Finished 5 books in March, with one DNF.
The Caller of the Black was Brian Lumley's first short story collection, published by Arkham House in 1971. Most of the stories in Caller tread firmly in the territory of Lovecraft pastiche, and while these early stories do not represent his best work, it was interesting to help see his development as a writer, especially in the Lovecraft mythos, from this starting point. 3.5 / 5
Jedi Summer with the Magnetic Kid by John Boden was a huge disappointment. Based on the amount of favorable reviews, I went into Jedi with high expectations which were not met. There was no discernible storyline throughout the novella, which consisted of a series of short two to four page vignettes which ultimately had no (or in a few instances, very little) connection to each other. Also, the nostalgia I expected from the story (it is set in the summer of 1983) was mostly absent. 1 / 5
The Other People by CJ Tudor. I've liked everything I've read from Tudor so far, and The Other People (her third novel) is her best, IMO. Compulsively readable, fast paced, interesting characters, and a plotline that keeps the read guessing from the opening pages. One of the best books I've read so far this year. 5 / 5
Adam's Ladder was an anthology of dark SF stories dealing with human evolution edited by Michael Bailey & Darren Speegle. For the most part I found the stories to be entertaining, though mostly, unmemorable. The two exceptions were 'My Father, Dr. Frankenstein' by John Langan, in which a son writes a book about his scientist father who spent his career trying to engineer the perfect solider. The story is told entirely in postscripts & is just brilliant. I also really liked, surprisingly, 'Swift to Chase' by Laird Barron. In the past I've never really cared for what I've read by Barron, but 'Swift to Chase' was a fun, action packed story that had a definite old-timey pulp fiction feel to it. There were also pretty good stories by Lisa Morton ('Eyes of the Beholders') & Damien Angelica Walters ('Filigree, Minotaur, Cyanide, Bloom') 3.5 / 5
A Song for the End by Kit Powers - a weekend club band creates their best song ever, with one major side effect. Anyone who hears the song is compelled to tell the truth. If they try to lie, the pressure in their head grows until they either tell the truth or hemorrhage out of their cranial openings. And this is all figured out in 2 or 3 hours the morning after the song is posted to youtube. DNF
That Which Grows Wild was a short story collection by author & publisher Eric Guignard. For the most part I liked the stories in TWGW; the stories are well paced & told in an easy to follow style. My favorites were 'A Case Study of Natural Selection & How it Applies to Love', set in a post- apocalyptic world in which, very similar to Joe Hill's The Fireman, people are prone to simultaneous combustion, & 'Those Who Watch From on High' in which a military drone operator takes vengeance on his commanding officer after killing a young boy in Afghanistan. TWGW was my first time reading Guignard, and I wouldn't hesitate to try something else by him. 3.5 / 5
B
The Caller of the Black was Brian Lumley's first short story collection, published by Arkham House in 1971. Most of the stories in Caller tread firmly in the territory of Lovecraft pastiche, and while these early stories do not represent his best work, it was interesting to help see his development as a writer, especially in the Lovecraft mythos, from this starting point. 3.5 / 5
Jedi Summer with the Magnetic Kid by John Boden was a huge disappointment. Based on the amount of favorable reviews, I went into Jedi with high expectations which were not met. There was no discernible storyline throughout the novella, which consisted of a series of short two to four page vignettes which ultimately had no (or in a few instances, very little) connection to each other. Also, the nostalgia I expected from the story (it is set in the summer of 1983) was mostly absent. 1 / 5
The Other People by CJ Tudor. I've liked everything I've read from Tudor so far, and The Other People (her third novel) is her best, IMO. Compulsively readable, fast paced, interesting characters, and a plotline that keeps the read guessing from the opening pages. One of the best books I've read so far this year. 5 / 5
Adam's Ladder was an anthology of dark SF stories dealing with human evolution edited by Michael Bailey & Darren Speegle. For the most part I found the stories to be entertaining, though mostly, unmemorable. The two exceptions were 'My Father, Dr. Frankenstein' by John Langan, in which a son writes a book about his scientist father who spent his career trying to engineer the perfect solider. The story is told entirely in postscripts & is just brilliant. I also really liked, surprisingly, 'Swift to Chase' by Laird Barron. In the past I've never really cared for what I've read by Barron, but 'Swift to Chase' was a fun, action packed story that had a definite old-timey pulp fiction feel to it. There were also pretty good stories by Lisa Morton ('Eyes of the Beholders') & Damien Angelica Walters ('Filigree, Minotaur, Cyanide, Bloom') 3.5 / 5
A Song for the End by Kit Powers - a weekend club band creates their best song ever, with one major side effect. Anyone who hears the song is compelled to tell the truth. If they try to lie, the pressure in their head grows until they either tell the truth or hemorrhage out of their cranial openings. And this is all figured out in 2 or 3 hours the morning after the song is posted to youtube. DNF
That Which Grows Wild was a short story collection by author & publisher Eric Guignard. For the most part I liked the stories in TWGW; the stories are well paced & told in an easy to follow style. My favorites were 'A Case Study of Natural Selection & How it Applies to Love', set in a post- apocalyptic world in which, very similar to Joe Hill's The Fireman, people are prone to simultaneous combustion, & 'Those Who Watch From on High' in which a military drone operator takes vengeance on his commanding officer after killing a young boy in Afghanistan. TWGW was my first time reading Guignard, and I wouldn't hesitate to try something else by him. 3.5 / 5
B
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