Alectryomancer

[Latasha]

i read the first 2 stories but someone please break down the first one for me.

[Jay]

Will join in, but it'll be about a week.

[Ronald]

Like Latasha, I too am trying to get a handle on the first story. I was going to call the story "Loveliness Like A Shadow" Aickmanesque because I'm not sure whats it about.

I've read 40 percent of the book already and the other stories I think I've got a handle on. One story is Ligottian corporate horror. Another story is I think is Ligottian too, about the psychological/occult effects of architecture.

[Canavan]

It’s going to be a while before I can jump in. I have an electronic copy of the book, but can’t currently access it. Amazon recently pushed an update for the iOS version of their Kindle app that was touted as a stability/performance fix, but which instead managed to completely break the app for some users. Not sure when a new update will appear to remedy to issue.

[Latasha]

I've read the first 3 stories and so far, none of them have made a lasting impression.

[Ctgt]

Canavan wrote: "It’s going to be a while before I can jump in. I have an electronic copy of the book, but can’t currently access it. Amazon recently pushed an update for the iOS version of their Kindle app that wa..."

Just saw an update pop up for ios that "fixes" issues with apps, hopefully that will take care of the problem......

I'm hoping to jump in to the discussion eventually. I'm hoping to read a story or two in between some other reads I have going right now.

[Ronald]

I feel embarrassed that I nominated a book which is falling flat for some readers.

This group read reminds me of a previous group read, _North American Lake Monsters_ which I nominated due to the 5 star ratings it got. My opinion of that book was not quite as high (though "Sunbleached" really worked for me and should be included in vampire anthologies of the future.)

Alectryomancer is not bad at all but for me its somewhere in 3-4 star range.

[Latasha]

Oh Ronald, don't worry about it. I've done it too. This month actually, in one of my other groups.

[Canavan]

Ctgt wrote (in part):

Just saw an update pop up for ios that "fixes" issues with apps, hopefully that will take care of the problem……

Yep. Up and running again. This relatively brief interlude (about 4 days) without my preferred method of access to my e-books highlighted in a rather uncomfortable way just how dependent I have become on the Amazon ecosystem. Not a good feeling at all.

[Canavan]

Okey-doke. I’ve read the first two stories. My global feeling at this very early juncture is kind of middle of the road. The writing isn’t terrible, but so far nothing really compelling either in terms of style or theme. Randolph has already done a good job of summarizing their content, so I’ll try not to step too much on what he’s already said.

(view spoiler)[“Loveliness Is a Shadow” is the marginally better story. Thematically, it reminds me a bit of some of Lynda E. Rucker’s stories. It’s sort of a discourse on the subjective experience of depression filtered through a supernatural lens. I found it almost Plath-like in the way it fetishizes the experience — it reminded me a bit of the way in which 19th-century chronicleers characterized consumption as resulting in a “beautiful” death.

I wasn’t as enthralled by the premise of the second story, “An Infestation of Stars”, as was Randolph, but I agree that way in which it was handled was a bit clumsy. As an example, it quickly becomes clear what’s going on, yet Slatsky feels compelled to cloak what’s happening with a lot of impenetrable jargon (e.g., “acheiropoieton”, “prosopagnosia”). There’s a line past which artful subterfuge becomes annoying obscurantism. (hide spoiler)]

“Loveliness Is a Shadow”
✭✭✭

“An Infestation of Stars”
✭✭½

[Canavan]

Latasha, responding to Ronald’s distress at having nominated this month’s selection:

Oh Ronald, don't worry about it. I've done it too. This month actually, in one of my other groups.

What Latasha said. I felt much the same last December when we were reading my nominee, November Night Tales .

[Ronald]

Well, I'm glad that you found the latter half of the book better. I paused at the 40 percent mark for I got involved in some interesting things. But I think I will resume.

If I find the latter half of the book better, I will probably give the book 3 stars. I gave 4 stars to a short story collection by Richard Gavin, and he is like a dark god to me.

[Jay]

Just started, am reading out of order, as they appeal to me.
"Tellurian Facade" was... interesting. Pretty good, but not too keen on explaining itself. I like ambiguity, though.

[Tony]

Randolph wrote: "I think a lot of people were not too keen on my moderator's prerogative of The End of the End of Everything."

I liked it! I gave it 4 stars.

[Ronald]

I'm now reading the remaining stories in random order.

"Intaglios". There's interesting stuff in the story, I like Fortean stuff, but I'm not sure what the story is about. I'm wondering if the area with the cars from different eras is a death trap.

Slatsky is accurate on social developments in America. Although I was born in 1971, it does seem to me that hatch hiking has been in decline since the 1970s.

[Ronald]

I meant hitch hiking.

[Latasha]

sorry guys, I dropped this book & another I was reading. better luck next month!

[Horhat]

Anyone know why this particular volume is so hard to attain back here in the East ? Is it exclusively available in US ?

[Horhat]

I am from Romania don't know if we maded into the Non-ENG category :D

[Horhat]

I have to check Amazon UK though..Thanks for the quick reply !

[Logan]

I'm about halfway through. Looking forward to seeing how the second half improves. I think it's pretty good so far, although I'd agree with the earlier problems that people were mentioning. The imagery is very effectively creepy. Reading this book too much in one go kinda gives me the feeling of a fever dream.

[Tony]

Because I read it late in the day, I think I was probably influenced by the comments here. (Incidentally, I bought the print-on-demand version, which smells kind of funny.)

I was scrambling around for meaning in many of the stories. I felt they were more incoherent than ambiguous. 'Loneliness Like a Shadow' has enough ideas for about five short stories, let alone one. The author also likes to hit the reader with specialist medical terms. I found the cumulative effect of all this to be alienating.

I enjoyed the later stories more. Or perhaps I just got used to the author's style? The title story is one of the strangest things I've ever read, so bravo for that.

I give the collection 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4).