Lovecraft Country

I'd call this a diverting read that's easily consumable but lightweight. The drama and tension don't ratchet up that much, and the characters escape dangers without consequence. Throughout the novel there is an oversimplified good vs. evil morality. It's set up as episodic, like a serialized story or ready-for-television treatment. Each little mini-section features Atticus, a young army vet of the Korean war and/or members of his extended family and friends. Various characters connected to Atticus are protagonists of an episode, each of which has its own mini-arc. I wouldn't call them short stories because they are interdependent and part of the full novel. Ruff offers the value of having protagonists who are minorities, characters who historically were frequently marginalized, demonized, stereotyped, ignored or worse in some of the horror/science fiction tales he's referencing. Unfortunately, Atticus and company aren't well-developed characters. My cynical assumption being that he can't write them with human failings or he'd get slammed for showing Black characters in what could be perceived as a negative light. Instead, we end up with bland, empty characters, filling their role in the plot. The one that comes off best is Atticus's love interest, Letitia. She is a brave and quick-witted woman, but lacks any flaws that make a memorable character. Trying not to offend is a weak choice. The antagonists are even less interesting. The scenes of white racists harassing Atticus and his family happen so often, they lose impact. With the exception of Caleb Braithewhite, who is the big bad guy but oddly not an overt racist, most of the white characters are empty shells, demonstrating racism rather than portraying flawed and ignorant racist individuals. They're also easily defeated by the protagonists, or more often by some vengeful supernatural intervention. A story where Atticus or Letitia or any of the others had deliberately called up supernatural beings to punish truly complex, evil racist characters could have been an interesting revenge fantasy. Or maybe could have led to something where the protagonists had to cooperate with white characters to fight a mutual enemy, and consequences and character growth could have stemmed from that. There isn't much character growth at all because problems vanish with little difficulty. In the chapter called “Dreams of the Which House,” Letitia buys the Winthrop house, a building haunted by the former owner. Winthrop is hostile at first but quickly becomes her friend when she holds her ground. I like the idea, but the alliance happens so easily that it isn't satisfying. The end of the first episode, where Samuel Braithewhite and the Order of the Ancient Dawn call up the “light of creation,” is reminiscent of the “well of souls” scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, with members of the Order in the role of the Nazi cultists. That was a decently-executed allusion to a famous bit of pop culture that made a comment without calling it out in so many words. I would have liked a few more scenes like this.The mention of Atticus as a science fiction reader of Lovecraft, Bradbury, Heinlein, etc. feels a little self-conscious to me. A book like this that's using horror as social commentary should be better than the source material it's commenting on; but it isn't. There are no genuine chilling moments and no fresh ideas. A better read for commentary on Lovecraft is [b:The Ballad of Black Tom 26883558 The Ballad of Black Tom Victor LaValle https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447086249l/26883558.SY75.jpg 46932536] by Victor LaValle, which had a focused, tight story with complex morality.