Like all short story anthologies, it's a mixed bag. Some of the stories are pretty effective, and some are just sort of there.
Here's the big problem...moreLike all short story anthologies, it's a mixed bag. Some of the stories are pretty effective, and some are just sort of there.
Here's the big problem with the anthology: the editorial direction. Rather, the lack thereof. There's no identified editor on this collection, and it shows. What's the point of this book? The title is 666, but none of the stories have anything at all to do with the number 666, and few enough have anything remotely demonic in them. The stories themselves have no relation whatsoever to each other. I think it's supposed to be a generic horror collection, but not all of the stories actually try to be scary. So what's the point of this collection? Because there's no editorial direction, I don't know who to recommend it for. Hardcore horror fans? They'll stumble over the paranormal romance. Fans of paranormal romance will be grossed out by Christopher Pike's story, for example. And for a YA collection, there's a strange number of non-YA stories in here. If you have wide-ranging interests, or you're willing to wade through a lot of stories that won't interest you, there are some gems in here. But it's a lot of work to get to what you like.(less)
This is what a graphic novel should be: a great story, with great art that suits the story. It can be so hard to get everything to work together, but...moreThis is what a graphic novel should be: a great story, with great art that suits the story. It can be so hard to get everything to work together, but this was a true success. The main character, Anya, is very believable and very likeable. The suspense in the story builds so slowly, so expertly, that it kept me flipping pages as quickly as I could. And the art! It's simple, but it's perfect for the story. Expressive, believable, and so beautiful. One of the best new graphic novels I've read in ages.(less)
The unifying concept of this collection is that each story is supposed to be inspired by something written by Poe, a specific story or poem instead of...moreThe unifying concept of this collection is that each story is supposed to be inspired by something written by Poe, a specific story or poem instead of his style in general. I do feel a little bad about only giving this book two stars. There are 19 stories collected here, but only three that I enjoyed. But those three were really good.
The two best stories were, fittingly, the first and the last. Kim Newman's Illimitable Domain starts as a nostalgic tribute to the Vincent Price movies very, very loosely inspired by Poe, and slowly transforms into something else entirely. John Langan's Technicolor is, in a way, similar. It starts as one thing (a lecture in a lit class on The Masque of Red Death, which made me nostalgic for college). And I can say no more without spoilers, and saying that may be a spoiler itself. I also found myself enjoying Sharyn McCrumb's The Mountain House, to my shock. It's a NASCAR themed ghost story, and shockingly good. That I liked NASCAR themed anything is still surprising to me.
The rest of the stories aren't exactly good. They just weren't particularly interesting or memorable to me. (less)
I've seen at least one other person say that this book would appeal more to actual young adult readers of YA than adult readers of YA. I liked it well...moreI've seen at least one other person say that this book would appeal more to actual young adult readers of YA than adult readers of YA. I liked it well enough to finish it, but I did find my attention wandering a bit. There is some suspense in the story, provided entirely by the intensely creepy Uncle John. But there's just so much else going on that it's easy to forget about him for dozens of pages at a time. And in a fairly short (around 200 pages) book that's meant to be suspenseful, that's not really a good thing. It just seems like there's a lot going on here: there's the main plotline of Leo running away from her aunt and uncle's house because of her creepmonster uncle, and that's the good part. But there's also a secondary plot, and entire secondary cast of characters, about dealing with someone with a degenerating mental illness. I feel like that was a seperate book, and it didn't need to be in here. Like I said, it's a short book. I get the feeling that Mary was introduced solely to get Leo safely off the streets, without her having to deal with some of the more traumatic aspects of being a homeless teenager. But that's solved in another way later on anyways, so there was no real need of her or her subplot. There's also a subplot about Leo's dual heritage (she's half Chinese) and her attempts to connect with the Chinese side of her family. Difficult, because her Chinese grandparents had disowned her father when he took up with her mother. Like the mental illness subplot, this probably wasn't really necessary, but I actually liked it being in the book. It filled out Leo's character for me and made her more real. I just feel like more time should have been spent building the suspense surrounding Uncle Creep and less on Mary.(less)
Sunny's sister Jazz died in February. You can imagine her shock when she gets a letter from Jazz in the mail in May. You can also imagine her shock wh...moreSunny's sister Jazz died in February. You can imagine her shock when she gets a letter from Jazz in the mail in May. You can also imagine her shock when Jazz shows up and isn't the sister Sunny remembers.
I love Gail Giles, so it is kind of surprising that I never read this, one of her earliest books. It is a very, very short book, and an incredibly quick read. This doesn't give the suspense quite as much time to percolate as I would have liked. But the story itself takes place over a very short period of time. And I do so love reading a suspense novel with a heroine whose actions I can understand throughout.
The ending is ambiguous, to say the least. I like that. And it doesn't matter which way you take the ending, it's equally horrifying. This would've made for a good episode of The Twilight Zone, which for me is pretty high praise for a suspense story with a twist.(less)
Airships! Sky pirates! Strange creatures! Quite a bit going on here. Add in class issues and an adventurous young lady with scientific aspirations and...moreAirships! Sky pirates! Strange creatures! Quite a bit going on here. Add in class issues and an adventurous young lady with scientific aspirations and it more than fills 500 pages.
There's basically two storylines going on here. There's swashbuckling action against a group of sky pirates, and a quest to prove the existence of a strange creature, something like a gigantic bat. Our POV character is Matt Cruse, a poor young man born to fly on airships, but held back because he's essentially enlisted, and can't afford to go to the airship version of West Point. His partner in swashbuckling and scientific discovery both is Kate de Vries, who is wealthy, determined, and not exactly good at planning out the consequences of her actions. Later, they team up with Bruce Lunardi, the new member of the crew who got his position because daddy owns the airship.
The plot moves along at a good pace. A 500 page book without padding! A story that is given all the pages it needs! It's a marvelous thing. And the pirate captain makes quite an interesting villain. He doesn't show up much in person, but he makes an impact when he does. The strange creatures are also fascinating when they show up.
I mentioned class issues playing a part in the story. Matt wants to advance in rank on the airship, but he can't afford officer training. He should be able to work his way up through the ranks, but not if somebody else buys his position out from under him. Obviously, Matt is quite resentful of Bruce Lunardi, and he certainly has a right to it. After all, Bruce doesn't even really want to serve on airships, but he has to give it a shot if he wants to keep his access to daddy's money. Otherwise he might have to earn his own way in the world, and wouldn't that be horrible? Oddly, Matt, who as a teenager is not only earning his own way through the world, but helping to support his mother and sisters, is somewhat sympathetic. I am not.
Kate is also a very difficult character to like. She's incredibly reckless and thoughtless, and not just with her own safety. Granted, in the end her actions do pay off, but that's just luck. She's also blissfully blind to her own privilege, and that too never gets called out. Her response to Matt mentioning that he hasn't the money to get officer training can be summed up as, "Well, just get a scholarship!" It's cringe-inducing. It made her almost unlikeable to me, and I usually love spunky girls of a scientific bent. Maybe she'll mature in the later books.
I will be reading those later books, bricks that they are. I like airships, and I like Matt. I'd like to see what becomes of him.(less)
I've read a few things by Vivian Vande Velde before, and I was in the right mood for something nice and creepy. It's October! Time to roll out the sca...moreI've read a few things by Vivian Vande Velde before, and I was in the right mood for something nice and creepy. It's October! Time to roll out the scary books!
Sadly, I was a teensy bit disappointed. I was promised a chilled spine, and I rarely got it. Short story collections are almost always a mixed bag. No exception here! There were a few stories that were creepy, if not memorably so, and a few that fell flat.
The best of the lot were Morgan Roehmer's Boys (set in a haunted hayride!), Only on All Hallows' Eve, Best Friends (great mixed narration), I Want to Thank You (it's amazing what you can do in only two pages), When My Parents Come to Visit (darkly hilarious), and My Real Mother. The last story, Holding On, is remarkably good, but so far in tone from the others that it didn't really feel like it belonged.
MARIAN, Pretending, and When and How dragged on and were horribly predictable. The rest of the stories were largely forgettable, if not actually bad. Still, 7 good stories out of 13 makes for a pretty good batting average.
Thinking about it, I bet that this would have packed more of a punch when I was actually in the target age range. But as we get older, and read more, our tastes change and grow and it takes more to satsify. Even now, it makes a good early October read, and gives me an appetite for more.(less)
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