Dave Higgins's Blog, page 9

Losers and Freaks by C.E. Hoffman

Hoffman combines a grasp of multiple genres with nuanced characters, starkly revealing the paradox that our differences are both an obstacle we create and the only reason to overcome. This collection contains thirty-four short fictions and one novella, each focused on outsiders, the disadvantaged, or the excluded, along with copies of three of the author’s … Continue reading Losers and Freaks by C.E. Hoffman

Radiance

Storm slips through my roof The lowest beast seeks shelter My pot is empty

Primordial World: Book 8 by Baileigh Higgins

Higgins places characters who have been marked by the events of the series in a situation similar to that at the start, offering a tense new prehistoric survival arc without discarding what has come before. Note: while the author is blessed with a spiffing surname we are unrelated. This novel is the eighty in Higgins’ … Continue reading Primordial World: Book 8 by Baileigh Higgins

Comfortable Silence

The quiet nod as you narrow to a few feet. The brief phatic hello when on a long walk. These are the lines one reaches and pauses, and then passes into absence if not asked over. This morning, I intersected with a quote countering the idea that mobile phones are making people less sociable: Stop … Continue reading Comfortable Silence

Sword & Scandal, ed. J Manfred Weichsel

Weichsel gathers fantasy tales that accept that worlds filled with mighty-thewed heroes and unspeakable horrors are not magically free of passionate sex and unpleasant death. This anthology collects twelve tales of fantasy, each of which shows all of the events of the story rather than drawing a veil over the parts sometimes deemed inappropriate, along … Continue reading Sword & Scandal, ed. J Manfred Weichsel

Upstanding Behaviour

Sweat dampens the brow Every pillar has two ends Only some stand proud

Justice by Ken Preston

Preston blends international conspiracy with skilled characterisation, creating a fast-paced thriller filled with moral and emotional conflict. This novel is the second in Preston’s Ms Vengeance series. The past may be revealed beyond this point. After leaving Krystopher Kreadey bleeding out in a flooded tunnel, Madeline Graves considers her quest for vengeance over; however, the … Continue reading Justice by Ken Preston

Tear Down the Wall

The recent UK budget has (perhaps not unexpectedly) raised controversies, among them whether VAT on private school fees will hurt parents of private-school pupils. As someone who went to private school and didn’t have the richest parents (in UK rather than global terms), I have some opinions. “Scrimp and save” is an unclear, a subjective, … Continue reading Tear Down the Wall

Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs by Rebecca Gransden

Gransden places highly plausible protagonists in extreme or inexplicable situations, creating a series of tales where mind and body face being tortured or broken. This book collects fourteen short stories of horror and the surreal. ‘Turducken: Confirm Humanity’. A three-fowl roasting joint tears free of its packaging and sets out to find its purpose in … Continue reading Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs by Rebecca Gransden

Seeking a Batter Perspective

One of my wife’s fellow sensei visited recently, leading to a discussion of the story of Yunmen’s cake from the Blue Cliff Record. Our apple tree has also copiously fruited this year, leading to my wife creating copious cake. This clearly (not) being a message from the universe, I have haiku’d. Cast aside the core … Continue reading Seeking a Batter Perspective