't see that coming" when we get a peek behind the curtain.  

In simplistic terms,  I Dream of Mirrors, is a science fiction horror novel where zombies have overrun the world, and we join the narrator Kurt, and his partner Kad, who also just happens to be the object of his unspoken love, as the fight for survival in a world gone to ruin thanks to the machinations of the cult leader Miles Dunwoody, a man whose charisma and shaman-like guru personality has seen him rise to be the man in the high tower ruler of a world gone to seed.  

Our pair of protagonists are battling for their survival where everything is in short supply, and everyone is out for themselves, in this dog eat dog world even the safe haven of a hotel hides dangers beyond rational comprehension.  However, they also want to confront Dunwoody and kill him as they believe his death is the only way to save the world and bring it back from the brink.  

With almost any other author  I Dream of Mirrors would play out as a simple tale of survival, but Kelso isn't like any other author. I Dream of Mirrors is an elaborate, layered metaphor for the human condition, gone are your traditional zombies, these aren't your run of the mill flesh-eating, brain-chomping, Kelso's zombies are an entirely different species.  

Mirroring ( see what I did there), our world where certain sections of society have become mindless shuffling automatons, shuffling through life under the special of social media, lifestyle gurus and fake news, Kelso's zombies have become the mindless product of charismatic leader.  While not inherently or traditionally scary, these zombies are still unsettling due to the plausibility of their existence; some would say that we have already reached the point of these metaphorical zombie hordes.  

I Dream of Mirrors is a novel about identity,  our place in the world and the reason for our continued existence, coming across like a twisted mix of the Wizard of Oz, there are even witches in the book, and Moby Dick, but the question is who or what is the white whale?  Taken on the most basic level, I Dream of Mirrors is a fast-paced modern horror-tinged science fiction novel, that keeps the reader's attention thanks to some wonderfully written prose, and well-rounded characters.  

The book's narrator for most of the novel is painted with wide brush strokes, and we aren't given much in the way of characterisation, background, or even until the final act much character development, but that is one of the strengths of this book. A deliberate move, and a bold one that works perfectly within the larger canvas of the novel.  Kad is really nothing more than your typical spunky heroine, but again, this is what is required for this book, it's a classic example you really need to read the book to get what we are implying here.  

Oddly enough the two characters with the most characterisation are both ancillary ones, Ailsa who becomes the object of lust for Kurt, and Henrik, a nasty monster of a man who has an unusual secret and even more unusual passion for killing.  Their roles in the book are intelligent and used exceptionally well to hang some of the main themes of the book on without becoming heavy handed. 


I Dream of Mirrors is a high concept novel, that doesn't sacrifice good storytelling for trying to reach too high with its execution of the concepts explored within the story.  Kelso has this unique ability to make a story easily accessible on one level while taking your brain on a spin cycle as he attacks more complex themes of the narrative. 

This is a book that could be read in one sitting, but you will find yourself pausing after nearly every chapter to give yourself a chance to digest what you have just read.  And when you finish the novel, don't be surprised if you find yourself sitting there for a while as you take in the full glory of what you have just completed.  

This is probably Kelso's most accessible long-form work to date, and it serves as the perfect introduction to an author who is fast becoming a master of transreal fiction.  Devour this book then go and pick up a copy of Unger House Radicals, (sadly Shrapnel Apartments is currently out of print), and begin a journey through the twisted mind of one of the most exciting authors to emerge in recent years 

I DREAM OF MIRRORS 

My bones feel new, brittle. You won’t have heard any apocryphal stories about me because no one seems to know anything about me. My body is a sheet of paper from a worn manuscript, folded into the origami shape of a man. My life has been stuffed into a satchel and carried to publishers. Its words are my words.

He has no name. He belongs to no race or nation. He has no definable personality or allegiance. Only the dead city of mirrors holds the key.

From the mind of Chris Kelso, author of The Dregs Trilogy, comes I Dream Of Mirrors; a transgressive, sci-fi horror. 


“Chris Kelso writes in a style of broken glass and razor blades, barbed wire and gasoline.”
– John Langan, author of The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

“Someday soon people will be naming him as one of their own influences.” 
— INTERZONE magazine

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