Book Reviews

[RJK1981]

I haven't read fantasy books in a while either, dunno why I got away from it though. Was a big fan of Weiss and Hickman and the Dragonlance series in general. Should get back to checking them out again sometime.

[bugen]

Scott Lynch is another I don't believe I've ever read, though I've heard the name plenty. Besides LOTR I think the last real fantasy I've read is Terry Brooks (Shannara trilogy, and then stopped after the 4 Heritage books), unless you also count Forgotten Realms D&D stuff. I think it was the RA Salvatore Drizzt series not quite holding up like I wanted it to that scared me with fantasy. Abercrombie has restored my faith!

[mhatchett]

Ah, I'm just the opposite, I mostly read fantasy, very little horror. Loved Name of the Wind and have enjoyed the Scott lynch books.

[bugen]

Thank you, and no, I haven't read The Warded Man but looked it up and it sounds good. I've also never read the Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind which I just came across and seems to be much loved, and looking forward to The First Law trilogy too. I've really dropped off on the fantasy genre in favor of horror but there are some very exciting things that I've missed!

[mhatchett]

I really like Abercrombie. Good review! Have you read the Peter Brett Warded Man series?

[bugen]

Red Country – Joe Abercrombie
“No man capable of greater evil than the one who thinks himself in the right.”

A tough-as-nails woman, her pseudo-father and other unlikely companions gathered along the way track down a mercenary army across the brutal plains to retrieve her stolen brother and sister.

This is a western containing the throwback violence that we used to see in the old Eastwood films, even more blood and guts, and steel instead of lead. Perhaps most surprising is Abercrombie’s ability to infuse a dark, but laugh-out-loud humor throughout a story chock-full of death. Present throughout the book are catch phrases echoing truth and showing up often enough to be notable. Seriously, this kind of highlighting is reserved for philosophy books and college. Quotable truths appearing so often in a cynical world of pain and death, blood and dirt, help to counterbalance the constant devastation with a kind of strained but effective levity.

Red Country functions well as stand-alone and is extremely enjoyable by itself even without prior experience with the characters that are present in previous works. It’s a sizeable, decently complicated read, and is a highly recommended work filled with violence, compelling if unsympathetic characters and a biting understanding of the human condition. If this is your first Abercrombie, visiting the original First Law trilogy to see what you’ve been missing is in order.

Camling held one hand high. ‘May the best man win!’ he shrieked.
Over the sudden roar he heard Lamb say, ‘It’s the worst man wins these.’

4 stars

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[bugen]

More Than Midnight – Brian James Freeman
“Screaming wouldn’t open doors, wouldn’t extinguish flames, and it certainly wouldn’t put the demon back in the basement.”
(I had another, possibly even cooler quote here, but couldn’t use it because the three sentences literally end the story ‘The Final Lesson’)

“Screaming wouldn’t open doors, wouldn’t extinguish flames, and it certainly wouldn’t put the demon back in the basement.”

This is a concise collection of short stories, like Dreamlike States and Weak and Wounded, and packs a nice punch into a small package. More Than Midnight consists mainly of traditional horror, dealing with madness, psychosis and no small helping of the supernatural: young workers navigate a dilapidated and haunted basement, a vengeful husband gets his chance, the secret behind powerful lawyers, an escaped mental patient, and a funereal guardian protecting against the lingering spirits of the evil dead.

Some may feel this collection is stronger than Dreamlike States, containing not a single ‘meh’ story. The weakest of these 5 tales still ranks as good, and two stories in particular were excellent. “The Final Lesson” and “Answering the Call” were both superb, but each of the 5 tales is readable and interesting.

With a concise nature, this is solid, fear-inducing storytelling with a lack of fluff that sometimes populates collections.

4 stars

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[bugen]

Marduk thanks for the write-up on Half a King - killer! Can't wait to see how the book does, especially compared to his longer works.

[bugen]

RJ your review really makes me want to check this out. I love it when when authors combine horror with strong emotional elements, and I'll be looking this one up when I get a chance.

Thanks for posting!

[RJK1981]

Thought I would post another I read not too long ago.

Dereliction - Ray Garton

I have not read very much from Ray Garton yet, but this new book of his from Cemetery Dance is not like anything else I have read from him. This story did not have the gross out gory scenes I was prepared to read and enjoy. Instead, this story is a much more emotional, heartfelt and tragic story. It has some amusing and sweet moments in the early parts of the story before the horror sets in. Not horror in the way that many would think of, but a much more personal horror. What would you do if everyone started avoiding you? What if people who loved you suddenly stopped communicating with you? If everything in your life started to fall down like dominoes? What if all this happened and you had NO IDEA why any of it was happening and no one would explain their sudden changes to you? I loved this entire story, including the ending. There are some who hate how it ends, but to me it is the best way to end a story like this.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1ETD1F...cm_cr_rdp_perm

[marduk]

It's great yours will be a published review, Marduk, can't wait! Will you still post here, or will you let me know which paper? Got my eyes on this title.

I'll post here, once it goes live tomorrow, along with a link. I've got the mock-up for the paper version. I like it. It'll be in the Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City).

edit: Gotta head to work, so for now, just the link.

http://newsok.com/book-review-half-a...rticle/4984894

[bugen]

Hornet and Others – Al Sarrantonio
“Ain’t you gonna ask me why I shot her in the back?” I said . . .
“Because her front was too far away!”

Here we have another solid collection from Mr. Sarrantonio, and while containing a number of excellent tales it falls a little short of his previously reviewed collection, Toybox. However, since Toybox was so freakin’ good, this isn’t really an issue.

The book opens with “The Ropy Thing”, also included in this anthology 999. It’s an excellent story involving a creature seemingly wiping out everyone except a young boy and girl. Another great, horrifying story, ‘In the Corn’, follows a few tales later, but the book seems to have difficulty finding traction in its first half beyond these two.

The second half picks up considerably, culminating in the disquieting novella, Hornets, which perfectly taps into our innate fear of insects. Also found within this second half is the jewel of book, “White Lightening.”

“White Lightening,” is about two young boys running amok on a moonshine-induced murder spree and somehow manages to instill the sense of glee the two youngsters are feeling as they go about their rampage. It’s strange to see the body count rise yet be tied to the laughing boys, experiencing their unapologetic violence as if we’re reveling in it as well, but the author somehow accomplishes exactly this. As they happily move from target to target, the story ends in a kind of showdown you’d expect and a twist you probably wouldn’t. And it once again explores a kind of inevitability of violence that has cropped up repeatedly in recent reviews. Chiliad and Wool both address this, though in longer form. “White Lightening” has boiled this theme down to its essence but is told in the rip-roaring style similar to Lansdale. There’s top-notch storytelling here, no doubt.

Overall this is a very positive horror collection, containing its share of so-so stories, lots of good ones, a good number of excellent ones, and one glittering jewel.

3 stars

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[bugen]

Wool - Hugh Howey
"It turned out that some crooked things looked even worse when straightened."

Due to extremely toxic factors on the Earth’s surface, survivors eek out an existence in a huge, underground bunker. With the Earth’s surface having been uninhabitable for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, the remaining men and women know of no other way of existence until chance, coincidence and a feisty mechanical engineer come together to challenge the status quo.

The beating heart of this story questions the inevitability of war while not really denying it. There are protagonists and antagonists–not so much ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’. Interestingly, the author deftly manages to get you to side with both for a while as information about the predicament is revealed and we get glimpses into opposing points of view, some logical and some emotional.

It’s a sizeable read, originally released digitally as 5 one-off purchases, to complete the work Wool (1-5 comprising book 1 of the Silo Saga). Mr. Howey was a kind of early adopter to the digital marketplace and went on to make a well deserved killing off the set. Despite its size the work moves along at a brisk, interesting pace that won’t allow you to set it down for long.

It’s a rich, fully realized, almost steampunk subterranean world, and at times the reader’s curiosity is aroused to the point where we can wonder about this world, how would we live in it, could we make the best of it as many of the characters have done? They have the advantage of never knowing anything different, considering the human capacity for adaptation.

The author even gives us impressions at times of a simpler, almost idyllic lifestyle. Clearly defined social structures, a sense of purpose for every individual, and by comparison to the modern world, a very peaceful lifestyle (peaceful until the story is underway).

Make no mistake, this book is about war. Not warfare, but war. Why do we fight? What does fighting do to us? What can we do in the face of war, and if any of us live through it, what happens after? And most important, is there any way to stop it?

4 stars

4 stars

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[bugen]

It's great yours will be a published review, Marduk, can't wait! Will you still post here, or will you let me know which paper? Got my eyes on this title.

[marduk]

Well, my review got pushed back a week, due to the book editor taking a vacation for his wedding anniversary. But that's ok; it'll be in the paper this Sunday.