Book Reviews

[Norman Prentiss]

Thank you guys for your comments!

And Mr. Prentiss, the honor was mine. It's a beautiful story with some great horror, a tough combination. I hope it's picked up for a physical release as well.

Thanks, man. It was a tricky balancing act to write, that's for sure!

Re: print editions... I already have a limited edition deal lined up, but no trade edition currently planned...

[bugen]

Thank you guys for your comments!

And Mr. Prentiss, the honor was mine. It's a beautiful story with some great horror, a tough combination. I hope it's picked up for a physical release as well.

[Norman Prentiss]

Odd Adventures with your Other Father – Norman Prentiss

“He’d been a stone judge, keeping his emotions in check. Now, something broke through.”

This novel has an interesting framework where one part is a series of stories Celia’s father Shawn told her about her other father, Jack, who died when Celia was four. These stories detail adventures during a one-year road trip the two men took after college, and form the bulk of the narrative. Inter-stitched throughout these stories is the second main part, Celia’s camping trip, where she also visits the parents of her deceased father.

Jack can make Shawn see things, real hallucinations. While Shawn is the only one who can see the images Jack conjures, this special link is used constantly throughout the story, often with grisly visuals, adding color and strengthening the bond between the couple.

The road trip is like Americana with fantastical, horrific elements—an Easy Rider written by Neil Gaiman experience with a little Clive Barker grotesquery thrown in. The two men land in trouble constantly, which makes the best stories but also made me think of that Douglas Adams line in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where he mentions 2,000 years ago a man being nailed to a tree for saying, “how great it would be to be nice to people for a change.”

The stories are individually strong and evoke a bit of nostalgia, both for the characters and the reader (and probably the author), and the emotional content of Celia’s narrative brings everything together nicely. You really get to know Shawn’s mindset through his various adventures, so when the camera pulls back to view the whole scene in Celia’s sections, not just Shawn’s POV from the individual stories, you can feel what the situation is doing to him without having to read it, especially by the end. High marks to the crafting of the tale.

Everything here, from plot and structure to theme and style, is handled with class. It has plenty of bizarre elements, but is mainly an imaginative, intimate story focusing on Shawn’s point of view, giving you time to get to know him like a brother.

4 stars

*Under Amazon’s rating system I’m giving this a 5—it’s better than just ‘good’
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18493[/ATTACH]

Andrew,

Thanks so much for posting that review here, at Amazon, and on your very cool new website. I'm honored!

--Norman

[Cryptkeeper]

Hey all, something happened during the Ellison Wonderland review that got me thinking.

I have very strong feelings on some issues (this one was racism and the climate of relations) that I felt I needed to edit from the review in an effort to keep from offending anyone. Not that my position can’t be defended, but it’s a highly-charged subject and this forum is such an overall positive place I didn’t want to see any of it devolve and it be my fault. Nevertheless, the viewpoint was a solid one and it bothered me not to include it, especially since it piggybacked on one of Mr. Ellison’s stories. And it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

So https://bugensbooks.com/ was launched. It’s taken me about a month to bring it up to date, and it means no more self-censoring. When the situation dictates, the gloves are coming off.

Physical books at the site have been extensively photographed. Some of these books contain 5-10 pics. Some contain 50 or more, I kid you not. If you’re unfamiliar with Centipede’s The Monk or The Golem¸ or Cemetery Dance’s IT, or Subterranean Press’s The Club Dumas, you’ll probably be amazed with the level of artwork and detail these guys put into the productions and I’ve tried to represent it in photos.

Also, feel free to get in spirited arguments with me (or each other) on the site if you have strong opinions! I’ll moderate if anything gets out of hand but am not really expecting situations coming to that. What we’ve got in common as genre and book lovers brings us together more than I would’ve thought—we’re practically family and often present a united front.

I still plan to post in Book Reviews for appropriate books and positive reviews but if I don’t like a book, it’s already been reviewed here, it doesn’t fit the forum or something gets too controversial I’ll post it only on my site instead of censoring or abstaining. And each book review posted at https://bugensbooks.com/ will have as many accompanying photos as necessary to capture the production. The site’s searchable, has an alphabetic index, a pull-down menu by author and is viewable by publisher.

So check it out if you feel like it, and happy reading!

Nice job on your site. I look forward to reading your many reviews.

[mhatchett]

Very Nice site. Good looking site!

[bugen]

Hey all, something happened during the Ellison Wonderland review that got me thinking.

I have very strong feelings on some issues (this one was racism and the climate of relations) that I felt I needed to edit from the review in an effort to keep from offending anyone. Not that my position can’t be defended, but it’s a highly-charged subject and this forum is such an overall positive place I didn’t want to see any of it devolve and it be my fault. Nevertheless, the viewpoint was a solid one and it bothered me not to include it, especially since it piggybacked on one of Mr. Ellison’s stories. And it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

So https://bugensbooks.com/ was launched. It’s taken me about a month to bring it up to date, and it means no more self-censoring. When the situation dictates, the gloves are coming off.

Physical books at the site have been extensively photographed. Some of these books contain 5-10 pics. Some contain 50 or more, I kid you not. If you’re unfamiliar with Centipede’s The Monk or The Golem¸ or Cemetery Dance’s IT, or Subterranean Press’s The Club Dumas, you’ll probably be amazed with the level of artwork and detail these guys put into the productions and I’ve tried to represent it in photos.

Also, feel free to get in spirited arguments with me (or each other) on the site if you have strong opinions! I’ll moderate if anything gets out of hand but am not really expecting situations coming to that. What we’ve got in common as genre and book lovers brings us together more than I would’ve thought—we’re practically family and often present a united front.

I still plan to post in Book Reviews for appropriate books and positive reviews but if I don’t like a book, it’s already been reviewed here, it doesn’t fit the forum or something gets too controversial I’ll post it only on my site instead of censoring or abstaining. And each book review posted at https://bugensbooks.com/ will have as many accompanying photos as necessary to capture the production. The site’s searchable, has an alphabetic index, a pull-down menu by author and is viewable by publisher.

So check it out if you feel like it, and happy reading!

[bugen]

The Book Review thread is finally updated with pics of books I’ve received since reading and reviewing.

That was a TON of work, so hats off again to those with collection threads. You guys and gals are heroes!

[Martin]

Odd Adventures with your Other Father – Norman Prentiss

“He’d been a stone judge, keeping his emotions in check. Now, something broke through.”

This novel has an interesting framework where one part is a series of stories Celia’s father Shawn told her about her other father, Jack, who died when Celia was four. These stories detail adventures during a one-year road trip the two men took after college, and form the bulk of the narrative. Inter-stitched throughout these stories is the second main part, Celia’s camping trip, where she also visits the parents of her deceased father.

Jack can make Shawn see things, real hallucinations. While Shawn is the only one who can see the images Jack conjures, this special link is used constantly throughout the story, often with grisly visuals, adding color and strengthening the bond between the couple.

The road trip is like Americana with fantastical, horrific elements—an Easy Rider written by Neil Gaiman experience with a little Clive Barker grotesquery thrown in. The two men land in trouble constantly, which makes the best stories but also made me think of that Douglas Adams line in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where he mentions 2,000 years ago a man being nailed to a tree for saying, “how great it would be to be nice to people for a change.”

The stories are individually strong and evoke a bit of nostalgia, both for the characters and the reader (and probably the author), and the emotional content of Celia’s narrative brings everything together nicely. You really get to know Shawn’s mindset through his various adventures, so when the camera pulls back to view the whole scene in Celia’s sections, not just Shawn’s POV from the individual stories, you can feel what the situation is doing to him without having to read it, especially by the end. High marks to the crafting of the tale.

Everything here, from plot and structure to theme and style, is handled with class. It has plenty of bizarre elements, but is mainly an imaginative, intimate story focusing on Shawn’s point of view, giving you time to get to know him like a brother.

4 stars

*Under Amazon’s rating system I’m giving this a 5—it’s better than just ‘good’
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18493[/ATTACH]

I am about 25% into this one and loving it so far.

[bugen]

Odd Adventures with your Other Father – Norman Prentiss

“He’d been a stone judge, keeping his emotions in check. Now, something broke through.”

This novel has an interesting framework where one part is a series of stories Celia’s father Shawn told her about her other father, Jack, who died when Celia was four. These stories detail adventures during a one-year road trip the two men took after college, and form the bulk of the narrative. Inter-stitched throughout these stories is the second main part, Celia’s camping trip, where she also visits the parents of her deceased father.

Jack can make Shawn see things, real hallucinations. While Shawn is the only one who can see the images Jack conjures, this special link is used constantly throughout the story, often with grisly visuals, adding color and strengthening the bond between the couple.

The road trip is like Americana with fantastical, horrific elements—an Easy Rider written by Neil Gaiman experience with a little Clive Barker grotesquery thrown in. The two men land in trouble constantly, which makes the best stories but also made me think of that Douglas Adams line in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where he mentions 2,000 years ago a man being nailed to a tree for saying, “how great it would be to be nice to people for a change.”

The stories are individually strong and evoke a bit of nostalgia, both for the characters and the reader (and probably the author), and the emotional content of Celia’s narrative brings everything together nicely. You really get to know Shawn’s mindset through his various adventures, so when the camera pulls back to view the whole scene in Celia’s sections, not just Shawn’s POV from the individual stories, you can feel what the situation is doing to him without having to read it, especially by the end. High marks to the crafting of the tale.

Everything here, from plot and structure to theme and style, is handled with class. It has plenty of bizarre elements, but is mainly an imaginative, intimate story focusing on Shawn’s point of view, giving you time to get to know him like a brother.

4 stars

*Under Amazon’s rating system I’m giving this a 5—it’s better than just ‘good’
Odd Adventures with you Other Father.jpg

[Dave1442397]

Bev's review does give away a couple of secrets but nothing that would spoil the story. Although I am happy I got to read it before release I am also jealous of you because you get to experience it for the first time. Enjoy the story it is a great one!

Thanks! It just got here, so that's my evening all planned out

I actually have a copy of the ARC, but I figured I'd wait for the final published version.

[Martin]

I never read reviews of books that I know I'm going to read, so this will have to wait. My copy of The Fireman is with the mailman for delivery. It should be here in the next hour or so!

Bev's review does give away a couple of secrets but nothing that would spoil the story. Although I am happy I got to read it before release I am also jealous of you because you get to experience it for the first time. Enjoy the story it is a great one!

[Dave1442397]

To no ones surprise Mr. Vincent has a much better review of The Fireman up on Cemetery Dance Online.

http://cemeterydanceonline.com/2016/...n-by-joe-hill/

I never read reviews of books that I know I'm going to read, so this will have to wait. My copy of The Fireman is with the mailman for delivery. It should be here in the next hour or so!

[Martin]

Joe Hill - The Fireman

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18455[/ATTACH]

Had the opportunity to read an ARC of this one. As the book is not yet out I will make sure not to include any spoilers in my review.

I will start by saying that this book was my most anticipated book in quite some time. Locke and Key is one of my favorite stories and I have liked everything Joe has published. With that said 'The Fireman' is now my favorite Joe Hill story and one of my top books read.

The story follows Harper Grayson during a pandemic outbreak of a spore that causes people to develop lesions called Dragonscale and eventually burst into flames. The outbreak spreads very rapidly and with people unsure of how it spread and no known treatments or cure panic ensues. With the world burning from the fires created society breaks down. The story delves into the response of society when panic takes over and people grasp for power using the fears of the people. It does this without political commentary though.

Definitely a must read for 2016!

Five Stars!!!!!

To no ones surprise Mr. Vincent has a much better review of The Fireman up on Cemetery Dance Online.

http://cemeterydanceonline.com/2016/...n-by-joe-hill/

[Brian861]

Thank you, Brian. A few minutes after finishing the book I ordered the Folio Society edition and will take some pictures once it arrives. I hadn't read this since I was a kid, but it was much heavier than I remembered. Darker, too. What a brilliant book.

You're most welcome. Looking forward to the photos.

[bugen]

Thank you, Brian. A few minutes after finishing the book I ordered the Folio Society edition and will take some pictures once it arrives. I hadn't read this since I was a kid, but it was much heavier than I remembered. Darker, too. What a brilliant book.