What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

Finished up Remnant by Conrad Williams, which was an interesting story that ultimately left me feeling, as most of Williams’ work does, WTF did I just read.



B

Williams is on my ever-expanding list of authors that just don't work for me, unfortunately. I haven't read anything by him that hasn't bored me and left me scratching my head.

[brlesh]

Good to know. I wasn't too taken with his novel DEVIL'S CREEK, but considered giving THE SUNDOWNER'S DANCE a try as the plot sounded intriguing. But it sounds like whatever didn't click with me in DEVIL'S CREEK likely carries over to this new one.

Yeah, actually thought The Sundowner’s Dance was a step down from Devil’s Creek.

I liked Devil’s Creek, but at 500+ pages, I thought he could have cut 100 pages and told the same story with a lot better flow to it.

My problems with TSD was more of a plot line issue. The first half was more of a mystery. About mid way through the mystery is explained and the second half consists of the good guys trying to thwart the evil machinations of the bad guys, and it just didn’t work for me. Plus having a mainly senior citizen cast of characters come of as acting like teenagers just came off as too cringy.

I’m about at the point with Keisling that I think he’s just better adapted as a writer of shorter length works. I really liked his collection Cold, Black and Infinite, and his novella Scanlines was really good. Neither of the novels I’ve read from him have really worked for me.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Remnant by Conrad Williams, which was an interesting story that ultimately left me feeling, as most of Williams’ work does, WTF did I just read.

After Remnant, I read the chapbook Death Bus by our own Jeff Terry.

Honestly, I went into this not expecting much, and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Had kind of a Quantum Leap (the 90’s TV show) in hell vibe to it.

Up next, Patreon Stories by Philip Fracassi.

B

[dannyboy121070]

Just finished THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF MONSTERS, which was, overall, a good read. Worth it just to rediscover Clive Barker's RAWHEAD REX, which has to be one of the best monster stories, maybe one of the best short Horror stories, that I've ever read. This would make one hell of a movie, if done right. (Yes, I know it was already adapted to film, and it is certainly a guilty pleasure, but, still...). A lot here that I had read before, some recently, so I skipped those stories, and a few that I just didn't enjoy (Not a Ramsey Campbell fan, and there was an endless Basil Copper Sci-Fi story that I just could not bring myself to finish. Highlights were the Barker story and the one by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, whose work I adore. There was also a Sci-Fi tale by Robert Silverberg that Michael Crichton totally plagiarized for JURASSIC PARK.

[RonClinton]

Finished up The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Keisling, which ended up being a major disappointment.

I thought the first half was interesting, but the second half just didn’t work for me at all.


B

Good to know. I wasn't too taken with his novel DEVIL'S CREEK, but considered giving THE SUNDOWNER'S DANCE a try as the plot sounded intriguing. But it sounds like whatever didn't click with me in DEVIL'S CREEK likely carries over to this new one.

[brlesh]

Finished up The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Keisling, which ended up being a major disappointment.

I thought the first half was interesting, but the second half just didn’t work for me at all.

Next up, Remnant by Conrad Williams.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read anything by Williams, as I’ve found him to be more miss than hit for me over the years, but the premise for this short novel (novella?) sounded too good to pass up.

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the PS LE of Stephen King's "Firestarter"! It's been forever since I've read this book and I feel like it held up really well, even if there are parts that are very dated. It still surprises me that King never revisited the shop in another novel (that I can recall) as it feels like there is so much there to explore and they work really well as villains. The PS production values are in line with the other books in their King series, but if I am being honest, the artwork for this one, both the slipcase and interior, might be my least favorite of the series so far. Nothing wrong with it, I just think less abstract artwork would have worked better IMO. Still glad to have added the book and kept my PS series going!

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of John Baltisberger's "No Guilt of Bloodshed", a part of the splatter western series. Have only ready one book by this author previously. Hopefully, this one will live up to previous books in the splatter western line!

[Ben Staad]

Escape Velocities by Brian Hopkins.

I very good collection of Sci-Fi shorts. Some decently meaty reads for a collection. I liked it overall.

[brlesh]

Finished up October Shadows, which was a very good anthology of classic ghost stories.

It was also a very nice looking book. Abbeville Press really hit it out of the park with this production.

Up next, The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Keisling.

I’ve pretty much liked everything I’ve read by Keisling, so have high hopes for this one.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Christmas at Wheeldale Inn by Gemma Amor, which I liked a lot.

A traditional, Victorian style Christmas story, this was the second piece I’ve read by Amor, and I‘ve liked them both.

Looking forward to her new novel in January.

Up next, keeping with ghost story theme for Christmas is October Shadows, an anthology of classic ghost stories selected and illustrated by John Rice.

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the PS LE of Stephen King's 11/22/63. Just as good as I remembered it, and I really do love the ending, the perfect amount of bittersweet. If I had one issue with the book, it would be that the passages more focused on Oswald and his history are a little less compelling than the other sections of the story, IMO. Other than that, this book is great!

Am now reading one final Stephen King book for the holidays from my TBR pile, the PS LE of Firestarter! Been forever since I've read this one and am looking forward to revisiting it!

[brlesh]

Finished up The Darkest Night, which was an OK anthology.

Up next, starting The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany.

I don’t read a lot of fantasy, so I’m kind of interested to see how this classic fantasy novel hits for me.

B

Finished up The King of Elfland’s Daughter, which was a lot of flowery prose and not a whole lot of story.

Next up, Christmas at Wheeldale Inn by Gemma Amor.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up The Darkest Night, which was an OK anthology.

Up next, starting The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany.

I don’t read a lot of fantasy, so I’m kind of interested to see how this classic fantasy novel hits for me.

B

[sholloman81]

I thought it was great.

It follows McBride’s creature feature MO to the T. If you’re a fan of his, you’ll like Extant. I thought it was a lot of fun, but he’s not doing anything in Extant that he hasn’t done before.

The first half was all setup. There’s enough science to make the story seem realistic and plausible.

At about the half way point, the shit hits the fan (along with a lot of body parts) and it’s just accelerator to the floor until the end of the story.

Classic McBride!

B

Thanks for the review! Now I definitely have to consider January's announcement!

[brlesh]

Let us know what you think of Extant. I'm still on the fence about the Thunderstorm pre-order for the hardcover in January..

I thought it was great.

It follows McBride’s creature feature MO to the T. If you’re a fan of his, you’ll like Extant. I thought it was a lot of fun, but he’s not doing anything in Extant that he hasn’t done before.

The first half was all setup. There’s enough science to make the story seem realistic and plausible.

At about the half way point, the shit hits the fan (along with a lot of body parts) and it’s just accelerator to the floor until the end of the story.

Classic McBride!

B