Myn Aunsoo’s CONFUNDO ET TRANSFIGURO OF DREAMS, HUNGER, AND THE HUNT..AND VAMPIRES is without question a most unusual book. Its plot is sprawling, its scope is elephantine, and its point is…well…hard to fathom. In the novel, the world’s true religion is the one dominated by Amma the Many Breasted Goddess. She is the creator of All That Is (i.e., our world). She loves Humans (whom she created), but recognizes that her offspring have some drawbacks. They are prone to fighting among each other, and the worst among them prey on their more vulnerable peers. Besides Humans, Amma also created the Moroli. The Moroli are vampires who live on Human blood. This serves a greater purpose, as it sustains the Moroli and keeps the Humans from getting too out of control.

Told in a series of Testaments like the Holy Bible, CONFUNDO ET TRANSFIGURO primarily focuses on the spiritual journey of Volod, a Moroli who wishes to become a Human. With his male lover Aurel and the elderly woman Mirmir, Volod sets out across the Kutsal and Lethe rivers. This journey brings the three into contact with many different individuals, especially the Human Britney who has been cursed with “Sexual Hunger.”

CONFUNDO ET TRANSFIGURO is a lot of things all at once. It’s a philosophical novel that takes apart several different religions, most obviously Christianity. It is also a comedy that makes great use of pop culture references such as Star Wars. Finally, it is a modern fantasy novel with a heavy dose of surrealism. Amma built this interesting world, but it has always been a joke, you see.

Aunsoo’s writing moves back and forth from the overly dramatic to the proletarian (there are a few curse words used). The sheer volume of unusual names and the inclusion of demigods and a vampire race make for difficult reading at times. One can almost say that this obfuscation is itself a send up of the fantasy genre.

CONFUNDO ET TRANSFIGURO OF DREAMS, HUNGER, AND THE HUNT..AND VAMPIRES is a supernatural slapstick black comedy that swings between confusing and enjoyable.

~Benjamin Welton for IndieReader