Review Category: Books

EUROPEAN MONSTERS

BOOK REVIEW: EUROPEAN MONSTERS / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / PUBLISHER: FOX SPIRIT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

EBooks have been a boon to the small press, allowing many independent publishers to produce work that would otherwise be too expensive. This has also meant that paper and ink books created by such companies have become much less common. So it’s nice to see that Fox Spirit’s latest anthology is not only available in the old fashioned format, but that it’s also beautifully produced and illustrated.

European Monsters is a gorgeous collection of tales of unnatural creatures, dealing with the rigours of the modern day. Each tale picks a creature from myth and gives us a short but sweet snapshot of its existence. The collection kicks off with Herne by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, a quick yet evocative tale about the horned god in a world in which nature has gone wild. Grimwood creates his world in a few, seemingly effortless, strokes and, like all good short stories, leaves you wanting more. Anne Michaud’s tale, Vijka, is thematically similar, though it is more about a clash of cultures and has a few charming surprises that will leave you smiling. James Bennet’s story, Broken Brides, is about a creature who is fond of bridges and goats, one which struggles to cope with modern life and has difficulty coping with everything from the Internet to going to a bar. It’s a sweet yet melancholic story, and fits the mood of the anthology very well.

Other highlights include Nimby; a cleverly slanted look at a familiar creature that is part of modern life, the territorial little idiot who objects to any change in their local area. Author Hannah Kate puts a marvellous slant on the whole affair, mixing palpable venom with humour to produce something rather entertaining. We get a subtle tale of lost magic and gentle love in Alitette De Bodard’s Mélanie, a story that is filled with both the familiar and strange. A collection like this wouldn’t be complete without some sea monsters, and this is fulfilled with Chris Galvin’s Hafgufa Rising, a tale that is perhaps a little too clever for its own good, but fun nonetheless.

The book is crammed with illustrations throughout and includes two comic strips. The first one, Serpent Dawn, is penned by Adrian Tchaikovsky and illustrated by Eugene Smith, is a straight-up monster hunt of the sort you’d expect to see as a show on the SyFy channel. The second sequential offering finishes the book nicely – it’s called Mother Knows Worst and is highly reminiscent of an early Vertigo horror comic; Fabian Benzo’s art style is very early Hellblazer and though Jasper Bark’s dialogue is a little clumsy, it does the job well enough.

Over all, this a lovely little collection of spooky stories and well worth your time.

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DRAG NOIR

BOOK REVIEW: DRAG NOIR / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / EDITOR: K.A. LAITY / PUBLISHER: FOX SPIRIT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

One of the nice things about the small press is that you tend to find more original and clever ideas amongst them, especially when it comes to anthologies. Fox Spirit Books tend to specialise in seeking out new talent and coming up with bright new themes. Drag Noir blends two things that work so well together it now seems obvious. The grim, gritty and hyper-sexualised noir genre and the glorious world of drag. Both share similar histories, and it’s easy to imagine a top hat and tails wearing Gladys Bentley rubbing shoulders with the characters from The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Both worlds lend themselves to challenging ideas and over the top action, and Drag Noir doesn’t disappoint. Richard Godwin’s Meaning of Skin is a short but sweet tale about forgery and deceit, blending the themes of identity and trust into a neat tale of shattered hearts. Geezer Dyke, by Becky Thacker is a tale of change, age and survival, which weaves a rather charming spell, despite not really going anywhere. Lucky In Cards brings that noir cliché of the gambling table to the fore and is, of course, set in Vegas. It’s a slick story of illusion and expectations, and plays its hand close to its chest all the way to the end.

Other highlights include Kiki Le Shade by Chloe Yates, a lovely little horror story that mixes noir, drag and something else into the mix to create a charming nightmare. It’s a little rushed and could have done with being a touch longer, but it crams a lot of ideas into a short space without being too forced. Amelia Mangam’s Stainless Steel is a cleverly twisted take on the theme, and A Bit of a Pickle by Paul D. Brazill is a nostalgia powered tale of regret.

Each tale finds its own niche, and each has been carefully chosen to fit the theme. This is a nice collection of tales you won’t find anywhere else, and is sure to please even the most jaded of noir palates.

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THE LONELY DARK

BOOK REVIEW: THE LONELY DARK / AUTHOR: REN WAROM / PUBLISHER: FOX SPIRIT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The Lonely Dark is a fascinating sci-fi novella about deep space travel, self-discovery and isolation. It’s the story of Ingmar and Yuri, two people without family who have been chosen to serve as the living computers of a deep space colony ship, the Irenon.

Previous attempts at using Artificial Intelligences for this role have been met with failure, so human minds have been chosen to perform the task of running the starship. These two people, called Cerenauts, are put into a deep sleep but their minds are free to roam the confines of the spaceship and also play within the artificial worlds created by their own minds. After work, they rest and dream. Trapped in the confines of a machine, but free in a different sort of way, the Cerenauts are a paradox and an enigma.

Author Ren Warom writes in a free-flowing, personal and highly evocative way. This is a tale of introspection and much of the action takes place in the protagonist’s mind. What could have easily become a drawn out exercise in navel gazing becomes a thrilling journey into the unknown, fraught with both paranoia and self-discovery.

The character building is lightly done, with just enough shown to the reader to keep you engaged. The Artificial Intelligence, the Danai, is particularly fascinating; its ghost-like presence haunts the entire work, the machine’s gentle understanding lending a subtle level of depth to the piece.

The Lonely Dark is a firm example of the story suiting the format. Its novella length is perfect for the story. There’s enough space for necessary character exploration and world building, but without getting bogged down in shoe-gazing boredom. This is a deep and intelligent story that will stay with you for some time after reading, and you will want to read it again and again.

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STAR WARS – MAUL: LOCKDOWN

BOOK REVIEW: STAR WARS – MAUL: LOCKDOWN / AUTHOR: JOE SCHREIBER / PUBLISHER: CENTURY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Maul: Lockdown is the latest in the Star Wars Legends series of books. Within the mythology, the story is set around thirty years before the events of Episode I: The Phantom Menace and gives us more background into the sinister Sith apprentice himself, Darth Maul.

The story opens on Maul taking a serious beating amidst his time in prison; why is he there? What has he done? The facade is soon revealed to be that the tattoed Zabrak is essentially on a suicide mission to take hold of a weapon, a weapon that Sith Lords Darth Plaguieus and Darth Sidious hope will see them get their revenge against the Jedi and the Republic. However … a gang of cannibals, as well as famed crime boss Jabba the Hutt, stand in front of the Sith’s plans, but do they really know who they’re up against?

Maul: Lockdown benefits from variety within its description. What Joe Schreiber accomplishes in his writing is the variety of moods which he creates from chapter to chapter. From the Greek tragedy influenced Dramatis Personae introduction we are given as readers, through the noir-ish office sets of prison officer Sadiki Blirr, to the gritty fights that Maul is thrown into upon his arrival. By giving the reader variety within his writing, Schreiber is making science fiction refreshing to read.

Meanwhile, what Joe Schreiber also accomplishes is balancing the introduction of new characters with established characters from the Star Wars universe; this is a nice balance to strike as it will be something that fans will be adjusting to with the upcoming Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

However, where the story comes unstuck a tad is when you lose track of which character is which; this isn’t a problem unique to Star Wars novels, this has been a problem with other sci-fi tie-ins with a wealth of characters to draw on. Therefore, Schreiber could have done with losing some unnecessary characters and it not adjusted the overall story.

So to wrap things up, Maul: Lockdown is a wonderful addition to the array of stories in the Star Wars novel universe. It draws on the darker elements of sci-fi which makes it a refreshing turn, one that will be replicated in parts in the future.

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THE WIDE WORLD’S END

BOOK REVIEW: THE WIDE WORLD’S END / AUTHOR: JAMES ENGE / PUBLISHER: PYR / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Famed for his loveable sword and sorcery series Morlock the Maker, writer James Enge has been filling in the early years of his beloved creation with the impressive A Tournament of Shadows trilogy. With The Wide World’s End, Enge brings the story arc to a triumphant close.

The prose reads like Valerio Massimo Manfredi and Andrzej Sapkowski, and indeed there’s something of Geralt the Witcher about Morlock; the character is beautifully flawed – he might be a gifted swordsman, master of magical makers and son of Merlin, but he’s just as likely to fail as any of the rest of us. This time around, he’s got to part ways with his lover of 100 years to combat the Sunkillers who wish to, uh, kill the sun.

Very rich and wonderfully imaginative, the prose is opulent and the settings conjured with a dreamy sense of realism. Some of the dialogue is clunky, losing the same ease of pace as the description. Given Enge teaches classic languages at university level, it’s no surprise that there’s emphasis on geography and drearily describing how things work. But world building is at its best and most evocative when sparsely used.

There’s a bizarre reliance on Terry Pratchett-style humour and farce, always at odds with the rest of the book, and it’s also given us one of the most awkward sex scenes this side of Fifty Shades. But it’s a brilliant culmination of classic storytelling traditions, Tolkien fantasy and more modern attitudes towards the genre all rolled up into one read. Sometimes clunky, often impenetrable, and very nearly a must-read.

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WINTERWORLD BOOK 1: THE MECHANIC’S SONG

BOOK REVIEW: WINTERWORLD BOOK 1: THE MECHANIC’S SONG / AUTHOR: CHUCK DIXON / PUBLISHER: IDW PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 3RD

The creative genius that is Chuck Dixon (over a thousand scripts covering everything from Batman to the Simpsons) has written a novel to accompany his Winterworld comic series. The novel is The Mechanic’s Song and tells some of the early life of Scully, the travelling trader from before he met Wynn.

Even if you’re new to Winterworld, this is a very accessible novel. At an action-packed 180 pages, we learn how a teenage boy survives in the middle of an icy, post-apocalyptic wasteland and makes his way to the old man who will teach him to become a mechanic and allow him time to grow up with a chance of life.

The story never wastes time explaining the backstory of how the world has ended up as a frozen wasteland but paints an intense picture of life with almost no food, scrabbling in the leavings of our civilisation and where the brutal reality is the total absence of loyalty or any redeeming characteristics. The narrative covers two quests both of which see Scully helping someone else achieve their own goals. This is not to suggest Scully is without his own values; indeed, he is very much shaped by events; what we have is a plausible adolescent force to survive in world with few redeeming aspects, and yet to set his own destiny.

The world described by Chuck Dixon is savage and life is cheap. Bands of people (generally male) take what they can, and live of every source of food available. Scully survives through learning about machines and being useful. This is not to say he is without a steely core and shows himself quite capable of making life or death decisions.

Although on some levels The Mechanic’s Tale is a straightforward tale of survival and exploration, Chuck Dixon crafts an excellent story where the prose paints a picture directly in the imagination and it is a real joy to read.

This is one for both fans of the comic series and lovers of a well told story.

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THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE

BOOK REVIEW: THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE / AUTHOR: SIMON KURT UNSWORTH / PUBLISHER: DEL REY / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 10TH

The Devil’s Detective is the first book within a series and is Simon Kurt Unsworth’s debut novel. The essential idea is that it’s a noir-crime thriller set within Hell. The story follows the character Fool, who works as an ‘information man’, which is essentially a detective working in Hell. However, Fool doesn’t have to investigate much; with Hell being the place where demons prey on humans, there is a limited place for justice. When an unusual crime takes place, however, Fool investigates.

There is much to love here. The depiction of Hell is original, with it being less of a torture chamber and more of a place for continued hard work for the unworthy, and the world building is great. It was a bit confusing at the start, as the immediate reaction is to think Hell will be chaos overseen by the devil. However, it is far from this, and Unsworth does a great job of showing how Hell operates within this story. The story also contains some dark elements, which thankfully aren’t overused but are contained within the parameters of moving things forward.

However, although there are many characters, it would have been more appealing if the secondary ones, such as fellow information men and the bureaucratic council of devils, were further developed. This would allow for a higher degree of characterisation and would have resulted in readers caring more for the characters. The essential part of this novel is the mystery surrounding the killings, and without enough interaction with characters, this is less mysterious and more obvious. However, it still works, assuming the development of Fool was the main priority.

Overall, it’s a well written book with a decent plot. It’s a dark, twisting read full of original concepts, and is suitable for anyone wanting to get into fantasy with a supernatural element. Now that the main character is developed, hopefully the focus can shift in the follow up to fleshing out the secondary characters within the rich version of Hell Unsworth has created.

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ORC WARFARE

BOOK REVIEW: ORC WARFARE / AUTHOR: CHRIS PRAMAS / PUBLISHER: OSPREY PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 23RD

Osprey Publishing are better known for their highly detailed and beautifully illustrated books on military history. This dip into the realms of fantasy might seem surprising to some, but given the success of Haynes Manuals on make-believe things, it’s not too much of a stretch. Osprey approach the military fitness and effectiveness of orcs the same way they would with a real world unit. The results are interestingly mixed.

The book breaks it down into four chapters; we get an explanation of the different types of orc, the different types of troops orcs use, an explanation of their tactics, and an example of military victories. The writer, Chris Pramas, is an experienced writer of fantasy roleplaying games, and he’s taken a cunning approach with this work. Though he creates a specific world and mythology for his orcs, the setting he uses to describe these creatures is an incredibly generic one.

For example, one of the ‘historical examples’ of an orc victory is of a siege masterminded by a Dark Elf tyrant. Names of key agents and strategic points are given, but these are mainly placeholders; what matters here is the explanation of how orcs would take out a heavily fortified building. Pramas draws upon multiple examples in fiction to craft a great explanation of the orcish way of war without referencing any one specific work.

The overall result is a nice, if vague, dip into all things orcish. Pramas gets the monsters totally spot on; the way they tend to be portrayed in the media is the way he describes them here. He goes into some depth, creating just enough of a setting to explain the creatures without spending too much time on the world building. This means that the book is oddly unsatisfying – by aiming to please a wide audience it lacks spice.

The artwork is also outstanding throughout; this is a short but very pretty book and is ideal for someone looking to get a handle on fantasy’s favourite villains. Those who fancy themselves specialists on a particular made-up world will find the book frustrating, but as a well written and nicely illustrated reference work into something that doesn’t exist, it does the job very well.

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THE JINX CHRONICLES: JINX TOWN

BOOK REVIEW: THE JINX CHRONICLES: JINX TOWN / AUTHOR: SAM STONE / PUBLISHER: TELOS PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 20TH

What better way for Manchester born horror author Sam Stone to celebrate her eighth year as a prolific published writer than with the first volume of a sci-fi/horror trilogy? Last year’s zombies in space epic Darkness Within showed that the lady’s talents extended beyond bodice-ripping Gothic horror and steampunk. Jinx Town opens up a new dimension in her career – literally.

Out of a nowhere and without warning, Earth is under attack by an alien race called The Jinx. How could we be caught by surprise with all our space surveillance technology? Well, the Jinx don’t mount their attacks conventionally. No alien armada darkening the skies over our major metropolitan areas, no huge flying saucers over our landmarks – the Jink arrive exactly where and when they want via their portal devices. A vortex opens – and there they are, tall alien creatures, dressed in almost antiquarian armour. They strike suddenly and decisively, they have a method of nullifying our weapons (as if the element of complete surprise wasn’t enough) and they leave death and destruction in their wake as they disappear without a trace.

So what are they after? Water? Minerals? Nope – they’re harvesting women.

In a surprisingly short span of time, Earth buckles. Armies are disbanded, lawlessness and dystopia take root. Bands of young men become feral hunters, referred to as “dogs” looting, preying on the weak, killing and taking what they can. Against this backdrop is the central protagonist, Jas – a young schoolteacher on a field trip to the theatre with some of her pupils when the first attack was launched. Stranded in a largely deserted Manchester with her one surviving pupil – she has to conceal her gender to survive, joining a group of ex-soldiers for the safety of numbers – while dealing with the reality that her new-found allies might have a worse fate than the Jinx for her if they discover her secret.

This opening part of the Chronicles sets the scene for what promises to be a galaxy-hopping saga and the narrative’s hectic pace leaves the reader hungry for the next instalment as the story unfolds with some surprising twists. Just when the reader thinks the story might drift into a predictable avenue, Stone turns up the heat and surprises us with a sucker-punch.

A tightly written, unrelenting page-turner, this is the opening salvo of an epic!

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SIGNAL TO NOISE

BOOK REVIEW: SIGNAL TO NOISE / AUTHOR: SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA / PUBLISHER: SOLARIS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The mixtape has evolved into a symbol for nostalgia; the obsolete format effortlessly evokes the past in the minds of anyone who grew up in the last century, and many childhood memories feature a personalised musical compilation of some description. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest work, Signal to Noise is also summed up by the mixtape; it’s about music, nostalgia and blending all sorts of things together.

The plot revolves around Meche, a typical ’80s teenager living in Mexico City. Her interests are music, friends and the occult. Her world is dominated by her alcoholic and unfaithful father and his extensive (and rather cool) record collection. Despite a strong connection to her family, Meche is desperate to move away from her destructive life and her only escape is her two friends, Daniela and Sebastian, and deep love of music. When things become too much, she discovers, quite by accident, that music is the key to wielding magical powers; a secret that she rather unwisely shares with her friends to very dramatic effect.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a delight; she explores all the insecurities and difficulties of a teenaged life, and quite rightly assumes that giving a trio of angst-ridden, hormone-driven children the keys to reality is a bad idea. The action dives backwards and forwards between the ’80s and the modern day, allowing the author to frame the events in specific context.

Magic through music is not a new idea, of course. However, this is not a high fantasy exploration such as Spellsinger nor is it an super trendy indie-rock drama like Phonogram. Instead, what we have is a messy, sprawling and yet tightly crafted tale that is about love, loss, growing up and learning who you are. Moreno-Garcia’s writing is enchanting and engaging. Despite their flaws, it’s difficult not see a little of yourself in the prose, and this makes the problems the characters face all the more heart aching.

If you ever wondered what it would have been like to grow up in the ’80s in Mexico City, Signal to Noise may be the closest you’ll ever get. If you like well drawn characters, cool tunes and lashing and lashings of nostalgia, then you should check this out.

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