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Glitter Rose
The Glitter Rose Collection features 5 short stories by Marianne de Pierres – four previously published and one new story. Each copy of this limited edition print run will be signed and presented in a beautiful hardbound cover, with internal black and white illustrations.
The Glitter Rose stories are set against the background of Carmine Island (an island reminiscent of Stradbroke Island, Queensland) where a decade ago spores from deep in the ocean blew in, by a freak of nature, and settled on the island. These spores bring fierce allergies to the inhabitants of the island. And maybe other, more sinister effects. As we follow Tinashi’s journey of moving to and settling into island life, we get a clearer picture of just what is happening on Carmine Island.
Glitter Rose is named after the glitter rose dusks that happen at certain tides on the island – when the last of sunset has fallen, a strange phosphorescence can be seen on the sands of the beaches. Colourless at first, it rapidly changes to a “carpet of tiny, shining, rose-coloured grains” as the sky darkens.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction by Trent Jamieson
Glimmer-by-dark
Moon Flowers at the Ritz
The Flag Game
Mama Ailon
Plus bonus
In the Bookshadow
The Glitter Rose stories are set against the background of Carmine Island (an island reminiscent of Stradbroke Island, Queensland) where a decade ago spores from deep in the ocean blew in, by a freak of nature, and settled on the island. These spores bring fierce allergies to the inhabitants of the island. And maybe other, more sinister effects. As we follow Tinashi’s journey of moving to and settling into island life, we get a clearer picture of just what is happening on Carmine Island.
Glitter Rose is named after the glitter rose dusks that happen at certain tides on the island – when the last of sunset has fallen, a strange phosphorescence can be seen on the sands of the beaches. Colourless at first, it rapidly changes to a “carpet of tiny, shining, rose-coloured grains” as the sky darkens.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction by Trent Jamieson
Glimmer-by-dark
Moon Flowers at the Ritz
The Flag Game
Mama Ailon
Plus bonus
In the Bookshadow
121 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2010
About the author
Marianne de Pierres
38 books488 followersMarianne de Pierres is the award winning author of the acclaimed Parrish Plessis, Sentients of Orion and Peacemaker science fiction series.
Marianne is an active supporter of genre fiction and has mentored many writers. She lives in Brisbane, Australia. Her Night Creatures series, Burn Bright, Angel Arias and Shine Light has been very popular among young adult fiction readers.
Marianne is also the Davitt award-winning author of the Tara Sharp humourous crime series under the pseudonym Marianne Delacourt.
Visit her websites at:
www.mariannedepierres.com
www.mariannedepierresbooksforchildren...
www.burnbright.com.au
www.glitterrose.wordpress.com
www.sentientsoforion.com
www.colonelthorn.home.blog
Marianne is an active supporter of genre fiction and has mentored many writers. She lives in Brisbane, Australia. Her Night Creatures series, Burn Bright, Angel Arias and Shine Light has been very popular among young adult fiction readers.
Marianne is also the Davitt award-winning author of the Tara Sharp humourous crime series under the pseudonym Marianne Delacourt.
Visit her websites at:
www.mariannedepierres.com
www.mariannedepierresbooksforchildren...
www.burnbright.com.au
www.glitterrose.wordpress.com
www.sentientsoforion.com
www.colonelthorn.home.blog
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 28, 2016
Glitter Rose is a very special collection. Marianne's stories of Tinashi and her experiences returning to Carmine Island stir the heart with sadness, tenderness and not a small amount of wonder. Carmine Island is a surreal yet beautiful place, there is danger and an ominous presence about the island and its inhabitants/history but in equal measure there is solace, comfort, healing and isolation - which Tinashi seeks.
As a character, Tinashi was real to me. I could see the way she moved and spoke. Her sadness was my sadness. When she walked the shores of Carmine Beach during the glitter rose sunset, I walked with her. Katrin and Lauren as characters were similarly real to me, I really felt part of their world and the stories they had to share.
These are stories that move you, they are important stories in a world of stories. The way they speak, where their concerns are situated, how the story flows is important. It is different in many ways to other things I've read - particularly short stories, and even collections. I feel that this collection by Marianne is a significant and important contribution to the field of speculative fiction.
In a market saturated by men and stories through their gaze and of their concerns, this collection is most definitively *not* that. This collection is a series of stories through a female gaze at the world, and if the concerns I traditionally read about from the perspective of male authors are important enough to be considered of concern to everyone, to me, then these stories are important enough to be of concern to everyone, including men, though these are not the stories they will traditionally have read.
Glitter Rose is a collection of rich, moving stories. Each story is specific, unique and beautiful. Each story contributes overall to a narrative that lifts each story into what is almost a novella in the way it reads.
This book is beautifully put together, the artwork and design of the book - including its size, the images that are included. It is a beautiful package that invites you to read it. It invites you to turn each page with care, in a space of quiet and with deliberate intention to read. It is not a book for casual reading, it is intentional.
This is one of the stand out books that I have read. Ever. It is an instant favourite and already I cannot wait to sit quietly, with a pot of tea, and re-read it. Twelfth Planet Press have done an outstanding job of producing a truly sensational book. Marianne as author has shared with us a different style of narrative than we've seen from her before, it is melodic and lyrical, sensuous and almost seems to create a sense of being cocooned from the real world. It is an incredible contrast and one I'm pleased to see - I'm incredibly interested in seeing more of this narrative style from Marianne.
I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. I say this traditionally being a reader who doesn't enjoy short stories. I loved this. It was amazing as a whole package. Buy it. Read it. I sincerely hope you love it as much as I do.
As a character, Tinashi was real to me. I could see the way she moved and spoke. Her sadness was my sadness. When she walked the shores of Carmine Beach during the glitter rose sunset, I walked with her. Katrin and Lauren as characters were similarly real to me, I really felt part of their world and the stories they had to share.
These are stories that move you, they are important stories in a world of stories. The way they speak, where their concerns are situated, how the story flows is important. It is different in many ways to other things I've read - particularly short stories, and even collections. I feel that this collection by Marianne is a significant and important contribution to the field of speculative fiction.
In a market saturated by men and stories through their gaze and of their concerns, this collection is most definitively *not* that. This collection is a series of stories through a female gaze at the world, and if the concerns I traditionally read about from the perspective of male authors are important enough to be considered of concern to everyone, to me, then these stories are important enough to be of concern to everyone, including men, though these are not the stories they will traditionally have read.
Glitter Rose is a collection of rich, moving stories. Each story is specific, unique and beautiful. Each story contributes overall to a narrative that lifts each story into what is almost a novella in the way it reads.
This book is beautifully put together, the artwork and design of the book - including its size, the images that are included. It is a beautiful package that invites you to read it. It invites you to turn each page with care, in a space of quiet and with deliberate intention to read. It is not a book for casual reading, it is intentional.
This is one of the stand out books that I have read. Ever. It is an instant favourite and already I cannot wait to sit quietly, with a pot of tea, and re-read it. Twelfth Planet Press have done an outstanding job of producing a truly sensational book. Marianne as author has shared with us a different style of narrative than we've seen from her before, it is melodic and lyrical, sensuous and almost seems to create a sense of being cocooned from the real world. It is an incredible contrast and one I'm pleased to see - I'm incredibly interested in seeing more of this narrative style from Marianne.
I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. I say this traditionally being a reader who doesn't enjoy short stories. I loved this. It was amazing as a whole package. Buy it. Read it. I sincerely hope you love it as much as I do.
April 28, 2020
A gorgeously presented collection of interlinked stories. The world building and atmospheric quality of de Pierres' Carmine island are also impressive. I did want a little more characterisation; the characters are almost brushstroke caricatures, but then again, the seascape and landscape of Carmine is a rewarding character in itself. An enjoyable collection.
April 29, 2011
Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres, is the first (and only, so far) hardcover published by Twelfth Planet Press. It’s also a limited edition run with each of the copies signed by Marianne.
The Stories
The collection features five short stories – four previously published and one written specifically for this collection.
Four of the stories are set against the background of a near future Australia, on Carmine Island. A former popular resort island, its inhabitants include the locals – a mix of mainland castaways looking for a quieter life, the island’s aboriginal population and the “indolent rich” who provide a tourist lifeline. Carmine island’s latest colonisers, the spores, have drifted in from the deep ocean, they bring allergies and in severe cases, alterations to the inhabitants.
Glitter Rose is Tinashi’s story. She's on the run from her life, drifting back to a place that once offered comfort, seeking it out again in the hope that she can heal what is troubling her. The opening story, Glimmer by Dark, has a broad appeal then to any reader who has likewise moved away and then returned to a place seeking to recapture a past. It also delicately draws the reader into the inner life of the island, as Tinashi is befriended by locals, snared in their the web of odd relationships. Lest you think this is some whimsical drama, Glimmer has a surprising and dark ending.
Moonlight at the Ritz directs our attention to the pleasure seeking “indolent young rich”. Tinashi has settled in, a member of the Carmine Island Tourism auxiliary. There’s death,sacrilege and neither the reader nor Tinashi is sure how much of what happens is reality or a spore altered dream.
The Flag Game centres on a competition the locals run, the official prize being a parcel of land -unofficially though its believed by the locals that the spores grant their own prize . We find out what Tinashi is running from and the extent of the power the spores can exert.
Mama Ailon, nicely concludes the set. Tinashi seeks redemption and we come to understand the indigenous view of the spores and the island.
It can be hard to place Glitter Rose, it’s not a book that fits easily into genre categories, and while its pink (or is that Rose) cover might put off those men that have rather strict concepts of masculinity, this collection is not wistful women and pink fairy dust. There’s a dark edge to Glitter Rose and in that sense its perhaps iconically Australian – depicting a beautiful landscape with dangerous fauna & flora lying in wait.
Marianne’s writing is fluid, evocative and heart achingly lyrical - the sort of ritten ork you can just read aloud for the enjoyment of it. Carmine might be based on Stradbroke island but de Pierres’ artful descriptions could be of any one of the small coastal communities of Australia yet to feel the full brunt of development or that have seen their heyday. Perhaps this is what makes the stories, the characters, seem so genuinely real.
In the Book Shadow is the odd story out in this collection, but it’s a lovely quirky and slightly sinister tale of a Bookshop many of us would recognise. Indeed the bookstore that inspired it, Pulp Fiction, I have actually been to so the feeling “I know this place” that I had while reading was fully justified.
Credit where it’s due
Twelfth Planet have done an excellent job on the production of Glitter Rose, this pint sized (it’s about A5 size) packet of pink compliments de Pierres’ words perfectly. The internal illustrations both colour and black and white simply amplify the experience.
At $35 dollars, for a limited edition signed print run, this book is a must have for fans of Marianne – it’s the only place I believe where you will find all the Carmine Island stories together.
I think it’s also an excellent “Slipstream” or “Gateway” collection to give as a gift to young teens (or indeed adults) perhaps growing out of their Edward and Bella stage. It’s a little bit Sci-fi, unselfconsciously Australian and a little bit Fantasy. If de Pierres wasn’t a well known Sci-fi writer I’d hazard a guess it would be considered magic realism.
In these times of ebooks and electronic readers Glitter Rose takes full advantage of everything a book can be.
Note: This was a review copy provided to me by Twelfth Planet Press
The Stories
The collection features five short stories – four previously published and one written specifically for this collection.
Four of the stories are set against the background of a near future Australia, on Carmine Island. A former popular resort island, its inhabitants include the locals – a mix of mainland castaways looking for a quieter life, the island’s aboriginal population and the “indolent rich” who provide a tourist lifeline. Carmine island’s latest colonisers, the spores, have drifted in from the deep ocean, they bring allergies and in severe cases, alterations to the inhabitants.
Glitter Rose is Tinashi’s story. She's on the run from her life, drifting back to a place that once offered comfort, seeking it out again in the hope that she can heal what is troubling her. The opening story, Glimmer by Dark, has a broad appeal then to any reader who has likewise moved away and then returned to a place seeking to recapture a past. It also delicately draws the reader into the inner life of the island, as Tinashi is befriended by locals, snared in their the web of odd relationships. Lest you think this is some whimsical drama, Glimmer has a surprising and dark ending.
Moonlight at the Ritz directs our attention to the pleasure seeking “indolent young rich”. Tinashi has settled in, a member of the Carmine Island Tourism auxiliary. There’s death,sacrilege and neither the reader nor Tinashi is sure how much of what happens is reality or a spore altered dream.
The Flag Game centres on a competition the locals run, the official prize being a parcel of land -unofficially though its believed by the locals that the spores grant their own prize . We find out what Tinashi is running from and the extent of the power the spores can exert.
Mama Ailon, nicely concludes the set. Tinashi seeks redemption and we come to understand the indigenous view of the spores and the island.
It can be hard to place Glitter Rose, it’s not a book that fits easily into genre categories, and while its pink (or is that Rose) cover might put off those men that have rather strict concepts of masculinity, this collection is not wistful women and pink fairy dust. There’s a dark edge to Glitter Rose and in that sense its perhaps iconically Australian – depicting a beautiful landscape with dangerous fauna & flora lying in wait.
Marianne’s writing is fluid, evocative and heart achingly lyrical - the sort of ritten ork you can just read aloud for the enjoyment of it. Carmine might be based on Stradbroke island but de Pierres’ artful descriptions could be of any one of the small coastal communities of Australia yet to feel the full brunt of development or that have seen their heyday. Perhaps this is what makes the stories, the characters, seem so genuinely real.
In the Book Shadow is the odd story out in this collection, but it’s a lovely quirky and slightly sinister tale of a Bookshop many of us would recognise. Indeed the bookstore that inspired it, Pulp Fiction, I have actually been to so the feeling “I know this place” that I had while reading was fully justified.
Credit where it’s due
Twelfth Planet have done an excellent job on the production of Glitter Rose, this pint sized (it’s about A5 size) packet of pink compliments de Pierres’ words perfectly. The internal illustrations both colour and black and white simply amplify the experience.
At $35 dollars, for a limited edition signed print run, this book is a must have for fans of Marianne – it’s the only place I believe where you will find all the Carmine Island stories together.
I think it’s also an excellent “Slipstream” or “Gateway” collection to give as a gift to young teens (or indeed adults) perhaps growing out of their Edward and Bella stage. It’s a little bit Sci-fi, unselfconsciously Australian and a little bit Fantasy. If de Pierres wasn’t a well known Sci-fi writer I’d hazard a guess it would be considered magic realism.
In these times of ebooks and electronic readers Glitter Rose takes full advantage of everything a book can be.
Note: This was a review copy provided to me by Twelfth Planet Press
December 29, 2010
A good collection of short stories. This could so easily be expanded into a full novel.
April 9, 2011
A wonderful collection of darkly glittering tales. Haunting - and haunted - characters and distinctive landscapes.
March 28, 2011
4.5/5
New to me author - thoroughly enjoyed it.
New to me author - thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 15, 2011
Lyrical, evocative, beautiful and haunting. I adore this book and will read anything else Marianne writes set in this world. Also - makes me want to move to an island. Just saying.
October 25, 2015
I read this book in one sitting, and will happily read it again many times. This is a small exquisite hard cover book of only four, but wonderfully crafted stories based on Carmine Island, in a future where the sands of the island can glitter and change the lives of those they touch.
The Collection Notes explains when these stories were written and the awards they were given. In addition Marianne has treats her readers to an extra story with a chilling twist, ‘In The Bookshadow’. This is a real bonus.
There is a beautiful painting in the centre of the book, a solitary woman on a beach dune, with windblown dress and scarf. She is in the grass looking out over a bay and a dark and turbulent sky. I can only say that this encapsulates the melancholy our lady arrives on the island feeling, trying to shut out the past, and isolate her fragile form from the world. Somehow, the island dwellers as a community draw her into their circle and invite her to become something more.
I gave this book Five Stars, something I have never done before. Every word is in place, every ounce of evocative emotion relayed. This is a book that will not just disappear onto the bookcase or cabinet. This is one I will keep nearby to visit whenever I want to be inspired. The pictures and the story go hand in hand. It is truly a delight for all the senses.
Merged review:
I read this book in one sitting, and will happily read it again many times. This is a small exquisite hard cover book of only four, but wonderfully crafted stories based on Carmine Island, in a future where the sands of the island can glitter and change the lives of those they touch.
The Collection Notes explains when these stories were written and the awards they were given. In addition Marianne has treats her readers to an extra story with a chilling twist, ‘In The Bookshadow’. This is a real bonus.
There is a beautiful painting in the centre of the book, a solitary woman on a beach dune, with windblown dress and scarf. She is in the grass looking out over a bay and a dark and turbulent sky. I can only say that this encapsulates the melancholy our lady arrives on the island feeling, trying to shut out the past, and isolate her fragile form from the world. Somehow, the island dwellers as a community draw her into their circle and invite her to become something more.
Every word is in place, every ounce of evocative emotion relayed. This is a book that will not just disappear onto the bookcase or cabinet. This is one I will keep nearby to visit whenever I want to be inspired. The pictures and the story go hand in hand. It is truly a delight for all the senses.
I would give this 6 stars if I could.
The Collection Notes explains when these stories were written and the awards they were given. In addition Marianne has treats her readers to an extra story with a chilling twist, ‘In The Bookshadow’. This is a real bonus.
There is a beautiful painting in the centre of the book, a solitary woman on a beach dune, with windblown dress and scarf. She is in the grass looking out over a bay and a dark and turbulent sky. I can only say that this encapsulates the melancholy our lady arrives on the island feeling, trying to shut out the past, and isolate her fragile form from the world. Somehow, the island dwellers as a community draw her into their circle and invite her to become something more.
I gave this book Five Stars, something I have never done before. Every word is in place, every ounce of evocative emotion relayed. This is a book that will not just disappear onto the bookcase or cabinet. This is one I will keep nearby to visit whenever I want to be inspired. The pictures and the story go hand in hand. It is truly a delight for all the senses.
Merged review:
I read this book in one sitting, and will happily read it again many times. This is a small exquisite hard cover book of only four, but wonderfully crafted stories based on Carmine Island, in a future where the sands of the island can glitter and change the lives of those they touch.
The Collection Notes explains when these stories were written and the awards they were given. In addition Marianne has treats her readers to an extra story with a chilling twist, ‘In The Bookshadow’. This is a real bonus.
There is a beautiful painting in the centre of the book, a solitary woman on a beach dune, with windblown dress and scarf. She is in the grass looking out over a bay and a dark and turbulent sky. I can only say that this encapsulates the melancholy our lady arrives on the island feeling, trying to shut out the past, and isolate her fragile form from the world. Somehow, the island dwellers as a community draw her into their circle and invite her to become something more.
Every word is in place, every ounce of evocative emotion relayed. This is a book that will not just disappear onto the bookcase or cabinet. This is one I will keep nearby to visit whenever I want to be inspired. The pictures and the story go hand in hand. It is truly a delight for all the senses.
I would give this 6 stars if I could.
January 19, 2012
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. More to the point, I'm not entirely sure why I read it in the first place or how I finished it. Nevertheless, on to the review!
So Glitter Rose is not about a glam rock band (although it would be an awesome name for one). It's about a woman who is dealing with the unexpected death of her child. She decides to do this by taking an extended vacation on the island of Carmine. However, the island is host to strange glittering spores that do weird things to the people who stay there for an extended period of time.
The biggest drawback for me was the narrator, Tinashi. The narrative is very slow moving in the first place, but Tinashi starts the story in such an emotional black hole of emptiness that I found it cast a muffling blanket over any urgency, crisis or drama. While this was probably done to illustrate how bleak and barren Tinashi felt after a profound loss, I found it had something of a washing out effect on every other character. This was a ruddy shame, because every other character had the potential to be far more interesting due to their exposure to the spores and the setting could have been so much more due to the those same spores. There's a mad scientist doing experiments of questionable morality and the narrator barely works up the energy to be disturbed.
I'm left with the feeling that there was a lot I wanted to see happen that didn't. The slow buildup made me hope that Tinashi would wake up, that the book would turn out to be a strange novel of horror (which I think would have been really awesome) or that there would be some moment of intensity to change the pace. There was a very large “WTF” moment that could have been interesting and about four times more disturbing, but there was so little lead in to it that it was jarring and there was so little reaction from the narrator that it played out blandly. In addition, since the narrative pace is slow overall, I had too much time to consider the holes in that particular plot point and to think up all kinds of extremely bad jokes related to it (which do not bear repeating). On the plus side, I did get to weird out the people who saw me reading the book and asked me what it was about.
I don't mind things that start off slow, but I want there to be a fantastic payoff for that patience and forbearance. I waited and waited, I saw a few slightly taller peaks in the narrative wavelength but I never found anything that I could catch and have a blast riding. Perhaps someone else will have better luck with it.
So Glitter Rose is not about a glam rock band (although it would be an awesome name for one). It's about a woman who is dealing with the unexpected death of her child. She decides to do this by taking an extended vacation on the island of Carmine. However, the island is host to strange glittering spores that do weird things to the people who stay there for an extended period of time.
The biggest drawback for me was the narrator, Tinashi. The narrative is very slow moving in the first place, but Tinashi starts the story in such an emotional black hole of emptiness that I found it cast a muffling blanket over any urgency, crisis or drama. While this was probably done to illustrate how bleak and barren Tinashi felt after a profound loss, I found it had something of a washing out effect on every other character. This was a ruddy shame, because every other character had the potential to be far more interesting due to their exposure to the spores and the setting could have been so much more due to the those same spores. There's a mad scientist doing experiments of questionable morality and the narrator barely works up the energy to be disturbed.
I'm left with the feeling that there was a lot I wanted to see happen that didn't. The slow buildup made me hope that Tinashi would wake up, that the book would turn out to be a strange novel of horror (which I think would have been really awesome) or that there would be some moment of intensity to change the pace. There was a very large “WTF” moment that could have been interesting and about four times more disturbing, but there was so little lead in to it that it was jarring and there was so little reaction from the narrator that it played out blandly. In addition, since the narrative pace is slow overall, I had too much time to consider the holes in that particular plot point and to think up all kinds of extremely bad jokes related to it (which do not bear repeating). On the plus side, I did get to weird out the people who saw me reading the book and asked me what it was about.
I don't mind things that start off slow, but I want there to be a fantastic payoff for that patience and forbearance. I waited and waited, I saw a few slightly taller peaks in the narrative wavelength but I never found anything that I could catch and have a blast riding. Perhaps someone else will have better luck with it.
December 17, 2025
Re-read 17/12/2025:
A re-read of this 11 years later and my opinion has changed a bit. I'm still fond of it, but I think my awe has been dampened by reading more surreal fiction. Certain sections felt deliberately confusing and weren't clarified until later in the book.
I do like how the setting is the main character, though. That has become something I'm very fond of in fiction.
*
Original review:
I love Marianne de Pierres and this collection of short stories is absolutely excellent.
There's a real Francesca Lia Block feel about the novels and the setting. Although it's a sci-fi collecting, and Carmine/Glitter-by-Dark is set in a fictional world (implied to be an alien planet), I got a real feeling of Australia in it. Of desert beaches and islands just off the coast, where things are just different enough to strike one as being odd.
Although I haven't shelved this as 'fantasy', there is a fantastical element to the stories as well. It's never described where the spores that affect the islanders come from, only that they arrived from the ocean.
I loved the slow character development that went through the collection. Not all motivations were clear, but that made it all the more realistic.
By far my favourite story was the final one- In The Bookshadow. This is unrelated to the rest of the series, and it doesn't detract from it at all. There is a sense of suspense throughout the story, and although short, it has a dramatic climax with a great ending.
I always recommend Marianne de Pierres' work and this is no exception- I highly encourage people to read it, particularly those who prefer their sci-fi with a magical touch.
A re-read of this 11 years later and my opinion has changed a bit. I'm still fond of it, but I think my awe has been dampened by reading more surreal fiction. Certain sections felt deliberately confusing and weren't clarified until later in the book.
I do like how the setting is the main character, though. That has become something I'm very fond of in fiction.
*
Original review:
I love Marianne de Pierres and this collection of short stories is absolutely excellent.
There's a real Francesca Lia Block feel about the novels and the setting. Although it's a sci-fi collecting, and Carmine/Glitter-by-Dark is set in a fictional world (implied to be an alien planet), I got a real feeling of Australia in it. Of desert beaches and islands just off the coast, where things are just different enough to strike one as being odd.
Although I haven't shelved this as 'fantasy', there is a fantastical element to the stories as well. It's never described where the spores that affect the islanders come from, only that they arrived from the ocean.
I loved the slow character development that went through the collection. Not all motivations were clear, but that made it all the more realistic.
By far my favourite story was the final one- In The Bookshadow. This is unrelated to the rest of the series, and it doesn't detract from it at all. There is a sense of suspense throughout the story, and although short, it has a dramatic climax with a great ending.
I always recommend Marianne de Pierres' work and this is no exception- I highly encourage people to read it, particularly those who prefer their sci-fi with a magical touch.
October 6, 2010
Glitter Rose's captivating, chilling tales will play on your mind lonnnng after your first read. This gorgeous, limited edition hardback features 5 short stories by the incredibly talented Marianne de Pierres. Escape to Carmine Island, where freakish, sinister events unravel across a mind-bending series of dark tales. I read the whole thing in one setting & I reckon you will, too! Great reading!
May 17, 2013
A very short book with a dreamlike atmosphere and a large cost of sparsely sketched characters. More a mood piece than a plot- or character-driven set of stories. It does succeed in setting a beautifully surreal and yet brutal mood, but for anything longer than flash, I'd prefer to see a fuller exploration of setting or characters.
November 21, 2012
A fascinating setting, beautifully written. I thought the characters could have been more developed, and the concept of unpredictable spores could have been further explored, but overall a quick and enjoyable read.
October 21, 2013
The author mentions J G Ballard and specifically his Vermillion Sands in the story notes, and I can see the similarity, having read pretty much all of Ballard. This is a small book and a brief read, but a beautifully presented book from Twelfth Planet Press.
June 21, 2011
Great little book from Twelfth Planet Press. Fantastic imagery and entertaining tale. Short and sweet.
March 8, 2013
My only problem with short stories is that I never want them to end. I wanted to know that her baby grew up and did wonderful things, I wanted to see her baby so so bad!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews