A Pear-Shaped Funeral: Being the Second memoir of Frederick Whithers as edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III

Frederick Whithers #2

by Dan Wells

Just when Fredrick Whithers thought his life couldn't get any more complicated, he is asked to arrange a funeral for a man who is very much not dead. In the companion to A Night of Blacker Darkness, Frederick must balance the arts of necromancy and magic while managing to run a funeral home.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Comedy

45 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2015

About the author

Dan Wells is a thriller and science fiction writer. Born in Utah, he spent his early years reading and writing. He is he author of the Partials series (Partials, Isolation, Fragments, and Ruins), the John Cleaver series (I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don't Want To Kill You), and a few others (The Hollow City, A Night of Blacker Darkness, etc). He was a Campbell nomine for best new writer, and has won a Hugo award for his work on the podcast Writing Excuses; the podcast is also a multiple winner of the Parsec Award.

Reviews

[Shreyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

'A Pear-Shaped Funeral' (Frederick Whithers #2) by Dan Wells.

"Mr. Crow is not magic," I said. "He is a lunatic, possibly a madman, and most definitely delusional. The only magic he practices are the ancient arts of senile dementia."

Rating: 5/5.




Review:
When I first read 'A Night of Blacker Darkness', I was completely blown away by it. It was absolutely wonderful and hilarious in every aspect. To my pleasant surprise, I found out that there was a follow-up story, too. I intentionally kept myself from reading this follow-up story after immediately finishing the first book since I wanted to save it for a Halloween-themed read. It was pretty difficult to restrain myself from reading it earlier, but I ultimately survived those urges.

When I picked up 'A Pear-Shaped Funeral', I had a general idea that this was going to be a short read, considering it was almost 40 pages long. But, damn, the book ended merely within ten to fifteen minutes of starting it. I'm not going to complain about it, though — the story, despite its short length, was a blast to read. I think Dan Wells has written it in such a way that the story could be enjoyed even without reading its predecessor, but I doubt I would have rated this book so highly had I not read 'A Night of Blacker Darkness' earlier. In fact, reading this story in chronological order elevates the reading experience and makes it even better as one gets more context of the jokes and chemistry between the characters.

I don't have much to say about this book. As mentioned earlier, I wish the book had been longer than what it was. But then again, I would take this story over not getting any more of Frederick Whithers' hilarious adventures. It has been years since Dan Wells has written in this universe, and if he intends to never write a full-length novel featuring the characters and settings, I simply hope for him to drop short stories like these as and when he wishes to.

"You haven't told me my place yet," said Crow.
"In the coffin," I snapped. "Where do you think?"
"Like I'm some kind of expert?" Crow snapped back, climbing awkwardly into the coffin. "How many times do you think I've been dead before?"
"Not enough," I whispered.

[Ivana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as satisfying as A Night of Blacker Darkness.

[Patty Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Screwball comedy at its best

This is a very short little novella - 30 pages - that is a gift to all lovers of Dan's original hilarious book, A Night of Blacker Darkness. These are not written in his usual style, but just out and out face paced comedy including vampires, poets, mortuaries, and farce. A Night of Blacker Darkness was turned into a play (by Dan and Allison Hill) and performed last Halloween to rave reviews.

[David Higgs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very funny, love the breakneck constant, quick fire humour

2nd of the Frederick Whithers memoirs. Only wish it was longer!
Characters bounce off one another with ease causing organised chaos at every turn despite their best efforts not to!

[Reagan Orton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight from start to finish. My only complaint is that it isn’t nearly long enough to give me more crazy antics. If you like humor and good writing you need to read this book

[Dwarven Hydra · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed A Night of Blacker Darkness, there’s absolutely no reason not to read this as well. It’s incredibly short, and wonderfully amusing. Highly recommend both this and the original

[Verity Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a novel

I didn't expect this to be a short story. It was amusing, but I really hoped for more. Glad it was on Kindle Unlimited.

[Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK this is perfect - not too long, and plenty of silliness. I'd absolutely read more in this series, especially if they're short stories like this.

[Justin Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic followup to the original. I wish there were lots more of these.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way too short but so funny and entertaining.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Dan you evil genius! It is rare a book makes me laugh so hard I cry and can no longer see the page. And yet that is just what you have done to me again! I would love more of Fredrick Whithers, long or short stories, but just a hint 40 pages isn't long enough!

[Graham Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, Dan. Never stop doing what you do.