Book Reviews

[Dave1442397]

My favorite Jane Seymour film lol. I like the Novel, But i like Jack Finney's Time and Again better.
"Come back to me."

I can't even remember how many times I've read Time and Again. One of the best time travel books ever.

[Martin]

Somewhere in Time (aka Bid Time Return) - Richard Matheson

15 years ago I came across the film Somewhere in Time and the romantic in me rejoiced as the inner philosopher pored over this particular idea of time. And now I’ve read what may be the best time-travel story ever written.

Richard Collier, recently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and given a few months to live, decides to pack up and spend the rest of his days traveling. On a whim he flips a penny to give him direction, and ends up at the Coronado Hotel in San Diego, a “monument to the past” and “the last of the extravagantly conceived seaside hotels.”

During his stay he notices the striking image of a 19th century actress who’s stayed and performed here a century ago, and he is inexplicably drawn to her. This grows into obsession and he begins researching everything he can about the actress, falling deeply into his construction of her. He conceives of a plan, based in part on modern philosophy, to embrace the period of the hotel, remove from his presence any reference to the modern world (1971), and join her in the past.

At its core the book is a romance, a tragedy, but it also contains no small element of science fiction and even a bit of horror. How far would you go for the one you love?

One of the greatest novels I’ve read.

“Sure, it’s possible. Who am I to deny anything at this point?”

5 stars

That is one of my wife's favorite movies. I have tried to get her to read the story even going so far to explain that it is the same person who wrote Stir of Echoes, another movie she really likes, though not as much. So far she hasn't bit but I think she will pick it up eventually.

[mhatchett]

My favorite Jane Seymour film lol. I like the Novel, But i like Jack Finney's Time and Again better.
"Come back to me."

[bugen]

Somewhere in Time (aka Bid Time Return) - Richard Matheson

15 years ago I came across the film Somewhere in Time and the romantic in me rejoiced as the inner philosopher pored over this particular idea of time. And now I’ve read what may be the best time-travel story ever written.

Richard Collier, recently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and given a few months to live, decides to pack up and spend the rest of his days traveling. On a whim he flips a penny to give him direction, and ends up at the Coronado Hotel in San Diego, a “monument to the past” and “the last of the extravagantly conceived seaside hotels.”

During his stay he notices the striking image of a 19th century actress who’s stayed and performed here a century ago, and he is inexplicably drawn to her. This grows into obsession and he begins researching everything he can about the actress, falling deeply into his construction of her. He conceives of a plan, based in part on modern philosophy, to embrace the period of the hotel, remove from his presence any reference to the modern world (1971), and join her in the past.

At its core the book is a romance, a tragedy, but it also contains no small element of science fiction and even a bit of horror. How far would you go for the one you love?

One of the greatest novels I’ve read.

“Sure, it’s possible. Who am I to deny anything at this point?”

5 stars

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[bugen]

The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

"It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact."

The old man, the aged form of a monster of a man who was once deadlocked in an arm wrestling contest for days and won, is poor and alone with a breaking-down body, and with the scant acquaintance of a small boy who occasionally provides company and speaks kindly to him. He has spent 84 consecutive days fishing without a catch; everyone considers him bad luck and the boy’s parents do not want him spending any time with the man. But he is doggedly persistent, has an idea of where he wants to fish that day and sets out alone to cover a great distance and try again. Out of sight of anything other than water he encounters the mother of all fish and is locked into a monumental battle of wit, patience and determination as he battles nature and himself.

Hemingway’s immortal, Pulitzer Prize-winning work is not what I was expecting, and though I’ve read all of his short stories this was my first novel of his. I’ve often found an initial sense of disconnect when looking at reading older, classic works… an inertia that needs to be overcome before the book disappears from my shelf and appears magically in my hand. And quite often the hesitation is a mistake, as it was here.

The Old Man and the Sea is a very short work and a lightning read, it's as fraught with tension as any thriller, and speaks to the (best) nature of mankind through the story with the simple effectiveness of a master. This was a heck of a fight and an outstanding piece of fiction.

"But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

5 stars

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[Theli]

^I'm quite looking forward to exploring his work too. Just plowed through another enjoyable fantasy novel myself.

Joe Abercrombie's The Blade itself (Book 1 of the First Law trilogy):

While I would refer to this novel as high fantasy, as opposed to say/sword & sorcery fantasy, it is definitely a darker tale than many other novels of its ilk. It has an involving interwoven story, that though written from the third person point of view, is also told from the different points of view of the flawed but generally likable characters within. The storytelling is similar in some ways to how George R.R. Martin wrote his A Song of Ice and Fire series, though I do find Joe Abercrombie’s style in this book to be a bit more fluid than Martin’s. Similarly to Martin, as well, is the massive scope of the story, the different warring nations, political intrigue and ancient threats resurfacing. Yet in tone in reminds me more of Glen Cook’s Black Company series, more sardonic and with a touch of dark humour.

I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy binge again recently, reading many newer (Rothfuss’ The Name of the WInd) and older (Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter) and in between (Dickson’s The Dragon and the George) books that have sat on my shelves for years waiting to be read. And of the recent bunch I have to say this is my favourite so far. I really look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

[bugen]

Broken Empire trilogy - Mark Lawrence

The Builders are extinct and the world exists in a technology-bereft dark ages where the walls of reality are wearing thin while our main character quests for revenge and the throne. Jorg is relentless, brutal and thinking only of himself as he kills everyone in his path. This 14 year-old prince is one of the most interesting contradictions of personalities I've read, and he's got some kind of spark, an unshakable willpower which carries the trilogy all by itself from bloodbath to battle and back, again and again with the boy running straight towards trouble and never backing down. The story is mainly told in 3 sections of Jorg's life, with him at 10, 14 and 18 years, and threading between the stages.

Mr. Lawrence's style can feel a little abrupt at times, swinging between seemingly unrelated snatches of story, and these parts of the tale are woven into the overall thread by adding up pieces. It works, but doesn't always feel smooth.

I'm glad to have read the trilogy and would heartily recommend it. I felt the 3rd book was actually the weakest by comparison, but a terrific ending boosted it and kept everything in the 4 star 'excellent' category for me.

But Jorg is relentless, merciless, indestructible in that he stamps out everything that might beat him before it can be brought to bear. He's a unique character that is strong beyond what we've experienced. He is the best bad guy, or the worst good guy, you've ever seen.

Mark Lawrence has a new fan.

Prince of Thorns - 4+
King of Thorns - 4
Emperor of Thorns - 4-

"The future is a dark place. We all die there."

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[Sock Monkey]

I've been looking at the Limbus books for a while. Glad to hear the content is good. Anybody have any experience with the limited editions? How do they compare to other publishers?

[bugen]

Limbus II – Various (Brett J. Talley (Ed.))

“You can probably already tell that I am simply filled to the fucking brim with a joy for life and an overwhelming love of my fellow man, so—my whimsical wit and sparkling conversation skills aside, pay attention.” (Braunbeck)

Prologue – Darknet hacker Conrad ‘Jack Rabbit’ McKay is laying low in the Czech Alps when he stumbles across a fresh page in the Dark Web that has zero views – no one has seen it but him. He treats the strange page as a riddle, attempts to solve the puzzle and is quickly successful as scrambled gibberish on the screen resolves into words. Sentences. He begins to read:

“Zero at the Bone” – Harry Shannon - Mike Dolan, recovering alcoholic with traumatic flashbacks of wartime activity, tells the story of fighting and killing and booze and the wife he failed to save from her attacker and the subsequent housefire. A broken man, he stretches his government checks as far as possible but is nearly out of money when he finds the Limbus, Inc. employment card, and after contact is made he’s sent on a mission through time for which the promised reward of successful completion is final, blissful forgetfulness.

(This one should likely hit us all. It's human emotion cranked up, but we're all familiar with despair)

5-

**Conrad**

Conrad finishes the story, steps away from his laptop and the bar for some fresh air. He encounters a strange, cackling man, and as his anxiety rises he feels a pull back to the laptop. Back at the bar he finds a new riddle waiting for on screen, which he quickly solves and another screenfull of characters resolves into a story.

“Fishing for Dinosaurs” – Joe R. Lansdale – A homeless man wakes to find he’s naked and hungry, and searches out an abandoned-looking warehouse covered in dust. Inside he notices some strange, circular symbols, then the phone rings with a Limbus employee offering him an anonymous job. After accepting, training and regaining his strength, he learns his job is capture two live dinosaurs that have made it from the inner-world of Earth to our world, for study.

(This is a great story, won a Stoker and seems to reach out of the box, but was still missing something that's present in the best Lansdale stories. I'd have to study to try and pinpoint it)

4

**Conrad**

Having finished the previous story Conrad gets himself another drink and returns to his room to an adventurous 16-year-old Veronica trying to seduce him. After rejecting her as gently as possible, but still feeling like an ass, he looks back to his computer to the message, “Every good deed deserves a reward. No riddle this time. Just hit enter.”

Conrad presses ‘enter’ and begins to read.

“Lost and Foundy” - Joe McKinney – Our anti-hero Alan is finished. With his wife and kids killed the year before by a hit & run he’s slid down next to nothing, is drunk beyond measure and passed out at a stoplight. He wakes to police lights and an uncompromising cop, and he unsuccessfully tries to explain to the youngster that he’s a detective and should be shown leniency. In the end he’s offered a choice: Either take an unspecified job from a company called Limbus or lose his career. He (quite reluctantly) accepts and begins his investigation, in the dark as to compensation for his services.

(This one’s got a heart. And while our (anti) hero doesn’t seem very sympathetic we never really know the pain others are going through. Not well enough to judge, anyway. This is the best of all Limbus stories, regardless of what the awards say, and not to be missed if you can give yourself the opportunity.)

5 (5-)

**Conrad**

Conrad begins scouring the Dark Net for Limbus. He finds a few references, but whenever he finds someone who knows something they are mocked into silence by their peers. Not learning what he wants to know, he turns back to the site of the text, solves the next riddle and begins reading again.

“The Transmigration of Librarian Blaine Evans” – Gary A. Braunbeck - With the story unfolding in equal parts present-day and flashback, Blain Evans’ tragic past is catching up with him and he’s losing his family to his depression. When his wife mentions she’s going to work for a company called Limbus words are spoken, and next day, she and the kids are gone. Evans follows this up with copious amounts of liquor and in his stupor is kidnapped by Limbus and submitted into a particular program. Meanwhile, in the present, Evans is attempting to evade capture by ‘ice-diving,’ which involves walking upside down underneath the ice covering of a lake with specialized, spiked boots and an inflatable suit for buoyancy. While making his escape he realizes potential captors are immediately above him on the other side of the ice as his air and body-heat are both failing.

(A good story with some great physical action, this one didn't contain the attachment to character of its peers - I was never really sure if I wanted Blain to win)

3

**Conrad**

Conrad leaves the inn and travels to a local watering hole where he frequently plays chess with the bartender. He learns someone was there looking for him, but when he asks who the bartender doesn’t know, but hands him something the stranger left. On the back of the Limbus card is the riddle, “When life asks a question, three is always the perfect answer.”

He returns home, hits 3, and begins reading.

“Three Guys Walk into a Bar” – Jonathan Maberry – Limbus contacts Private Investigator Sam Hunter, pointing him in the direction of the town of Pine Deep. Deaths have been occurring disguised as brutal accidents, but Sam can smell the supernatural and knows there is more going on. Teaming up with Pine Deep’s Sherriff Crow, the local werewolf deputy Iron Mike and none other than Joe Ledger himself, Sam lends his expertise at Limbus’ urging to stem the tide of blood being spilled locally.

(As can be expected the action is heavy with this lineup – no shortage of testosterone, but not quite the level of Maberry's tale in the first volume)

4

**Conrad**

There’s just a bit more, but you’ll have to read it if you want the bookends.

Limbus II took me by surprise, if perhaps slightly less than the first because I had an idea of the level of quality I could expect from the production. As far are themed anthologies are concerned I can’t say I’ve seen better execution, though a few ideas were repeated enough they bear mentioning. A great many of the tales in both books focus on cops or private investigators, so get used to that right away. Also the heroes, and sometimes anti-heroes of these stories are often in ridiculously bad shape emotionally and could die in a few moments without really caring. But who’s to say if Limbus actually targets the action-oriented personality for its jobs, or if those just make for the most interesting stories? Who’s to say if it’s just coincidence and they’re solely in it for personal profit, or if Limbus is actively trying to help people redeem themselves? At least this much is true: As far as shadowy, powerful, underground organizations are concerned, you could do a lot worse than Limbus. A little guidance and the proper motivation go a long way.

These books probably shouldn’t be as good as they are, but providence has influenced the web of creation and allowed them to be written, and has willed yet another key to the universe into existence.

“How lucky do you feel?”

5 stars

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[bugen]

Limbus, Inc. – (Various – Anne C. Petty (Ed.))

“There always is a story. And there is a story here, Mr. Dixson. But you must discover it. If you are to do that, you must see what I have to show you. You must understand the world better than you know it now.”

I’ve been migrating away from this type of review because I think it takes an inordinate amount of effort to provide a bit of depth to each section while trying to avoid spoiling any surprises, being a very tightly themed anthology populated by only 5 authors, 5 novellas. Still this book is a little different than your typical assembly of stories. Individualized views of the organization itself, Limbus - slightly removed from our world, slightly alien, slightly demonic, and all mystery - tied together by the small press publisher Matthew who’s reading the book containing all 5 stories provide a successful shared-world launching pad. It combines to an interesting angle on the dark organization theme, some variation of which is probably happening right now outside all of our doors.

**Prologue** - A deranged-looking man walks into a failing small bookstore/small press publisher with a book he wants published under his arm. Matthew, the store owner tells the man he is in no position to buy a book from anyone, and the ragged man responds that he’s not selling it, he’s giving it, for the contents of the book are 100% true and too important for others not to see – it must be printed for the public. The man abruptly leaves the bookstore and the startled owner opens the book and begins to read:

“The Slaughter Man” – Benjamin Kane Ethridge

Our hero The Sticker, a man working in a slaughter-house with a knife, draining the blood from cattle, is having a bad time. His wife recently left him and his boss hates him, and upon a rather eventful termination of employment he accepts a long-shot job from a mysterious 12-year-old recruiter, is introduced to the Limbus corporation, and is given employment with a small team on an alien ship procuring food for the every-hungry princess by slaughtering whatever creature she craves. After a nasty encounter with a particular alien that leaves The Sticker severely injured and his prey covered in his own blood, the princess gets a taste for this new meat and demands The Sticker’s flesh while the team attempts to formulate an escape plan.

(This one is a bit disturbing, and undeniably effective.)

3+

“The Sacrifice” – Brett J. Talley

Ex-Marine Ryan wakes in a hospital with vague memories of the fiery redhead Katya from a PTSD meeting, a drink in a club far stronger than it should have been, and a sharp pain in his side. The detective finishes his questions about the stabbing, and leaves a card, Limbus Employment Agency, the same card Katya had given him earlier. Looking for change after his recovery Ryan goes to Limbus and receives a job to rescue the relative of a powerful man, but things get out of hand when he learns this is not a normal kidnapping.

4

**Mathew** - Mathew sits back from the book the stranger handed him, having completed the first two disturbing stories, and decides he needs a drink. At a local bar and old acquaintance of his shows up and hands him something that sends Matthew sprinting back to the bookstore to resume reading.

“One Job Too Many” – Joseph Nassise

Nate, an ex-Recon soldier, is heavily insulted by his boss and fired at the same time, and takes it out on the man by smashing his face in. After bailing himself out of jail he returns home to find his girlfriend has left him and moved everything out, so he goes on a 4-day bender and runs into an old pal who hands him an employment card for Limbus. Nate accepts the job after meeting a recruiter and begins serving missions where he travels via high-tech ‘farcaster’ to perform certain tasks. As the jobs mount he realizes he may be having major impacts on the world and begins questioning himself and the agency.

4 (4+)

**Mathew** - Matthew is now panicking, and calls a friend at the local precinct to ask advice, checking into the possible truth of what he’s been reading. He asks his contact Charlie if he’s ever heard of a company called ‘Limbus’ and Charlie responds that whatever he’s gotten himself into, get out right now and hangs up. Matthew returns to the book.

“We Employ” – Anne C. Petty

Dallas, a man who’s found himself homeless and destitute after an unsuccessful stint at college, comes across a Limbus, Inc. employment card, returns to his parent’s house to clean up, borrow some clothes and $40, and answers the ad. He is soon hired to walk a particular dog for 10 days straight at $200 per day, but once on the job realizes there’s much more going on than he was told, and he’s up against the 10 day deadline to save an extraordinary life from an unknown threat.

(Loved the ending here.)

4-

“Strip Search” – Jonathan Maberry

Sam Hunter, ex-cop and private eye, spots a Limbus business card on the floor of his office. After a few beers he retrieves the card, which tells him he’s about to have a visitor. Within the next two minutes. When an improbably gorgeous woman enters and gives him a story about a missing 15 year old girl, and ties the disappearance in with 16 unreported and gruesome murders of young prostitutes, Sam takes on the job and begins hounding an extremely powerful organization of elite cult members against which he should have no chance, but he’s not exactly your stereotypical man.

(Maybe the best story of the bunch, with a top-notch action scene and a terrific ending)

4+

**Epilogue** - Well, you’ll just have to read it.

This collection has five different voices telling shared-world stories working together beautifully, painting pictures reflecting many of the dirtier elements of our planet, hidden beneath the elitist powers and privileges we’re hearing so much of today. While it smacks of conspiracy theory, the nutcases are not the battered souls who believe there are shadowy organizations running parts of the world. The nutcases are the privileged souls who don’t.

“Mr. Samuelson, I hope you’re not trying to tell me you believe in witches.”
The man rubbed his chin and pursed his lips. “No, not quite, though I have seen enough to discount nothing.”

4 stars

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[bugen]

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson

Our main character Eleanor steals the car she bought with her sister in order to answer a summons for an educational visit to a ‘haunted house,’ where she is to meet the doctor conducting an experiment, another woman similarly summoned, and the heir to the house. The house’s reputation precedes it, and while there are two caretakers who keep up the house it hasn’t been inhabited for a long time, even then it was only for a few days at a time.

It’s soon revealed the doctor has called the two women (and many others, but these were the two to accept) due to circumstances in their pasts that suggest psychic sensitivity, and as the group meets for the first time and prepares to settle down for the first night in the house tensions begin to rise and anxieties creep in at the edges, worsening as the days pass.

And I don’t really want to say too much more plot-wise, risking any of the story’s effectiveness.

There is no gore, so the squeamish can breathe easy. By today’s standards of horror this book compares more tame than it would have in the context of its 1959 release, but that doesn’t for one second reduce its effectiveness or its compulsion to keep turning pages.

An amazing scene is written early on, and is the first point I realized I was reading something truly special, where Eleanor, dining in the strange new town before first approaching the house, overhears parents trying to get their young daughter to drink her milk out of the restaurant’s glassware and not out of her own ‘cup of stars’ waiting at the family’s home. The power in the scene comes from Eleanor willing the young girl to refuse the restaurant’s glass, refuse the milk entirely, because once she begins compromising in these things she can never go back.

This book is considered one of the greatest horror novels ever written. Centipede Press has it listed at #1, and Stephen Jones has it in his top 100 at #60 (Mr. Jones’ list isn’t so much a ‘best of’ though, as ‘most influential,’ as is evidenced by his numbers 1-5 all being written before 1800). The Haunting of Hill House is a fascinating read, told in a fairly simple, straightforward style, eschewing fancy language in favor of a tighter, cleaner story, though when she moves into mystics she weaves the more complex fabrics beautifully, culminating in an outstanding ending to the novel.

Even if less severe than modern fare, this is a must-read for those looking at horror.

“In the night,’ Mrs. Dudley said, and smiled outright. ‘In the dark,’ she said, and closed the door behind her.”

Yeah.

4+ stars

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[bugen]

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream – Harlan Ellison

“All hope is gone. There is no return save by miracles, and there are no more miracles for the common among common men.”

This book occupies a special place, being the only of its kind, in that it sits nearly unbeaten at the top of the ‘Rated Collections’ pile without a single 5 star story. That probably sounds like a knock but is the highest compliment I could think of, in that the average quality of these stories is so high it doesn’t even need any brightly-lit standalones to rank in the top echelons of short fiction as a whole. Because each story is so well conceived and written it’s hard for any to stand out. In his introduction Mr. Ellison considers no less than 4 of these stories among his very best.

“I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream” – Supercomputers have been created by respective world powers and placed into control of the military. The computers’ intelligences grow exponentially and eventually (inevitably) become self-aware. At which point mankind is, of course, immediately identified as a threat and destroyed. 5 humans are kept alive for the sadistic amusement of AM, one of the computers, and this is the story of the end. (4+)

“Big Sam Was My Friend” – In a futuristic carnival setting our narrator realizes the newest addition to the troupe can teleport. As this special skill is monetized for the spectators we begin to get to know Sam, and learn the love of his life was ripped out of the world earlier and Sam is on a mission throughout space to find the literal Heaven, where he believes she’ll be waiting for him. (4)

“Eyes of Dust” – In a world where beauty is everything, and those not properly engineered to perfection are shunned, a blind man married to a woman with a mole on her face are practically ostracized and raise their imperfect child, Person, confined to a life of solitude. (3+)

“World of the Myth” – A crew crash-lands into a strange planet and the three survivors, two male and one female attempt to cope with their new surroundings. One of the men, the strong, dashing type, has previously raped the girl and the second man, the shy, awkward type is dealing with his feelings for her as well as his dislike for him, all while a tidal wave of ants ebbs and flows near the crash site. Why awaiting rescue the woman, legs crushed in the crash but slowly recovering, examines the ants looking for special attributes… (4+)

“Lonelyache” – Fresh off what seems like a disastrous dissolution of marriage, Ellison writes a tale he thinks might be his best. A husband, recently divorced and missing his significant other like a hole in his heart, has a type of recurring dream where every time he falls asleep a linear dream continues where he is being hunted by a succession of men, all of whom he dispatches (horribly) before they can kill him. As the man launches himself into an affair the dream is taking its toll. (4-)

“Delusion for a Dragon Slayer” – A man is killed (or about to be killed) and retreats into his own personal Heaven. Adventures follow, where the man in his bronzed, well-built new body of the afterlife happens upon the woman of his dreams, enslaved by a giant dragon. The closing quote here is taken from this story and it's a stunner. (4+)

“Pretty Maggie MoneyEyes” – A man plays slots in a Vegas casino and hits the jackpot with three blue eyes next to each other. The pit boss walks over and verifies the win with three Jackpots listed side by side, and the man realizes he’s the only one who can see the eyes. The casino pays out and the man returns to the machine and wins. And wins again. And again. Eventually he is taken aside by the owner and he learns a bit of backstory. (3+)

This collection took me by surprise. Excellent throughout, it has large doses of Mr. Ellison’s cutting commentary and remains easily accessible, the stories having barely aged at all. I also found it just a bit heavier than the other Ellison collection’s I’ve read with the exception of Deathbird Stories, which is just plain designed to knock you down. I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream may not have you shaking on the floor, but you will absolutely be weighted with ideas and concepts difficult to grapple with. And that’s exactly as great speculative fiction should be.

“A man may truly live in his dreams, his noblest dreams, but only, only if he is worthy of those dreams.”

4 stars

[bugen]

Lucid Dreaming - Lisa Morton

“He’s let us down big, and I’ve got a word or two for Him when we finally meet. These guys think I’ve got a problem with foul language now? Wait until they hear what I’d unleash on the Big Daddy upstairs.”

Ashley, a paranoid schizophrenic, is confined to a psychiatric institution in Los Angeles and has her mental illness managed with the drug Prolixin. In a kind of zombie-apocalypse story she wakes one day to find everyone in a waking dream-state except her and is able to walk right out of the hospital into a world gone mad. She soon realizes it is the drug that is keeping her from succumbing like everyone else, and she finds a companion and scavenges her way to Texas where they are overpowered by a group of survivors who’ve also discovered the value of Prolixin. Ashely and Teddy are taken captive with their provisions confiscated and held in a compound where the drug is administered only to those who are cooperative and ‘worthy.’ But no one stopped to ask Ashely why she was on the anti-psychotic drug in the first place, or what might happen if the drug is denied…

Now and then when I bring up Lisa in conversation I’m met with blank stares, but folks would be well-served to try out some of her work. Lucid Dreaming is a Stoker-winning novella (she’s won 6) with a strong female lead taking shots at the conventions of our world and frequently highlighting contrasts between the absurdities of both Texas and California. Another lightning read.

4-

[bugen]

War in Heaven - Charles Williams

“He has come,” the Greek said, “for the same reason that we are here – because in the whole world of Being everything makes haste to its doom.”

A contemporary of C.S. Lewis, a devout Christian and a very smart man, Charles Williams has two novels appearing in Dennis Wheatley’s Library of the Occult: War in Heaven and The Greater Trumps.

War in Heaven begins with an Archdeacon at a publishing house stumbling across a surprise proof whose last paragraph seems to assert the Holy Grail has been successfully traced to a chalice within his own church. The paragraph is to be stricken from publication, but the damage has been done as the Archdeacon returns to his parish to examine the cup, only to have it robbed from his possession shortly thereafter. The bulk of the book consists of the chasing down of the chalice, attempts to use the Grail for occult purposes possibly involving Satan himself, the interactions between high-society cult members, police investigators, and a mysterious ‘keeper’ of the Grail, all as an obscure murder investigation progresses.

Unfortunately there’s something missing from this book that other novels I’d label as ‘classic occult’ possess. One is a driving-forward type of momentum you can find in books like Wheatley’s own The Devil Rides Out (3+ stars) and Rohmer’s Brood of the Witch Queen (5 stars). War in Heaven took me significantly longer to finish than most novels simply because it wasn’t very compelling to return to after having been away. Another is just a lack of highlights in general. There were a few amazing moments in the work, especially during one ritual in particular towards the end, but there’s not enough here to maintain a high level of interest throughout and the presentation seems a bit dry.

While looking forward to the other Williams book from Wheatley’s library, this one didn’t have what I was looking for.

2- stars

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[bugen]

Thank you! There ended up being a bit more to the process than I originally thought... the next one will be much shorter