Book Review:The Summer I died by Ryan C.Thomas

The Summer I Died by Ryan C. Thomas

232 pages Coscom Entertainment

This book sat on my shelf for too long, not sure what I was waiting for. I have long been a fan of Ryan Thomas’ writing. What got me to pick up this 2006 horror novel was a press release. A film has just been greenlit based on a script adapted by the author himself and staring Bill Mosley (The Devil’s Rejects). I knew I wanted to read the novel before seeing the movie.

The Summer I died is a sub-genre horror classic in the making. In that stalker in the woods horror subgenre made popular by movies like Wrong Turn and Wolf Creek for two examples. Not a supernatural story a lot of the strength of the novel comes from how real the stalker serial killer character known only as “The Skinny man” is. This novel is brutal, a hard to read affair with so many cringe-worthy moments I can honestly say it is not for everyone. Not for a lot of people actually. It is the story of Roger Huntington who is home for the summer after his freshman year of college. He and his slacker best friend Tooth take a drive up in the mountains to drink and shoot the cans. Things are going OK until they decide to investigate the sound of a screaming woman.

They find a creepy house, and blood drenched screaming woman running away from a psycho they call the Skinny man. The guns in their pockets are not enough to save them they end up prisoners chained in the basement being kept alive for torture by the Skinny man.

Don’t let the simple premise fool you this is a really excellent horror novel. The strength of which is entirely in the characters and the vivid realism not of the torture and gore but the friendship of Roger and Tooth. Don’t get me wrong Thomas really takes the violence and cranks it to 11 but the thing that makes it all so awful is the strong characters.

Vivid and powerful horror, well written and engaging, it is not for the faint of heart but certainly if you dare you’ll enjoy. On a personal note, I tend to not enjoy first person narrative for horror fiction but Thomas pulled it off for sure. I forgot and lost myself in the book. Well done.

Book Review: Children of Pandemonium Spiral book 1 by Justin H. Momtgomery

The Children of Pandemonium written and Illustrated by Justin H. Montgomery

108 pages Gamin Publications

This is a rare case of self publishing that 100% deserves attention. It is a project that might not attract publishers because of it’s strange format but the benefit of the current model of publishing makes this novella possible. Good thing too, because I think it is neat.

The story of a Portland stripper named Tera who decides to run from her abusive brother who runs the club she dances at. Tera ends up on a bus in California when she meets Spigot a killer with a supernatural twist. The mystery of the spiral in Spigot’s eyes were enough to hook me for further books in the series. Justin Montgomery has a knack for spinning prose into a dark story, this novella is prime example of the dark mood he can create.

I admit I might be bias as Justin is a friend; I met him at a writer’s group when he was very new to writing seriously. He had been written for a long time but not taking it seriously. The first time I read his work I was struck by how naturally talented he was and how skilled he was being completely self taught.

This first book of his is still a bit rough, mostly in the opening pages. Justin Montgomery is telling a neat and intricate tale of supernatural horror, using beautifully composed prose and interesting art. The story is unfolding over a series of novellas complete with painting that match the text and a Graphic novel that ties into the story written and drawn by the author.

Book Review: Zero Point by Neal Asher

Zero point by Neal Asher

340 pages Nightshade books

Neal Asher is one of if not my favorite modern Science Fiction writers. This is my fourth Asher book, the second in a new trilogy which takes place in a different universe (The Owner Trilogy) from the majority of his novels (Polity universe). I read and reviewed the first book in this trilogy last year and spent alot of time commenting on the political nature of Asher's work. Asher and I don't share political views unlike most sci-fi writers Asher comes from the right side of the aisle (he is far from alone Ray Bradbury loved GW Bush after all). Despite radically different views and a political message I wasn't sure I agreed with I found a way to enjoy The Departure the first book because at it's core it's a neat story and wheather I agreed with it or not I was happy to see someone saying something deeper with a novel.

Zero Point picks up where Departure ended. The Argus Station , a huge space station was being used to kill Zero asset citizens in a wildly overpopulated earth of the future. Our main character Alan Saul has led an attack on the station fusing his mind and his dying body with the station and the army of robots at his command. He has stopped the murder and flung the station into deep space. Back on earth one of the few leaders he didn't kill manages to gain power and continue to kill off the population with a virus that kills billions and is blamed on Alan.

This is a dark, gritty and horror filled science fiction novel that blends action, battles, technology and political intrigue with a gee-whiz story. It is a really cool Science fiction novel. It builds on the Departure and has me interested in a third part.

To me this story is pure ecological horror, If I didn't know better I would think Asher was closer to the radical environmental camps, so it is a bit weird to see some a grim view of the future based on population issues put forward by someone who is not. In many ways this is a gonzo action take on John Brunner's territory. It is nothing like Stand on Zansibar in reality, but imagine if Brunner was super into battles and crazy spidergun androids and drone tech.

Is it Asher's best? no he has still yet to top The Skinner for me, but I have many more of his books to read before I can say for certain. Big Thumbs up from me.

Top Ten Classic Bizarro Sci-fi novel #2 A polish classic!

Over the summer I did a ten week countdown of my favorite horror novels of all time. I had fun doing it and it seems based on the numbers that a lot of people were reading them. I enjoyed the discussions and so I decided to do another top down. So here are some rules, one book by each author because in this list it runs the risk of becoming the Philip K.Dick list. The second rule is nothing published in the 21st century. There are great gonzo sci-fi novels released in the last thirteen years for sure, The Skinner by Neal Asher and Dr. Identity by D.Harlan Wilson are great examples. They are great but we are talking old school now. The more weird the better, they can be serious or totally funny, the most important thing is that they are bizarro and awesome.

10.Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

9. Transmaniacon By John Shirley

8.Void Captain’s Tale By Norman Spinrad

7. Beyond Apollo by Barry Malzberg

6. Software by Rudy Rucker

5. Always Coming Home by Ursala K.Leguin

4. Two Hawks from Earth By Philip Jose Farmer

3. City by Clifford Simak

Number 2 is:

Released: 1961 (Polish language )

The Plot: Solaris is most well known as a boring George Clooney movie, which is most often considered a Steven Soderberg remake of a Classic Russian Science Fiction movie from the 70's. The source material however is the super amazing masterpiece by polish Science Fiction author Stanislaw Lem. I am a fan of the Russian film, but it is hardly a faithful adaptation, and the Clooney movie despite having a really filmmaker just straight up fails to capture the book. I wanted badly to like that movie but couldn't.

Oh yeah, the plot. Kris Kelvin is a scientist sent to the planet Solaris to study it's ocean. You see the planet is teaming with life, but not life as we know it. Is the ocean alive? Who is researching who? This novel is a great exploration of the idea of first contact, done in a thoughtful way.

The Weirdest Aspect:

The aliens in this novel are not lizards, or humans with a funny ridgeline. This is one of the greatest examples of totally alien intelligence in a novel. Kelvin goes to Solaris to study this world and basically by the end of the novel it becomes clear he is the one under the microscope. The alien intelligence in this novel is so strange that it is hard for the researchers to understand, and thus the novel requires a great deal of imagination on the reader as well.

In some respects this is a a more frightening novel than many horror novels. I mean really I respected Soderberg enough that I didn't think he would boil this awesome concept into a tragic romance, but he did.

What does it say about our world?

It says less about our world than it does our humanity. Our place in a universe that is bigger and wider than our small imaginations normally push. This book should expand your thinking. It should make you consider things you never thought about before. Maybe you had thought of these things before, if so then you'll read it saying “Dude Lem was rocking these ideas in 1961 behind the red curtain.” That is cool.

Bottom line is it good?

Solaris is a fantastic novel and an absolute undisputed masterpiece of Science Fiction worthy of being taught in schools as an example of the genre transcending. With a concept like this, many sci-fi writers of the era got cute with the ideas and totally forgot about the characters. Lem balances the feelings of guilt and exploration of humanity perfectly with otherness and alien nature of Solaris.

Written in polish, translated in French and most English paperbacks are translated into English from the French version. It is reported that Lem hated that translation. Lem did before his death approve a direct polish to english translation that is used in the audible audio book. Luke Barrage of the Science Fiction book review podcast reviewed all the different translations (and both films and BBC radio drama) on a n episode of his podcast. He spends a lot of time explaining how that translation is much better. I read the English to French and thought it was great, but you should consider the audio book.

The Author:

I admit I have only read two Lem novels and they are both amazing. The other being “His Master's Voice.” That is also a first contact story more in the SETI radio signal vein. I read both of them when I was living in Syracuse in the 90's. I read them back to back, and not sure why I have not read more. I will do that soon. He has been published in over 40 languages, but Solaris having been made into two movies is his most known work. I have been intending

Honorable mention of the week:

Crompton Divided by Robert Sheckley

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Boot Boys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

Top Ten classic bizarro Science Fiction novels #3! Dogs and Robots talk about humans around the campfire!

Over the summer I did a ten week countdown of my favorite horror novels of all time. I had fun doing it and it seems based on the numbers that a lot of people were reading them. I enjoyed the discussions and so I decided to do another top down. So here are some rules, one book by each author because in this list it runs the risk of becoming the Philip K.Dick list. The second rule is nothing published in the 21st century. There are great gonzo sci-fi novels released in the last thirteen years for sure, The Skinner by Neal Asher and Dr. Identity by D.Harlan Wilson are great examples. They are great but we are talking old school now. The more weird the better, they can be serious or totally funny, the most important thing is that they are bizarro and awesome.

10.Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

9. Transmaniacon By John Shirley

8.Void Captain’s tale By Norman Spinrad

7. Beyond Apollo by Barry Malzberg

6. Software by Rudy Rucker

5. Always Coming Home by Ursala K.Leguin

4. Two Hawks from Earth By Philip Jose Farmer

Number three is:

Released: 1953 (although it was Serialized during the 40's)

The plot: This novel is more or less a collection of interwoven stories that do build on each other. I do believe the story was conceived as a novel. It was published as separate stories and could be read that way. City is the story of a far future society that is made up of sentient dogs and androids. Basically it is several campfire stories about the long lost humans. One of the main characters is Jenkins a robot who lived and worked with humans over many generations. He ends up becoming one of the lone voices who remembers our species and civilization.

The Weirdest Aspect:

Written some 70 years ago but projecting a future thousands of year out makes for a completely surreal feeling. I mean it is about a future dogs society talking about ancient humans so yeah every page is strange.

What does it say about our world?

Maybe I am bias because of my animal rights beliefs, and my love for dogs but I always found this an interesting exploration of the problems with the human race. I would love to do/read a modern adaptation of this novel in a Graphic novel or film but it is not likely to happen. What is a City? What is a War? How does Jenkins explain such things to Doggish culture? He tries and it says a lot of things about our world, mostly about how we gather as a society and how conflict threatens to destroy us.

Bottom line is it good?

Amazing. This novel is very dated but considering the bulk of it was written in the 40's it holds up very well. Serious golden age science fiction that is not for everyone.

The author:

Clifford Simak was first suggested to me by Belgian Waffles (Experimental noise band from my home town Blomington Indiana) Bassist Matthew Whittaker in the early 90's. I went straight to Caveat Emptor a used book store in town and bought the time travel adventure Time and Again. I have been a fan ever since. Simak lived in Rural minnesota until his death in 1988. While City is considered his masterpiece other highlights include Cemetery World, Way Station, Ring Around The Sun and Choice of the Gods. All worth reading.

Honorable mention of the week:

Crompton Divided by Robert Sheckley

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Boot Boys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.

My Top Ten Classic Sci-fi Bizarro Number four is an alternate universe classic by a Hoosier born Farmer

Over the summer I did a ten week countdown of my favorite horror novels of all time. I had fun doing it and it seems based on the numbers that a lot of people were reading them. I enjoyed the discussions and so I decided to do another top down. So here are some rules, one book by each author because in this list it runs the risk of becoming the Philip K.Dick list. The second rule is nothing published in the 21st century. There are great gonzo sci-fi novels released in the last thirteen years for sure, The Skinner by Neal Asher and Dr. Identity by D.Harlan Wilson are great examples. They are great but we are talking old school now. The more weird the better, they can be serious or totally funny, the most important thing is that they are bizarro and awesome.

10.Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

9. Transmaniacon By John Shirley

8.Void Captain’s tale By Norman Spinrad

7. Beyond Apollo by Barry Malzberg

6. Software by Rudy Rucker

5. Always Coming Home by Ursala K.Leguin

Number four is:

Released: A version of it was released as Gate of Time in 1965, a highly revised edition the one I read was first released in 1979

The Plot:

Roger Two Hawks is a Iroquois Fighter pilot in a dog fight over europe during WW2 when suddenly he ends up in an alternate universe. In this universe the American continent never rose from the water. the tribes that would become Native Americans are involved in a World War of their own in Asia and the middle east.

The Weirdest Aspect:

The central concept of this novel is what makes it strange. While Farmer wrote a more tradtionally bizarro novel called "Venus in a half-shell" ( Made even more weird is he wrote under the name Kilgore Trout a charcter from fellow hooiser born Kurt Vonnegut's work) but I have not read that novel yet, so I can't comment on it's weird-ness. This type of alternate history creates a wonderful surreal feeling, and is unlike almost anything else I have ever read.

Farmer does a great job playing the What if card in this novel exploring not only how Asia and Europe would be if there never was an Americas(just a small chain of islands). Not just without the people but also the plants, animals and history. Really neat.

What does it say about our world?

This novel is a bit dated in this respect and it says alot about the impact of the Americans on the rest of the world. Bottom line is it good?

I really enjoyed this novel and the 'what if' it presented. Farmer seemed more interested in exploring those ideas rather than developing characters or telling a really strong story. Two Hawks is kind of a rugged explorere Han Solo type and that is fine but the novel is very thin. It made this list because of the concept but if your want to read Farmer's best start with the Riverworld books which are fantastic.

The Author:

Born in Indiana and having spent many years in Syracuse I always had an interest in Farmer's work. The Riverworld novels are his masterpieces. I enjoyed all five books from that series. Fans of Bizarro should check out Venus in a Half Shell, I have not read it yet but this what the back cover says "Simon Wagstaff is the Space Wanderer, a seeker of truth and electric banjo player who narrowly escapes the Deluge that destroys Earth when he happens upon an abandoned Chinese spaceship, the Hwang Ho. A man without a planet, he gains immortality from an elixer drunk during a sexual interlude with a cat-like alien queen in heat. Now, with his pet owl, his dog Anubis and a sexy robot companion, Simon charts a 3,000-year course to the most distant corners of a multiverse full of surprises to seek out the answers to the questions no one can seem to answer." Honorable mention:

The Cat that walked Through Walls by Robert Heinlein

Book Review: Hello America by JG Ballard

Hello America by JG Ballard

Many editions 224 pages

Hello America is the 1981 novel by British science fiction author JG Ballard, most known as the author of Crash the novel that became the David Cronenberg film. Ballard who also wrote an autobiographical novel empire of the sun which became a Spielberg movie has always gotten a pass out of the genre ghetto into literary circles. The reason is simple he is a smart author who writes biting political satire. That is not to say he deserves this reputation anymore than Norman Spinrad, Ursala K. Leguin or John Brunner.

Hello America is his 9th novel and not his first novel about ecological collapse. In this novel the jet stream is fucked up but the damn Ruskies damning up the Bering straight. It turns America east of the Rockies in to a desert. Left alone for a hundred years the story follows real aptriated Americans making a first expedition back to cross the abandoned America. The misery of this trip reminded me of an earlier Ballard novel the Drought.

Once they cross the wasteland they find a new ecosystem on the far side of the rockies, Las Vegas is the capital in the middle of the jungle. Charles Mason has become the president although he must be 150 years old at the time. That is where the novel makes a huge left turn going from dark adventure yarn set in the wasteland to super weird satire based on out-date early American political issues.

Me personally I liked the first half more, then the second. It was such a tone shift, it just didn’t work for me as much as other Ballard works. That being said it is worth a read if you like post apoc fiction, out of date sci-fi or political satire. It is all those things after all.

Top Ten Classic Bizarro Sci-fi novel #5 is a Green Anarchist bio-regional history of the future...

Over the summer I did a ten week countdown of my favorite horror novels of all time. I had fun doing it and it seems based on the numbers that a lot of people were reading them. I enjoyed the discussions and so I decided to do another top down. So here are some rules, one book by each author because in this list it runs the risk of becoming the Philip K.Dick list. The second rule is nothing published in the 21st century. There are great gonzo sci-fi novels released in the last thirteen years for sure, The Skinner by Neal Asher and Dr. Identity by D.Harlan Wilson are great examples. They are great but we are talking old school now. The more weird the better, they can be serious or totally funny, the most important thing is that they are bizarro and awesome.

10.Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

9. Transmaniacon By John Shirley

8.Void Captain’s tale By Norman Spinrad

7. Beyond Apollo by Barry Malzberg

6. Software by Rudy Rucker

Number 5 is :

Released: 1985

The plot:

Ok that is tough because this book is less of a story, but more a oral history of a made up anarchist bioregional culture of a far future post current civilization set in Napa Valley. The main Character ‘Stone-Telling’ does have a story but it is broken up by music, poems, fables, language lesions and the like. In many ways this is more of a fantasy novel than a Science Fiction novel, but it is both and neither. It is like no other book. Honestly I can think of nothing that matches its scope or audacity. It might be the most intense example of world-building I have ever read.

The weirdest aspect:

Where to start? This is the most fully realized culture I have ever read in a novel. Almost to a fault, because at times it seems like Leguin has lost track of the story. The story is not the point. This book is 1/3 story and 2/3 anthropology text book of this fake future.

It depends which edition you get but one edition comes with a cassette that includes Music, language lesions and such based on the Kesh culture.

What does it say about our world?

Leguin is not the only Anarchist Science Fiction writer (See Norman Spinrad # 8 on this list) but you would think she was. So much has been said about her late 60’s anarchist novel the Dispossessed, but Always Coming Home is her true Anarchist masterpiece. This book was first suggested to me by Matthew T.(One of the founders of Boxcar Books) when he told me “The Dispossessed is Anarchism 101 but Always Coming Home is a 400 class.”

You have 500 pages of statements about how society, government and people function.

Bottom line is it good?

That’s tough. It is a work of pure genius but it is not exactly a fun to read novel. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I attempted to read it twice. It took me six months reading off and on. I was glad I read it in the end. It is similar in that sense to Tolkein’s The Silmarillion, Which is as dry as over cooked toast, it’s the other middle earth book that people think they want to read, but it is a slog. This book is not for everyone. Infact it is not for many people, but if you are up to the Challenge it is a neat book. You WILL use the Glossary. Yes it has a Glossary.

Last year I read Starhawk’s Fifth Sacred Thing. I enjoyed that novel but I was constantly thinking about how it was a less imaginative attempt at the same thing UKL did in Always Coming Home. Fifth Sacred Thing convinced me I was reading about a better world, but I closed the book wondering if it could work. ACH was the most convinced I ever felt reading a work about anarchism. I mean this happened:

The Author:

Ursula K. Leguin is from here in Portland and has been writing smart and challenging Science Fiction and fantasy since the 60’s. Her most famous novels include “The left Hand of Darkness” and the Earth Sea series. Pretty much everything she does is pure genius. I picked Always Coming Home for this list because it is weird as hell but if I was just suggesting that you start reading UKL I would read Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed first. Unless you are looking for weird, then start with Always Coming Home.

Honorable mention of the week: Stranger in a strange land By Robert Heinlein

David Agranoff is the author of two published novels the Wuxia Pan style horror fantasy crossover "Hunting The Moon Tribe," and the satire "The Vegan Revolution With Zombies. He is also the author of the Wonderland award short story collection "Screams From a Dying World." His next novel Boot Boys of the Wolf-Reich is due to be released soon by Deadite press.