Stories that have the sense of the macabre about them hold a special place in my heart. Death and coming to terms with unresolved issues adds to the flavour of the story. Steven J. York spins all of this into a delightful tale about a man, his foot and once-upon-a-time beloved Betty.
Ever since his loss Christmas has become a special experience for our narrator and we get to follow that experience 50 years down the road. I believe I have become a fan of Mr. York.
If you are into macabre humour, you have to read A Holiday Explained. You just have to read about how Santa gets the presents delivered and how the Easter Bunny became hollow. A Holiday Explained is a wonderfully funny and well-written short story – all of three pages long. Well done Mr. York.
Reading this to your kids should be no problem. Kids tend to like the gross and macabre – at least that is what my experience has taught me.
I’ve been wondering for ages what being a soldier for years upon years would do to a person. That is a soldier who is out fighting all the time. It would have to be the close-up kind of soldier who has to make life and death decisions for another person on a regular basis. What would that do to you, and how many of your choices would you find bearing you down?
War is a terrible thing. The Old Warriorhas been trained for a life of killing since childhood by people who treated him roughly. His choices have numbed him to the horrors he is part of. In the end that life is catching up with him, but then …
“The Nightmare” appears in the form of a little girl who has lost her mom and dad and wolf to the killers around her. She stands there in the middle of the noise and gore with an empty look on her face. “The Nightmare”. The one who manages to break through to the old warrior and create a chink in his suit of denial.
The Old Warrior was a sad and action-filled story. It ended differently from how I had expected and that annoyed me. But I also find it refreshing (and annoying – did I mention that) when closure is not reached. But life is like that. We cannot always know how things end.
Satire at its best. My goodness, all the issues an author can manage to cram into 16 pages.
I guess we cannot call Crash Landing an apocalyptic novel due to its humour. However, it is terribly tempting to place this dark humoured short story into this category due to its military and bureaucratic backdrop.
Bureaucrats were never so bored and generals were never so convinced of their ideas as the Secretary of State and General Wells of Crash Landing. The ending is a gem. All of Crash Landing is a gem. It has brought a smile to my face each time I have thought about it.
Cover art by Joshua Meadows“Iyetrais an episodic series of novellas set in a hybrid sci-fi/fantasy universe.” Each novella can be read as a stand-alone-novella. Sleeping God is the first of the series.
“At the dawn of things, in the eon known as the Whole, Iyetra was a complete, harmonious world and its inhabitants lived with the blessings of the gods, watched over under the authority of the Advent.”
In the usual manner of humans, the Shattering is the effect of our own glorious stupidity. The two opposing factions that led to the Shattering were the Advent that used the gods and magic, and the Imperium that believed in machines and destroying those who could access the powers of the aether. As a result of the fighting between the two opposing factions, the gods chose to shatter Iyetra into pieces. But for some reason they did not want all humans to die out so they made it possible for them to live in the Chaos that came from the shattering. Living on pieces of earth (floaters) the size of cities/countries/continents people go about their lives the way people generally do.
One of these floaters is Koton, the city that ambassador Tela Niala is supposed to negotiate an agreement with. Koton is led by the Magisterium, the “child” of the Imperium. While the Magisterium is not as fanatical as the Imperium, it does have a rather dim view of those who are able to access the aether.
Why Tela’s father would choose his own magically inclined daughter to travel to the male-dominated, magic-hostile floater Koton is a mystery. Perhaps he is willing to sacrifice her in a gambit to increase his own power-base. After all, even people who supposedly have a lot of power, like Tela’s high ranked senator father, can hunger after more. Tela was annoyed enough at her father that she demanded that the usual group of body-guards be left out. He relented. I found that suspicious as well. Tela’s father had to know something about the situation in Koton that we and she did not.
Tela starts off as an insecure graduate from magic school and becomes someone more comfortable with her own gifts/powers. While it might not be appropriate to call Sleeping God a coming of age story it certainly is a coming of self story. Being thrown into the jaws of death could have that effect on some people. Her father might have landed Tela the job as an ambassador, but in the end Tela earns that title through her own actions.
In 2007 Emma Bull and Will Shetterly got together and laid the groundwork for what would become the website Shadow Unit. A series bible was created and authors were contacted, which is how Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette got onboard the whole thing. Then they drew in Amanda Downum as art director and Stephen Shipman as technical director. The series bible was amended and improved. Finally Leah Bobet and Holly Black joined the writing team (along with Stephen and Amanda) while Kyle Cassidy had fun with the covers.
Shadow Unit I includes the first four stories from season 1:
The rest of the episodes from season 1, 2, 3 and 4 are available on shadowunit.org. As you will notice the last story available was released December 16, 2012. I recommend that you read the stories in order.
I was introduced to the phenomenon of the Shadow Unit through the above published novel. It is impossible for me to write a review without seeking out more information about the novel. This time I had a plethora of information to choose from, kindly served up by the instigators of the phenomenon. And what a fun phenomenon Shadow Unit is.
The whole group of creators at Shadow Unit are awesome for making such a large body of work available to readers and nutters all over the world for free. They wouldn’t mind donations as it is we, the readers, who are keeping the concept going, and what a fun concept and group of investigators this is.
The Anomalous Crimes Task Force (“Shadow Unit”) consists of: Stephen Reyes (boss), Esther Falkner (vp), Solomon Todd, Nicolette Lau, Daniel Brady, Hafidha Gates, Charles Vilette, Daphne Worth and Madeline Frost. Whenever inexplicable crimes are committed the task force is called upon to help find the criminals.
I recommend you use the website as your starting point and read the stories. They are of the action/thriller/mystery/horrorish kind with strange powers and strange bodies all over the place. The group itself is filled with people of all kinds – anything from the seemingly insecure to the broody ones. If you have read stuff by the above authors before, you know you are probably going to find a venue of enjoyment.
I was given a reviewer’s copy of The Secret Eater. I promise that I have not included either “bomb-making instructions” or “the directions to” Ros’ house in this review. When contacted by Ros Jackson I went to her website to check out the background info on the novella and was sold when the words “Nigella Express” appeared. I did the elegant snort laugh that I do sometimes and said I would love to review it.
Kenssie, the demon (of the secret-eating variety), is an insecure girl with a tendency toward denial. She loves what she is in a world of demons, hybrids and humans. As usual, we humans are oblivious to the “others” around us, something that makes us perfect prey. But we aren’t the only prey around it seems. Denial is a wonderful tool of survival in a world where a poor girl wants to believe herself more included than she really is.
The way Ros Jackson has portrayed the demons and hybrids of her world makes them seem a perfect complement to our fears, insecurities, greed and anger. Using humour and satire as a tool to comment on the world is done in the way only Brits are able to.
The Man in Black – The Woman in White shows us what the earth could be like in almost 200 years if we keep on letting it go to pieces and allow money to rule the world.
Stross presents us with a world without hope, a dark story of loss, poverty, inequality and disinformation. The town of Present, Nebraska thinks the world works in one way, and it seems they have been intentionally kept in that belief. Maintaining this status quo is the will of the people who hold power to change the lives of the citizens of Present for the better.
One of the tools the powers that be uses to keep the people of Present in Present is lack of education and information. Another tool seems to be to allow companies to move in and “encourage” farmers to sell their land and water-rights.
Stross encourages me to question my own beliefs of right and wrong. Exactly who is the culprit and why do I consider that person to be a culprit?
Poor young Kyle, living in circumstances that quite a few young people live in today. Desertification, water shortage and hunger are all parts of the lives of young and old in certain places of the world. There, too, tools such as the ones used against Present, Nebraska are utilised. The Man in Black – The Woman in White speaks of a world that already exists for many and will probably exist for many more in the years to come.
Stross doesn’t give us a solution or an answer to the problem. I appreciate that. Having an open ending allows me as a reader to look around and see if an answer exists at all.
Cover design by Marion Sipe Cover art by Andy Cart and Blackburn Photo
In A Servant In This House we find a worried Chancellor Toviani, the memory-impaired servant Rana, a greedy and murderous Duchess of Bordevere (Marcalli De’Resario), an ill Princess Denya, a murdered King and Princess and a country, Selari, needing a new monarch. Selari gets it monarch in the duchess and the servant Rani’s days become more difficult. It seems that for some reason the duchess is on the hunt for her. Rani finds herself terrified of what would happen if the duchess finds her.
Memory-loss, amnesia, is a strange phenomenon. Sometimes amnesia is brought on by severe trauma. A person risks losing memory of parts of or all of their lives before that event. Rani is going through such a memory loss and almost from the first paragraph we understand who she must be. But that does not detract from the appeal of this story.
As I was supposed to, I found myself rooting for Rani throughout the short story. I wanted her to figure out what was going on but also found myself understanding why she would flee from remembering. Remembering would mean confronting her grief and taking upon herself the mantle she needed to. Instead being “just” a servant, one who is told what to do and where to do it, was a comfortable place for her to be.
The ending fit with the tone of Sipe’s story. Lately, I seem to be reading stories that have sad undertones. If you think about the name of my blog, it should come as no surprise that I am a fan of the darker side of life and A Servant In This House is a story that illustrates that side.
A Servant In This House does not seem to be a short-story written for young adults, but its contents are about as “safe” as an author can make a fantasy story.
26 pages of fast-paced urban fantasy is what we get in Hungering Shadows. Short stories can be really fun.
Hungering Shadows is a great action story about a guy who just will not give in to the demonic influences in his life. Instead he hunts them down and brings them in for their reward (with the sometimes help of Father Ralph Lawrence). In this story Alex is on the hunt for two skin walkers (demons who kill a host’s spirit and take over their body).
Bounty hunter central is on/in Haven, a place accessed through a warehouse portal. All bounties are delivered there and rewards picked up. Catching your bounty, though, can be quite challenging. Other bounty hunters can and do get in your way and Alex is no exception to that rule. But Alex lets nothing stop him and his quest for what he feels is right.
Hope you enjoy Hungering Shadows as much as I did.
Edited by Anne Frasier/Theresa Weir Cover art by Phatpuppy (link) Cover design by eyemaidthis
I saw the old cover for Space Junque on Rigel’s site and much preferred this one. This cover is seriously cool. Phatpuppy is on my list of favorite cover artists (she’s got her Halloween theme going right now).
Why change the title so often? Weird. Rigel explains it (I still like the above cover best):
Hero Material is a prequel, the story of how the paranormal world in the Apocalypto series replaces the old unmystical normal world. The series proper is a paranormal fantasy, and all the action is definitely on earth or within the realm of the gods.
In fact, when the paranormal elements of Hero Material nee Space Junque kick in, it’s been a shock to a lot of readers, not expecting such things in science fiction. I blame myself for too-light foreshadowing. But I blame the old cover too.
Now the name has been changed again – to Samael’s Fire.
As you see above Apocalypto is meant to be a paranormal fantasy series. Samael’s Fire is the first step on that road.
Charybdis Meadowlark is living in a post-apocalyptic version of our world where the corporations have been able to play to their heart’s content and the environment has gone down the drain. Environmental terrorists, like the DOGs, aren’t making the Earth any cleaner. When we meet Char, she is fleeing Sacramento. Her friend Mike has warned her that the DOGs are about to bomb Sacramento and that she needs to get off Earth and into space.
From the very beginning many of Char’s experiences are about fleeing one sort of trouble after the other. Trouble seems attracted to her but unlike a great majority of people Char has incredible luck in how it affects her.
Charbydis is very much our main character. The story is told from her point of view and she is the one we get to really know. The only other person we get to know fairly well is Jake. Char meets him as he sells her coffee at the coffee kiosk.
From all of the other reviews I feel certain you’ve realised that Char and Jake become an item. There is instant sexual attraction on both sides, they don’t really like each other and both are beautiful people. Like so many other novels there is a sort of love triangle.
In space there is plenty of action, a lot of explosions, some fighting and meetings with gods/goddesses and shapeshifters. These gods/goddesses are like the older type gods: norse/greek/roman = pretty selfish and fighting each other for their worshippers. It is upon meeting the gods/goddesses that the shift toward fantasy slowly happens.
Samael’s Fire is a safe and fun read both for those who do not like explicit violence and those who do not like explicit sex.
Dreamer is the title of a series of short-stories/novellas beginning with A Bit(e) of Discretion, Please.
If you are going to be naughty in this world of ours (with a few super-naturals added to it), you had better make certain you do not attract the authorities. Stuart did and he who was once a Prince of Dreaming now has his powers for mischief limited. As if that wasn’t bad enough Stuart also has to do community service in the form of catching other breakers of human rules with what seems to be a girl (Mei Lin the spiritualist) as his partner. But as long as the tea is good Stuart manages fairly well.
T.A. Miles gives us a humourous look at scoundrels and their baby-sitters, baby-sitters whose patience is sorely tried at times. We also get a look at characters who think themselves devious but who are fooled themselves instead. Dreamer is indeed a light-hearted and enjoyable read.
Cover design: Don T. Interior design: Hank Smith Photo credits: Moon: Kenny Goh / Satin: Zudifeng / Desert: Bowie15 / Man: Dimitriy Cherevko
Jim Melvin’s introduction of Torg’s First Death is worded thus:
The Death Wizard Chronicles is a six-book epic fantasy that debuted August 2012 (Bell Bridge Books). The main character, Torg, is a Death-Knower wizard who has died and then returned to life more than a thousand times. The story below describes Torg’s first death.
I include the below quote to illustrate the mood of the story:
As he walked across the still-warm sand, Torg felt the pull of a seductive will far stronger than his own. He had no power to resist it – and would not have, even if able. He wanted to make this journey into death. And, if he was worthy, return.
Death is something I find incredibly fascinating, something I do not fear much. Much of my fascination comes from that part of me that fears my disintegration and disappearance into stardust.
What if I could actually return from death, not as a vampire or anything else weird, but as a regular/irregular person? Would I want to? What if I was a Tugar who consider it the ultimate privilege? Would I strive for a return?
Torg’s First Death is a short-story that raised many questions inside my head. Melvin drew me slowly into Torg’s self-control. I found myself envying Torg his ability to still his mind. When it is time for me to die I wish I could control it as well as Torg does. I wish we all could. Melvin’s description is beautiful and peaceful. His cover fits the mood of Torg’s story well.
Born of Fire is the story of the night Aiden was born. I have to admit that I have no idea who Aiden is aside from the main character of the Channeler novels. Born of Fire was also my introduction to him. Being present at a person’s birth isn’t the worst way to get to know a person. Talk about a dramatic entrance.
Me, I’m all for being in a hospital having people ready just in case something goes wrong. Aiden’s parents, on the other hand, tried to run away from a bunch of people called Hunters. I can’t imagine being about to pop when the bad guys catch up to you, because let me tell you, giving birth really hurts and you have no control over when the pain hits. Not a good time to be in the middle of a car chase.
McCorkle brought plenty of drama into her short story and writes that drama well. Good job!
I’m trying to figure out if the James May of Heartbeatsis the same James May as the one of BBC’s Top Gear. Any takers? I’m not finding any information on him out there.
It was not the cover that made me buy this short story but rather the blurb. It contains the words evil, sword and stop nightmare. Yup, that will often be all it takes to get me to read.
Heartbeats is part one of what thus far is four parts. I have only read the first and am therefore not certain if that is the end. Each story is about the same length as this one (between 15-20 pages).
Heartbeats is a dark story, one of death and destruction and grief. We meet Stalus at the celebration of the wedding of Duon and Shelly. Except what was to be a happy event has turned into a nightmare, a nightmare that has been part of Stalus’ life for the past thirty years. It is the story of a man growing from utter helplessness to the realisation that he, too, can make a difference. Hopefully Stalus will be able to hold on to his humanity through all he has to do.
I would have to say that this is one of the darker stories I have read. Not so much because of the violence, although the violence is explicit and plenty. But more because of the utter hopelessness that is conveyed through the writing. James May writes well within the flow and writes a story that makes me think about what it must be like to fight against the odds without believing that you will make it.
humanitysdarkerside 