Book Review: Towers by Karl A. Fischer

Towers by Karl A. Fischer

Paperback, 84 pages

Published October 5th 2015 by Eraserhead Press

The New Bizarro Author Series 2015-16

After fending off giant monsters for a thousand years, a sentient guard tower is ready to go to heaven with his soulmate. However, the lovers are reborn as lowly humans and forced to live inside the structures they once piloted. Separated by thousands of miles and trapped within menageries of horror, their only hope at being reunited is to turn into giant monsters and roam the wasteland in search of one another.

You know there is tendency to think of bizarro as nothing but Dildo jokes and juvenile humor. Shock and awe marketing of Baby Jesus Butt Plug and Ass Goblins of Auschwitz get the rage of Bill O'Reilly and the WTF's of Boing Boing alike. Nothing wrong with that kinda of bizarro I am all for absurdist fiction many contain deeper themes but for myself I am into the dark bizarro. I know this is a first time writer in the new Bizarro author series but in the 77 pages of Karl Fischer's Towers there are more moments of genius than authors with a dozen books under their belt.

This is pure bizarro fiction a completely surreal setting with a balance between poetic prose and emotional resonance this genre has not seen since Forrest Armstrong's Deadheart Shelters. Don't be fooled by the back cover this is not a cheap Kaiju novel. Sure it takes place in a world long agao destroyed by giant monsters but the themes are love and humanity - expressed in fantastic prose.

Fischer is an excellent writer who manages to balance the surreal concept of humans reincarnated as giant sentry towers and forced after a thousand years to be vivid at moments. There we moments where the prose impacted me with perfectly placed line. My favorite on page 51 "I recorded a memory:the day I woke up in the cellular walls of my corpse."

OK I need more and longer works by this author. Twice this year the New Bizarro Author series delivered big time. Between King Space Void by Anthony Trevino and Towers we have uncovered two excellent new voices that deserve your attention. If you like high lit style weird fiction that has emotional weight and meaning you have found a excellent book. Towers is a great first step here is hoping Karl Fischer needs chance to run a marathon.