BookLove

Yaccub’s Curse by Wrath James White

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

Necro Publication, 2009

ISBN: 9781889186849

Available: New

Wrath James White is known for a hardcore horror style that includes blatant gore and violence and is sure to make readers cringe. But in Yaccub’s Curse the cringing is more likely to happen in the space between gang violence and cold-hearted murders. This biography-style book follows Malik, a poor black man who grows up neck-deep in gang warfare and ends up working for the worst of them all—a drug lord named Scratch who might truly be the devil. Malik is very intelligent, deeply philosophical, and yet never hesitates to make the choices that mimic the black stereotype. This is one of the most horrifying elements of the whole book, as readers can only watch Malik make one brutal choice after another, barely thinking past his surface actions.
And if that wasn’t bad enough (or uncomfortable enough for readers to experience with Malik, because make no mistake you will be wrenched along with him) Scratch, the white drug lord Malik works for, believes he truly is the devil, a creature created out of racial hate and vengeance millions of years ago solely to tear apart the races. Overwhelmed by guilt and pressure, Malik wonders if it might be true, until Scratch gives him the command to kill a crack baby who he claims is the next coming of Jesus.
Yaccub’s Curse is a very rough read, well written and near poetic. It also is very hard on itself and takes the reader to places of horror far beyond serial killers and monster attacks. Here the monster is a person’s very genetics, a frightening suggestion that also makes Yaccub’s Curse a highly recommended, must read for horror fans and an essential part of modern horror collections.
Contains: Rape, violence, gore, foul and racial language

Review by Michele Lee

Bonus: Tales of Madness by William Ollie

Available exclusively through Horror-Mall.com

Tales of Madness is small (about 30 pages) collection of shorts from William Ollie, who displays his strength and knowledge of horror with every page. This pair of stories are sure to give readers a fierce, short read whether they’re stuck in a line or at the doctor’s office or just look for a dark little literary snack before bed.

First up is “Dial Any Number”, a tale of two psychosis and the people caught between them, centering at a call center that just might be a little slice of hell. Next is “Honeysuckle and Magnolia”, a southern tale of greed and gambling and black magic.

At only a buck fifty it’s also a great way to sample Ollie’s voice before shelling out for the higher priced Ollie books, The Damned, and Sideshow.

Isis by Douglas Clegg

ISBN: 9781593155407

I won this book in a contest.

Isis is the first work I’ve ever read by Douglas Clegg and I have to wonder why it took me so long. Isis is a classic style horror story, part darkness, death and depression, and part fairy tale. Gorgeously written it’s the tale of Iris Villiers, a girl who grew up wandering a land haunted by ghosts and legends, who by all means should have known better than to breach the veil between the living and the dead.

Short (about 100 pages) Isis is full of barely restrained raw emotions, sadness and love. Also peppered between Clegg’s stunning style are illustrations that match the tone of the book with their classic fairy tale style and simple black and white morbidity.

It’s hard to review such a short tale without ruining the plot, so I’ll leave it at this: Isis is not to be missed, a haunting tale that crosses genres and trends and is sure to be just as appealing years from now.

Through the Veil by Shiloh Walker

ISBN: 9780425222478

Lee wakes up every morning, battered, bruised with no idea what happened to her while she slept. Haunted by half-remembered dreams, maybe even memories, she’s tried everything to find out what’s happening to her. The truth is more than she expected. Born of another world, a world at war, Lee somehow manages to travel there, to fight on the battlefront in her sleep, though she can’t get there when awake. Until the call of Kalen, a fellow warrior desperate for her help and her magick, pushes her through the veil between worlds during the day.

Ishtan is a buffer world, sitting between the demon realm of Anqar and our world. The demons of Anqar have nearly laid waste to Ishtan. Desperate to continue their race they kidnap women and children for use as breeders and body slaves. Women who breed powerful children with the Anqar Warlords are highly prized and well treated, but still prisoners.

Kalen is a battle leader on the front lines of the war, trying to defend the women of his world against the Anqar raids. He’s worked with (and loved) Lee for years, never having an opportunity to tell her how he felt. But now she’s reappeared, in the flesh, and his biggest priority is keeping her safe.

Through the Veil is mesh of a book. It’s a romantic fantasy that reads like an urban fantasy, but these character also wield plasma charges and cold-firing guns (and cannons). The world setting is excellent, intriguing and reminiscent of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books (which are a favorite of mine).

The book, however, is not without its flaws. Lee is set up to be very powerful, almost infinitely powerful, special and an all around bad-ass. However nearly the entire book she’s shown as a shaken, obtuse woman. Some of this is understandable, since she’s not the same person awake in Ishtan as she has been dreaming in Ishtan. It’s her refusal to believe in herself, combined with everyone else’s blind faith in her specialness that wears the patience thin.

Kalen is a drool-worthy, sizzling hero and had my vote of most awesome character until about halfway in, when Lee repeatedly tells him to stop touching her and instead they have sex. Set in a frame of Kalen being the hero fighting against a race that’s kidnapping and raping women, keeping them as sex slaves and breeders, the multiple times Lee said no and Kalen kept going anyway until Lee finally loosened up and gave in to her own lust killed off the like I had for him. (Note: I don’t consider the scene to be rape per say, but it was too close to non-consensual for m tastes.) I’m afraid I just couldn’t simultaneously accept that the Anqar demons are evil for what they do to women, but when the hero does it it’s supposed to be hot.

As stellar as the world building is the description gets repetitive and there’s a lot of time spent repeating that could have been spent on other things, namely the missing battle scenes. After all Kalen and Lee and everyone else are in the middle of a huge war for their world, yet there aren’t any battles shown “on screen” and the darker aspects of the tale are glanced over and described as little as possible. Lee and Kalen might be watching a pyre of the teen soldier that just died in a fight with the giant wyrms that the Anqar demons put on Ishtan to take out the natives, but the emotion of these moments is glanced over.

Given the power of the lust between Kalen and Lee, the vividness of the world setting and story concept, and the depths of the emotion Lee feels between what she’s supposed to be and what she thinks she is, the lack of power to the darker parts makes the story feel like Walker is pulling her punches. The combination of how very much I loved the fantasy setting, Kalen in the beginning and Walker’s style versus the things I was dissatisfied with leaves me feeling very conflicted about this book. Certainly it will appeal to romantic fantasy fans, and probably also to Anne Bishop fans. The uniqueness of the world and its conflict is engaging (and that’s why I bought the book), I just feel unsure that this is the tale Through the Veil wanted to be.

One thing I do know is that if Ms. Walker ever turned her pen toward a true dark fantasy or urban fantasy I would be all over it.

My So-Called Death by Stacey Jay

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

ISBN: 978-0738715438
Available: New
Karen tragically died from a major fall from the top of the cheerleading pyramid. Even more tragically, she has discovered that she is a genetic zombie and now has to live out the rest of her days slurping down animal brains and fearing maggot infestations. She’s even transferred to DEAD high, where supposedly she’ll learn how to cope with her new, long-lasting, but secret, un-life.

But high school, even undead high school, is cruel, and to make bad things worse, a full day into Karen’s new life a body of a student is found with her brain harvested by an unknown bad guy that just happens to be lurking around the school. Now perky, driven Karen is taking it upon herself to ferret out the killer before something really, really bad happens.

My So-Called Death weaves back and forth over the line between strong characterization and too much. As amusing as Karen’s ultramodern and perky inner monologue is, it, and the lack of strong characters outside of the lead, her best friend, and her boyfriend, is bound to annoy some readers who never saw the spirit behind similar tales, like the movies Clueless and Legally Blonde. It’s a perky-fun-gruesome mystery, horror-lite in terms of gore, violence and general darkness.  But it’s not without creepy, and almost-serious scenes, sort of like the dread one would feel at seeing a bedazzled pirate flag on an approaching ship.

As for its value to collections, there’s definitely an audience for Jay’s kind of creepy-gross-not-quite-dark humor. At the very least, adults could enjoy it for all the in-jokes about iconic 80s and 90s culture.

Contains: fried brain bites and giant maggots

Troglodyte Rose by Adam Lowe

ISBN: 9780956257727

I was given this book to review.

There are lots of ways one could define Troglodyte Rose, urban dystopia, bizarro…but at its heart Troglodyte Rose is a fairytale, an old one, straight out of Grimm’s more far fetched imaginings. Rose and Flid (a hermaphrodite) live in a dystopian world, half-described, half felt, where they’re something of a Bonnie and Clyde. In their search for meaning or life in a world that’s simultaneously been sterilized and organized for the benefit of some, and is dirty and savage for others, Rose and Flid come across a drug, Haze, which functions almost like bottled hope.

While they’re high everything is possible, including traveling to other worlds and rescuing princesses, or even the more mundane–feelings of satisfaction and peace. But of course Haze is highly illegal. The only way to get it is to steal from the pipes that carry it up to the upper classes, the elite (and captive) who are the only ones allowed to dream. When Rose and Flid get caught siphoning the pipes the full force of the Justicars come crashing down on them. Homeless, destined for only death or slavery, Rose and Flid set out to bring the whole world down with them, via revolution.

A very visual, but chaotic tale Troglodyte Rose is never without either the fairy tale feeling, or the brutal hope that Rose and Flid can make better lives for themselves. Some readers will be put off by the completely illogical world setting, but others will find within these pages a beautiful tale of freedom that skirts traditional storytelling rules.

BookLove Bonus: Interview with Naomi Clark

Naomi Clark is the author of Afterlife and most recently the werewolf novel Silver Kiss.

ML: You’ve had quite the trouble when it comes to writing and being published, from agent problems to physical issues. What makes fiction so rewarding for you?

NC: This isn’t an easy one to answer… I’ve always written, absolutely all my life. I can’t imagine stopping. Even if I wasn’t aiming for publication, I’d still write for my own pleasure; I’ve just been lucky enough recently to do both! There’s an endless sense of accomplishment and joy to be had in seeing your name on a real live book, and that’s a huge motivator to keep going. I think the short answer is that I don’t know how to not write, and even though I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of periods of doubt, I can’t imagine living without writing. I’d be a different person.

ML: You’ve published a lot recently, Wolf Strap in the Queer Wolf anthology, which led to Silver Kiss, a novel featuring a the same lesbian P.I. couple, and there’s also been Afterlife, another urban fantasy/mystery style novel featuring all manner of undead. Are all your books special to you, or do you have a favorite? Has the reading public had a chance to see your favorite work yet?

NC: They’re all special for different reasons. Wolf Strap being published was a moment of great pride for me, not only because it was my first professional publication, but because it came at a time when I was really questioning whether I could ever “make it” as a writer. Afterlife is special because it’s my first published novel, and Silver Kiss is special because it’s my first contracted novel! But no, the reading public hasn’t seen my favourite work yet – mostly because I haven’t written it yet. It’s a series I’ve been trying to write for years – I have everything worked out from character arcs to plot developments through four or five books – everything except a plot for the first book! That’s kind of holding me back… But once I figure it out, I’m going to do everything I possibly can to make sure the reading public can read it.

ML: Silver Kiss touches on elements including sexual identity, family, honesty, and drugs, and yet doesn’t smack readers upside the head with a message or overwhelm them with dark realism. Did you find it hard to maintain that delicate balance to maintain a strong character identity?

NC: It was difficult. I was very worried about accidentally writing an “issues” book, where the messages perhaps overwhelmed the plot – particularly because I don’t want my personal opinions to be part of the plot. You know, I’m not my characters and I don’t want readers to think I’m using my characters to get up on a soapbox about anything. At the same time, I want to my work to be relevant, and all the things you mentioned are eternally relevant. I think the trick is to create the characters first, make them strong and real, and let their opinions shape the message. Does that even make sense?

ML: Have you found any difficulties in getting a GLBTQ book published in speculative fiction or in marketing to the genre audience?

NC: So far, I’ve found the response to Silver Kiss and Wolf Strap to be overwhelmingly positive, which is fantastic! A few people have commented that they’d never read anything with a lesbian as the main character, because they just aren’t that widely available right now. I think the rise in popularity of ebooks will change that, as ebooks allow for more niche markets to develop.

ML: Will we be seeing more of Ayla and Shannon from Silver Kiss, or Yasmin Stoker from Afterlife?

NC: Absolutely! I’m contracted for two more Urban Wolf novels, so Ayla and Shannon will be back soon J I plan to write at least one sequel to Afterlife, as there’s a lot of Yasmin’s story left unfinished at the moment. I’m also working on a novella about Ethan from Afterlife, which I would love to find a home for.

ML: Can you tell us about any of the pros and cons of being a UK writer versus a US one?

NC: I think there’s generally a bigger market for urban fantasy and speculative fiction in America, although that is definitely changing thanks to shows like True Blood. In the UK we seem to have been slower to get into the paranormal wave, and I do think that impacts on writers. For a long time I resisted writing anything set in the UK because hardly any publishers or agents over here were interested in the genre. But again, that is starting to change.

ML: Like me, you share an absolute, unapologetic love of Jem and the Holograms, She-Ra and My Little Pony. Care to profess the utter awesomeness of 80s cartoons and how they’ve affected your tales, if at all?

NC: Oh man, look. It’s just a fact that kids’ TV was better in the 80s. I don’t care what anyone says. There was so much fantasy and colour and craziness. And yes, that definitely influenced my writing – I loved anything set on another world, involving magic or monsters. Shows like Dungeons and Dragons and She-Ra really fired my imagination (and still do, if truth be told). And 80s cartoons always had that neat moral message at the end warning you off drugs or bullying. I personally think society would be a lot better off if kids’ cartoons still did that!

ML: Most of your work is available in digital form, often first or primarily. What do you think the future of ebooks are, especially to libraries and universities?

NC: I think the ebook is only going to grow and grow in popularity. As I mentioned before, they allow niche markets to develop, and they’ve become a sort of proving ground for many writers who go on to be published traditionally. As technology gets better and better, ereaders are going to become cheaper and more accessible, and as people become more environmentally aware, many of us will choose ebooks over paper for that reason.

That said, I don’t think print books will ever go away or become obsolete. I don’t think it’s comparable to, say, video tapes and DVDs, where one form of technology replaces the other. Print books will always be valuable for many reasons – historical and sentimental, for example. Working for a university as I do, I know our libraries are a main point of attraction for visitors who want to see original works by people like Newton and Churchill. And really, you can’t safely read your Kindle in the bath

ML: You remain one of the biggest readers and genre fans I know of. Can you recommend some great reads that you think people are overlooking or haven’t heard of?

NC: Right off the bat I have to recommend Laura Bickle’s debut, Embers. An excellent urban fantasy that I’ve been raving about to everyone. I’d also urge people to check out Kalayna Price’s debut, Once Bitten, and anything by Thomas Emson – especially if you’re looking for something more horror than fantasy. I also don’t think enough people are reading Caitlin Kittredge, frankly.

ML: What’s next for you?

NC: Next up is Bad Dogs, the sequel to Silver Kiss. I also signed with a new literary agent last year, and hope to get a very different kind of werewolf novel out on submission soon, so fingers crossed for that. Really, I have about a dozen new ideas every day, so once Bad Dogs is done and dusted, it’s just a matter of picking whichever one appeals to me most at the time.

Animythical Tales by Sarah Totton

Slim and unexpected, Animythical Tales by Sarah Totton is a collection of ten tales that have formerly graced the pages of venues like Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy & Science Fiction and Polophony 7. Totton herself is a skilled writer who pens vivid tales of surreal fantasy.

Being far more fantasy than horror immediately puts this collection outside the tastes of the average horror aficionado, however there’s no denying there’s a dark element to some of Totton’s tales. “The Teasewater Five”, for example, tells a fanciful tale of a dark nature, centering on a woman who, with the help of her brother, creates a miniature, animated sculpture version of her stillborn son with unexpectedly negative results….Full review at Dark Scribe Magazine