David Mitchell seems to be moving back to the mosaic narrative of his earliest book after a more straight forward historical novel (including referencDavid Mitchell seems to be moving back to the mosaic narrative of his earliest book after a more straight forward historical novel (including references that make it seem like all his books are part of the same reality), or maybe he is trying to write his version of the TV show Lost (everything connected, battling immortals, all the characters making cameos in the narrative of others), or maybe writing a literary fantasy in the vein of Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman (before he was kidnapped by the internet). Or to quote the man himself (via an author character describing his book), “…think Solaris meets Noam Chomsky via the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Add a dash of Twin Peaks.� There are bits of all of this going on here, and he mostly pulls it off. His prose has been overly fussy and distracting and turned me off on occasion, but here it is very clear headed and readable. The book suffers somewhat when the messiness of the characters� lives interact with the supernatural subplot, I sometimes found myself impatient to return to the more realistic parts. The least essential part is the long part most focused on this psychic war subplot. The best parts are the extended riff on Martin Amis in the author character’s narrative and the apocalyptic ending filled with sadness but also lingering bits of hope and humanity. All the more disturbing for being so believable....more
Jay Kristoff had a charming debut with Stormdancer, but one I had some reservations with both morally (falling on some outdated fantasy tropes) and wiJay Kristoff had a charming debut with Stormdancer, but one I had some reservations with both morally (falling on some outdated fantasy tropes) and with its actual execution. The world he created resembled Hunger Games, The Last Unicorn, Miyazaki, and Kurosawa, but the novel had some logic and pacing issues that kept me from fully loving it, but was intrigued and entertained enough to continue. In a trilogy the second volume really only needs to be a decent bridging volume to succeed, but there is another way to tackle one. Kristoff thankfully went the latter route. This book betters the previous volume in every measure, creating a book more complex, gripping, brutal, tense, violent, realistic the handling of its themes, and morally probing. The action scenes are terrifically paced, the atmosphere is grim but captivating, and the new characters and plots lines all succeed. This book is so brutal in fact any lingering suspicions that this is a YA series disappear. But, the grim is undercut by strong characters and the thoughtfulness and maturity of the author’s performance, no grittiness for grittiness sake. The amount Kristoff learned between these two volumes is pretty impressive. The only problem (besides the demon subplot which still feels tacked on and unnecessary), is how he is going to better this for the finale. It is going to be tough but I will be there to see him try. ...more
Pynchon presents a book somewhere between his lighter cartoony romps (Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Inherent Vice) and his more epic works. A strangPynchon presents a book somewhere between his lighter cartoony romps (Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Inherent Vice) and his more epic works. A strangely accessible work that parodies some recent crime fiction and cyberpunk, but is still recognizably Pynchon and shows off his obsessions with paranoia, secret worlds, and the fading of promise. He fixes on the dot com crash, the internet and 9-11 as the moments where an irreversible change occurred in our world and I find him profound as ever if a little goofy in the virtual reality parts. The cultural references were strange in this one I could have been convinced a Gen x writer wrote this or maybe William Gibson. The conspiracies surrounding 9/11 made me fear for a second that Pynchon was handing us a “truther� manifesto, but as usual resolution and clear political agenda are not Pynchon’s game, and every clue and hint is another sign in his labyrinth of elusive meaning and shadows. A book easier to digest than most of his work and one as filled with little shards of dissonance to ponder over. ...more
The finale to Harrison’s trilogy is as confounding, obtuse, and beautiful as the rest of the series. His prose is crafted so impeccably and relentlessThe finale to Harrison’s trilogy is as confounding, obtuse, and beautiful as the rest of the series. His prose is crafted so impeccably and relentlessly it is hard to resist chewing over each line and word choice (it is also very discouraging for the amateur writer) and occasionally losing the plot. But with Harrison you know you are going to read it again, soon I might restart the trilogy and see how they work together. His imagery, imagination, and prose are on such a level that they put much science fiction (is there anyone else who writes in the genre recently that is comparable as a stylist, Wolfe, Mieville, Shepard, or Gibson?) and other fiction in its shadow. Jodorowsky and Lynch should have skipped Dune and waited for these books to adapt. Quantum physics, Gnosticism, and dream imagery mixed with cyberpunk, noir, depressing near future science fiction, and space opera for a dense, cinematic, and surreal nightmare....more
Post-Soviet Ukrainian existential and absurdist noir is new genre for me and one I think Andrey Kurkov owns, Kurkov crafts tales worthy of Kafka but wPost-Soviet Ukrainian existential and absurdist noir is new genre for me and one I think Andrey Kurkov owns, Kurkov crafts tales worthy of Kafka but with warm humanity and humor and plotting that are definitely his own. The hero is a writer with writer’s block and a pet penguin (gotten from a defunded zoo) and while this combination at first seems a little bit precious but their melancholy day to day is described with well-placed rhythms and details and is never too cute. The events get both sinister and humorous as the protagonist accidentally gains a family, writes obituaries that come true, and is forced to attend gangster’s funerals with the penguin in tow. Death and the Penguin is a beautiful and amusing book with a sad sack sense of humor, affection for absurd and ominous situations presented in clear language, and humanity....more
Urban fantasy has been a pretty fallow genre for me, despite loving urban stories and being a reader of fantasy. Mainly because it has been taken overUrban fantasy has been a pretty fallow genre for me, despite loving urban stories and being a reader of fantasy. Mainly because it has been taken over by paranormal romance (darn necrophiliacs ruin everything). Thankfully Kadrey is here to show how it can be done. The writer of one of the better of the cyberpunk novels Metrophage (not the most important but hands down one of the best realized and written), he disappeared and maybe spent eleven years in hell like his protagonist Stark because he has returned with an awful attitude. Yes a character named Stark seeking revenge and another character named Parker, the spirit of Westlake is alive in this book. Noir, heaping helpings of Garth Ennis’s Preacher and Eric Kripke’s Supernatural, Kung Fu flicks and Spaghetti Westerns form the DNA of this book as much as its recognizable genre, making this a pulpy, grisly, dark humored gem of an entertainment. The main character’s bad attitude is a little wearying at times, but the book has got so much movement that it is hard to find fault. I don’t think I like the name or title Sandman Slim much though....more
Red country has been labeled as Abercrombie’s take on the western. This partially true, as Abercrombie has managed to squeeze as much of the tropes anRed country has been labeled as Abercrombie’s take on the western. This partially true, as Abercrombie has managed to squeeze as much of the tropes and furniture of said genre into this book. Showdowns in bars, scouts, wagon trains, native attacks, cattle stampedes, frontier towns, a stagecoach chase, ravaged homesteads, kidnappings, last stands, and others are all gloriously skewered and given homage. There are references to many of the classics, The Unforgiven, Outlaw Josey Wales, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Searchers, Blood Meridian, but the atmosphere most resembles Leone or Kurosawa’s similar grafting of westerns tropes onto a Samurai milieu. I say only partially true as this essentially at its core nothing but yet another prime piece of Abercrombie fiction, a writer so thoroughly on the top of his game that it is kind of disappointing to read anyone else. This book is another rollicking black comedy with existential dread and skewered moralism and terrifically drawn characters. He has always skewered genres. His original trilogy was just his take on the classic fantasy trilogy, followed by a revenge/thriller, and then war fiction. These paint by numbers genre frameworks are just a place for him to splatter paint all over. He is getting better and better and this is my favorite by him yet. He brings back many of his characters from his previous books. I will not give any spoilers by revealing which ones (one is barely disguised, one receives an ending I felt a little anti-climactic, and another is well disguised but I think I guessed who.), but while this will bring smiles to long time readers I believe you can read this book without any introduction. Waiting for his next book is going to be tough, but unlike Martin I know I won’t have to wait that long....more
Fugue State is another worthwhile collection of Evenson’s brilliant, angular, and disconcerting takes on fiction. He uses short fiction in way very feFugue State is another worthwhile collection of Evenson’s brilliant, angular, and disconcerting takes on fiction. He uses short fiction in way very few contemporaries do, Ligotti definitely comes to mind though. Beckett’s desolate spaces and comic narrators, Poe’s diseased and obsessive minds, the suffocating traps of Kafka are Evenson’s peers, but his collection of mutilations, plagues, amnesiacs, liminal spaces, and bizarre rituals are distinctly his own voice. Zak Sally the cartoonist and former bass player of the wonderful band Low provides some stark little illustrations and one full on collaboration with Evenson....more
Ford has the keys to the landscape of our dreams. Taking the ephemera of our pop culture such as comic books and strips, pulp science fiction, the druFord has the keys to the landscape of our dreams. Taking the ephemera of our pop culture such as comic books and strips, pulp science fiction, the drudgery of day to day living, our dreams, our myths, and turning them into a startling dreamscape filled unsettling evocative images, characters, wonder, and terror, a rich and occasionally quite horrific world. Each of his short fiction collections is a wunderkammer, a cabinet filled with curiosities, grotesques, and eerie beauty but presented with an earthy sense of humor. His novellas like Relic and the Wish Head are the most consuming and realized but shorter pieces like Dr. Lash Remembers and Daddy Longlegs of the Evening manage to create whole universes, and really the only story that felt a little half-baked was Ganesha. ...more
Noir character edge, apocalyptic tone, Marx Brothers meets Beckett (if they are at all different) dialogue, comic but sinister duos, stark prose, idenNoir character edge, apocalyptic tone, Marx Brothers meets Beckett (if they are at all different) dialogue, comic but sinister duos, stark prose, identity and reality in doubt, and probing moral questions are all present and mark Immobility as both a representative and a thoroughly accomplished example of what one our best writers, Brian Evenson, does. This is his take on the post-apocalyptic genre and it is lighter in language and tone then his previous venture (the beautiful and singular Dark Property: An Affliction being a prime example) into the territory. As a literary example of the genre, comparisons to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road are inevitable, but the characters in this book are the ones the son and father in that book cower in woods and attics to avoid. Evocative of absurdist drama, seventies science fiction, lean, experimental tinged writing, and nasty noir, this book is recommended for any fan of such styles and of course fans of Evenson’s particular brilliance. ...more
Matt Ruff is responsible for a series of topsy- turvy entertainments that have earned comparisons to Pynchon, Terry Gilliam, Stephenson, and Philip K Matt Ruff is responsible for a series of topsy- turvy entertainments that have earned comparisons to Pynchon, Terry Gilliam, Stephenson, and Philip K Dick. This book of course resembles A Man in a High Castle for the war on terror, but also Borges, the TV shows Fringe and Lost, and Bruce Sterling’s many variations on Islamic themed alternative history. Ruff creates a world that is warped mirror on our own, showing what it contains and what made it. This makes it maddingly sad and funny at once. Alternative history is of course a tool to consider real history and the present, and Ruff does this, but he has other tricks up his sleeve. A fantastic twist on the reality of his world soon appears and I won’t give it away. My patience was strained by the end when the fantastic and thriller elements came to a head and Ruff had to provide an exciting conclusion and pull in all the various threads. This happens a lot when I find the plot mechanics dulling my reader buzz. But while I will forget most of the ending action the fizz of ideas, the satire, the funhouse mirror on history won’t fade and neither will the characters both real and imagined perfect in their places in this mirage. Should definitely be a TV show....more
Almost too much of a good thing in this blistering novel from Abercrombie. He has always tempered the inherent darkness in his stories with humor and Almost too much of a good thing in this blistering novel from Abercrombie. He has always tempered the inherent darkness in his stories with humor and a well-rounded approach to character and irresistible narrative pull. The narrative energy and character strength are not lacking, but this book is just so beastly bleak that the humor may seem almost ill placed. The only resistance to reading that this book gave me was in absolutely dreading what would come next for the characters that I had become attached to. For an author who has made a career of rendering unlikeable characters not just likeable but enthralling this cast is his toughest sell, shades of gray doesn’t begin to cover their individualities. But he gets me to care and in the web of deceit, murder, plots and counter plots, revenge, and bloody war I wondered whether a caper flick or Shakespeare tragedy was going to be the ending reached. I won’t give spoilers but to say it was somewhere in between. The believability of the setting is strength with the war torn kingdom of Styria resembling 16th century Italy or central Europe during the Thirty years war with marauding mercenaries, warring city states, intruding foreign powers, and unfortunate commoners. Abercrombie hasn’t even begun to hint that his energy and invention is ever going wear out. ...more
That someone has taken the tired form of the fantasy trilogy and turned it into the gnarliest, fully realized, and readable fiction in recent memory iThat someone has taken the tired form of the fantasy trilogy and turned it into the gnarliest, fully realized, and readable fiction in recent memory is a wonder of the ages. That the author has mentioned influences such as James Ellroy, The TV show The Wire, Shelby Foote, Kurosawa, spaghetti westerns and film noir alongside Moorcock and Tolkein speaks volumes. This is pop fiction that lives and breathes, feels like real history, can rarely be outguessed (one big twist I did see fairly early on), and is quotable, funny, furious and brutal. Suffocating darkness nearly snuffs out the humor but still manages to redeem it from being po-faced grit. I might have some more textured commentary for this book later, but in the weeks after reading it I’m still pretty giddy with excitement at reading it. ...more
I am tempted to throw all intellectual rigor aside and just write “kick ass! for a review of this book. But, really this accomplishes what a middle voI am tempted to throw all intellectual rigor aside and just write “kick ass! for a review of this book. But, really this accomplishes what a middle volume in trilogy does and more. The bleak humor, the brutality, the realpolitik, the skewering of tropes of the fantasy epic present is the first volume is all accomplished and the tension, intensity, and stakes are raised. By twisting European history and the elements of a fantasy epic into blood stained ominous volumes with likeable characters(I down right love some of them) Abercrombie is producing the most irresistibly reading I have encountered in a while....more
Abercrombie can really write. I have read gritty takes on epic fantasy, but rarely do they offer much humor. Likewise most comic takes offer little seAbercrombie can really write. I have read gritty takes on epic fantasy, but rarely do they offer much humor. Likewise most comic takes offer little seriousness and go for broad satire. Abercrombie manages to be consistently humorous without losing a moment of seriousness or brutality. This isn’t innovative in most of its elements, barbarians invading from the north, fading magic, a grumpy wizard, a grotesque character that is oddly lovable, a group of misfits pulled together to go on a quest, and many more are all present. He just decided to write the hell out it with the dark edge of a crime novel or a spaghetti western, characters that never seem false, clean writing that moves those characters in interesting ways, a realistic view of politics (no white legions fighting the dark lord here), a taste for brutality that makes this book just a black hearted delight. His use of repetition and multiple viewpoints is used in such a satisfying way that I’m little shocked that this is a debut. Recommend like it’s a good HBO series or Kurosawa film rather than an epic fantasy trilogy. ...more
A high bar in fantasy/ science fiction has been set with Morgan’s Kovacs series, Mieville’s and Vandermeer’s weird fantasy, Alaistair Reynold’s RevelaA high bar in fantasy/ science fiction has been set with Morgan’s Kovacs series, Mieville’s and Vandermeer’s weird fantasy, Alaistair Reynold’s Revelation Space series, Ian Mcdonald’s emergent economy novels, and Paolo Bacigalupi’s Windup Girl. In this context I must mention my joy at reading Hurley’s debut. Disgusting, disorienting, morally very troubling and inventive and filled with strong characters she is doing for noir infused science fiction what Abercrombie is doing for high fantasy, dragging into a filthy alley and producing the coolest, wickedest and damn fun you can find on a book shelf. ...more
Newton’s Nights of Villjamur was a somber moody success, almost like a fantasy novel that read like a Scandinavian crime novel. The second entry is loNewton’s Nights of Villjamur was a somber moody success, almost like a fantasy novel that read like a Scandinavian crime novel. The second entry is louder, more packed with grotesquerie and invention, and more emotional. Gang wars, bizarre technology, dystopian politics, inter-dimensional war, weird ancient technology, mutant animal/human hybrids, religious fanaticism, homophobia, and vampires are packed in with the somber mood retained from the first book, in this wonderful revitalization of the dying earth sub-genre. The plot tears you from grim set piece and danger to another and then all stops are pulled out are the apocalyptic siege of the city of Villiren. Brutal, relentless, and thunderous this is breathless reading. City of Ruin is a very impressive second entry in this series....more
The pop energy of vintage cyberpunk brought to the tropes of Urban Fantasy. Urban fiction is my preferred choice, but urban fantasy with its use of myThe pop energy of vintage cyberpunk brought to the tropes of Urban Fantasy. Urban fiction is my preferred choice, but urban fantasy with its use of mythic themes and gritty modern life rarely works for me (too wish fulfillment or something), but author’s pop sense, bloody South African noir, third world angst, and wit, redeems this tired form. ...more
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