Clearing Off the Short Story Shelf

1 Reply

You know, I keep saying I don’t read short stories. But people keep sending them to me and I always feel too bad to just ignore them. So I end up reading them in the end. Maybe I should just give up and admit I read them, even if begrudgingly.

Feast, Stray, LoveI received a request from Kevin Anthony to read Feast, Stray, Love. Since both the first and second were free on Amazon at the time, I figured, why not?

#1:

I’ll be honest: the story borders on the absurd. But sometimes that can be a lot of fun. This is one of those times. I rather enjoyed poor Damien’s continued frustration, he and Ben’s love, the series of abrupt and unexpected events, and the interesting plot that seems to be developing. Unfortunately, since I’m not a HUGE short-story fan to start with, I’m fundamentally opposed to short stories that don’t actually end. Isn’t a series of interconnected, conclusionless short stories better called chapters…of a book? Given my feelings on the matter, I was disappointed to reach the last ‘page’ only to discover it wasn’t the end of the actual story. This is my primary complaint, though. The writing is fairly smooth, the tone often sarcastic, and the characters pleasantly engaging.

#2

This second installment of Feast, Stray, Love picks up shortly after the end of the first. Damien has moved to a neighboring town, manages to find himself in yet another fine mess, and apparently hasn’t been able to avoid The Factory’s reach. Though the novella could use a little more editing, I still really enjoy Anthony’s writing and characters. But the story seems to be splintering a little bit. I’m not certain what Caleb and the pastor’s drama has to do with the original plot. I’m also left wondering how The Factory is getting away with what it is doing. It doesn’t seem very well hidden. Lastly, Damien has developed a rather startling ability, but never batted an eyelash at it. Seriously, who’s that calm about something like that? (But you’ll have to read the story to know what I mean.)

The Grey ElkI’ve had Kevis Hendrickson‘s The Grey Elk on my list for a while. I downloaded it from Smashwords; I’m fairly sure it was during one of the seasonal sales (read for free).

The story is less than 15 pages long, so there isn’t really time for much to develop. However, I was impressed with how much Hendrickson managed to convey in so few words. The language leans toward some version of oldish English (I guess). It’s full of words like ere and erst. It fits the fairytale-like telling of the story, but I found it also felt artificial. I’ve previously read one of Hedrickson’s Sci-fi books (Rogue Hunter: Quest of the Hunter). I’ll be honest and say I apparently prefer his space opera to his fantasy. But he certainly knows how to write.

Dark BitesI grabbed Dark Bites, by T.C. Harley, from Smashwords. It’s a freebie.

This is not a short story. At 19 pages, it is, at best, the first couple of chapters of a longer piece. Even if I had been impressed by the writing, the plotting, the characterisation, etc I would be extremely dissatisfied with such a short, incomplete piece of something more. It’s pointless on its own for anything other than tempting you to seek out the next bit of story. This does not please me. As it stands, I thought that the writing was OK. The story looks like it could be an OK YA piece. But how could I know? I only got to read the first 19 pages of it.

indestructibleI grabbed Elkica Lond‘s Indestructible from the Amazon free list. It’s also free on Smashwords. 

There were a lot of things I liked about this story. I liked the use of Judeo-Christian mythology without even a whiff of proselytization. I like the subtlety. There were a number of things that you were never told directly, but the events and contexts told you. I liked the fun way the genders of some well-known characters were swapped around. What I didn’t like was that it felt incomplete. Even the title, Indestructible, is predicated on an event whose importance is never explained. I think this would be much better as a longer piece. But as it stands, it’s still pretty entertaining.

Review of Michael Wharton’s Electric Pigs

Leave a reply

Electric PigsAuthor, Michael Wharton sent me an ecopy of his new novel Electric Pigs.

Description from Goodreads:
Stan Wragg is sublimely happy in his life as a slaughter man’s mate, stunning section, second rate. He was born to zap pigs, and fate has kindly arranged for him to be employed in that exact capacity at Hopes abattoir in Drearly, just north of Birmingham. Everything is as it should be and all is well with the world, until one day, malign and cruel forces outside of Stan’s control or comprehension decide that things must change.

Review:
Oh, this is a hard book to review. It’s strange. I mean, like, WTF weird. It also mercilessly refuses to allow anyone to avoid, ignore, or sweep away human ugliness. It’s there, and Electric Pigs doesn’t let you forget it for an instant. And while there were moments in which I considered declaring it a pretentious piece of pseudo-intellectualism disguised as ironic absurdism, that wouldn’t be fair to it. It simply isn’t, and not just because a meaningful conclusion is eventually reached.

I would hazard a guess that forcing the reader to face the generally and socially ignored grotesque that surrounds us is part of the author’s goal. I’m not going to pretend to know this for certain, but it’s certainly how I read it.

While I could have done without Stan’s inventive solution to constipation, or half the descriptions of human bloatedness, or the somnolent bestialitism fantasy play, the book wouldn’t have been the same without them. And Stan’s innocent, child-like splendour wouldn’t have had the grimy backdrop on which to shine. Stan makes all of the horridness of his environment worth suffering through. He and his admittedly dysfunctional and cognitively deficient family are marvellous.

This book won’t be for everyone. Heck, having read it I’m not even sure it’s for me. It’s not an easy read, and I suspect the audience will be limited by its focus on the repugnant as well as the number of people who are able to look past the seemingly juvenile obsession with sex and fecal matter. There will undoubtedly be those who do deem it a ‘pretentious piece of pseudo-intellectualism.’ I’m just not one of them. I’m fairly certain I found meaning in the apparent randomness.

For those who can look past its ugliness, Electric Pigs presents a well-written, snuggly plotted piece of literary fiction. I sincerely hope that it can find the appropriate audience in front of which to stand tall and garner the praise it deserves.

Book Review of His Black Wings, by Astrid Yrigollen

Leave a reply

His Black WingsI downloaded a copy of Astrid Yrigollen‘s YA/NA novel, His Black Wings, from the Amazon free list. I also followed a convenient link from Ms. Yrigollen’s blog to here, where there happens to be a giveaway for a free paperback copy of the book.

Description from Goodreads:
Claren Maidstone has been forced to flee her childhood home after the death of her parents and a vicious assault from a sadistic young man who intends to marry her. Claren changes her identity and finds employment as an assistant to the handsome Fredrick Lowood, a generous yet mysterious benefactor. However, she soon finds out his generosity comes at a price. Fredrick wishes for Claren to befriend his disfigured son who resides in seclusion at their estate, Westwind.

Fredrick Lowood knows what the history books do not teach, that the Grand Council built this new world of peace and beauty on hidden blood and greed. He has plotted for years to bring down the family that enslaved his own people. Suddenly, he has the last living heir in his grasp.

Etrigan Lowood rejects the world that forces him to hide. He is powerful, plagued with a terrible dark beauty: WINGS. It is these wings that carry him out only at night to watch the unwanted intruder in his home. A creature of refined instinct yet little social grace, he is strangely captivated by Claren but knows nothing of how her family’s dark past is intertwined with his own. Through their blossoming friendship, Etrigan realizes he still retains his human heart and yearns for Claren’s love.

Kurten Wandsworth is the only son of the Mayor of St.Marhen. Kurten lives his life fueled by cruelty and lust. Whatever he wants he takes and he wants Claren to be his wife even it if kills her. Scarred by Claren he hunts her down mercilessly until he can set a trap which she will never be able to escape from.

Review:
Ok, so I’m a huge manga fan. Yes, I know I’m too old, but get over it. I have. Being that I love Japan’s graphic exports as much as I do, this cover really appealed to me. I won’t lie; it’s the sole reason I downloaded the book. I’m kinda burnt on YA, so if it had had a standard YA cover with some star-crossed waif in a flowing dress, I’d have written it off without another thought. But Ms. Yrigollen went with something a little different, and it paid off here.

I will admit that I expected the story to be more childish, or for a younger YA audience than it is, based on the cover. Etrigan and Claren look so young in the picture but are actually in their early twenties, and the book starts with an attempted rape (not really kiddie stuff). I was tempted at one point to argue this would be better labelled New Adult than Young Adult, and I think that argument probably can be made for the first half. However, after a fairly lengthy info dump at about 70% through, the whole feel of the book really takes on the shallow characteristics of a YA.

I don’t mean shallow as an insult, but rather the way YA books often tend to avoid dark outcomes and deep moral quandaries by allowing every circumstance and character an easy, happy solution. I’ll be honest, I actually hate this aspect of YA. It’s part of what makes me take long breaks from the genre. But I’d obviously never punish a book for matching it’s genre. Having said that, all the good-natured hearts and flowers that popped up all over the place toward the end of this book did cause me to squirm a bit.

The story does seem to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (as the description says), but since it takes on a bit of a dystopian, steampunk setting, it strays far enough from its progenitor to feel original. There were times that I wished it would choose one or the other for consistency’s sake, though. The introduction of robots and steam cars seemed out of place, with the beginnings rather Victorian environs, and then later with technology that could implant encyclopedic knowledge in one’s mind in seconds.

There were also a few POV and narration inconsistencies. The book was predominantly told in the third person, but every once in a while, an anomalous first-person narrator comment would pop up and confuse me. Along with the mentioned info dump, which really caused 15 or so percent of the book to really drag, and a questionable lack of commas, I have very few other complaints. I enjoyed the story.

I liked that Claren was willing to stand up for herself and appeared to be smart enough to read a situation for what it was. She was also perfectly able to read others, meaning that she didn’t pull the common heroine habit of constantly wondering about someone’s feelings or motives when they were perfectly obvious. Etrigan, on the other hand, seemed deliciously fragile. He showed a little beastly backbone at the end, but for most of the book, ‘cute’ would be a much better adjective to describe him. There was a slew of colorful side characters, namely Horace, Dekker, and Mrs. Whitby, as well as minor main characters (Frederick and Kurten). They all played their part well and helped flesh the book out without cluttering it up. 

All-in-all, I may have let this one linger on the shelf until I was able to face a YA HEA, but having finally given it a read, I find myself happy to have given it the time. For those who like original retellings of fairy tales or blending of genres, this one is worth picking up.