Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2021 (F&SF #758) Edited by Sheree Renée Thomas

 

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2021 (F&SF #758) Edited by Sheree Renée Thomas  

258 pages Published November 2021 by Spilogale, Inc.

 Kinda decided against writing a full review. I just want to quickly write a note about why I am so happy to be a subscriber and my favorite things in this issue. I have read this magazine all my life off and on. Picking it up at the rack when stories by certain authors caught my interest. Recently learning the history of the magazine by researching the co-founder Anthony Boucher for an episode of the podcast (featuring publisher Gordan Van Gelder) really got me thinking about the importance of this magazine and that I wanted to be around forever. So I put my money where my mouth is and got a subscription.

This is the first issue I have read edited by Sheree Renee' Thomas, A writer whose stories I have read a few times and enjoyed. I follow her online and thought She was a great choice for the editor. It is clear that she was by the international feeling of this issue.

My favorite piece was the cover novella by Nalo Hopkinson - "Broad Duty Water." It is a Cli-fi somewhat cyberpunk tale that plays with a similar future and vibe to Stormland the latest by Cyperpunk legend John Shirley. Hopkinson's story here is just the most solid in the issue that I wished was a whole novel. Here is hoping she explores this future again.

I enjoy the more sci-fi stories than the fantasy ones so my other favorite was the Australian set "The Vast Silence" by T.R. Napper. This was a really good story with subtle but effective world-building.

I am glad I got the subscription. I hope you will follow me. 

Book Review: The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett

 

The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett

Paperback, 128 pages

Published 1967 by Ace Books (first Ace edition 1955, serialized in 1953)

The legend goes that Hollywood director Howard Hawks read No from a Corpse a hard-boiled crime mystery and said “Get me this Brackett guy.” He was looking for a screenwriter to work on his Humphry Bogart movie The Big Sleep. That Brackett guy as it happens was a woman who was already publishing space operas galore and earned a rep as the Queen of the pulps or Queen of the Space Opera. She was called both for good reason. Her most famous work sadly is the first draft she wrote for The Empire Strikes Back a month before her death. I say sadly because it dwarfs everything else in her long career thanks to the stretch and reach of Star Wars. When I was young, I devoured Erick John Stark novels. They were in my opinion similar to the John Carter books but better. I admit I sought her out because I knew the name from Empire but let’s move on and never speak about it again.

I wanted to review this book for a couple of reasons. First, I respect Brackett and this one was out of her Space Opera wheelhouse. This is a pretty high concept for an SF novel (novella by today’s standard) published first in a magazine in 1953. The second reason is that this novel was bound and first published under Don Wollheim’s Ace Double series with Solar Lottery the debut novel of Philip K. Dick.

So yeah, I wanted to do a bonus episode of the podcast (stay tuned). Keep in mind what PKD told Gregg Rickman about the ACE line at the time. “He was the only market, that was it…It had to be 6,000 lines long I remember that.” Both Ace editions the double and the slim one of the 60s that I read claim to be complete and unabridged. That seems unlikely as most of the writers of the doubles complained about having to make cuts for Wollheim and A.A. Wyn during those early years. This was not Princess of Mars fantasy or space pirates and in that sense, they make for an interesting combo.

LB and PKD would be coming to this with totally different dynamics. Brackett was the marketable name and it is likely that Phil would have been happy with this pairing from a sales point of view. For a long time, this was PKD’s book with the largest sales, and out of the gates, it was the Big Jump that sold it. Still, it was a stranger more psychological deep novel and combined with PKD’s dystopian about random lottery-style elections, violent reality media, and psychic cops made for an interesting combo in the same year Rosa Park refused to go to the back of the bus.  PKD has admitted to trying to combine the vibes of Vogt’s World of Null-A and Bester’s Demolished Man, but Brackett’s half is much more original for the time.

The Big Jump is not exactly hard SF but compared to the near fantasy of the majority of her space operas this has realistic of a Brackett book short of her power post Apocalypse novel The Long Tomorrow. The  tagline on the ACE Double edition says “One man had come back- but he was neither dead or alive.” The story is one survivor returning from the first interstellar space flight to Bernard’s Star. The survivor Ballantyne returns to earth wrecked from the experience and this sets up the mystery.

Before I get into spoiler territory, I will say I really enjoyed this old-school piece of SF and thought that there were great moments of high concept storytelling. Brackett elevates the material often with moments of powerful prose. The Big Jump is not essential reading for everyone, that said if you are a fan of the era or this author then it totally is. Now let’s go deeper…

Our main point of view character is Arch Comyn who had a friend on the mission. There are some fights, and chases that lead up to Comyn following the mission to Bernard’s Star. While LB hand waves a bit of the science away this is not pure fantasy, she knew the right distance for Bernard’s Star, she invents a ship that travels outside of space-time. I love that she refers to it as “Not-Space”

Early in the novel, Comyn wants to get the mystery that the builder of the ship Cochrane, who oddly has the same name as the person who breaks the warp barrier in Star Trek, and will of course to the modern reader invokes Elon Musk.  

“Ballantyne made the Big Jump, he and the men with him. They did the biggest thing men have ever done. They reached out and touched the stars. And you tried to hide it, to cover it up, to rob them even of the glory they had coming.”

This sets up the mystery and it is a good one. Why the cover-up? Why did the mission go bad? More than anything I think these early pages do a good job of making sure the reader understands the stakes and gets on board. It is implied that the ship was saved from crashing into Pluto and that a patrol was looking for it. The first chapter establishes characters and Cochrane’s company. If there is a weakness to the story it is the thin details on Cochrane and his corporate motive. The story works fine but one wonders if LB was limiting these elements for the magazine/Ace Double format.

I really loved the early world-building, The opening paragraph is so cool. It talks of the rumors, that somebody made it. I like the implication that many space jockeys were trying and failing. Spacemen talking in a thousand ports was a great world-building detail.  when Comyn returns to New York from Mars.

“The Big Jump had been made. Man had finally reached the stars, and every clerk and shopgirl, every housewife, businessman, and bum felt a personal hysteria of pride and achievement. They swayed in dense masses across Times Square feeling big with a sense of history, sensing the opening drumbeats of an epoch in what they saw and heard from the huge news-service screens.”

Of course, these moments to the modern eye have some cringe-inducing moments but of course, the modern reader has to consider how much progress was yet to be made. I love the idea that she conveys so quickly the pride and happiness that all humanity feels. LB suggests that the celebrations are so wide that Comyn is like everyone else having trouble staying inside. Deft moments of subtle but powerful world-building.  Consider that this was first published in a magazine years before the Mercury program had started and four years before Sputnik.

It is telling that she is so good at explaining the wonder and terror of space flight in another moment of excellent world-building prose.

“Comyn thought it was funny. It was very funny, indeed, that men making the second Big Jump in history, that men going faster and farther than any men but five had ever gone before, separated only by metal walls from the awfulness of infinity, should sit and play games with little plastic cards and pretend they were not where they were.”

LB is a great storyteller and those moments of world-building are great examples and that was something I remembered about her. I was surprised by some of the incredibly solid moments of horror that she wrote in this book. The scene where Comyn visits Ballantyne is very disturbing and conveyed by beautiful dark prose.

“The thing that lay in the bed between the barred sides was Ballantyne. It was Ballantyne, it was dead, quite dead. There was no covering on it to hide its deadness; no breathing lifted the flattened ribs; no pulse beat anywhere the pale transparent skin, and the tracery of veins was dark, the face was…Dead. And yet it moved.”

Not only does it bring the horror but it deepens the mystery and makes the build-up of repeating the journey so much darker and richer. There are other moments of Science Fiction and horror blending in excellent prose, the transition from Faster than Light travel from the end of chapter 9 to the opening of chapter 10 was super impressive. That is page 82 and 83 of the second Ace edition.

“…For one timeless ghastly interval he thought he saw the fabric of the ship itself dissolving with him into a mist of discrete particles, he knew that he wasn’t human anymore and nothing was real. And then plunged headlong into nothingness.”

Seriously. Good stuff. Once the mystery is revealed and the crew lands on Bernard II, the truth those on the planet are transformed by the local environment. This is a great answer to the mystery. The reveal has weight and makes the journey worth it. It presents Cromyn with a dilemma that the final act builds too.

The Big Jump is fantastic 50s sci-fi. The weight of the prose, the mechanics of the storytelling, and the details in the world-building are all fantastic. The change highlights flaws in the human character, so in the final moments, the novel even turns a mirror on humanity. This Big Jump is more than just a trip. The transformation offered to these humans has the potential to change their humanity completely and totally. Everything that humanity has done for food, shelter etc. “You have developed beyond civilization.”

What began as a Sci-fi horror adventure ends with a not-so-subtle message that The Big Jump is not just about traveling to another star be evolving past the life we have lived dependent on the one above us. Life on earth is dependent on survival and here four years before Sputnik Leigh Brackett was telling her readers in the stars we can evolve and become something better.  

Book Review: Philip K. Dick: In His Own Words by Philip K. Dick, and Gregg Rickman

 

Philip K. Dick: In His Own Words by Philip K. Dick, and Gregg Rickman

Paperback, 286 pages

Published 1984 by Fragments West/Valentine Press (Long Beach, CA)

 

Funny story about this book.  Last month I went on a tour of Philip K. Dick’s home and haunts around his hometown of Berkeley. One of the stops on the PK Dick-pedition was Coffee with the author of this book. I had read Rickman’s latest PKD on Film and was stoked to get it signed. He had been a target of our podcast but since he is not a social media or technology guy it was next to impossible. Traveling around Berkeley my travel partner was David Gill long-time Dickhead blogger and professor who teaches Dick every year. DG was the one that contacted Rickman.

The journey around Berkeley was as nerdy as it gets.  We would constantly look at the Lawrence Sutin and Rickman biographies for details to confirm about houses and places we were looking at. Indeed there were times in this book when Phil talks about his mother’s house, or the house he lived in the slums of Oakland and I was just at that house a month ago.

While hanging with Gill I thumbed through his beaten but loved copy of this book and realized it was something I always wanted during the podcast. A book where he is asked about each of his books. He is dismissive of a few of the books refusing to talk about Penultimate Truth and Game Players of Titan despite Rickman accurately pointing out that they are of merit.

I needed this book and despite Gill warning me it was rare and I would pay out the nose. Well, long story but my first attempt in ordering it ended up refunded because the book was damaged. I put the word out I was looking for a copy and PKD collector Zack Wood not only sent me the book for postage but sent me a signed letter from Phil.

So this book is great. It is for serious Dickheads and Sci-fi scholars only. If that is you I suggest trying to track down a copy. Rickman includes a very excellent about Phil’s career. This is important because Phil himself really liked this essay, it impressed him. It is important to note that as much of a genius as PKD is seen as now at the time of these interviews – the last year of his life – had really low self-esteem. It is clear that the essay is why Rickman had so much trust from Phil.
While the book contains excellent deep looks into Phil’s thoughts on his own book it also has details like that his favorite sodas were Orange Crushes. It has letters with Leguin and an interview With Ray Nelson his one-time writing partner. I could say more but this book is an excellent resource I will be quoting on the podcast.

I highlighted the hell out of this book, put much into the memory banks. A must-read for serious Dickheads.

Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 Edited by Andrew Nette, and Iain McIntyre

 

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985
by Andrew Nette (Editor/Contributor), Iain McIntyre (Editor/Contributor)

Paperback, 224 pages

Published November 2021 by PM Press

Let me start by saying I think this is an amazing book and anyone with an interest in the history of Science Fiction, radical fiction, or (Proto) bizarro should read this book. I like this book tons and intend to have Andrew Nettie on Dickheads. Anything critical is simply because this is a topic I feel very strongly about and most readers will not have the same nitpicks as me. As some who studies and reads books about this era constantly, I am almost too close to the subject.

So, I should say I think this is a really valuable book for anyone interested in Science Fiction, radical fiction, and weird fiction in general. I am stoked that the book has a focus on the years 1950 to 1985. That is the sweet spot for the genre. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy some Golden age stuff and certainly, Judith Merill who is profiled here was starting to write radical fiction as early as the late 40s right out of the gate of her career. Some of the really transitional radical speculative works come from the decades of the 50s. If you asked Philip K Dick he would have told you that no one wanted anything different or mold-breaking.

This book is the story of this transformation. In doing so the book has articles, profiles, and biographies of some of the radical voices. There are excellent profiles on Judith Merill, J.G. Ballard, and Octavia Butler. Perhaps the most interesting to me was the R.A. Lafferty article by Nick Mamatas that was the only author that I had never heard of before. I also enjoyed the one on Sam Delany and his commune years which gave me some added context to his classic Dhalgren.

I know it would be impossible to write them all, but there is a very short piece of Malzberg, better than nothing but I would like more on him. No Harlan Ellison profile? I know he could be a prick but it seems missing. Norman Spinrad and John Brunner's cover art are all over the book, their novels get mentioned but they are two of my favorites so I am going to be disappointed. That might not be a problem for most readers.

There are also lots of great essays on various topics. I found the essays on the Speculative fuckbooks and the black radical novels to be the most enlightening. The comparison between Leguin and Heinlein’s classic novels was cool. Sure there are topics I wish were a little expanded like eco-radical fiction of the era and proto Cyberpunk like John Brunner’s Shockwave Rider and John Shirley’s City Come-A-Walkin felt missing. That said I was constantly looking up books on Goodreads and adding them to my want-to-read shelves and that is a mark of a great genre history book.

Some of the essays were more academic, some were more pictures with a short text. The whole book looks cool at times it has a coffee table look with all the awesome cover art, combined with all the great articles it is really a cool thing to have. The book could have been three times the length and still felt like it was touching the surface I think Nettie and McIntyre did a fantastic job.
Anyone who is a student of the genre and this exciting period should check this book out!  

Book Review: Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World Edited by Charlatan Bardot and Eric J. Guinard

 

Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World Edited by Charlatan Bardot and Eric J. Guinard
Illustrated by Steve Lines and James Gabb
Paperback, 452 pages
Published November 2021 by Dark Moon Books

Let me start by saying that this review will be filled almost to the brim with crazy understatements. If it sounds hyperbolic at times just know this is a super cool anthology and it would impossible to overstate the amount of work involved in this project. I have been on the record on many Dark Moon books.  I think Eric’s primer series is so good. Guinard really knows how to put a collection together and give the reader value not just in content but the product of the books.

This anthology whose title is impossible to shorten is incredible on every level. The amount of work involved in just collecting close to 30 short stories on a tight theme itself is a monster task. These stories are sourced from an international cast of authors with both huge names, beginning writers from a dozen or more countries, and cultural backgrounds. Big names like Kaaron Warren, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Morton, Nadia Bulkin, Weston Ochse, and Joe R. freaking Lansdale. Just that feat alone is an intense act of editing.  

But this book is just getting started.  Add to it collecting almost 40 flash pieces – called Tiny from authors around the world that feature names like Cody Goodfellow, Poppy Z.Brite, Han Song, and many many more. These tiny tales are like seasoning but I liked them as introductions to authors, many of whom I have never heard of.

I am not done explaining why this is such an amazing feat of editing. Working with two artists Steve Lines and James Gabb the book is filled with so many illustrations and maps. Designing and formatting that is a ton of work. Working with the artists is hours and hours of work.

Next, you have to format the book and compile all the fiction into sections that are designed and set up by parts of the world. Stories from Asia, Europe, Australia and Oceania, Africa, North America, and Latin America, and the Caribbean. Each section had to have equal stories of the long and flash formats. I know this feels like people explaining why Peter Jackson deserved the best director award. Making three epics at once was crazy. Editing this book was crazy. From the point Guinard opened submissions to when it went on sale was a super short amount of time. Throw all the awards at him.

This anthology is fantastic and really impressive. It is not just that he did all these things. They worked and the stories are great. The theme is great, a playful travel guide to (fictional) haunted spots around the globe. Guignard had fun inventing a fictional persona as his Co-editor but make no mistake this is the product of one fantastic editor.

Let’s talk about some of my favorite short stories in this book. Some of the best are of course by the long-time pros, they are in that position for a reason. That said the story representing Sweden for example, Fish Tale about a haunted fish market by Eugenia Triantafyllou was the first story to really hit me. Maybe it is the vegan in me but fish ghosts work very well for this reader. “The creature she met was not vengeful or angry. It carried with it sadness for all the wasted time it spent away from the sea.” One of the more surprising tales was about a haunted Chinese restaurant in Barcelona Spain by S.Qiouyi Lu. This was a story-heavy on the vibe that will have me seeking out this author.  

As for the stories by pros. Ramsey Campbell rarely misfires, this is true here with a haunting piece. Nadia Bulkin is consistent as ever. Lisa Morton’s Hollywood tale is a great example of how she uses her native Angeleno eye for history like a superpower. Weston Ochse uses his experience in the country to write about a haunted tank in Afghanistan. While we are talking vehicles. Joe R. Lansdale’s Dead Car is a short but powerful tale that uses dialogue to bring the creeps. Neat trick.

Some other stand-outs include Above Aimi by Thersa Matsuura about a haunted Japanese hospital. Tidemarks by New Zealand’s Octavia Cade. Kaaron Warren’s haunting story about a dying parent making a last visit to a mine. Last but not least was The Case of Moaning Marquee representing Nigeria by Suyi Davis Okungbowa.

Those were stand-outs. I enjoyed this book from top to bottom and couldn’t be more impressed with the construction. I already had massive respect for Guignard, but this is some ‘we are not worthy’ shit right here. I think most readers might not understand the magic trick Eric and his Bad Moon press pulled off here. If you like horror anthologies and short fiction this is a must-have. If you are an indie publisher or an anthology editor you need to pick up this book to see how high the bar is being raised.    
 

Book Review: If It Bleeds by Stephen King

 

 If It Bleeds by Stephen King

Hardcover, 436 pages

Published April 21st 2020 by Scribner

Sometimes I feel like I am too hard on Uncle Steve. The man is a genius, and he set a very high bar for himself with early classics. I mean Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Stand, and The Dead Zone are unfuckwithable. Pet Semetary, and Misery are high bars but you can’t release as much as Stephen King does and have all hits. The reality is I am always curious like a new Metallica album. They will never release anything as powerful as Master of Puppets but they always cause conversation. A new Stephen King novel is always a conversation.

When SK is on, his powers are pretty amazing to behold. I thought LATER released from Hard Case Crime last year is one of those amazing pieces of work. I also think Doctor Sleep is underrated, but that being said it is always his four novella collections I get excited about. This is the perfect length for King in my opinion. Full Dark No Stars for example is a perfect collection of all four stories, just perfect.

So why three stars? I think half maybe ¾  of this book is really great but I didn’t like the title story. We will get there.

Perhaps the most naturally Stephen King feeling story in the book is the opening story Mister Harrington’s Phone. In the early King days of collections like Night Shift and Skeleton Crew, he had a habit of finding random objects or various set-ups to build horror stories about. Last Rung on the Ladder, The Monkey, The Raft, etc. In the same way, I imagined SK staring at his phone and this story all came flowing to him.

“And what makes you think you’re the main character in anything but your own mind?”
The first story is about Craig a young man who lives in rural Maine and is hired by a billionaire recluse to read for him as his eyes are failing. What follows is a few short years while Craig grows up and gets to know the Luddite rich man. Before his death, Craig teaches him how to an iPhone that he gives him as a gift.

“Henry Thoreau said that we don’t own things; things own us. Every new object—whether it’s a home, a car, a television, or a fancy phone like that one—is something more we must carry on our backs.”

The phone is the Maguffin, and it drives the story a bit, but the thing that makes this story click is the intense and meaningful relationship between Craig and Harrington. There are creepy moments but they wouldn’t mean much if not for this foundation. This story is an excellent character piece.
The second story The Life of Chuck is probably my favorite the reasons why are not super easy for me to identify. As a devoted reader of Philip K. Dick, this story is positively Dickian.

“Because there really is a second world. It exists because people refuse to believe it’s there.”

The story is broken up into narrative slices that might not seem to connect but this is a story about alternate realities. The fact is this strange end of the world story goes backward. It is a fantastic story that is really well written except for one exchange of forced exposition. The story has a mood and vibe I liked but also felt profound. I thought was playing with the idea of our lives flashing before our eyes. This is a story that might benefit from a second or third time through. It would be easy to miss what is going on in the transitions. VERY GOOD stuff here.

I was feeling good. Then came the title story that I knew was featured Holly Gibney who has been a character in many King novels. I know he was eager to come back to her after The Outsider. Her character was not the problem with that book that had a fantastic set-up but fizzled out for me. My review is up here to read if you want to read it. This novella kinda recycles the set-up of the outsider but mashes it together with the genius Dan Gilroy movie Nightcrawler. Both of which reminded me of San Diego author Ryan C. Thomas’s second novel The Ratings Game, it is just an accident. Just pointing out the idea of journalists creating violence and chaos for their own ratings is hardly anything groundbreaking at this point.

The idea that the media are tragedy vampires certainly deserves more than one examination so I don’t think that is the problem. I wanted to like this story but it was the longest and biggest slog for me in this book. I didn’t really feel much interest in the mystery at any point. This novella just felt like a re-do of the previous novel shoe-horned into this theme. So, I know this is a contradiction as it felt too long and not developed enough at the same time.  

Holly is a good character and this does provide some details into her family and that did spark a little interest. The only thing that kept from skipping was Holly. I figure this stuff will be important when we see her again.

The final story RAT is another writer’s story and is mostly vibe and tone. I related to this one a bit, but I am a writer. Although the writer is so desperate to finish something I can’t relate to. I am never sure how these stories work for non-writers. It is a moral story, like Matheson’s classic Button, Button meets the misery of writer’s block. There are some moments where the writer at the heart of the story questions reality and there were some fun narrative tricks, but ultimately I wonder if the stakes are relatable. SK does what he can to make them clear.

If It Bleeds is a must-read for constant readers. If you’re not I would suggest Different Seasons or Full Dark No Stars before this one.

Book Review: The Happening Worlds of John Brunner: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction Edited by Joseph W. De Bolt (Editor)

 

(No cover art)

The Happening Worlds of John Brunner: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction Edited by Joseph W. De Bolt (Editor)

Hardcover, 216 pages

Published June 1975 by Kennikat Press

I read this as research for an article or two, or three about John Brunner who I personally think was the best sci-fi writer of the 20th century. I am super curious on how this book came to be. A couple of English professors at Central Michigan decided that the world needed an academic look at the work of British Science Fiction author John Brunner. Considering this was written when Brunner had yet to write of his masterpieces Shockwave Rider. This is a critical look at Brunner's work through 1974 when it was released. All by professors at Central Michigan, pretty hip for a small midwestern college in the early 70s.

 This 40-year-old book that was only briefly in print is a major source of quotes for the recent book on Brunner in the Modern Masters series. That is clearly the superior book but having this is important. I thought it would be impossible to find but shout-out to Dickheads listener Alan Ricks who is a rare books wiz and found one I could buy.

Murray State library copy that was discarded in Detroit and years later is now on my shelf. It was edited by Joe Debolt who died in 2017 and had also written a similar book in the 70s about Leguin. I don’t know much about him but he did great and was clearly a connected researcher. I am sure the Sci-fi research community was just starting to grow at the time. We know Professor McNeely was doing his thing at Fullerton at this time but I have no idea if there were many science fiction studies programs.

 Prefaced by Futurians members and all-timer Sci-fi legend James Blish and tapped off by a response by John Brunner himself. My copy is dog-eared, highlighted, and noted up and down. I am planning on writing several articles in the near future so some of my thoughts will be short here.
The most important part for me was the opening 60 pages that were a detailed biography, most of the facts made into the recent Jad Smith book, but the details here were fantastic. As a PKD researcher there is no shortage of detailed biographies out there but I honestly never expected to get a life story for Brunner. So that is special.

The second section is called Prose and Poetry and has three essays on Brunner’s writing style. The third section is Economics and Politics with two essays both have strengths but I really enjoyed William Browne’s essay on Governments in Brunner books that has hilarious tables that show how all the books end with a dysfunctional government.  There are two essays on science and Technology and those were the weakest of the essays in my opinion but that is an effect of Brunner being a soft science fiction writer who is way more interested in social-political themes.

I of course loved John Brunner’s response. The whole package is very insightful. Jad Smith’s Modern Masters book is still in print and written long after Brunner’s death so it is more complete. But if you are a serious Brunnette you need to read this too.

Book Review: Anoka by Shane Hawk

 

Anoka by Shane Hawk, 

Seweryn Jasiński (Cover Illustrator)

Paperback, 110 pages

Published October  2020 by Black Hills Press

 There is something special about the horror collection about a single creepy town. King did it with Castle Rock, Charles Grant Oxrun station, and just last year Josh Malerman wrote about Goblin Michigan. So lets stay in the Midwest Anoka Minnesota. This is the debut collection for Shane Hawk who is a local writer here in San Diego.  This is a short-themed horror collection that highlights Hawk’s natural talent. It is amazing that 6 short stories, including two flash fiction, has kicked started a serious career but Shane Hawk is a natural talent and his knowledge of literature and the genre drips off the page so the surprise should end quickly.

All six stories are strong with the most powerful story for me was 'imitate.' The book comes with a serious and thoughtful introduction written by the author, that explains the concept. There are story notes in the back. A practice many authors use in collections. I have used it myself and I am a fan of the practice. Let's come back to those notes later.

The first story Soilbourne is a very short story that hinges mostly on the power of the final moments. It is a good opener for showing Hawk’s ability to write with heart. The story helps set the stage with parents’ joy for children, thus making the gut punch at the end more powerful.
The second story Wounded is where Hawk draws heavily on the influence of his indigenous heritage. The story plays with character and setting really well. Those who read for diverse experiences and voices will be happy that they picked up this book and this is where they will really feel it. This is also where I started to see the strength of the prose.

“Before the sun breached the clouded sky, Philip was in the backyard in nothing but his pajama shorts. He held the pitchfork above his head and plunged it into his book. His clenched hands revealed angry spiders of blue veins. Mottled skin stretched across his pronounced cheekbones.”

The fourth story Imitate was my favorite. To me, this was the most complete story with a high concept. I loved the idea that the father looks under the bed and sees a copy of his son Tate hiding when he is asked to check for monsters. Great classical Halloween ghost story set-up. If there was one story to read, for me this is the one. Calling the copy Tate-thing seems like a tip of the hate to The PKD story The Father-Thing.

The fifth story Dead America also has a PKD feel with the slightly off-beat story inspired by a coin out of joint if you will. The last story is the cover story and is a neat story of a werewolf that is a bit of a metaphor for the Trans experience. I liked this story even if it grosses this vegan out a bit.

The story notes at the back were great, I like those. There is a fine balance between showing a peek behind the curtain and over-explaining. If there is any negative for me is I think Hawk maybe over-explained these stories. Look this is his first serious writing. I loved it. Think it was a great collection. Shane Hawk is a writer who should and will become a powerful writer. I am positive about that. There is room for growth, with experience and an editor.

I have talked with Shane for Dickheads and off-line and I am super excited about the direction he is headed. So be ahead of the game. Pick up this collection so you can be ahead of the curve. Be one of those peeps who had the demo tape before the band got big.