I grew up in Kansas. I left and haven't been back. Why? All the same reasons that Mark's protagonist loathes driving through the godforsaken boring em...moreI grew up in Kansas. I left and haven't been back. Why? All the same reasons that Mark's protagonist loathes driving through the godforsaken boring emptiness. I had no choice but to like this story after the first few pages were full of ways of insulting the vast emptiness of the Great Plains. Mark Souza evoked the monochromatic monotony of winter in Kansas perfectly.
The characters developed well, at least until The Trauma. I thought the female lead's arc seemed to vacillate a little oddly at that point, but the tension held until the end. A fantastic short story; I was able to knock this out in one cigarette break at work.
I'm looking forward to reading more of Mark's work.(less)
Brainycat's 5 Bs: [note that this score is for the first three chapters only] boobs: 0 blood: 0 bombs: 0 bondage: 0 blasphemy: 0 ...moreBrainycat's 5 Bs: [note that this score is for the first three chapters only] boobs: 0 blood: 0 bombs: 0 bondage: 0 blasphemy: 0
I gave this book three chapters before giving up. It's not badly written or edited, but it's... so very average. The style is very expository, with cliche'd characters rolling out their role's lines right on cue. The invasion of earth by some manner of extraterrestrials is beginning, but the lead character muddles around without any real interaction with his fiance, family or the events of the world - things happen, we hear about them through stilted dialogue and a couple of unimaginative descriptions, and then... I don't know what happens next, I gave up and started reading other things.
The author may have been trying to paint the main protagonist as a self-absorbed, not especially smart Average Joe much like Shaun from the movie Shaun of the Dead, but there was so little insight and the complete lack of incisive wit guarantees that kind of deadpan sarcasm won't work. Instead, the whole setup just seems foggy, ill conceived and not very fleshed out. I hope I just missed the point, rather than the author being lazy. There were a couple of lines that were supposed to be funny, but I have an odd sense of humor - I like very dry sarcasm and unexpected turns towards the macabre, so the jokes were totally lost on me.
This would be a great book for readers who don't expect to be challenged, or who are looking for some network tv grade filler to fill up a couple of hours.
This is a fun little collection of mostly forgettable...moreBrainycat's 5 Bs: blood: 5 boobs:5 bombs: 3 bondage: 4 blasphemy: 4
This is a fun little collection of mostly forgettable dark stories with adult themes. I wouldn't necessarily call them all 'erotic', as that's generally used for highbrow smut explicit and arousing sexuality, but all of these stories involve sexuality and relationships. The vast majority of the stories have explicit sex, and most are explicitly violent.
Two stories in particular stand out for me: Magna Mater by Cody Goodfellow and Tres Hermanas by Roberta Lannes. I'm looking forward to reading more of their work; their work showed by far the most depth and interesting arcs of the whole anthology. Magna Mater, in particular, showed the insight and originality that I've come to expect from Apex Magazine - which is very high praise, indeed.
The rest of the stories, while well written and well edited, didn't cover any new ground nor offered any new perspectives on sex, sexuality, relationships, the human condition, yada yada. Maybe I've read too much horror? Maybe there's only so many ways the 'woman scorned' can exact her revenge on her unfaithful lover? Maybe there's only so many ways to retell "The Monkey's Paw" using heteronormative masculine protagonists? Also, what is up with all the stories of possession? Sure, it's a great vehicle for some lurid sexual craziness but where are the questions of free will and are we always dooomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? All the usual horror tropes are trotted out in the twenty stories in this compilation, but only two of them go anywhere interesting. Ten percent. That's it.
I found this at amazon for five bucks, and the other digital editions in this series are each around ten bucks. I feel ten dollars is way too much for this anthology, and I'm trying to convince myself I didn't get ripped off at the five dollar pricepoint. Given the quality and imagination of material that can be had at other retailers (and without the encumbrance of unnecessary DRM or proprietary file formats) I recommend that fellow readers with jaded tastes either wait until these are steeply reduced and/or continue to look elsewhere(less)
Apex knocks it out of the park, again. Each issue is about US$3 so there's no reason not to download a DRM FREE copy from weightlessbooks.com and get ...moreApex knocks it out of the park, again. Each issue is about US$3 so there's no reason not to download a DRM FREE copy from weightlessbooks.com and get your fix of deeply thoughtful and deeply disturbing dark fiction, horror, and dark scifi.(less)
These stories describe breaking taboos that are not often crossed outside the horror genre. And they're crossed with skill, grace and aplomb. In short...moreThese stories describe breaking taboos that are not often crossed outside the horror genre. And they're crossed with skill, grace and aplomb. In short, this is a collection of very well written erotic shorts that walk that fine line between being too tame and being so explicit the story bogs down. They cover taboo scenarios with sensitivity and a curiosity about the nature of social boundaries, rather than for crude prurience or shock value. This content may not be for everyone, but for people interested in exploring these recesses of their psyches I know of no better map.(less)
After seeing some good reviews, I bought both of the books in this series. I read the first short in this volume and I'm not impressed. Perhaps I'm a ...moreAfter seeing some good reviews, I bought both of the books in this series. I read the first short in this volume and I'm not impressed. Perhaps I'm a snob, but I like my scifi to explore the intersections of technology and humanity, and cyberpunk is what happens when you throw both in a blender and tape down the "ice crush" button.
The story I finished reads like a gangster comicbook with some incidental cyberpunk buzzwords thrown in for window dressing. I found it droll and predictable, if at least fast paced. There was nothing in the lead character that made me care about him, which is hard to do because I'm usually a complete sucker for the antihero. Sure, he's a badass bad boy. But his dialogue isn't very snappy and he provides no interesting insight into his (or the broader) human condition.
That being said, the writing and editing are good at a technical level; it was not in the least painful or difficult to read. This could be a worthwhile series if the author were to raise interesting questions and play around with the characters until he's able to come up with some interesting answers.(less)
Proper review forthcoming. Definitely worth reading. Very graphic and explicit with a focus on the "becoming the monster that lives inside you"...moreProper review forthcoming. Definitely worth reading. Very graphic and explicit with a focus on the "becoming the monster that lives inside you" type of story.(less)
A very quick and easy read. Joel demonstrates a command of the language, and a very good understanding of his technique, but I finished this collectio...moreA very quick and easy read. Joel demonstrates a command of the language, and a very good understanding of his technique, but I finished this collection of shorts with a feeling that I'd missed the part about the end of the world. The stories are each well written and engaging in their own way, but none of them cover any territory or offer any insight that hasn't been gone over a bazillion times before. While each of the stories encompasses no small amount of tragedy for their protagonists, I didn't feel any sense immediate extinction or suprahuman judgment that I expected from the "Apocalypse" in the title.
On the other hand, it's a lot easier to plow through this book in an hour than the collected works of Kafka, so please don't get the impression that there's no redeeming qualities to this book. It's a solid collection, the price is right, and you can certainly do a lot worse with an hour and a half of your time that finish this.
A fun and lighthearted look at some of the history of the engineering around keeping mammals alive in space. While the author's interjections of her o...moreA fun and lighthearted look at some of the history of the engineering around keeping mammals alive in space. While the author's interjections of her own observations of the engineers and technology are insightful and funny, it felt like they were used as filler to make up for a gap in either knowledge or understanding of the complexities of the problems and solutions. An easy, quick read but not especially illuminating.(less)
Usually I like the first books in a series the best. In the Laundry series, Charles Stross has absolutely left the best for last. The ending wrapped u...moreUsually I like the first books in a series the best. In the Laundry series, Charles Stross has absolutely left the best for last. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but that's ok because one does not read this series for intensive navel-gazing, but rather tongue-in-cheek hardcore nerd humor mixed with the most ridiculously (im)plausible occult scenarios.(less)
I effin' love this book seri...moreBrainycat's 5 Bs (1-5, 5 highest):
boobs: 2
blood: 5
bombs: 5
bondage: 1
blasphemy: 5
I effin' love this book series. I could not put this book down. Sandman Slim is a fantastic antihero, and I put him into the same pantheon of awesomeness as Takeshi Kovacs. He's that troubled, conflicted, smarmy, quick-witted and lethal. This book is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny all the way through, both the cynical observations of human nature and the banter between the characters is classic. Kadrey did a superior job of blending the occult into the mundane Los Angeles, and does a good job of making sure the focus of the story doesn't get disappeared into extraneous details about one or the other.
Unfortunately, I don't have a very deep or broad understanding of the history of the noir genre, but I know enough to know that Kadrey has paid homage where homage is due and added his own punk rock sensibilities into the mix. A fantastic combination of the classic revenge story mixed with the Sam Spade-ish "kickin' a** and taking names" while trying to figure out exactly who's manipulating who while he tries to find the truth of his situation. This does not read like a mystery, though, as much as it reads as a thriller.
The pace of the book is impeccable, and I think with the right direction and judicious screenwriting it would translate well to the screen. It takes place in moden LA, and since Hollywood is really good at making movies about LA, it shouldn't be too hard to pull off. On one hand, the book never really challenged me like Great Literature, but on the other hand it never takes itself that seriously. It's just a rollicking good thriller infused with punk rock, Enochian biblical occultism and offhand references to pop culture. The first person narrative actually works well for a visual, expository experience - but the narrative doesn't get bogged down in unnecessary detail.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to fans of the occultish antihero type.
(less)
Oh thank god I finally finished this series. Books like this are why I should get help for my OCD, was there a deep rooted childhood trauma that my mind believes it can heal if I finish reading a series of books, even though the finale is as predictable as the sunrise and the characterization is as flat and lifeless as a squirrel in the middle of a freeway?
EDIT I'm knocking a star off of each of the books in this series. In retrospect, there's nothing in these books that stick with me. No interesting ideas or turns of phrase that warrant the effort of retention for repeating in front of a different audience to make me sound more intelligent than I really am. The best conversation I got out of these was with my wife, "The best way to enjoy the series is to stop after you finish the first one."(less)
Gritty and noirish, a cyberpunk novel that focuses on what happens in the gleaming towers of post-national corporations and leaves Gibson's "stre...moreGritty and noirish, a cyberpunk novel that focuses on what happens in the gleaming towers of post-national corporations and leaves Gibson's "street" to a vague, dirty "other place". Richard's command of his craft is clearly evident, making what would otherwise be another noir negative character arc engaging, lively and fun to read.(less)
Everything I said about The Hunger...moreBrainycat's 5 B's (1-5, 5 highest): boobs: 1 blood: 3 bombs: 2 bondage: 1 blasphemy: 1
Everything I said about The Hunger games holds true for Catching Fire as well, perhaps even more so. Except the part about the snappy pace. In short, it doesn't build on the foundation of Hunger Games, but instead coasts along on HG's efforts. Actually, it was rather forgettable, as many middle books in trilogies are. It's important for me to remember this is YA fiction, and shouldn't be held to the same standards of sex and violence I usually read.
EDIT I'm knocking a star off of each of the books in this series. In retrospect, there's nothing in these books that stick with me. No interesting ideas or turns of phrase that warrant the effort of retention for repeating in front of a different audience to make me sound more intelligent than I really am. The best conversation I got out of these was with my wife, "The best way to enjoy the series is to stop after you finish the first one."(less)
I agree with everything Maciek says about this book, but I'm going to be a little more gentle with my rating because it's self-described as a book for teens.
I'm the type of reader who's never complained about too much explicit violence and/or sex in a book. I went into this series expecting there to be little of either, given that it's aimed at the teen crowd. My predictions were correct. There's a lot of sappy angst that seems to go on and on, but as I recollect my years as a teen, they were sappy and full of angst and seemed to go on and on.
What I liked about this story is that the protagonist is a capable young woman, and the plot moves along briskly enough that while I didn't get very much visceral enjoyment from the story, I did enjoy the tactical plot developments. I liked enough that I read the rest of the series, anyway.
Also, my young cousins have all read the books and now I have something to talk to them about.
EDIT I'm knocking a star off of each of the books in this series. In retrospect, there's nothing in these books that stick with me. No interesting ideas or turns of phrase that warrant the effort of retention for repeating in front of a different audience to make me sound more intelligent than I really am. The best conversation I got out of these was with my wife, "The best way to enjoy the series is to stop after you finish the first one."(less)
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