Legend has it that when a 17th century alchemist was looking for the
"philosopher's stone," he came upon a substance known as phosphorous.
Ducornet's novel is like that substance: glowing and beautiful, yet
dangerous and volatile.

Phospor in Dreamland belongs to rare group of novels and stories that
I'll dub Philosophical Fantasy. This subgenre resists easy
categorization, as it moves between traditional forms (fables,
parables) and expository rumination. In such novels, 'plot' takes a
second seat to the authors' gifts for fabulous hyperbole and
intellectual juxtaposition. It's a form pioneered by Candide, Kafka
and Borges. Other contemporary practitioners of Philosophical
Fantasy
include Jeanette Winterson, Steve Erickson and Andrew Crumley.
Ducornet distinguishes herself by her precise, poetic language, her
ribald humor, and her obsession with the erotic.

Dreamland is set on the imaginary island of Birdland. The framing
device for the novel is a series of letters written in the present
about the life and adventures of 17th century poet and inventor Nuno
Alfa y Omega whose life coincides with several important historical
events in the history of Birdland. A child of mysterious parentage,
he is found on the doorstep of the eccentric Fogginius, a
philosopher/scientist in his own right, who bridges the gap between
scientific curiosity and superstitious reverence. The child,
nicknamed Phosphor for his surrogate father's love of all things
bioluminescent, grows up among Fogginius' strange laboratory, which
includes his unorthodox medicines and his amateur taxidermy-mostly of
the near-extinct species of Birdland's unique fauna. The young
Phosphor grows up to create a prototypical form of photography,
called
an ocularscope, which captures images on specially treated glass.
Phosphor also falls in love with the beautiful Extravangza, whom he
feels he cannot possess due to his physical deformity (he's short and
hunchbacked). This romantic despair inspires him to write poetry.
He
comes to the notice of Senor Fantasma, the town millionaire, who is
fascinated with Phosphor's photographic device, and funds an
expedition to the interior of Birdland to capture the rapidly
vanishing species. Phosphor also comes to the notice of the Church,
fresh from the Inquistion, who are investigating heresies in Spain's
various colonies.

This plot is wide open for Ducornet's imaginative gymnastics. With
asides that grow into tall tales, the narrator is veritable Baron
Munchausen, to the point where history, fantasy and fiction become
inseparable. Houses disappear suddenly; churches are hidden in huge
trees; a man crumbles into a pile of dust. A mythical bird, the
loplop, enchants all with it siren song. Simultaneously, the
particular methods of Inquisition-styled torture and the monetary
risks of importing slaves are also revealed. Along a path strewn
with
satire and fantasy, Ducornet riffs on nature, poetry, pornography,
love and religion. The characters in the story are drawn with
swift,
delineating strokes. Fogginius is particularly well-drawn comes
across as a babbling nutty professor type, with a penchant for
scatology.

Ducornet has been hailed as the heir apparent of the late Angela
Carter. This is only partial true: like Carter, she mines mythology
and fairytales to expose truths about human and erotic nature. And
both she and Carter favor baroque invention and Gothic caricature.
But Ducornet's palette is broader. She uses history and politics as
a
jumping off point, to ponder how humanity is affected by ideologies.
She is also wittier than Carter. The influence of Borges is also
strong in her work: her stories often resemble mini-essays,
treatises
on the obscure and ridiculous (demonstrated in this text by her use
of
footnotes). There's also a dash of Swift and a smidgen of H.P.
Lovecraft.

In sum, Phosphor in Dreamland is a wonderful introduction to the
always mesmerizing, if slightly skewed fiction of Rikki Ducornet.

--Craig
Web reference:

http://webdelsol.com/LITARTS/Rikki_Ducornet/