Finished 7 in February, with one DNF.
1. The Servitor by Philip Fracassi (chapbook). What if the job for setting the traps in a king’s burial temple was handed down through the years from father to son? And what if one day an unexpected intruder makes it through all the way to the top level? This story had definite Indiana Jones vibes and I liked it a lot. 4 / 5
2. Axum by Tyler Jones served as a sort of companion story to The Servitor. A thief is sent by his mob boss to retrieve an artifact from the city of Axum (in Ethiopia). The twist is what the artifact turns out to be. Another strong story by Jones. 5 / 5
3. American Cannibal ed. by Rebecca Rowland was an anthology of cannibal stories set to events in America history. The first half of this anthology was surprisingly good, though the stories in the second half seemed to run out of steam. My favorites were ‘Carnivore’ by Jeremy Megaree, ‘Wendigo Dreams’ by Owl Goingback & ‘And the Window Was Boarded Shut’ by Elizabeth Massie. 3.3 / 5
Metropolis by Thea von Harbou. A novelization of the classic dystopian film about a man trying to breakdown a societal caste system (maybe??). I just couldn’t deal with the repetitive and wordy writing style. DNF
4. Black Winged Angels was a collection of dark stories based on traditional fairy tales by Angela Slatter. Another strong collection of short fiction by Slatter. Favorites were ‘Red Skein’, ‘The Girl With no Hands’, & ‘The Juniper Tree’. 4 / 5
5. ITCH! was the second novel I’ve read from Gemma Amor. A young woman moves back to her hometown after the violent breakup of an abusive relationship. After returning home she stumbles upon the corpse of a murdered woman, after which she can’t overcome the feeling she has bugs crawling on and in her. ITCH! had an interesting beginning and a relatively satisfying conclusion. However, the lack of character development just could not pull off a long & slow middle portion. 3 / 5
6. Little Horn is the latest collection of dark fiction from Gemma Files. For the most part, I’ve liked what I’ve read from Files in the past, and I enjoyed most of the stories in Little Horn. Favorites were ‘Only Children’ (a reread which I only liked more the second time around) and ‘Pelican’, a post apocalyptic story where a young woman takes a boy under her wing. 3.6 / 5
7. Discontinue if Death Ensues was an anthology where five woman authors all contributed several stories each. I’ve read two of the authors before; Lee Murray (usually dependable, but not here) & Anna Taborska. I piecemealed this one over a couple of months as I just couldn’t get into it. I realize I’m not the target audience for this anthology, but I found the stories to be overbearing, pretentious, and preachy. 1 / 5
B
1. The Servitor by Philip Fracassi (chapbook). What if the job for setting the traps in a king’s burial temple was handed down through the years from father to son? And what if one day an unexpected intruder makes it through all the way to the top level? This story had definite Indiana Jones vibes and I liked it a lot. 4 / 5
2. Axum by Tyler Jones served as a sort of companion story to The Servitor. A thief is sent by his mob boss to retrieve an artifact from the city of Axum (in Ethiopia). The twist is what the artifact turns out to be. Another strong story by Jones. 5 / 5
3. American Cannibal ed. by Rebecca Rowland was an anthology of cannibal stories set to events in America history. The first half of this anthology was surprisingly good, though the stories in the second half seemed to run out of steam. My favorites were ‘Carnivore’ by Jeremy Megaree, ‘Wendigo Dreams’ by Owl Goingback & ‘And the Window Was Boarded Shut’ by Elizabeth Massie. 3.3 / 5
Metropolis by Thea von Harbou. A novelization of the classic dystopian film about a man trying to breakdown a societal caste system (maybe??). I just couldn’t deal with the repetitive and wordy writing style. DNF
4. Black Winged Angels was a collection of dark stories based on traditional fairy tales by Angela Slatter. Another strong collection of short fiction by Slatter. Favorites were ‘Red Skein’, ‘The Girl With no Hands’, & ‘The Juniper Tree’. 4 / 5
5. ITCH! was the second novel I’ve read from Gemma Amor. A young woman moves back to her hometown after the violent breakup of an abusive relationship. After returning home she stumbles upon the corpse of a murdered woman, after which she can’t overcome the feeling she has bugs crawling on and in her. ITCH! had an interesting beginning and a relatively satisfying conclusion. However, the lack of character development just could not pull off a long & slow middle portion. 3 / 5
6. Little Horn is the latest collection of dark fiction from Gemma Files. For the most part, I’ve liked what I’ve read from Files in the past, and I enjoyed most of the stories in Little Horn. Favorites were ‘Only Children’ (a reread which I only liked more the second time around) and ‘Pelican’, a post apocalyptic story where a young woman takes a boy under her wing. 3.6 / 5
7. Discontinue if Death Ensues was an anthology where five woman authors all contributed several stories each. I’ve read two of the authors before; Lee Murray (usually dependable, but not here) & Anna Taborska. I piecemealed this one over a couple of months as I just couldn’t get into it. I realize I’m not the target audience for this anthology, but I found the stories to be overbearing, pretentious, and preachy. 1 / 5
B
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