Adrian Collins's Blog, page 216

REVIEW: The Nine by Terry Cloutier

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover. Yet that’s the precise reason why I picked up The Nine by indie Canadian novelist Terry Cloutier. The title is also reminiscent of Joe Abercrombie’s Bloody-Nine and after reading the many favourable Goodreads reviews I thought I’d give it a shot.

The Nine is a revenge romp, narrated by a dirt-poor peasant boy named Hadrack. As if being named Hadrack isn’t bad enough, the boy grows up in the school of hard knocks, losing his mother and two brothers at an early age. Hadrack also proceeds to lose his remaining family when nine henchmen of the local Lord Corwick put the inhabitants of his tiny village to the sword.

The poor little wretch is the sole survivor of this massacre and barely escapes it with his life before swearing vengeance upon the nine men who razed his village. However he soon finds himself eating roots and bugs in the wild instead. This miserable plight cannot last forever, so that our Hadrack soon finds himself drugged by a wandering pair of nasty slavers who sell him off to the unscrupulous master of a deep quarry which bears the inviting nickname of ‘Father’s Arse’. Hadrack spends years toiling deep in the earth, where he befriends a veteran soldier named Jebido and a runt named Baine. Jebido has all the smarts which Hadrack lacks and also spends years teaching the boy swordsmanship. His martial ability soon rubs off on the growing lad, who blossoms into a cold-hearted killer just to survive his hostile surrounds.

This should all prove satisfyingly bleak and grim fare for Grimdark fans, until the narrative unexpectedly pivots when the quarry is raided by the dreaded Piths. Previously referred to in passing as a bunch of savage Southrons, Cloutier’s evil and delightfully amoral Piths spark the novel back into life, mainly through the introduction of their salacious womenfolk. We’re also introduced to their twinkly eyed and rascally leader named Einhard, whose appearance introduces some desperately needed charisma and personality to the narrative.

The Piths are everything that the stoic, principled and monogamous Gandermen are not, with each one of them in non-monogamous relationships and shunning honest, miserable toil for the swift benefits of good old plunder. After assisting them to vanquish his Gander captors, Hadrack and friends join Einhard’s band, so that suddenly the whole scene is set for a fightback against the Gandermen and the naughty nine who wiped out Hadrack’s village.

However this is not before the Piths set about punishing their Gander prisoners from the quarry, which include the evil quarrymaster. The latter’s wife is subjected to a wicked punishment that will linger long in the memory. No pain is inflicted upon the poor woman, yet suffice to say that she is soon left feeling utterly winded from her exertions that leave a bunch of Pith warriors feeling very satisfied. In the days that follow, Hadrack proceeds to kill as many Gandermen as he can, when he’s not bedding Pith women who like him as much as he likes them. Einhard’s reasons for signing up Hadrack and his friends to his cause soon become apparent, when he eventually orders them to pose as Gander soldiers and help him take two enemy gatehouses.

Revenge romps are ten a penny and I think that it’s hard to keep them fresh and interesting if they don’t include some vivid new setting and engaging character development. Cloutier tries his best by entwining Hadrack’s desire for vengeance with what is essentially a carefully crafted Bildungsroman. The author can also evoke the odd poignant scene, like the one in which Hadrack’s father is killed. He also patiently describes his protagonist’s development down in the quarry, so that Hadrack’s evolution into a dangerous killer is plausible.

Especially since Cloutier spins his yarn using the first person past, a tense possessed of the usual advantages and disadvantages. For although we can see and smell Hadrack’s journey through his own eyes and ears, we are unable to enter the craniums of other characters. This perhaps makes the first half of the novel a bit drier than it should have been. That said, Cloutier’s name choices are solid enough, allowing him to present a credible world without many frills, which is inhabited by two cultures that are all too reminiscent of the medieval God-fearing feudal Europeans and the pagan raiding Viking parties. However this can often feel restrictive and the book could have used a third culture.

This is particularly so, since there is no magic or sorcery to add spice to what is a dirt-bound, grim fantasy world with bushwhacking and sword-swinging outbreaks of murderous violence thrown in for good measure. Cliffhangers and deus ex machina moments abound, which is to be expected in this kind of action adventure. The dialogue throughout is not overcooked, which is a common failing amongst even the most popular fantasy authors out there.

So all in all The Nine is a solid 3/5. Mainly due to the love and effort that Terry Cloutier put into this book, as well as his delightfully filthy Pith women who might yet tempt me to pick up its sequel The Wolf At Large.

Buy The Nine by Terry Cloutier

The post REVIEW: The Nine by Terry Cloutier appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Shadowrise by Tad Williams

Shadowrise smoothly picks up the action following the events that concluded Shadowplay. Princess Briony has revealed her true identity to the important players at the court in the Kingdom of Syan. Prince Barrick is still journeying in the Shadowlands burdened with the objective of taking Lady Porqupine’s mirror to the blind King of Qul-na-qar. King Olin is still a prisoner of the Autarch of Xis whose force is planning to descend on Southmarch. Daikonas Vo still holds Qinnitan as a prisoner with the aim of completing his assigned task of returning her to her husband, the Autarch. Also, Captain Ferras Vansen is in the company of the court physician Chaven and Chert in Funderling town after his miraculous transportation from behind the Shadowline. Yasammez and her Qar army are planning to resume the attacks on Southmarch as she wishes to finally put an end to humanity for the suffering they have caused to her family and her people.

“‘The world is a ball of dung and we are the worms that live in it and eat each other.’ He turned his back on her, pausing only to add: ‘The one who eats all the others wins – but he is still the last living worm in a lump of shit.’”

Shadowmarch was originally planned as a trilogy. I read that when writing the final entry, Tad Williams’ first draft came out at a huge 1500 pages so it was decided that it be split into two books. In similar fashion to Dust of Dreams from Malazan: Book of the Fallen, Shadowrise is the first part of what should be a huge novel. Like The Crippled God that followed Dust of Dreams, the final book in this series, Shadowheart, will complete this epic fantasy story. For me, Shadowrise is the weakest in the series so far, much as Dust of Dreams was in Malazan: Book of the Fallen and for many of the same reason. It is obviously part of a giant novel, being less exciting as a book in isolation, not having a real ending but just steadily moving the tale on, it’s extremely drawn out in sections, very occasionally even pretty dull, yet it is slowly building up for what I hope will be an extremely stunning finale.

An aspect that I really like in this series is when characters ask themselves questions regarding what their relatives or friends are up to. For example, when Briony thinks “where was her father? Was Olin even alive?” and my brain will shout out in joy that it knows the answer, and that builds up the drama, and poses questions of what will happen when/ if they are united. I’m sure some of the scenes when characters will be reunited in Shadowheart are going to be monumentally emotional and extremely powerful.

“But of all the unusual feelings that swept through him as he walked this first time in the House of the People, the strangest was that Barrick Eddon felt as if he had at last, after a lifetime of exile, come home.“

I find Prince Barrick’s tale the most interesting to follow and I was not disappointed with where it led at the novel’s finale. I really enjoy Ferras Vansen’s point of view chapters too, especially now he spends a lot of page time with the extremely likeable Funderling, Chert. Princess Briony’s sections are full of intense drama, political intrigue, shadowy characters, and betrayals that Robin Hobb would have been proud of writing. Qinnitan and Barrick’s dream-link is intriguing and I am extremely interested to find out more regarding how and why they are linked that way. The point of view perspectives of Matt Tinwright and Sister Utta did little more here than to explain what was going on in Southmarch’s walls and in the Qar camp respectively. The Gods are mentioned more frequently in Shadowrise too like they were in Shadowplay, and although they still sleep, I believe this key focus on the Gods stories will pay off in Shadowheart. Will the Gods finally walk the Earth again? Will they have scores to settle? What will be the place for the humans and the Qar if they do awaken?

It may seem that I have been pretty negative in this review but I still give Shadowrise a healthy rating. I’m extremely engaged and enraptured by the Shadowmarch series overall and I predict that Shadowheart will be nothing short of absolutely spectacular. If this review sounds rushed at all, it probably was as I wanted to finish typing quickly so that I could get straight back to reading Williams’ epic tale.

7/10
Buy Shadowrise by Tad Williams

The post REVIEW: Shadowrise by Tad Williams appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell

Now forgive me for this but BERNARD CORNWELL WRITING UHTRED IS SO DAMN GOOD. I really can’t express how good The Pagan Lord is or do it any justice, but I’ll give it a go.

“Five things make a man happy,” I told him, “a good ship, a good sword, a good hound, a good horse, and a woman.”

“Not a good woman?” Finan asked, amused.

“They’re all good,” I said, “except when they’re not, and then they’re better than good.”

The Pagan Lord, Book 7 of the Saxon Chronicles is just over halfway in the saga. Some people say if you’ve read one Cornwell book then you’ve read them all but I will challenge each and every one of these people to a duel in the hazel rods with sword and shield. I cannot implore you enough to pick this series up. There is a mixture and tone here, of Bernard writing Uhtred and it is some of the greatest writing I’ve ever read. This is an author who really knows how to write a story and an author who really knows their characters inside and out. There is an issue in some historical fiction where authors feel the need to force some events but it comes naturally to Mr Cornwell.

“He was watching my eyes. A man who uses a sword with lethal skill always watches his opponent’s eyes.”

Now I’ll not go into the plot for fear of spoilers, but I will say the plot in The Pagan Lord is one of the most unique and original of the series. Things REALLY happen and it is intense, electrifying and brilliant. Cnut is a sublime antagonist, as is Uhtred’s uncle and some other characters that were so much fun. There are new enemies, new friends and most importantly, new shield walls.

“When those blades cut, they cause tears that feed the well of Urdr that lies beside the world tree, and the well gives the water that keeps Yggdrasil alive, and if Yggdrasil dies then the world dies, and so the well must be kept filled and for that there must be tears.”

Uhtred is 50 years old and a completely grey and grumpy old grizzled warrior who is feared, loved and respected in equal measures (just mostly feared within the clergy). I loved Uhtred as a young man finding him as relatable as is possible, but this old, savage Uhtred is just even better. His interaction with his sons is so much fun, and he and Finan are getting tired with the constant killing. It was a tonic to find Uhtred realising that he is slowing down and beginning to fear his younger enemies.

“The art of war,” I told him, “is to make the enemy do your bidding.”

The setting of 9th Century Britain is told extremely well, from the combat to the clothing on the characters’ backs, to the ship building and the landscapes. The dialogue is witty and The Pagan Lord really feels like a golden ticket here. I cannot wait to continue this series.

“Serpent-Breath was in my hand and anger in my soul.”

5/5 – There’s absolutely nothing I can say about The Pagan Lord that I didn’t like, I loved it all. Uhtred is a beast and this 7th story of the saga does not slow down. 5 Saxon shields out of 5.

Buy The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell

The post REVIEW: The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: The God Engines by John Scalzi

“It is time to whip a God,” John Scalzi wrote in this Hugo Award-nominated novella, The God Engines. The God Engines, is a lot of things. Dark and cruel, fantasy, horror, and religion all blended in a twisted story of power from a writer customarily known for his charm and humor. But this, this is Scalzi out of his usual comfort zone. There is no charm or humor in this story. This is him reaching into the darker parts of his storytelling ability and bringing forth the cruel and worm filled and serving it on a silver platter.

“Captain Ean Tephe entered the god chamber, small lacquered, filigreed chest in hand. He found blood on the deck, an acolyte spurting one and lying shivering on the other, and a god prostrate in its iron circle, its chains shortened in the circle floor… The God giggled into the iron its mouth was mashed into and flicked its tongue over red lips.”

It is time to whip a God. ― John Scalzi, The God Engines

There is one true God in this land. One God, above all others. He is attended to by the Bishopry, much like a church of believers. This God is nameless, and all the other gods must be defiled and abased below him. So much so that their abasement, and suffering, power the Bishopry ships. The ships are fueled by faith. Because above all things, religion and belief are what give a God the highest power. Ean Tephe is the captain of the Righteous, one of the Bishopry’s ships. His job is to control the God powering his ship and cower him.

“Tephe took the whip from the case, stood, and lashed hard into the God, the slivers of iron tearing into its flesh. The God screamed and kicked as far as its chain would allow. Godblood seeped from the gash.”- John Scalzi, The God Engines

But Gods are growing bold, fleet-wide. They are attacking and lashing out at their captors and are not cowering in fear as they once did. Tephe is summoned to the council and told of the true God’s plan on obtaining more faith. Faith can be found in the fires of a fresh convert.

You can see where the story is going.

Scalzi has crafted a story here that integrates faith and what religion is and how it is interpreted. Who is a god? Is a god one who has more power than another? Are humans Gods to ants? If you are looking at a deity, and consequently whipping them, what is faith then? It is an exciting thought. Maybe the “gods” are not gods, but other extraterrestrial beings, and this is a war for power, with humans as pawns. Scalzi touches on many of these in this tight novella. The plot moves at a brisk pace and keeps the reader engaged. I would have loved for this to have been written as a full novel, as backstory and dialog could be explored more. But as at stands, this is quite an engaging read. Well worth the nomination it received. It goes to show you that Scalzi is not a one-trick pony. He can write both the dark and light of fantasy.

Buy The God Engines by John Scalzi

The post REVIEW: The God Engines by John Scalzi appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Broken Angels by Richard K Morgan

Takeshi Kovacs is back in Broken Angels, this time leading the men and women of Carrera’s Wedge into a meat grinder battle on Sanction IV. And this time he’s fighting for the Protectorate (well, for a mercenary corporation hired by the Protectorate).

Broken Angels is set in a VietNam War-styled continental battle between the Protectorate and the rebel Kempists. Kovachs is part of a mercenary crew hired by the Protectorate to bolster its forces and put down the uprising. The Kempists were meant to be a three-month pushover, but with the war at a bloody stalemate, Kovacs runs into a man who offers an opportunity for riches and a needle cast off this blood soaked world—and Kovacs takes it.

Everything you love about the universe Morgan has created is in Broken Angels in spades. A high tech world where the rich get everything and the poor either suit up in other people’s tech and go to war to profit the rich or get trodden on. Useful soldiers are re-sleeved while the grunts are left to mentally rot in the silence of their stacks. Terrifying machines rip and vapourise flesh. The Protectorate pushes and then the Kempists, using outdated but no less brutal technology, push back or nuke the land in their retreating wake. In war, where innovation is key to killing your enemy just that little bit faster, Morgan excels in the detail, and he weaves it into the story so perfectly that you barely notice it’s there.

Kovacs is once again a brilliant voice driving the narrative, his Envoy abilities brilliantly described and woven into his character to deliver everything from philosophical thinking, brutal pragmatism, and darkly funny one liners. Tanya Wardani the archaeologue (fans of the Martian history backdrop to Altered Carbon will love her inclusion) and Kovachs’ crack team of re-sleeved spec-ops soldiers are another excellent group of secondary characters with plenty of drive and depth. There is a focus on the future state of PTSD in Broken Angels, more so than Altered Carbon, and it adds a harder edge to the cast.

As ever with Morgan, it’s hard to see the bad guys, and hard to dislike them (well, for me, anyway) once you identify them. I love reading his books because each character has perspective and drive and reason, and they are all the more engaging for it.

Broken Angels is a barnstorming, expansive sequel to Altered Carbon that takes the “book two woes” so many trilogies suffer and plants a combat boot on their face. Highly recommended and I cannot wait to read book 3.

Buy Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

The post REVIEW: Broken Angels by Richard K Morgan appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Shadowplay by Tad Williams

In Shadowplay, Prince Barrick and Captain Ferras Vansen find themselves behind the Shadowline. The young prince has been assigned a task by the Qar noblewoman Yasammez, although he doesn’t yet understand what it is. Elsewhere, upon realising the treason committed by the Tolly family to the crown of Southmarch, Princess Briony and the master-of-arms Shaso try to escape the city with the aid of the young Skimmer girl Ena.

“Let us hope for your sake that you did indeed sense some of Gyir’s thoughts, Captain Vansen. Because there are other things behind the Shadowline, as you doubtless already know, that you would not want crawling around in your head, or anywhere else on you.”

Qinnitan is finally free of the Autarch and has been residing for a month in the huge city of Hiersol as a washerwoman, whilst looking after her adopted brother, the mute boy Pigeon. Unbeknown to her, the Autarch is keen to reclaim her and has sent a mercenary spy to do his bidding. In addition to this, the Autarch, the God-on-Earth of Xis, is sending his gigantic war fleet to Hiersol as his first step into taking rule of all Eion.

The above mentioned are the main storylines that we follow but we also find out more about the court poet Matt Tinwright who is love-stricken, about the funderling Chert and the physician Chaven and how they intend to reclaim Chaven’s stolen mirror, and about a young nobel woman in Hiersol who becomes unlikely friends with the prisoner, King Olin.

Although Shadowplay is still a slow-burner, events progress more swiftly here than they did in the previous entry. We get to know the point of view players in more depth, travel to and see a vast amount of the detailed fantasy world, and are given much more information about the Gods. The latter is presented via segments at the beginning of chapters and through stories told by characters as part of the main narrative. This sheds more light on the Gods’ presence, or lack of, during current events. There are about four new point of view perspectives that are new to Shadowplay yet none of these, with the possible exception of Daikonas Vo, are yet as interesting as those that we followed previously.

There are some brilliant new characters in Shadowplay. Gyir the Storm Lantern has an exceptional role here and he’s become one of my favourite characters that I’ve read about in fantasy for some time. He’s a faceless, powerful, fairy-warrior (Qar) who hates humanity, (“sunlanders” as he refers to them), but an unlikely situation dictates that he becomes allies with two of the main players and they face some horrendous scenarios together. Another standout character is Skurn, the awesome, quite comedic talking raven. I have a soft spot for talking animals in fantasy so Skurn definitely ticks that box. Finally, the previously mentioned Daikonas Vo, who wins the respect of the Autarch in a warrior showdown, is an enticingly cunning, scheming and brutal character with many skills an assassin would kill for. (No pun intended.)

It is a welcome feeling too when likeable side characters from the previous entry return such as the rooftopper Beetledown, and Gil-the-pot-boy who I’m sure is far more important than has been revealed thus far.

There are a huge amount of standout moments in Shadowplay, far more than the first entry. A showdown versus a demigod, a dreamlike passage through another dimension, the unpredictable death of a major player, and the heroic death of another main character are just a handful of examples. Although less than a year has passed since the events presented at the beginning of Shadowmarch, so much has taken place.

“I’m tired of being lost and I’m tired of dying, so I’m going to try something different this time.”

At the novel’s finale, there are about eight different story arcs that are happening concurrently. I was extremely satisfied with the ending of the tales, especially Brionny’s, Qinnitan’s, Barrick’s, and Vansen’s. Some of the final moments were exciting and intense, others were unpredictable and surprising, but at the halfway point in the Shadowmarch saga, I am now completely engrossed. I am finding it impossible to get into any other novels at the moment as I am so gripped by, and invested in Williams’ world. I’m completely lost in this epic story like Prince Barrick is behind the Shadowline. Shadowplay is an excellent continuation of the epic, dark fantasy tale that started with Shadowmarch and I can’t see myself reading anything else until I’ve finished both Shadowrise and Shadowheart.

Artwork of Gyir the Storm Lantern is by Eternal-Salvation.

Check out my review for Shadowmarch here.

9/10

Buy Shadowplay by Tad Williams

The post REVIEW: Shadowplay by Tad Williams appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

ARTICLE: Black Christmas (1974) vs Black Christmas (2019)

Horror movies and fiction are the twin sister of grimdark just the way fantasy is its father. As such, Grimdark Magazine is going to be providing a review of classic horror movies as well as novels to share in shared DNA. This is the perfect place to share my opinion of the remake of 2019 Black Christmas as compared to the original 1974 classic. Many individuals have torn down the remake on various grounds ranging from politics to cheap production budget, but I intend to give both movies a fair shake. I won’t lie, though, since one of the films is arguably one of the greatest slasher movies of all time–its remake will be facing stiff competition.

The premise of the original Black Christmas is based on a popular urban legend about the massacre of babysitters by an escaped mental patient. The same one that inspired Halloween in 1978. The story was updated to take place, instead, in a sorority house filled with a collection of hard partying young women. Cinema fans will immediately recognize Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet), Margot Kidder (Superman), Keir Duella (2001: A Space Odyssey), Andrea Martin (too many comedies to list), and John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) among the cast.

The sorority house has been receiving a series of obscene phone calls from an unknown caller that they finally grow sick of enough to call out the man on the other line regarding. This results in one of the young women, Clare Harrison, being murdered in the upstairs of the sorority house before her body is stored in the attic. The rest of the movie deals with the unknown caller, possibly named Billy, stalking our protagonists as they desperately search for their missing (but already dead) friend.

Famously, there’s also a surprising subplot about the fact that Jess (Olivia Hussey) is breaking up with her boyfriend over the latter’s refusal to respect that she wants to get an abortion rather than get married. A controversial topic today let alone in 1974 when Roe vs. Wade happened just the year before. Mind you, this was a Canadian film so a little less controversial there despite being set in the USA.

Due to the fact most popular slasher tropes hadn’t been codified yet, much of the film feels like it lives in defiance of them. The stars of the film are its female cast of characters rather than the slasher himself, who remains an enigmatic and off-screen presence except for a single eyeball and his frequent calls. Most of the women are hard partying and explicitly sexually active while the most virginal is the first to die in defiance of genre convention. There’s certainly a Final Girl character but her ability to stand up against the killer is almost cruelly subverted at every turn.

The remake of Black Christmas in 2019 isn’t the first remake, which happened in 2006, but we’re not going to cover that one. It is notable for having a dramatically different plot than the original movie to the point that it might even be considered a different film. Directed by Sophia Takal, and written by Takal and April Wolfe, it has been described as a feminist reinterpretation of the original.

In this one, Riley (Imogen Poots), is a victim of sexual assault on campus by a member of the AKO Fraternity. After blasting her rapist, Brian (Ryan McIntyre), during a school play, she discovers her sorority is now under attack by several robed occultists. The fraternity was founded a century ago by an evil wizard plantation owner who has passed down a magical ooze that allows it to turn pledges into mind-controlled misogynist serial killers. Our protagonists end up fighting off a small army of bad guy cultists while losing several members.

The two storylines are significantly different as can be inferred by their plot summaries. The original Black Christmas has a single killer using stealth and terror to slowly pick off women one by one. The remake’s killers are many murderers that attack out in the open while wearing elaborate costumes. The fact Billy is a misogynist psychopath whose origins remain nebulous makes him a more “realistic” threat than the weird occult villains of the second.

The creators of the second movie emphasize its feminism but I think the first one is quite feminist in its own right. The protagonists are all liberated and independent women. They are also deeply involved in each other’s lives. When Clare disappears, the young women of the sorority spend much of the next day scouring the campus and surrounding area for her. They visit the police and lean on each other as it becomes increasingly clear that they are never going to see her alive again.

The remake suffers from the fact that one of their friends is murdered at the start of the movie in an elaborate chase scene (contrasting to the quick plastic bag execution of Clare) only to have none of the women notice for most of the film. Her disappearance is not worth commenting on and more attention is (perhaps understandably) given to dealing with Riley’s trauma. I feel this makes the sorority sisters of the 2019 movie feel less supportive of each other and, ironically, less feminist.

Both movies star misogynist villains with Billy being a terrifying looming presence. He is never defined, and we never get a good insight into either his motivations or reasoning. Billy’s phone calls give us some clues that he’s motivated by a hatred of women, though. The AKO Fraternity is much more overt in their misogyny, drawing literal strength from their racist and sexist founder via sorcery. I find Billy to be the more terrifying, personally, being more grounded despite addressing issues like rape culture.

The endings are really the area where the two movies diverge the most. Here’s a SPOILER WARNING if you want to avoid discussion of this. Skip this paragraph. The original Black Christmas ends with Jesse killing her boyfriend Peter (Keir Duella) under the mistaken impression that he was the serial killer. The police give her a sedative and leave her in the sorority alone, Billy still present and likely to murder her. It’s a bleak nihilistic ending that is more powerful for how tragic it all is. The recap ends with the extermination of the AKO Fraternity as its members are locked in their fraternity and burned to death. Evil is punished, perhaps excessively so since the the fraternity pledges are mind-controlled rather than misogynists of their own free will.

Acting-wise, I’m sorry but I’m going to have it all to the original. Margot Kidder’s Barb is a delightful character that is entertaining in every scene she’s in. Olivia Hussey’s Jesse is also a delightful, showing gentleness and vulnerability that doesn’t diminish her inner strength. Keir Duella’s Peter shows just enough controlling and violent behavior to make him a possible suspect in the murders even as you could also view him as someone with very specific ideas about how a man is supposed to act in the event of a surprise pregnancy. Ideas that he hasn’t bothered to check to see if his girlfriend wants or supports (or if she even likes him that much).

Imogen Poots does a fine job as Riley and I enjoyed her friend Aleyse Shannon’s Kris as well. Unfortunately, I feel their characters feel a good deal more stereotypical (or archetypal if you want to be kind) with them feeling like they belong in a much more typical slasher movie. Cary Elwes has experience in these types of films from his stint in the Saw franchise but he comes off as a one- note stereotype. Ryan McIntyre’s Brian Huntley also is just “rapist jock” and lacks any additional layers (not that such a character particularly needs them).

In short, I’m going to state that the original Black Christmas remains the undisputed winner in all categories. This isn’t to say the 2019 remake is particularly awful, though. I think it’s entertaining in the way B-slasher movies should be. The plot is silly and over-the-top with its own charm. It just doesn’t have the strength, believability, or scares that the original possessed. I believed in the sorority sisters of the 1974 version and would want to hang with them. The 2019 version feels like a movie set about sorority sisters that are played by actresses. In short: Black Christmas (1974) is Halloween (1978), Black Christmas (2019) is Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

The post ARTICLE: Black Christmas (1974) vs Black Christmas (2019) appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

MOVIE REVIEW: All Hail The Popcorn King

All Hail the Popcorn King, a documentary about Joe R. Lansdale directed by Hansi Oppenheimer, was intriguing to me as a fan of horror and western fiction and movies of all types. Though I haven’t read a lot of Lansdale’s work, he’s a name I’ve been seeing in anthologies for years as I’ve made my way through the different genres. It didn’t seem to matter which one I was getting into, Joe’s stories seemed to be there. And they’ve always seemed to be among the best in the book.

Aside from assorted stories here and there over the years, the only book I’ve read cover to cover from Lansdale was Driving to Geronimo’s Grave, and Other Stories, which I reviewed in 2018 for NetGalley and Subterranean Press. That review can be found here.

There I found a wild assortment of material, from Great Depression fiction to Western stories and the occasional dip into science fiction. I could see that Lansdale didn’t seem to stick to any one genre. That’s a fact that is emphasized in this documentary, where “Joe Lansdale is a genre unto himself”. They stress how Lansdale does not pigeonhole himself into any one area but writes what needs to be written to make the story work for itself.

The tone of the documentary grabbed me right from the start, with the Western/country theme music and the Texas old town mystique. It turns out that Joe’s daughter Kasey did the original music for this documentary, and she’s quite good as an artist herself, adding to the mystique of her father’s career. She reminds us that her father is the “best known unknown author”.

Though Lansdale’s career can’t be covered in depth in one hour, this one does a pretty good job of giving us a snapshot. Major works covered here were the Hap & Leonard series, Bubba Ho-Tep, and Cold in July. Quite a variety of people are interviewed from different walks of entertainment life, such as Joe Hill, Chuck Wiser, Bruce Campbell, Christopher Golden, Amber Benson, and Mick Garris.

We also got quite the interesting tale about how The Drive In was created and written. We hear about how Joe’s wife Karen made this incredible popcorn based in lard that Joe describes as “greasiest least healthy popcorn ever made in the universe with Kroger grease”. As a result of eating that stuff, Joe would endure what he called “popcorn dreams”, which would bring him the strange imagery and things of nightmares that made their way to the narrative. As Joe describes the story that follows, it shows “the need to believe in the face of facts that tell you otherwise”.

Joe mentions his upcoming novel, Big Lizard, that he’s co-writing with his son Keith, who says of his dad, “the stuff that sounds the most ludicrous is the usually the accurate thing when it comes to Dad”.

The parts with actor Bruce Campbell were the most entertaining, as Bruce talks about working with Joe on the movie version of Bubba Ho-Tep. “…even Elvis Presley could be forgotten in an old rest home, with cancer on his penis…” He talks of how after filming that, they’d become family friends which they’ve remained to this day. Campbell also talks of how genuine Lansdale is, “Joe can actually kick somebody’s ass…” Bruce Campbell says “…how many writers can take you out?” Here he’s talking about how impressed with he is at Lansdale’s extensive martial arts knowledge, which gives him an air of true authenticity when using this stuff in his writing.

Whether he’s telling a story of two friends in Texas that share a common ground despite being from different walks of life, or a tale inspired by water moccasins and lard soaked popcorn, Lansdale always keeps it interesting and unique, with a flavor of the authentic.

As Christopher Golden says, “I know lots of writers that are full of shit…but joe is a no bullshit guy”. As fanciful and outlandish as Lansdale’s stories get, he stays real in the heart of the narrative and this is what keeps his stories going and readers wanting more.

I found myself drawn in to All Hail the Popcorn King right away, as the music set the tone within seconds of hitting “play”. From the start, we become immersed in Lansdale’s hometown in East Texas, and the documentary keeps that feeling throughout. I found it engaging as it was comfortable, giving me the feeling that his stories are derived from the place that a “regular guy” would come from. It gives the viewer a taste of what it would be like to actually read one of Lansdale’s books, and made me want to rush out and start collecting them.

This makes for a five-star rating for the documentary itself, with great potential for lots of stars in the near future after picking up several Lansdale novels and collections. I know that I will certainly be adding more Lansdale to my to-read pile after watching All Hail the Popcorn King, and I might even try to find some greasy popcorn to eat while reading.

The post MOVIE REVIEW: All Hail The Popcorn King appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

Shadowmarch is a slow-burning fantasy epic with fine world-building, interesting characters, and large amounts of political intrigue. It is mostly the groundwork that is set here of what I don’t doubt will be a phenomenal series. Introducing the players, the factions, the warring nations, and a potential threat from the fabled Qar, the Twilight People.

It’s a traditional high fantasy series that will appeal to fans of Robin Hobb’s The Farseer Trilogy, John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen, and Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea Trilogy. The Qar are similar to The Others from A Song of Ice and Fire. Whereas White Walkers dwell behind The Wall, The Twilight People reside behind the Shadowline. Humanity pushed them back to The Twilight Lands yet after hundreds of years the Qar have decided that they wish for their lands in Eion back. The closest of which is Southmarch.

“Most dreadful of all, as she lay with her shivering children on the cold ground just outside the murdered town, she could hear the destroyers of everything she had, and they were singing. Their voices were painfully lovely. Darkness claimed her then, but only for a while.“

The action in Shadowmarch mainly takes place in, or around Southmarch. The main characters we follow are the Royal twins Barrick and Briony. Their father, King Olin, has been kidnapped and taken to Hierosol and we follow how the twins behave, live and change during his absence. Barrick has a crippled arm and has morbid dreams where shadows haunt his residence. Briony is a young Princess who doesn’t wish to be treated like most the other girls, and has to learn how to cope in a man’s court where murder, deceit, and betrayal is often the order of the day. These were my two favourite viewpoints. Even in this first entry of the series they develop a fair amount whilst having the fate of Southmarch weighing on their shoulders.

Other point of view perspectives in Southmarch are those of Captain Ferras Vansen, the poet Matty Timwright, and the funderling Chert. Funderlings are this world’s equivalent of dwarves and Chert’s tale was one of my favourites to follow. Towards the beginning he finds a young child abandoned, only just on the human side of the Shadowline, and takes him in as his foster son. The child is extremely mysterious but likeable, and there is no doubt that he is extremely important to the overall narrative.

“‘But he came . . . he came from . . .’ Chert looked at the boy, who was sucking his fingers and examining the landscape. He lowered his voice. ‘He came from the other side.’”

The other main character that we follow is Qinnitan who is a Sister of the Hive. This is a religious organisation in Great Xis. Xis is ruled by the Autarch – the God-King – and he chooses Qinnitan as one of his wives. The Autarch is power-mad and has been invading the southern regions of Eoin with an intended aim of taking over the entire land. Qinnitan’s was the perspective I found least interesting and slightly dull but it gives us an insight into Xis which is completely unlike Southmarch. The conclusion of her tale here was actually pretty exciting and sets her story up to be really interesting in the forthcoming releases.

Unlike the White Walkers in A Song of Ice and Fire, the Twilight People here are presented through a point of view perspective of one of them. Here we have Yasammez – The Scourge of the Shivering Plain – a superpowerful, fairy-like hater of humans who wields a legendary sword.

Shadowmarch slowly builds up this epic and extremely detailed world. It isn’t really action-focused at this point. The novel had intriguing moments though such as when Vansen gets lost behind the Shadowline, the Wyvern hunt, and uncertainty regarding what happened in Prince Regent Kendrick’s room. When reading Shadowmarch I kept overanalysing who the twins can trust and also which of the two mighty threats of Southmarch will materialise first, when, and will they be prepared/ able to cope at all? The ending was fulfilling and was great to see how things wrapped up in this first series entry. At the finale, at least four of the characters make/ are forced to make life-altering choices. I am so intrigued to see where this series will go next with Shadowplay. This novel is so deep and enthralling that, with the horrors currently happening all around us with coronavirus, it was great to immerse myself and escape to this world. Although it’s not a five-star read, Shadowmarch is still an impressive first chapter in what may become one of my favourite fantasy series. I can’t wait to find out more about what is hidden behind the Shadowline.

In my reviews for the Shadowmarch series, I have used parts of the amazing German covers for the featured images. You can see the full covers and read more about them on Tad William’s website article Shadowmarch in Germany.

Buy Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

The post REVIEW: Shadowmarch by Tad Williams appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher

Black Stone Heart is the latest grimdark novel by Michael R. Fletcher. This is a brand-new series, The Obsidian Path which is set in a bizarre new world unlike those of Fletcher’s other work. There were a couple of stories in A Collection of Obsessions, his short story collection, but this is the first full length novel.

As with all of Fletcher’s work, Black Stone Heart does not shy away from a steady diet of comfort food for the grimdark appetite. His recipe is equal parts violence, gritty happenings, grisly humor, and a dash of bad luck for flavoring.

Khraen just woke up, and he’s starving. He’s confused and disoriented and doesn’t remember much at all of his life before he’d been killed. All he knows now is that he is being drawn to the fragments of his obsidian heart that have been scattered about the world by whoever it was that murdered him.

During the course of this novel, we travel with Khraen as he tells the story in first person, learning what we can of his life before as he does, picking up a bit here and there with each fragment of his stone heart as he finds it. His memories return with each piece, as do his talents and his awareness of who and what he was.

This book is an interesting study of a dark character, a villain from most perspectives, as he comes to grip with what he was, what he is now, and what he hopes to become as he pieces himself back together bit by bit. Will he become the demonist emperor that ruled a vast empire over several millennia, or will he learn to be a better man through his experiences today and forced humility? Sorcery and necromancy abound in the battle for Khraen’s quest and the very nature of his soul.

With twists and turns and the general mindfuckery that we come to expect from Michael R. Fletcher, we go on this wild ride with Khraen, not knowing if we’ll be uplifted or disappointed, or both. Much as Khraen himself must prepare for who he becomes and the legacy he’d left behind during his previous life which hangs over him now. Can he be a better man? Does he truly want to?

Here’s a little example of Fletcher’s writing, the way he can twist a dark happening into a lively bit of humor, still grisly in its content but light in the tone as he spins it:

“After killing the farmer’s horses, we rode them south, exchanging our dead mounts for new ones whenever their appearance decayed to the point they became recognizable as corpses.”

Black Stone Heart doesn’t disappoint the returning Fletcher reader. It’s much different in scope and perspective than earlier work but keeps the consistent tone and writing flow that we’ve come to look forward to with each new story. New readers will be just as entertained and will likely flock to his back catalogue as soon as they finish this one. But all readers will probably wonder about Fletcher’s sanity before it’s all over.

Buy Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher

The post REVIEW: Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.