The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes (2008, William Morrow & Company)
It’s a rare thing to find something really different. While the story evokes Poe’s character of C. August Dupin, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, television’s Twin Peaks, and more, Jonathan Barnes' debut novel is truly something really different.
In turn-of-the-century London, aging stage magician and consulting detective Edward Moon has grown weary of spinning illusions night after night and longs for the good old days of evil criminal masterminds and derrings-do. Of course, as everyone knows, you should be careful of what you wish for.
From the giant, hairless, mute, milk-swilling, seemingly immortal eponymous character, to a man who lives life in reverse, to a bearded lady of the night, The Somnambulist never fails to deliver characters so interesting and “out there” as to border on the uncomfortable (in the absolute best sense of the word).
The story is delivered at an incredibly breakneck pace, with enough plot twists to make the average season of 24 seem utterly predictable. While this makes for a great story, it can, at times, be an almost exhausting read.
Barnes is an author to watch, and could easily become as gifted a storyteller as Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Clive Barker and others of that nebulous “modern fantasy” genre. If you’re a fan of early 20th century detective stories, old-fashioned pulp action, or just plain bizarre stories, you’ll want to pick up The Somnambulist.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Gods Behaving Badly
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips (2007, Little Brown & Company)
In Marie Phillip’s wonderful debut novel, the ancient Greek gods are alive but not so well in the 21st century. Having lost most of their power, their days are spent pursuing mundane careers; Artemis as a professional dog-walker, Apollo as a budding television psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, and so on. To top it all off, they are all living in incredibly close quarters in a run down house in northern London.
Phillips does an incredible job of translating many of the ancient myths (especially Orpheus and Euridyce) into a modern setting. Gods Behaving Badly is nearly impossible to set aside once you’ve started. With such a great story, and Phillip’s own background in television, it’s no surprise that the book was optioned for a television series (by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Production Company) before the book was even released here in the states.
Gods Behaving Badly is a book you should put near, of not at, the top of your “to read” list. Even those without an interest in mythology will have a great time.
Rating: 4 Stars
Author's Website
In Marie Phillip’s wonderful debut novel, the ancient Greek gods are alive but not so well in the 21st century. Having lost most of their power, their days are spent pursuing mundane careers; Artemis as a professional dog-walker, Apollo as a budding television psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, and so on. To top it all off, they are all living in incredibly close quarters in a run down house in northern London.
Phillips does an incredible job of translating many of the ancient myths (especially Orpheus and Euridyce) into a modern setting. Gods Behaving Badly is nearly impossible to set aside once you’ve started. With such a great story, and Phillip’s own background in television, it’s no surprise that the book was optioned for a television series (by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Production Company) before the book was even released here in the states.
Gods Behaving Badly is a book you should put near, of not at, the top of your “to read” list. Even those without an interest in mythology will have a great time.
Rating: 4 Stars
Author's Website
20th Century Ghosts
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (2007, William Morrow & Company)
This collection of Joe Hill’s short fiction is, in a word, incredible. A far cry from Heart Shaped Box, this collection shows off Hill’s writing talents in a number of genres, not just “horror.”
Oddly reminiscent of Karen Russell’s collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, all of Hill’s works have an almost visceral sentimentality to them. From the Godzilla-meets-Kafka “You Will Hear the Locust Sing,” to the winsome “Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead,” Hill’s talent shines through.
20th Century Ghosts is a must-read not only for fans of horror, but modern fiction readers in general. From the opening story “20th Century Ghost” to the crowning and epically creepy novella “Voluntarily Commital,” Hill will have you feeling exactly what he wants you to feel… and that is the sign of a true storyteller.
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
Author's Website
This collection of Joe Hill’s short fiction is, in a word, incredible. A far cry from Heart Shaped Box, this collection shows off Hill’s writing talents in a number of genres, not just “horror.”
Oddly reminiscent of Karen Russell’s collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, all of Hill’s works have an almost visceral sentimentality to them. From the Godzilla-meets-Kafka “You Will Hear the Locust Sing,” to the winsome “Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead,” Hill’s talent shines through.
20th Century Ghosts is a must-read not only for fans of horror, but modern fiction readers in general. From the opening story “20th Century Ghost” to the crowning and epically creepy novella “Voluntarily Commital,” Hill will have you feeling exactly what he wants you to feel… and that is the sign of a true storyteller.
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
Author's Website
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire
Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden (2007, Bantam Books)
Acclaimed writer and artist Mike Mignola (Hellboy) teams up with prolific horror and supernatural fiction author Christopher Golden for this wonderfully original vampire tale.
Set at the end of World War I, Baltimore is the story of three strangers, united only by their mutual acquaintance with Lord Henry Baltimore: a surgeon, a sailor, and an aristocrat. The men are summoned to an inn, and they spin their personal tales of terror to one another as they await the arrival of Baltimore himself.
Inspired heavily by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Baltimore is a well-crafted allegory of the long-term futility of war and the dehumanization that can come those who are in the trenches. The various stories that make up the books are excellently layered inside of other stories, and are tinged with an ample amount of Lovecraftian eeriness. Mignola also contributes numerous monochromatic illustrations to the story, enhancing the feel of the story.
Baltimore is a must-read for any fans of great horror tales, and a great way to wind up to the impending Halloween season.
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Acclaimed writer and artist Mike Mignola (Hellboy) teams up with prolific horror and supernatural fiction author Christopher Golden for this wonderfully original vampire tale.
Set at the end of World War I, Baltimore is the story of three strangers, united only by their mutual acquaintance with Lord Henry Baltimore: a surgeon, a sailor, and an aristocrat. The men are summoned to an inn, and they spin their personal tales of terror to one another as they await the arrival of Baltimore himself.
Inspired heavily by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Baltimore is a well-crafted allegory of the long-term futility of war and the dehumanization that can come those who are in the trenches. The various stories that make up the books are excellently layered inside of other stories, and are tinged with an ample amount of Lovecraftian eeriness. Mignola also contributes numerous monochromatic illustrations to the story, enhancing the feel of the story.
Baltimore is a must-read for any fans of great horror tales, and a great way to wind up to the impending Halloween season.
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Sunday, October 14, 2007
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith (2003, IDW Publishing)
Niles' and Templesmith's 30 Days of Night series of graphic novels eschews the romantic view of the vampire made popular largely by Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series, and brings them back to what they were for generations before: monsters. There is no doubt that the bloodsuckers of this series are anything other than evil.
30 Days is set in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost settlement in the United States, where the sun stays up for 30 days out of the year, and down for another 30. Something evil is coming to the sleepy little town, though. Something with sharp teeth and a hunger for blood and flesh...
Niles' quick and terse story is complimented by Templesmith's horrific and somewhat vague art. 30 Days of Night is exactly what any horror story should be: fast, bloody, and frighteningly disorienting. With the impending release of the film version of 30 Days of Night, you'll want to rush out and (ahem) sink your teeth into this one.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Illustrator's Website
Niles' and Templesmith's 30 Days of Night series of graphic novels eschews the romantic view of the vampire made popular largely by Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series, and brings them back to what they were for generations before: monsters. There is no doubt that the bloodsuckers of this series are anything other than evil.
30 Days is set in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost settlement in the United States, where the sun stays up for 30 days out of the year, and down for another 30. Something evil is coming to the sleepy little town, though. Something with sharp teeth and a hunger for blood and flesh...
Niles' quick and terse story is complimented by Templesmith's horrific and somewhat vague art. 30 Days of Night is exactly what any horror story should be: fast, bloody, and frighteningly disorienting. With the impending release of the film version of 30 Days of Night, you'll want to rush out and (ahem) sink your teeth into this one.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Illustrator's Website
The Book of Joby
The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari (2007, Tor Books)
Freelance illustrator Mark J. Ferrari makes his fiction debut with The Book of Joby, a hugely ambitious epic of modern fantasy. By turns hillarious and tear-jerking, the story mixes Arthurian legend with ages-old mythological archetypes (coming of age, the harrowing of hell, e.g.), reincarnation, and the religious philosophical debate of free will versus predestination.
God and the devil make the same pact they have made countless times before: will God's chosen champion renounce Him and turn to evil when all hope seems lost? This time, however, the stakes are nothing short of the entirety of creation. So it is that nine year old Joby Peterson is unknowingly chosen. The story follows Joby as his life becomes a never-ending cycle of crushing and tragic mediocracy.
The Book of Joby is a well-crafted example of modern fantasy, and an utterly absorbing read filled with well-imagined sympathetic and unsympathetic characters. Keep Ferrari's name on your list of new authors to watch for.
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
The Other Side of Silence
The Other Side of Silence by Natasha Mostert (2001, Hodder and Stoughton)
Natasha Mostert's books are wonderfully-woven tales of mixed psychological and supernatural suspense, and her second novel is no exception. The Other Side of Silence is the story of Tia Theron, a university professor in Johannesburg, and how she becomes embroilled in a plot to change the face of music, and possibly the face of humanity, forever. It's a little like Darwin's Radio meets Wuthering Heights with a techno soundtrack.
Like Mostert's other works, this book is filled with tension, obsession, and an almost cloying gothic atmosphere. The subject matter in this novel is a bit esoteric for the average reader, as the storyline centers around sound and scale theory as well as the idea of decentralized information processing, and is set in South Africa. Mostert, however, does a commendable job in giving enough background information that most readers won't feel completely lost. Her portrayal of Johannesburg, in particular, is on par with any of Gibson's gritty near-future cities.
While there are a couple of small and inconsequential inconsistancies, The Other Side of Silence is a gripping read.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
Natasha Mostert's books are wonderfully-woven tales of mixed psychological and supernatural suspense, and her second novel is no exception. The Other Side of Silence is the story of Tia Theron, a university professor in Johannesburg, and how she becomes embroilled in a plot to change the face of music, and possibly the face of humanity, forever. It's a little like Darwin's Radio meets Wuthering Heights with a techno soundtrack.
Like Mostert's other works, this book is filled with tension, obsession, and an almost cloying gothic atmosphere. The subject matter in this novel is a bit esoteric for the average reader, as the storyline centers around sound and scale theory as well as the idea of decentralized information processing, and is set in South Africa. Mostert, however, does a commendable job in giving enough background information that most readers won't feel completely lost. Her portrayal of Johannesburg, in particular, is on par with any of Gibson's gritty near-future cities.
While there are a couple of small and inconsequential inconsistancies, The Other Side of Silence is a gripping read.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Author's Website
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