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Re-reading some of my old posts reminded me how much I enjoyed the Horror Novel thread on Creature Corner. I read at an alarmingly fast rate, and can post mini reviews here with some frequency. All are welcome to join in as well w/ opinions, questions, or reviews of your own. perhaps Rob can sticky this, and we can use it to post blurbs about books that might not merit a thread of their own?
I expect most of the reviews I'll be psoting will be of horror books, since that's what I like to read the most. But since Creature Corner is no more [bows head, hat over heart, for a moment of respectful silence], I see no reason to restrict it to that genre.
So let's get started, shall we? First, let me say a few eords about the last book I wrote a CHUD review for, but which never got posted: "Sins of the Sirens". It was a collection of 16 tales by 4 female authors. As the name implies, they all have something to do w/ a female protagonist or character in the role of temptress. Not every story in it was great (a few were kind of predictable, one I can think of seemed weirdly structured, in that parts of it felt really tacked on, as if it was badly edited), but some of them were damned fine. I liked the stuff by Mehitobel Wilson so much, I went out and bought her short story collection "Dangerous Red", and will be reading & reviewing it soon. Seeing the names of any of the 4 authors who contributed to this volume's names on the cover or table of contents of an anthology will make me more likely to buy it. One of these stories I had read before, in "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror", a truly worthy series in its own right, so I'm apparently not the only one who thinks these ladies got chops. Considering what shit Alex was usually sent by the publishers to have me review, this was a breath of fresh air, and it's a real shame the full review never saw the light of day. Highly recommended.
Finished "Under the Dome" a few weeks ago. Like all King novels, it was a compelling read because his style is just so damned readable. But it was far from his best work. Some interesting characters, particularly the main villain & main hero, but he got a little carried away, I think, with the villain's shenanigans. Making hm a corrupt politician would probably have been enough, but King goes it one better, and I think he overreached himself a bit. I also find it hard to believe that society would collapse as quickly as this town did in so short a time. The ending kind of reminded me of something Niven or, probably more to the point, Harlan Ellison would write. Not a bad thing to imitate, certainly, but you do get a kind of "been there, done that" feel. Am I the only one who thinks so? I know some of you must have read this. What'd you think?
"Inferno", an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow. Datlow is well known for editing "The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror" annual collection. I don't collect that one like I do the Mammoth Books, but I know of them, and they are reportedly very good. The stories in here were of above average quality (although I admit I didn't get one or two of them). One made its way into the "Mammoth Book of Best New Horror", so again I'm apparently not the only one who thnks this is good stuff. And last but certainly not least, there's a story by Glenn Hirshberg in it, and I've been a fan of his since Alex gave me a copy of his "American Morons" collection to review. Bonus! Also highly recommended.
I expect most of the reviews I'll be psoting will be of horror books, since that's what I like to read the most. But since Creature Corner is no more [bows head, hat over heart, for a moment of respectful silence], I see no reason to restrict it to that genre.
So let's get started, shall we? First, let me say a few eords about the last book I wrote a CHUD review for, but which never got posted: "Sins of the Sirens". It was a collection of 16 tales by 4 female authors. As the name implies, they all have something to do w/ a female protagonist or character in the role of temptress. Not every story in it was great (a few were kind of predictable, one I can think of seemed weirdly structured, in that parts of it felt really tacked on, as if it was badly edited), but some of them were damned fine. I liked the stuff by Mehitobel Wilson so much, I went out and bought her short story collection "Dangerous Red", and will be reading & reviewing it soon. Seeing the names of any of the 4 authors who contributed to this volume's names on the cover or table of contents of an anthology will make me more likely to buy it. One of these stories I had read before, in "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror", a truly worthy series in its own right, so I'm apparently not the only one who thinks these ladies got chops. Considering what shit Alex was usually sent by the publishers to have me review, this was a breath of fresh air, and it's a real shame the full review never saw the light of day. Highly recommended.
Finished "Under the Dome" a few weeks ago. Like all King novels, it was a compelling read because his style is just so damned readable. But it was far from his best work. Some interesting characters, particularly the main villain & main hero, but he got a little carried away, I think, with the villain's shenanigans. Making hm a corrupt politician would probably have been enough, but King goes it one better, and I think he overreached himself a bit. I also find it hard to believe that society would collapse as quickly as this town did in so short a time. The ending kind of reminded me of something Niven or, probably more to the point, Harlan Ellison would write. Not a bad thing to imitate, certainly, but you do get a kind of "been there, done that" feel. Am I the only one who thinks so? I know some of you must have read this. What'd you think?
"Inferno", an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow. Datlow is well known for editing "The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror" annual collection. I don't collect that one like I do the Mammoth Books, but I know of them, and they are reportedly very good. The stories in here were of above average quality (although I admit I didn't get one or two of them). One made its way into the "Mammoth Book of Best New Horror", so again I'm apparently not the only one who thnks this is good stuff. And last but certainly not least, there's a story by Glenn Hirshberg in it, and I've been a fan of his since Alex gave me a copy of his "American Morons" collection to review. Bonus! Also highly recommended.
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