The Infinite is a solid end to the trilogy, but beyond that, it's a pretty excellent example of Lovecraftian huge-space opera with huge scope and partThe Infinite is a solid end to the trilogy, but beyond that, it's a pretty excellent example of Lovecraftian huge-space opera with huge scope and particularly fine mind-breaking elements.
Literally. The Broken and the godlike powers, the huge, multidimensional AIs and other gods (even homebrew ones on humanity's side) makes this a really interesting book. I also like the small scale Broken bits a lot. It really takes getting to know yourself to a whole new level. I was expecting a shock of white hair and other madness-cliches, but this was good, too. ;)
War. Interstellar war. With quantum stuff and uploaded consciousness, souls, rebellion, and a huge-ass complication.
So, if I love all these elements so much, why did I only give it a 4 out of 5? Pacing, mostly. There's a lot to love, but some bits were a bit slow and lost the tension. Not a dealbreaker -- but I would have loved it tighter.
It WAS quite satisfying, however, and ended on a very interesting note, so don't let me dissuade you from picking it up!...more
This might be one of my all-time favorite Lovecraftian stories. It really rolls off the page smoothly, creepily, and with such otherworldly terror.
NoThis might be one of my all-time favorite Lovecraftian stories. It really rolls off the page smoothly, creepily, and with such otherworldly terror.
Not only does it capture that essence of an undescribable color and how it gets into the water and -- does things -- to the plants and animals on this farm, but Lovecraft outdid himself with writing simply pleasing pages and tight prose.
I'm glad I revisited this one. As an older reader I appreciate just how special it is to have some rather fascinating mathematical concepts introducedI'm glad I revisited this one. As an older reader I appreciate just how special it is to have some rather fascinating mathematical concepts introduced upon the page, very heavy SF ideas of alternate dimensions or foldings of space that would take a proper mind -- and body -- some place or time -- very distant indeed. Beyond the galaxy, perhaps.
Combining the pure mathematics with one hell of an obsession and an equally heavy interest in some esoteric folklore -- and the realization that these old maths had been the preview of ancient peoples -- makes this utterly irresistible.
Of course, this is Lovecraft, and he takes a goodly bit of time to gnaw away at his character's sanity one night or non-euclidian geometry at a time. The witch and Brown Jenkin and all the mysterious ceremonies and sacrifices are just icing on the cake. I love how he gathers so many of his friends around him to keep him tethered to reality and how they failed.
Am I extremely happy to have read this on Halloween night?
Out of all these Threshold books, I still think 14 was the most fun, but between all the scenes that pry open our world to gigantic Go big or go home!
Out of all these Threshold books, I still think 14 was the most fun, but between all the scenes that pry open our world to gigantic lovecraftian gods and send us all, gibbering, to our doom, they're all pretty fun.
Think Lovecraft with a lighter tone, a can-do attitude even when it is, honestly, hopeless.
But as with most things, it's the journey that means the most.
In this one, the actual end of the world is merely a feature. We get a good look into the heads of the evil cultists, some fun SFnal tech, a bit of creepy time-travel and alternate universe stuff, and Somalian piracy. Everything a growing boy needs.
Definitely a good choice for a SFnal Spooktober. :)...more
It feels like it's been an awfully long time since I could jump into the timey-wimey, cthulhu-esq, darkly funny and immensely sarcastic world of DavidIt feels like it's been an awfully long time since I could jump into the timey-wimey, cthulhu-esq, darkly funny and immensely sarcastic world of David and John (and Amy!) as they scramble through poverty while fighting the good fight.
They're not Sam and Dean. They don't have that kind of plot armor. But for all that, they are still fighting the fight as shadow people deal deals that only increase suffering, as future cult leaders become Earthly Gods through prophecies spanning backward through time, when phone apps tell your children to feed it human teeth...
Oh yeah, the stakes are always high or at least deeply strange and I LOVE it.
It feels like fourth-wall breaking, especially the first three books that were written under the PoV CHARACTER's name, only to mix things up as the actual author brings out his real name now. Jason Pargin is the ACTUAL writer, post-timey-wimey real continuity, and that's kinda the point.
If you like reality like you like your spaghetti, all tangled up and bloody-red, then I'm sure you'll love this return. :)
Charlie Stross is going at it with fine verve, yet again.
New Management has ushered in a New World Order full of metahumans, cyborgs, brain-munched sCharlie Stross is going at it with fine verve, yet again.
New Management has ushered in a New World Order full of metahumans, cyborgs, brain-munched sorcerers, and a Lesser Evil installed in government to protect the world from the Greater Evil of the world-eating gibbering eternal horrors.
We follow some very interesting, even rather hilarious, adventures involving meat pies, puppets, mind-blowingly evil children on a cross-country romp, deadly corporate traps, a Mute Poet God, and a not-quite-named-Kroger's grocery store involving cultists. And it might be best not to mention HR. Please. Just don't mention HR. Or the dragons.
In other words, it's a Tuesday. And as long as you're buying pizza, I'm rolling my dice.
A great flood of characters, wonderful multiple plotlines that eventually slam together, and all the best feel of Stross's Laundry Files in a Brave New World (of Lovecraftian monstrosities). I look forward to these SO MUCH and they always carry me away. ...more
No spoilers, but this fun little Elizabeth Bear story has tones of Lovecraft and R. Chambers while reading like a straight SF novel of scientific and No spoilers, but this fun little Elizabeth Bear story has tones of Lovecraft and R. Chambers while reading like a straight SF novel of scientific and personal discovery.
Did I think it was brilliant? No. But I did think it was solid and evokes all those glorious memes and religious terror wrapped up in an awesome genetic jewel.
It almost makes me believe that the spirit of inquiry DOESN'T automatically lead to 1d6 dead investigators.
This is my first Laird Barron and it will not be my last. In fact, I'm very excited to grab anything else he's written for all kinds of reasons: beautThis is my first Laird Barron and it will not be my last. In fact, I'm very excited to grab anything else he's written for all kinds of reasons: beautiful prose, a creepy old-school horror mastery that straddles the lines between haunting images, idyllic life, and mind-destroying terror.
Indeed, I fell down the rabbit hole of this fantastic exploration of an *obviously* wrong interpretation of the Hollow Earth theory. I got caught up trying to piece together the many different time periods, the cross-sections of a single lifetime. The horror aspects were awesome but it was the mystery that kept me coming back.
How could everything return to normal? Again and again? What is the truth? Or better yet... how is the truth?
It's easy to wave a hand and say this is a Cthuhlu-ish tale. It's more interesting to call this a really dark retelling of Rumplestiltskin. But what is the truth?
This is a wonderfully dark and beautifully written work of cosmic terror couched as an idyllic life well lived... with strange gaps. :)
No spoilers, but I should mention that I guffawed and rubbed my hands by the end. :)...more
After reading this book, I'm not only reeling after a great Heist story, but I'm rocking to a Dark Fantasy that happens Sometimes I'm just astounded.
After reading this book, I'm not only reeling after a great Heist story, but I'm rocking to a Dark Fantasy that happens to be Hard SF while very much being a Superhero tale being couched in a Lovecraftian universe while setting me up to be murdered by Bond in its classic thriller milieu just before I wonder if Peter from Peter Pan will ever grow up.
If you're asking WTF, then you're in the right frame of mind.
And it's AWESOME.
For you old fans of Bob and Mo and fairy kingdoms clashing against Elder Gods, put your expectations on hold. There's not much of that here. We're very much in a day and age after a Greater Evil has taken over the government and the best thing that a government employee can hope for is holding the chaos at bay just a few seconds longer.
For the rest of us, and that includes a group of thieves and a thief-taker in modern pre-apocalyptic London, we've got a little mission. And a -- or rather, The Necronomicon.
If you're not just a tad thrilled (or horrified) by this news, then go read some romance fluff. That's the only genre that isn't expertly mashed in this brilliant novel.
Oddly enough, a new reader of Stross could read this particular novel without having read the previous ones. They may miss a lot of the worldbuilding jokes and might freak out at the sheer complexity of the inherent humor of computational necromancy or residual human resources, but that's okay. They'll still be in for a treat. After all, Santa is dead.
Long live Santa.
*I cackle, running off into the sunset, my hair turning pure white just before I jump on a sleigh, fleeing Boris Johnson*...more
All three of these Wormwood books are perfect for Weird fans. Not that you have to be weird as a fan to enjoy them, merely that you must enjoy Weird fAll three of these Wormwood books are perfect for Weird fans. Not that you have to be weird as a fan to enjoy them, merely that you must enjoy Weird fiction, be tolerant of cthulhu-like alien entities who provide rather miraculous services in return for a foothold in humanity. Wait. Isn't this just an alien invasion story?
Sure, like Fight Club is just a story about self-help groups.
We get a solid return for main characters in the previous two, get thrown into time-travel, end-of-the-world, last-stand alien repulsion, and, surprisingly, a rather large part of the novel deals with gay rights.
The subtext is solid, but it never gets in the way of the over-arching tale. Which is big. It spans across a lot of countries and across a theoretically huge amount of time, and although there IS time travel in this, it doesn't take up a lot of page-time.
I loved the big story. I enjoyed seeing old characters come back. I wasn't as impressed with the amount of character-building in this one as compared to the first or especially the second books, but it felt like a pretty good send-up to me.
The most impressive part of these books is the all-out genre-bending courage it takes to make them. I'm a big fan of Tade when it comes to this. His two novellas gave me a huge wonderful taste and three out of five novels pretty much solidified it. Imagination is key. They're full of it. :)...more
Scott Hale has consistently blown me the f*** away with his horror. I'm especially thrilledSo. Someone just got eaten by a god.
That's right! It's ME!
Scott Hale has consistently blown me the f*** away with his horror. I'm especially thrilled when he dives into the epic dystopian landscape of our modern world twisted by the Trauma. These novels are some of the most wickedly subversive and massively wicked epic-fantasy twists I've ever read. And that's saying a lot.
It also says a lot that the most heartwarming scene in the novel is a small child running through a hallway draped with freshly flensed skin, dripping various gore, and the caretaker sees absolutely nothing wrong with picking the kid up and cooing at it. What a sweet child. :)
Or when our most heroic heroes regularly dine on fresh human flesh and we learn real heroism from a walking, talking skeleton. (See The Three Heretics). All gods in these books are EEEEVVVVIIIIILLLL. After reading this, you'll think Cthulhu is a sweet cuddly bunny with a tooth problem.
VIVA LA WORM!
Or, as Scott briefly had in his blurb, "DEICIDE"
Sums it up nicely, since this book is going to put some GODS TO BED. :) :) Epic battles, horrific societies, and that are just the normal people. Just wait till you see the horrorshow that's all monsters and blood and warped realities. :)
SO FREAKING AWESOME!
If there's ANY author more deserving of getting a huge bump in popularity, they're going to have to wait in line behind Scott Hale! :) Seriously. This guy is the BOMB....more
We go from quite amusing escapades right to OMG this is so freaking awesome in one book.
To say I love this little romp through Hell, mAll right then!
We go from quite amusing escapades right to OMG this is so freaking awesome in one book.
To say I love this little romp through Hell, mystical monkey paw alternate dimensions, and a burning London filled with airships, cowering leeches, and an invasion spawned from one scorned woman is to say that a supervolcano is kinda pretty from orbit.
I love this.
Every part of it speaks of a delightful gathering featuring all the best companions our amoral but unfortunately slightly-conscience-laden hero can summon on short notice. We have another mystical quest featuring him, his vampire brother, a spider devil, a few heavily armed natural humans as they are subject to the wiles of substitute satans, reverse-backstabbing-devils, and the realization that all of the worst evils in the world are caused by women. Of course, the last is entirely justified and quite amusing.
Anyone who says otherwise has not been on the right side of her wrath. Shame on you.
I've read a lot of Jonathan Howard's novels by this point and I think it's fairly safe to assume that I've become a slavering fanboy. Especially after this last one. :)...more
An oldschool splatterpunk horror adventure in the old-style.
Not really what I've come to expect from Hunter Shea.
It's not quite the B-Movie horror I lAn oldschool splatterpunk horror adventure in the old-style.
Not really what I've come to expect from Hunter Shea.
It's not quite the B-Movie horror I like from him, but it does remind me an awful lot of that old 90's Tales from the Crypt Demon Knight with a bit of Hellsing Anime thrown in, sometimes meeting the old standard and sometimes not.
If anyone wants a little short fun in that old realm of immortal priests fighting the eternal fight against Cain and his Cthulhu horrors in the modern world, however, this is easily their ticket to that adventure. :)
I really enjoyed this novel, but let's be real here: this isn't your average Cthulhu monster novel full of mystery and intrigue and reveals that turn I really enjoyed this novel, but let's be real here: this isn't your average Cthulhu monster novel full of mystery and intrigue and reveals that turn your hair white in disbelief. There aren't even 1d6 investigators to throw into the open maw of a multitentacled AND multidimensional immortal beastie!
But there are multitentacled and multidimensional immortal beasties, ghouls, Deep Ones, halfbreeds and Creatures of Air. Not to mention strange boxes, a focus on books, legacy, and the ultimate fate of mankind. I mean, the whole thing that comes with a Cthulhu tale is the realization that we're insignificant specks of poop in a disturbed nightmare of a dead but sleeping god. Of *course* our fates are up in the air!
But that's where we take our tale out of the norm and place it firmly in the hands of a nuanced and careful character who has been locked away in a concentration camp thanks to her own country, who only wants to read and preserve her culture, who had suffered a massacre of almost all her people on her home soil in Innsmouth.
And she's a monster. An immature Deep One. Who likes books and just wants to be left alone. But thanks to the FBI and her folks under the sea and a nightmare of diplomacy with other Outsiders that reckon diplomatic negotiations in terms of 50 thousand years, she's thrown right into a tangled tentacular soup trying to protect the flies (that's us humans) with the super-technologically-advanced multidimensional space-traveling immortals that WE call Lovecraftian horrors.
The premise and deep exploration of characters and processes and reveals -- including dreamwalking, magics, and threats from well-meaning gods that think that consuming us is a proper way to preserve us forever --is a perfect delight.
It is NOT a humorous tale, however. So fans of Stross' Laundry Files should be forewarned. It is, however, philosophical, ethical, and it tries to answer all the questions about what constitutes MONSTERS. No one is at fault, but the power differentials are immense... and even the flies can sting.
I'm perfectly on board for reading this series until the end of time. :) It's deep, clever, and monstrous. :)...more
I think I can read this kind of fiction forever. Like, literally 78 million years in the future, as an immortal intellectual bug, I will be reading thI think I can read this kind of fiction forever. Like, literally 78 million years in the future, as an immortal intellectual bug, I will be reading this fiction.
To me, Lovecraftian horror is tops. Add a very solid Noir to it, a big of crunching bone and eyes everywhere, a case to solve, and I'm in heaven. Or some outer dimensional equivalent made of ice and regret and nostalgia.
Hardbitten PI meets tentacled horrors. Of course, he is one, too. :)
Oh lordy. When it comes to genre mashing, I'm usually first in line and chortling with glee when it comes to the wild and the wacky. Coming into this Oh lordy. When it comes to genre mashing, I'm usually first in line and chortling with glee when it comes to the wild and the wacky. Coming into this one relatively free of any expectations other than knowing it was a group read with some friends, I blanked my mind and began it.
First impressions: Oh! Chinese gods, the underworld, a damned chef and the problem of keeping the ghouls happy with their meals. Oh! Godfather. Oh! This is GORY. Oh! Rupert has one hell of a snark going on and even if I don't particularly like him or what he does, he's funny as hell.
Second impressions, coinciding with the second novella (two of which make up a single novel): I'm really getting into this. Life on the line for the stunt he pulled, he's sent to work for the enemy, I.E., the Greek Gods. As a Chef. And they're all a real nasty piece of work. Survival novel, mystery, and twisty, twisty machinations including new gods, old gods, and a really fun Outsider Cthuhlu god later... CHAOS, BLOOD, and so much gory death. :)
The second one was even better than the first, but I'll put it this way: 3 star, 5 star. This damned chef has really grown on me. Like undead tattoo fairies. Or an immortal youtube cat begging for scraps. :)
So, a word of warning: You must be comfortable with graphic, graphic gore. :) The rest is a very humorous comedy of errors featuring a cannibal chef who keeps getting into trouble with all the wrong gods. It's very reminiscent of some classic mystery/comedies with a huge American Gods twist.
:)
Me, I LOVE bizarro fiction and Khaw's writing skill is tops. No complaints there. Quite funny, great turns of phrase, and always snappy. She just pushes the boundaries as far as she likes with the gore, and I really appreciate that. :)
I finally read this and while I was fully expecting to be as blown away by this truly EPIC AWESOMENESS of a fantasy, I did NOT expect it to be this goI finally read this and while I was fully expecting to be as blown away by this truly EPIC AWESOMENESS of a fantasy, I did NOT expect it to be this good, this deep, or this fun.
In fact, I just re-estimated Eames as one of the grandmasters of epic fantasy. By just two books. And I've read A LOT of fantasy, some great, some better than average, and some stinking like a bag of dicks.
I can rank The Band up on the fingers of one hand, and depending on what mood I'm in or what kind of rocker, or I should say, punk-rocker, I am, a lot of you might guess which finger this series lands on.
And just for good measure, I'll hold both of those fingers up on both hands and Idol it up with a Rebel Yell, Lauper it up with more than a little Fun, and rock on through the night with a Springsteen in my step.
The boys aren't back in town, but the girls are DEFINITELY in it for a hell of a lot more than Diamonds. In fact, there's one bear that becomes a Diamond Dog, a summoner whose ink turns her into the ultimate goth rocker, and there's WAY too much to say about Bloody Rose. Someone could write a book about her. :)
But what probably surprised me the most was Tam. Little Tam, "I'm just a bard," Tam. A piss-poor bard, indeed. :) I love the crap out of her.
Did Eames just mic-drop a bit of brilliance on the stage? Maybe! I know I haven't been as thrilled about a new fantasy series in a long time. :)
Okay. So I admit I've been chomping at the bit to get my hands on this and I seriously couldn't wait.
So I devoured it.
Only to be devoured.
By K SyndrOkay. So I admit I've been chomping at the bit to get my hands on this and I seriously couldn't wait.
So I devoured it.
Only to be devoured.
By K Syndrome.
And then I was volunteered for a Mission Impossible with other K Syndromes and other oddities in the United States! And the President... has been erased from everyone's minds. The Gesh! What a Gesh!!! It's almost like he gave us our greatest wish while making it totally evil at the same time. :) And then I remember that old stint on the internet when Cthuhlu ran for President under the party line, "Vote for the Lesser Evil!" Hmmm... could Stross be running with a theme, here? Maybe? :)
Of course, with the Laundry Files in general, Stross doesn't stint on the action, the ramping up of the peril, or the epic disasters as the world tumbles into a singularity of evil. This time it's focused on America with a crack team of vampires and hand-picked specials invading and ostensibly "saving" the pres. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
I loved it. What can I say? Stross writes like a bureaucratic nightmare storm with a big dose of despair and disillusionment backed up by a rock-solid sense of duty spiced with fatalism. :) What can one do when a greater demon is the Prime Minister and the only way you can survive is by participating in human sacrifice? It's just another day on the job. :)
For all you folks out there waking up and suddenly getting a craving for an Undead Raptor Jesus, this is your lucky day!
What? What?
Or I should say, thFor all you folks out there waking up and suddenly getting a craving for an Undead Raptor Jesus, this is your lucky day!
What? What?
Or I should say, the Weird West is out in full colors with this novel, an adaptation of the Deadlands paper-based RPG game that's full of great storytelling elements from a WoDish dark Wild West with screaming rocks, undead soldiers, mad scientists, and Hell beginning to encroach upon the Earth. This is the Weird West, full of high-tech gadgets, magic, and a hell of a lot of wild action as only an over-the-top western can make it.
I could argue that any such setting and possibility deserves five stars, of course, but I won't.
This book hops along wonderfully with some great characters and story. A certain Thomas Looks Away kinda stole the show, but I had no problems at all with the development of the tortured gunslinger Grey or the firecracker gunslinger girl Jenne. There's a lot of stock stuff here, sure, but it's how it's dealt with in the Weird West that makes it awesome.
And then there are the undead raptors. Hell, all the dinosaurs and flying machines and aetheric missiles and the Cthulhu-like mythos running wild, too. It's enough to make me have a nerdgasm. So yeah, while it does have a flavor of steampunk, it's really very American, so don't let that turn you off. I got kinda tired of the whole steampunk thing, too, but this is just plain fun. :)...more
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