Nancy's comments

Nancy's comments from the Great Novellas group.

Note: Nancy is no longer a member of this group.

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson was excellent. It is an adventure story with some horror and sci-fi elements that never felt dated to me. It was also a very thoughtful story about what it means to be a man and a human.

Jerrod wrote: "x3 by Gary A Braunbeck was good. Three Sci-Fi tales all regarding some form of time travel. I would have rated it higher but I felt that he should have put another story or two; it ..."

I loved Gary Braunbeck's In Silent Graves. It was one of the most thoughtful horror/dark fantasy stories I've read recently. I've yet to read his shorter works.

I just ordered the collection and have a couple of library books to get through.

When were you thinking of starting the discussion? Late February should work well for me.

Tim Lebbon's four novellas are also worth checking out:

Fears Unnamed

And Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain is beautiful and heartbreaking. I've yet to see the film.

D_Davis wrote: "One of my favorite new-found horror authors, Kealan Patrick Burke, has decided to release some of his early novellas as free downloads:

http://www.kealanpatrickburke.com/Free_F...

I haven'..."

Oh, goody! I'll have to read "The Turtle Boy" online so my signed edition can stay pristine.

Another favorite is Paul Di Filippo's A Year in the Linear City. I loved the description of the city, the characters and the sheer imagination and originality of this story. The style and bizarre setting reminds me a little of China Miéville or Jeff VanderMeer. On the downside, the story is short (a novella?) and doesn't explore the mysteries of this world in sufficient length.

This story can be found in a collection titled Cities, edited by Peter Crowther and featuring stories by China Miéville, Geoff Ryman and Michael Moorcock. You can also get an electronic version of DiFilippo's story at fictionwise.com.

If we are using Wikipedia's definition of a novella (100-199 pages), then this is just a little long at 224 pages.

There are a number of stunning illustrations by Brian Froud, so the story may come close to qualifying as a novella after all.

Something Rich and Strange, by Patricia McKillip is a beautiful, magical story about Megan, an artist, and Jonah, a shop owner, and the unusual characters they meet.

I read this story in one sitting and just as Jonah was lured to the sea by a beautiful voice, I was compelled to get in my car and drive to the beach on a miserable, rainy day.

This is not a fast-paced story. It is dreamlike, magical and enchanting. If you love the sea and all its treasures, you will be drawn in.