Book Review: His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem

His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem

Paperback, 199 pages Published November 25th 1999 by Northwestern University Press

This book had been on my shelf for years, and I knew I wanted to read it at some point. It is considered a classic and certainly Lem's Solaris is one of the best mind screwing sci-fi novels ever written. Lem pretty much broke the forth wall spoke directly to us on page 31: "The Reader who plowed his[their] way to this point and is waiting , with growing impatience, to be lead into a inner sanctum of the famous enigma, in the hope that I will regale him [them]with thrills and chills every bit as delightful as he experiences viewing horror movies, I advise to set my book down now."

Yeah I admit during the first 30 pages I found myself wonder what the hell was the story. If anything this warning was about 30 pages late. Alot of the early pages just came off as philosophical nonsense. I am sure that is on me but I was waiting for a story to begin. Once I got this warning I sat back to enjoy the book for what it was a thin story propping a discussion of how our species would/could handle contact with a intelligent species beyond our world.

So the story centers around a signal discovered to be repeating that is coming from deep space somewhere around Canis Minor. The signal is transmitted by a method that itself is barely understood. So the U.S. Government gathers physicists, linguists, engineers, psychoanalysts, mathematicians, chemists, humanists, anthropologists and many others. We are told 25,000 experts and sub-experts are gathered in the Nevada dessert to study it. Years go by they learn enough to bio-engineer something they call frog-eggs something they don't entirely understand.

The title of the book does a excellent job of expressing the whole point of the 199 page exercise. The title is reference to the record famously played for dog to test him if he would response to a recorded voice. It confused the dog, and that is what happens to humans here. Confusion. I actually wish Lem had kept the the title but not named the Manhatten style project in the book His Master's voice. I doubt the government would name their project that. Maybe the scientists would have but whatever, I think it took away from the power of the title.

This novel is a masterpiece of speculative philosophy, that is held together by a threadbare story. The story is not the point. Thinking about what it means to contact another civilization is the point. The extra-terrestrials here are not typical not war like or peaceful. They are as much a mystery as the nightsky itself. We are not even sure if the senders intended for earth to get the message or was it a accident. The message could have been sent out billions of years ago and the senders may be alive or not.

This may be a spoiler but the novel in the end is not about communication, but lack of communication. It becomes most clear when our lead scientists has to explain to us dummies through a dummy surrogate in the Senate. This dialogue clears up alot of things that frankly flew over my head.

There is plenty of ghee-whiz moments when the team discovers that instead of numbers and math the methods normally considered to be the common language in translation, the language is genetic, and based on chemicals. Lem writes some of the most genius and other worldly science fiction.

It might seem funny to say this is a masterpiece of science fiction and certainly worth of five stars even when I personally gave it three. Lot it is a work of genius and the ideas it brings up and discussion are important. I think it is an important book but it is not exactly a fun read. The opening 25 pages is a not stop pompus blab fest that adds zero to the book. In thinking about this book I would talk myself into it's genius at times and then marvel at how crap other parts were.

I also think it is a interesting counter to Sagan's Contact. I wonder if Carl had this book in his mind when he came up with that one. I can't recommend this as a fun read. But certainly I think the ideas are important, if a dry as sand paper sci-fif novel is something you can live with read it and lets talk.

Book Review: The Boy on The Bridge by M.R. Carey

The Boy on The Bridge by M.R. Carey

Hardcover, 392 pages

Published May 2nd 2017 by Orbit

The boy on the Bridge is a follow-up release to the M.R. Carey surprise bestseller The Girl With All the Gifts. If you enjoy horror fiction or just good story telling at all let me say right now that you need to get into The Girl With all the Gifts. It was was one of my top reads of last year. It was a great novel, but thankfully if you don't have it in you to read the novel, then you a pretty faithful movie based on it starring Glen Close. I think it is hard to talk about either book or movie without laying ruin to the effects the story has on the consumer. So if you trust me stop right here. Read the first book or see the movie.

OK maybe you saw the first movie or read the book and you are wondering if this one is as good. I'll get to that. First off I think the marketing and even the title for this book are really interesting. It seemed like they were really trying hard to make sure you were very clear this was in the same world as the first book. The Boy in the title certainly doesn't play the role the Melannie did in the first book.

This novel follows the science team living in a tank named "Rosie" that they take around the waste land. The main character was a scientist named Dr. Rina Khan and a savant named Stephen. The book switches back and forth from their points of view. Stephen is obsessed with finding a cure, and his chapters and unique way of viewing the world provide some of the most interesting moments of prose. For her part Khan reveals in the early pages that she is pregnant. This is very against the rules of the mission but they are too far out into the wilds of the apocalypse to return. This child on the way is well played for moments of subtle but creepy suspense. What world is this child coming into? Will it be safe? Will it be human?

I think for many the characters will come off flat to some readers, but I think this is a bi-product of their position in the mission.The two main characters were well written in my opinion, and yes some of the others filled tropes but I don't count them against my enjoyment of the novel.

Now is this a sequel? Does it take place around the same time as the first book? We know early on that the E-blockers exist in this story. That is the stuff they put on their skin so they are not smelled by the Hungries (zombies). Because I didn't really know I got treated to a bit of twist and I enjoyed that reveal. I think if I had read the first book more recently I might have had a better context for it. It will not be a twist for all readers.

M.R. Carey is a master story teller, and alot of people feel the first book was the man coming to the tops of his powers. There are moments of suspense and reveals through-out the book that really impressed me. He used the claustrophobic setting of the tank for both emotional as well physical suspense. The moments through Stephen's eyes we are watching him make amazing discoveries but we know he is doing it in a way that will harm him down the line.

The action in the book is done incredibly well. One scene chapter 38 pages 241-244 was something I had never seen before. Did it work? It did for me. Stephen just had seconds to save Khan's life and Carey broke actions down second by second.It was a really smart way to do action and character at the same time. I thought it was a neat trick. There is also a moment of heart-breaking coldness on pages 312-13 that I thought was the best moment of the book.

The Boy on the Bridge is a excellent follow-up to the Girl with all the Gifts after last year's disappointing (for me) Fellside I thought this was a great read. As good as the first, that would be tough to do. but it will make the first book stronger and that alone is reason enough to read it.

Check out this 30 minute discussion I had about the book with fellow critic Marvin Vernon or the Novel Pursuit blog.

Book Review + Author Interview: Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus

Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus

Paperback, 144 pages

Published April 2017 by Tor.com

Boy Tor continues to release weird and exciting novellas! Now I generally think 100 pages or more is a novel, and I always bring up Of Mice and Men as an example. Hoosier horror and fantastic fiction author Maurice Broaddus is also on a heck of roll. His short story collection Voice of Martyrs is destined for my top ten reads list and this one has chance. If you read that review you might remember I said 'Voice of Martyrs goes beyond just being good, it is a book of deep meaning.'

I was first introduced to this world in the short story “Pimp My Airship” which appeared in the Voice of Matyrs. There all kinds of genius moments of world building through that story. And as soon as I heard that a novella set in that world was coming – I was sold.

This alternative history features a very different map and even though I am spelling it out here it is woven matter factually into the text in a way only masters of world building can do. Jamaica is a super power, Texas spelled Teja is its own country and the five native American nations control the west. You probably have more fun discovering that on your own, but I mention it to give you a understanding of the depth here. This is a short book but Broaddus is an author who has to sit on his over-stuffed suitcases to get them to close. These books are so filled with ideas you will marvel at them.

There were times when the world came off recognizable and other times so alien I had to really think about it. Is this the past, present or future of this other America…I can’t say exactly but it was an amazing steampunk setting. As great as that was it wouldn’t matter much if the characters and story were flat.

Our hero Desmond Cole is a Jamaican spy who brings a talented young man named Lij. The boy is hunted for his pychic abilities and here another tried and true sub-genre is added. Think of the magical child horror genre made famous by King’s Firestarter and originally in the John Farris classic “The Fury.” We also saw it more recently in The Forgotten Girl by Rio Youers.

Broaddus has fun playing with old tropes and tools in a very different sand box. I think this a neat book and certainly could have been double the length. I mean this novel has the fantasy elements, the strong characters and the pieces of assassins and intrigue that make this at times feel like classic adventure while always balanced with imagination and invention of a master story teller.

Already now. I was recently back home in Indiana and asked Maurice if he wanted to have a coffee hang. So we did but I couldn’t resist the chance to record a interview in person. So this interview is mostly about Buffalo Soldier and the craft of writing. So if you have not read the book there is still a lot to learn in this interview. If you like it please check out my youtube channel for interviews with other writers.

Book Review: Cold Cuts by Robert Payne Cabeen

Cold Cuts by Robert Payne Cabeen

Paperback 218 pages

Expected publication: September 1st 2017 by Omnium Gatherum

Certain themes in horror work better for certain readers. For me the isolation of deep space, or the north/south poles really work for me. I hate isolation and so movies like The Thing, and the Final Winter or books The Terror by Dan Simmons or Stranded by Bracken Macleod just really work for me.

Cold Cuts is a neat little book that takes place in a research station in Antarctica. At the start let me point out that this is a great example of how important the small press is to modern horror fiction. In the 90’s or early this century a book like this was not publishable. It would have been considered to short the only way it would have seen print would be padded with a extra hundred pages and would not have the cool art at the end.

Honestly the idea is not a slam dunk pitch, I mean the bizarro con elevator pitch for this could have March of the Mutant Penguins. Maybe Killer Nuclear Penguins. I know that sounds silly, and while this book has humor and does not take itself too seriously it is weird concept. My point is this is not cookie cutter monster plot. It is odd plot, and that is one of the things I respect about it.

The main character is a scientist and horror nerd named Ozzy. It is quite a tale of survival after a huge chunk of his research station is blown up. The story is about his survial with one other researcher. Eaton and Ozzy are the only survivors and they have to battle mutant birds and despair to survive. The despair affected for more as the novel went on than the mutant birds.

The moments between Eaton and Ozzy were the best most effective moments for me. The mutant penguins were cool but not super effective until I looked at the sketches in the back. Cabeen is clearly a talented artist and the art in the back was totally amazing.

Some miscues include this Hour of the Red Wolf conspiracy, One of the most interesting things in the book gets introduced and forgotten. It gets a little explanation but not enough for me. I am not saying it should have taken over the book, but more could have been done. The references to horror movies and geek culture didn’t work for me and took me out of the story. We have seen that before (I know I did it myself in the Vegan Revolution with Zombies) but in Cold Cuts I don't feel it added much. I would suspect Cabeen meant for it to add to Ozzy's character. I am just not sure we needed it dialed to 11. That said the action figures do come back in the story in a Shane Black-style pay off. So I can live with it.

I don't think Cold Cuts is going to make my top ten list this year, but I am stoked that I was given a pre-release of it. It is fun book, some times when I get review copies it forces me to read a author or book I would not of read otherwise. Robert Payne Cabeen is a new author to me and I am glad I checked out his work. I think his is a fun and odd monster novel with a few moments of eye-brow raising weird-ness. The art at the end is really cool and this kinda small press I would love to see libraries pick-up and collectors support.

Flesh Trade Promo video!

Book Review: Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Hardcover, 379 pages Published April 2017 by Tor Books

This book will divide readers for sure, and hell it gave me very mixed feelings. Well I have enjoyed interviews with Doctorow and his many blog posts I decided to read this because I just had not read any of his work before. I mean this book has blurbs from William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson (who called it a utopia- huh?) and Edward Snowden. Yeah that edward Snowden on a side note that is a heck of a blurb.

Walkaway is a near future speculative fiction novel that looks at the economical and societal effects of a world where traditional free-markets can't function. In this future 3D printers can make pretty much anything. Most jobs are a thing of history. There is of course the effects of global climate change and no one should thing this is an amazing future where were sit around just having fun. That said the main characters do enjoy life quite a with a very free attitude towards sex and sexuality and drugs.

The most interesting characters are Hubert etc, and Natalie whose father is one of the richest men in the world. The characters are a strong point in the book which is quite diverse. People of color, and various fluid forms of sexuality and gender make up the cast. They decide to join a class of refugees who walkaway from the system. Social networks and the economy are just part of what that means. Instead of staying in the cities begging for food the walkaways take over areas that are declared a loss due to ecological reasons. Seriously this is part of the reason I can't understand the utopia moniker being thrown around. OK there is alot of sex but the setting and conditions were hardly ideal.

Doctorow clearly is reacting to the occupy movement re-casts the 1% as Zottas and Occupy movement is reflected in the people who live in default (or walkaway). There are various methods used through out the book to debate various forms of anarchist philosophy and certainly the author does not take a clear position. The debates between characters are often convincing of several points of view. The walkaway world is not perfect, and the clumsy attempts at self policing were interesting parts of the book for me.

So those are the political idea how did the story work? Not great. I was into it for the first 150 pages. Then I found the prose to be confusing at times. The characters that were interesting early on got lost in the mix for me. I was thinking alot about the ideas suggested by the book so I enjoyed that but my eyes often rose up from the page and I found myself thinking about the setting and ideas losing desire to read on.

It is funny I didn't enjoy this book, but at the same time I think the ideas and issue it raises are important. I am glad Doctorow wrote it. Does that make sense? Not sure but that is how I feel.

Book Review: Mormama by Kit Reed

Mormama by Kit Reed

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published May 2017 by Tor Books

I went back and forth on this one. Mormama is a strange gothern gothic that is kinda sorta a haunted house story. Told through multiple points of view, the closest thing to a main character is essentially Dell Duval a homeless man who decides to squat in the Ellis house a huge mansion with a an intense history in Jacksonville. The the many flashbacks and POV shifts we are given the horrid history of the house. Maybe it is better to say the house is the center of the story.

Kit Reed is certainly a talented writer but there is a reason why several of the reviews on Good reads are marked this book as the dreaded DNF. I have to admit there were a few times when I considered not finishing the book. It is not the author's fault but I came off reading one of the best books of the year - the extremely breezy read of Rio Youers The Forgotten Girl. Yes I felt Mormama was a slog at times but there was enough interesting characters and moments that I stuck it out. Every time I ready to give up a interesting moment hooked me.

I came to the conclusion that it is a smart inventive novel that is just not a easy read. I thought it was good but not exactly for me. I don't mind southern voice infact I like Many southern writers. in fact those elements were some of my favorite moments. I think many readers found the changing voice of the POV's to be disjointed. It was but after awhile I got into a rhythm with them.but if I had to put a finger on it would be that the book asks too much of it's readers.

You are going to have to remember various characters, who you have not heard from in a few chapters, if you put the book down for a night and return to it you often are picking up the story at a totally left field plot turn. Deel's story was always more interesting to me than say Theo's chapters. I felt a urge to skip his chapters. It is hard to keep track of what is flashback and what is living, dead or long dead voices from memory.

Loaded with a powerhouse of blurbs from Brian Evenson, Peter Straub, Tim Powers and Chelsea Quin Yarbro it is hard to imagine that a book is garbage. There are moments of genius in this book the concept should have been five stars but it just barely got a three from me.With as many awesome books out this year I just can't tell you this needs to be on the top of the list.

Sample reading from my newest novel Flesh Trade (co-written w/ Edward Morris

"Edward Morris is a fearless writer, expanding the boundaries of what is possible with the weird. Read him." -Jeff VanderMeer author of Authority

"David Agranoff is a razor sharp writer, a storyteller with a hard rock pacing, a magician of ideas." - John Shirley Author of A Splendid Chaos

"It is that effortless switch from socio-political worldbuilding to sci-fi noir that makes this novel work so well... It is also an edge-of-your-seat adventure novel reeking in crime noir, mercenary action, and underworld decadence. What is impressive is how well they both come together and how we never lose the humanity of the main characters throughout all the double-dealing and violence. If you have any love for science fiction, I highly recommend this as your next read." - Marvin Vernon of the Novel Pursuit blog

for more info:grandmalpress.com/FleshTrade.php

Book Review: Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Hardcover, 175 pages

Published May 2017 by Cemetery Dance Publications

Been a little while since I reviewed a Stephen King book on this blog. I think the last I read was Revival which I liked, not loved. This is not your typical King book, it is a novella that with drawings, and large print gets out to about 160 pages. It is also a rare collaboration only the second time King has worked with another writer outside his family on prose.

Richard Chizmar is a long time SK friend having published him in his Cemetery Dance magazine and in limited editions on the CD press. According to a Chizmar interview done on the Horror Show with Brian Keene it happened like this. King started this novella and wasn't sure how he wanted to finish it. He surprised Chizmar by sending him the story and giving him the option to finish it.

What an amazing experience for him! I can say this that after reading the book it starts with a very Stephen King feel. The characters are so well drawn and they feel so in a way that makes it clear King kicked off this story. I think I assumed there would be a moment when I feel the torch being passed.

People should not underestimate Chizmar who has edited a countless amount of horror fiction short stories for decades now in Cemetery dance. He has edited more than a 100 issues of the best and longest running horror mag in the world. Dude knows how to write and work with a another writers voice.

Part of the other surprise tipped off to entertainment weekly is that the story would return to Castle Rock, the city that SK claimed to retire in the novel Needful Things. I think he had one other story set there but this might be connecting to the upcoming JJ abrams show named after the fictional town. I am a big King nerd, but not enough to see why the story had to take place there other than maybe the suicide stairs as a setting.

The comparisons to Matheson's Button, Button are too obvious not to be intentional homage. Of course the box in question is a bit more elaborate and the issues it presents more so.

The strength of the novel is the characters and the weakness is the idea is not entirely delivered. A doomsday box in the hands of a kid could have so much more potential. Little details make the difference like the animal shaped chocolates and the hard to push buttons. Her life turns around and the ethical questions arise. This is a short book and certainly I read a review or two who would like to see the story expanded. While it is short I think a good length even if some things end quickly. Gwendy suddenly wants to become a writer with no earlier indication of such desire for one example.

Over all this was a fun read for serious Stephen King nerds, but not essential reading if you are not. The first few pages are creepy as hell, the antagonist is as vicious as ever, and we know SK can write bullies better than just about anyone. those elements are all there and certainly was fun.

Book Review: The Forgotten Girl by Rio Youers (Author interview TBA)

The Forgotten Girl by Rio Youers

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published June 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books

This is the second novel by Rio Youers that I have read and as much as I liked the first one Westlake Soul it had been five years since I read the last one. Westlake soul was a very slow burn deeply spiritual novel. It was not a easy-breezy read, that I really enjoyed but it was one that I only suggested to fans of very serious horror literature. Not that it didn't have fun and like hearted moments, because it did. That said the tone was deep and introspective.

The Forgotten Girl is very different from that. It is absolutely Rio Youers but this feels like the arthouse film director who makes an excellent popcorn blockbuster. The serious horror lit fans will like this and I believe the mainstream readers looking for a thriller for their flight in the airport bookstore will too. At times it doesn't feel like it could possibly be the same others and then there are moments that it is clear. Youers was always a talented writer he has reached a new level here.

Some novels feel effortless, the pages turn fast and easy and before you know know it have read 60 or 70 pages read in a sitting and with great ease you feel the story flow over you. I know that is the ideal, but I think novels like that are rare. I still enjoy books that require dedication, but it nice when a book breezes by feeling effortless.Sarah Pinborough, David Morrell and Robert McCammon are examples of authors who make very easily readable books. The prose and narrative have a McCammon like flow that helps this book fly.

This is one hell of a novel. The publisher seems to be marketing it as a thriller and that is true the book is also very much A science fiction horror novel. The story is about Harvey Anderson a street musician is suddenly attacked by thugs who want to know about his girlfirend, that oddly Harvey has no memory of. The thugs are sure they were a couple and Harvey must know where she is. The problem he doesn't remember her at all.

Mystery is one best served cold so I nervous to tell you more plot but Sally the woman in question was in his life. The thugs have pictures, people around he remember her, and the couple were happy long time friends. The mystery of why Harvey doesn't remember her sets of journey that takes Harvey cross country. The story is very clearly influenced by and modernizing classics like Stephen King's Firestarter and the John Farris Classic The Fury. If you read those novels you understand we are talking about psychic conspiracy road trip thrillers. The strength of this novel is less about the plot and more the characters. Not just Harvey and Sally but thankfully the romance between the main characters was believable. Youers had a interesting challenge having the main character in love with a woman he couldn't remember and it was really interesting to watch him fall in love while solving the mystery and recovering lost memory. Some of the most interesting aspects of the writing and story structure came in these moments. Youers used the romance effectiely to tell the story build characters and ratchet the suspense cutting half a dozen carrots with one knife.

For that reason the novel works as fun story but if writers and storytellers unpack what is going on there is a deeper level happening at the same time. Dominic Lang is a vicious villain whose motivations and arc take him to a almost mythic status instantly, think Khan in Star Trek. That level of well rounded bad guy helps lift the novel as well. He also adds a political connection expands the scope.

Some of the best moments of character for Harvey come in the moments with his father. Harvey's father seems like a crazy person but he in a sense humanizes Harvey better than anything else in the novel. He is a minor but great character who adds weight to the novel as a whole. Excellent example of a character who is not in the whole story but adds so much.

The Forgotten Girl is a next level step for Rio Youers. It was a excellent reading experience and I think we'll be talking about it again come best of the year time.

Book Review: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Hardcover, 371 pages

Published April 2015 by Grove Press

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2016)

California Book Award Gold Medal for First Fiction (2015)

Edgar Award for Best First Novel (2016)

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (2015)

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction (2016)

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Adult Fiction (2015)

International DUBLIN Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2017)

If you look at the list of awards this novel has been given you probably have seen all the reasons why this is a good and important read. I first had this book on my radar when Elliot Kalan of the Flophouse podcast recommended it instead of a movie on a episode of that show. It sounded like something I would be interested in. I put it on hold at the library and being 10 persons down the list I forgot about it until it came in.

This novel is a part historical fiction, mystery and throughout it is a novel of deep social importance. Sympathizer starts off in the last days of the US occupation of Saigon. The story is narrated by a man whose name we never learn. He works for an important general, while born in South Vietnam, he was educated in the U.S. caught between two worlds. One time spy, working both sides the nameless character at the center of the novel comes to LA as a refugee.

Some of the most interesting parts of this novel centered around The General and his wife the Madame. The Idea that they were rich and powerful during the war and end up owning a hole in the wall restaurant was interesting to me. Our hero however gets a job as a consultant on a war movie called the Hamlet.

This subplot is about 100 pages of the novel and was the storyline that most interested me. If anything really counted against the novel for me was this part was not a little more in depth. It is clear that Nguyen is writing about Francis Ford Coppola and this incitement of Hollywood taking on the war deserved more time and attention.

The writing is pretty amazing but took me some getting used to. There are no quotation marks. My general rule is that pretty much only Kathy Acker and Cormac Macathy can get away with such things. I hated it for the first 30 pages, and it slowed me down alot. Once I got over it the novel flowed faster.

It is a excellent story, well plotted and carried out. It won awards for a reason. It is funny because I didn't think was that much better than most of genre books I have read this year. It maybe a personal taste thing, but just this writer is considered literary I don't think makes his work better. Now this author unique heritage (compared to mainstream pop culture fiction) certainly gives this novel more weight. Voices from this culture responding to the vietnam war is certainly welcome and the most important reason to read this novel. The fact it was a good story with excellent twists and compelling characters was a bonus. Certainly worth the time.

Book Review + Author Interview: Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson

Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published April 2017 by Night Shade Books

We have had a few authors in the horror genre really make huge strides in the last year. Some notables include the massive success of Paul Tremblay's Head full of Ghosts and Sarah Pinborough's Behind her Eyes. It is true That Jeremy Robert Johnson could be considered a part of a new wave of horror field to mainstream publishing success, but he is also the first to come out of the Bizarro scene with a major hardcover release. Stephen Graham Jones, Laura Lee Bahr and Brian Evenson are authors who I think walk this line that some times touches Horror, Bizarro and fine Literature all in the same stories. But Jeremy was a flag holder for the movement in the early days so this feels different.

Sometimes when a writer takes the next step in there career it is important to look back and see where they came from. Entropy in Bloom is that book, it features some of the best short stories from Jeremy Robert Johnson's two previous independently released collections both reviewed on this blog. Angeldust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You.

In that sense I have read all of these stories except the new novella Sleep of judges before. I read The Oarsmen and Flood of Harriers when they were first published in Dark discoveries and Cemetery Dance as well as well as when they were collected. I have to say both those stories worked the third time. The Oarsmen still continues to be a favorite of mine, the sci-fi setting is really subtle and I admit I would love to see JRJ explore space a bit more, but of course that is not the point of the story. The story is a tone piece that gives a otherworldly feeling the emotions of monks after the apocalypse.

Flood of Harriers has been frustrating to read all three times. The two stories that hit me harder than before were the ghost story "the Gravity of Benham Falls," and Snowfall. I mean I have read them before but this time it come off as really effective. It is funny if you listen to the audio interview I thought Snowfall was about something totally different from JRJ's intention.

The story Trigger Variation was one I commissioned for an anthology I co-edited called the Vault of Punk Horror. I have a really strange relationship with this story. It is a long story, but JRJ was writing this piece about a fictional faction of straight edge that was a photo negative of the movement I spent the 90's in. In many senses I had a very hard time with this story, but if you want to hear more about that...listen to the audio interview. That part of the discussion is more interesting if you have a back ground in punk or hardcore music.

A writer this talented is rare and it is incredibly exciting as a long time reader of his work and friend to see this happen. I mean he deserves it for many reasons. But I wonder sometimes how or why it happens to a certain artist? Certainly Jeremy himself would agree Cody Goodfellow and Laura Lee Bahr are equally deserving of this kind of attention and notice. Without his talent it would not be possible but often it is timing and luck...I couldn't be happier the stars aligned for him.

I don't want to take away from what JRJ has accomplished. It is exciting and important that these works reach a wider audience. The level of drug laced paranoia that drips off the pages is one thing but when you match it with fine tuned prose, intelligent with and skillful mechanics of suspense you quickly figure why Johnson is so readable.

Check out this interview recorded over skype on 8/3/17 I did about this book with Jeremy:

Soundcloud (with a download feature)

Youtube: