So it turns out Chapters has the first volume of the "Merkabah Rider" series.
...
...in the YA section??
So it turns out Chapters has the first volume of the "Merkabah Rider" series.
...
...in the YA section??
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
It's more of a children's book, especially the episode about the fallen angels performing abortions to use the fetuses as demonic soldiers.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Chasing the Dragon, by Nicholas Kaufmann
What a spectacular book. Chasing the Dragon is exactly the kind of thing that's really popular right now. It's an urban fantasy, a modern update to the myth of St. George and the Dragon. It's about a girl who fights monsters. And, it uses the problem of drug addiction in an interesting and meaningful manner. It's topical and kind of angsty; it's a perfect mixture of horror and action.
However, what makes this completely unlike so many other modern urban fantasies is that it is a 130 page standalone novella. Nicholas Kaufmann does in a fraction of the time what many other others take an entire series to do. I was thoroughly impressed with Kaufmann's skill. Through succinct language and brevity he sets up a world using established mythologies, an interesting character with real feelings and motivations, and a villain that, while mythological, makes sense in context with the narrative.
I will definitely be checking out more from this author, and I can't recommend this enough. Just pick it up.
Meat puppets make me think of these guys, not zombies. :P
In SF, the term dates back to a Le Guin story in the late '70s, and then of course Gibson used it in Neuromancer.
I don't think I did anything there.
Did I?
:|
The Thief of Broken Toys, by Tim Lebbon
The Thief of Broken Toys is a very small and personal story about a man dealing with the death of his son and his broken marriage. It is a tad overly-sentimental, but what do you expect with that premise? There is a a supernatural angle to the story, but it never feels fully explored or utilized. It's as if Lebbon is afraid to really dive into the depths of that part of the narrative; it feels more like he was trying to write a mainstream prize-winning novella, and not a great genre novel.
It is well written, and there are some great moments. I never felt fully invested in the main character's life, and I wanted more of the supernatural because the idea that Lebbon presents is neat.
Took the day off today to take care of some business, and stopped by a book store (of course). Picked up:
Synthesis & Other Virtual Realities (Arkham House), by Mary Rosenblum
The Dream Master, by Zelazny
Sleepwalker, by Michael Cadnum
Best of Weird Tales (Barnes & Nobles), ed. John Betancourt
Weird Tales, ed. Marvin Kaya
Kwaidan, by Lafcadio Hearn - this is a beautiful newer edition. Full color, glossy paper throughout, with what must be a few dozen Edo period woodblock prints. Just a nice looking book all around.
Tim Lebbon's "Berserk" has some genuinely chilling moments.
It's nothing brilliant, but it's a very quick read. I'd recommend checking it out if you're ever looking for a quick, creepy read.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I might be done with Lebbon. Read a few things from him now, and none of them have done much for me. There are plenty of other authors out there to be read.
Fine.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
2011 Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Awards
Winner: A Dark Matter by Peter Straub
Superior Achievement in a First Novel (tie)
Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge
Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Invisible Fences by Norman Prentiss
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
The Folding Man by Joe R. Lansdale
More: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/06/201...-award-winners
I recently ordered the anthology with that Lansdale story.
***
"The Space-Eaters," by Frank Belknap Long
This is one of my favorite all-time weird tales, and not because of its creep nature or imaginative story. While it has those things, the reason why I love it so much is its wicked sense of humor. I think this is a trait that separated Long from many of the others in the Lovecraft circle, especially HPL himself. While HPL could often be ultra-serious, to a fault, Long was often funny. And in this story, he actually makes fun of that very thing. The main characters in the story are Long (it's from his POV) and HPL, and for pages HPL goes on a tirade about how insufferable most horror fiction is, and about how simple minded most people are. Long really paints him as an incurable douche-bag, and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that true. Long's character in the story takes HPL's ranting in stride, humoring him and, it seems, putting up with him.
H.P. Lovecraft had quite a sense of humor in his stories, I thought.
But yes, I gather he was a rather strange individual.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Maybe I just don't get the humor. Like in Duke Nukem Forever.
I do believe there is a painting out there of Lovecraft receiving oralsex from twin nympho cheerleaders.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I'm alternating stories between the Long book and this:
This is my first experience with Merritt, and it won't be my last. The title story is a fantastic pulp-style adventure. While it suffers from some of the Orientalism of the period, and the fascination with the strangeness of the other, it doesn't feel as mean-spirited as some of the other pulp stuff. At one time Merritt was considered one of the masters of fantasy, but for some reason his name has fallen out of favor over the decades. I recently purchased around ten titles, and I'm really looking forward to getting into him.
I'm really interested in reading more from George MacDonald. As one of the founding fathers of modern fantasy, he was a great inspiration to C.S. Lewis and Tolkien.
For one thing, he looked damn cool:
And he was also a Christian minister and theologian. He was kicked out of his own church for being too liberal. He rejected much of Calvinism, and used many of his fantasy stories to explore his theological theories.
So yeah, really looking forward to reading his fantasy and his works of theology. Should be awesome.
A couple from Merritt:
"The Fox Woman"
While this may not have been the best story to kick off my time spent with Merritt, it was still a really fun read. It is a tale of revenge with a supernatural angle, steeped in the kind of Orientalism and 'fear of the other' typical to these kinds of pulp stories. However, it doesn't feel quite as mean-spirited as some of the other classic pulp tales written by authors like Howard or Lovecraft. The Orientalism here feels more like an affected narrative choice, or a call back to an era used for effect. This long short story does feel a little incomplete, and I wonder if it was actually going to be the beginnings of a novella; the book was published after Merritt's death, so that would make sense.
I've never really understood the practice of publishing story fragments and unfinished work. Either hire a writer to finish the tale, or keep it unpublished. Actually, the internet is now a great place to publish such stories.
*****
"The People of the Pit"
This early (1917) short horror story is excellent. Typical to the pulp traditions, it is about a group of white explorers exploring - looking for gold, those greedy bastards! - where they don't belong. They discover a crawling, disfigured man who tells them about his ordeal as a captive of the titular people. This tale is genuinely creepy, and Merritt describes things in an ornate manner creating a haunting atmosphere of dread and fear. Highly recommended.
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