Author: Don

Didn’t get a lot of reading done this past week (that wasn’t critique-related). It looks like I did, because I went through some flash stories. As usual, I tried to take as much time reviewing them, unpolished and off the cuff…

Thomas Ligotti, “A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing” – From The New Weird, this was a short piece that seemed to go nowhere at first. But the pace picked up, and the message of the piece was finally revealed. It’s not a pleasant one, but that’s actually not why it gets 3 out of 5.

China Miéville, “Jack” – I thought I must’ve read this when I first picked up China’s Looking for Jake and Other Stories. I must not have; I would’ve remembered a story this good. The best part was listening to a narrator that ended up being as interesting as his stories of Jack Half-a-Prayer. 5 out of 5.

Benjamin Rosenbaum, “The Orange” – I might’ve read this before, too, as I went through the Flash Fiction Forward antho; I maybe even talked about it. The story doesn’t have that “snap” at the end that you see in a lot of flash fiction. It pulls off something harder, building up a smooth narrative arc from start to finish in such a small space. 5 out of 5.

Jim Crace, “21” – Also from Flash Fiction Forward. A good experimental piece, blurring the lines between showing and telling. The showing was the telling. It leaned a touch too far on the showing side to me, though it made sense later as I read that the piece was an excerpt. 4 out of 5.

Karen Joy Fowler, “Contention” – From her collection Black Glass, the story brought to mind Amy Hempel’s “Celia Is Back.” But where the protagonist’s ultimate desires in that story were up for interpretation, the protagonist in this story wants something more specific. I felt there was a disconnect between how the tale was initially presented and what it was ultimately about, but the writing made that transition almost seamless. 4 out of 5.

Karen Joy Fowler, “The Black Fairy’s Curse” – Also from Black Glass, here’s another reinterpretation of a classif fairy tale. More like an amplification, really. 5 out of 5.

Everything I’ve read this week is from the antho The New Weird (Powell’s | Amazon). A couple of them were novellette-length (gasp!), but they’ll get the same quick, off-the-cuff treatment that any other piece gets.

I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a crop of stories this much!

M. John Harrison, “The Luck in the Head” – This is the second Harrison story I’ve read, and unfortunately I think I’ve fallen into the camp of those who really admire his prose but who finish his stories feeling, “WTF?” The novelette length didn’t help, either, but that’s a personal thing with me. 3 out of 5.

Clive Barker, “In the Hills, the Cities” – Oddly enough, this story must’ve been about two or three thousand words longer than Harrison’s story. But it took about 1/5 of the time to read. I did think it was a touch too long, with a little too much time spent on the interactions between the two main characters relative to the payoff at the end. Still, 5 out of 5.

Michael Moorcock, “Crossing Into Cambodia” – This is a nice an homage to Isaac Babel as I’ve ever read. A great blend of literary iconography: a Babel-like protagonist caught up in a Moorcock world. 5 out of 5!

Simon D. Ings, “The Braining of Mother Lamprey” – I have to give this 5 out of 5. I actually thought there were a couple of characters too many and I got mired in some of the details, but I’ll be damned–I never got lost. This is definitely one to re-read, if nothing else, for the tutorial on world-building in a short-story.

Kathe Koja, “The Neglected Garden” – There’s nothing like a fantasy/horror story that could, with a little imagination (and not a very “nice” imagination, at that), take place in your own back yard! 5 out of 5!

This past week, I polished off the rest of The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet in between bouts of the plague. In general, I’d say the last part of the collection just burned! Here’re the off-the-cuff reviews of the fiction…

James Sallis, “Two Stories” – Two nicely written flash pieces, combined. One really worked for me, the other one not so much. 3 out of 5.

Karen Russell, “Help Wanted” – A great series of interrelated vignettes forming a greater whole of story/commentary. 5 out of 5.

Sarah Micklem, “‘Eft’ or ‘Epic'” – Very clever use of a narrative substitute. 4 out of 5.

John Kessel, “The Red Phone” – A textbook example of a good idea, wrapped around with great storytelling. 4 out of 5.

Deborah Roggie, “The Mushroom Duchess” – Started a bit slow for me, and the focus of the story shifted. Once I got over that, it was a really decent tale. 4 out of 5.

Seana Graham, “The Pirate’s True Love” – A quintessential empowerment story! 5 out of 5.

John Brown, “Bright Waters” – A longer piece, but with the most solid storytelling I’ve read in awhile! 5 out of 5.