I remembered very little about Volume One of MAGIC ORDER except that I enjoyed it, especially the wow-worthy art of Olivier Coipel. Mark Millar alway I remembered very little about Volume One of MAGIC ORDER except that I enjoyed it, especially the wow-worthy art of Olivier Coipel. Mark Millar always seems to pair up with great artists, and this time Stuart Immonen illustrates his dark fantasy and does a great job. Not remembering Volume One helped me to appreciate Volume Two since it seemed like more of the same but appeared fresh. I went back and read my review of Volume One just to verify that. The storyline isn’t that different. But that’s signature Millar - - he’s adept at taking familiar themes and putting his personal stamp on them. There are just a bunch of new characters and a new setting for the action. In Volume One, a secret order (several generations of select families) protect Earth from various threats through the use of magical abilities and spells. Their lifelong mission is to keep dangerous spell books and artifacts from getting into the wrong hands and potentially causing the end of the world. This time, the London chapter led by returning character Cordelia (the escapist, and my favorite) leads the charge against the threat posed by an Eastern European family of magicians/warlocks/wizards who are descendants from a powerful ancient wizard, have been suppressed for centuries, and want their time to shine again as they steal artifacts from the Magic Order and use them to resurrect a Lovecraftian behemoth. There are several side stories that help flesh out the new characters, the most interesting being Francis, a drug addict who is battling his own inner demons. The action scenes are high-powered and feature plenty of that gratuitous violence that marks so many of Millar’s stories. Despite the familiarity, this is fast-paced entertainment that I thoroughly enjoyed and will come back again. I read this in the original single monthly issues from 2021-2022. I rate this THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS and wish that Goodreads finds a way to include fractions....more
I recently read a news article in Locus magazine on the 2023 nominees for the Phillip K. Dick Award which focuses on genre fiction originally publisheI recently read a news article in Locus magazine on the 2023 nominees for the Phillip K. Dick Award which focuses on genre fiction originally published in paperback. I picked three of the nominees to read, based on the synopsis which grabbed my attention. I was unfamiliar with S. L. Coney before this. Here's the most important thing to say about this: S.L. Coney is a promising new writer with a lot of potential, and I will most likely seek out whatever they write after WILD SPACES, if only to make up my mind. Perhaps the synopsis and early reviews/blurbs raised my expectations beyond what this quick reading novella could deliver to me. Also, the comparisons to renowned authors like Robert McCammon and H.P. Lovecraft, while somewhat appropriate, also led to expectations that were not met. Page 32: "The sea always rushes in, greedy for the land. His father says that one day -- a bazillion years ago -- a fish grew legs and walked on land for the first time. And as funny as he thinks a fish with legs would look, he wonders how the sea felt when her inhabitants started walking away. He wonders if maybe that's why she keeps eating away at the land, trying to take back what it stole." There are several memorable passages like that one. However, if only there were more and I felt a consistent voice throughout the story I might have rated this higher. The foreshadowing in the early chapters allowed me to figure out the ending too early, and that made the emotional moments less heart-breaking or heart-warming for me. But, based on this novella I definitely want to revisit S. L. Coney. If you're looking to discover new promising writers, this short novella may reward you without sacrificing much of your reading time. This could easily be read at one sitting. ...more
When your name is Stephen King and you title your latest collection "YOU LIKE IT DARKER" it is bound to set specific expectations among his regular r When your name is Stephen King and you title your latest collection "YOU LIKE IT DARKER" it is bound to set specific expectations among his regular readers. I have a feeling King didn't really consider how fans might react to that. In the afterword, he remarks that he liked a song title with similar words and changed it slightly. However, "darker" is a subjective term and it all depends on how that is perceived by each reader.
For me, I had certain expectations which were not entirely met - - but I still enjoyed this collection. Had this been the first story collection from a new author, I would have rated it a solid Five Stars for inventiveness, story-telling ability, rich characterization, keen observations on the human condition, and the ability to make readers empathize and worry for the characters- - often fearing for them. I find all of that in these stories.
I never expect less than a Four Star read from Stephen King, but I rated two of the twelve stories here Three Stars - - "Red Screen" and "The Turbulenc Expert. Nevertheless, I enjoyed them. My favorite stories - - all Five Star reads - - were "Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream", "Rattlesnakes" and "The Dreamers", with "Laurie" a close contender. Four Star reads (above expectations) were "Two Talented Bastids", "The Fifth Step", "Willie The Weirdo", "Finn", "On Slide Inn Road", and "The Dreamers".
In terms of darkness, I made some notes for fun as I was reading -- grading the stories as Dark, Dim, or Light. I considered five stories "Dark", three stories "Dim" (in-between), and four stories "Light". See my notes below . . . . . .
I participated in a group read with the HORROR AFICIONADOS community and share my comments/observations here as well:
JULY 15: Late start for me, and I'm reading several other books at the same time. However, this is the way I prefer to read short story collections. Read one, reflect. Read some other book. Come back to YOU LIKE IT DARKER in small doses. Read another story or more. Reflect, etc. Interesting observations by all in this group. I've found that many of King's story collections are not just horror, but cover a lot of ground. Just finished "Two Talented Bastids" and admire how King pulls you into the heads of his characters so you can quickly empathize and even feel warm towards them. He's done it again. That is what I love most about King: his characters. So far for YOU LIKE IT DARKER (only one story in): Not dark. Not horror. Science fiction works, or even fantasy for "Two Talented Bastids". Who needs labels?
JULY 16:So, what does the "darker" of the book title mean? I skipped to the Afterword to see if King explained what he meant, and he doesn't. All he says is that his stories often deal with dark matters. Also, he copped the title from a Leonard Cohen song he liked - - "You Want It Darker." Many in my reading group seem to be grappling with the meaning of "darker" in this collection. I think we can all agree that "darker" is subjective, and will mean whatever we want it to. I agree with one member who calls it "bleaker" rather than "scarier". However some of the stories so far don't seem "dark" in any definition I can think of. For fun, I'm going to rate my impression of the stories. They are either "Light" (not dark at all), "Dim" (tending towards darker/bleaker) and genuinely "Dark" - - in my subjective opinion of course. I'm at Page 83 now, having finished the first three stories. Here's my quick impression of them . . . . . TWO TALENTED BASTIDS - - - A shared, life-changing experience. LIGHT. THE FIFTH STEP - - - Park bench encounter. It was a light-hearted, warm story until it wasn't. . . . . DIM. WILLIE THE WERIDO - - - Misfits. Covid. Aging grandparents. . . . DARK.
JULY 20: Just finished the novella DANNY COUGHLIN'S BAD DREAM. Brilliant. I loved it. Truly a Five-Star story. King is still the master of story-telling and characterization. He's still got it. This is the evidence. DARK.
July 23: Read FINN today. Off-beat, odd ball tale about an unlucky man and mistaken identity. I'm wondering what point King was trying to make with this one, as interesting as it certainly was. Love the punch line . . . . . DIM. THE SLIDE INN ROAD: Dysfunctional family trip. Never underestimate the abilities of a grandpa. DARK.
July 25: Finished RED SCREEN, my least favorite story of the collection so far, but still well-written. Kind of a one-note short story, with a little twist at the end. Wife murderer blames it on aliens. . . . LIGHT.
July 27: THE TURBULENCE EXPERT. Unusual premise, but interesting. Kind of a one-note story. May end up being my least favorite of the collection. . . . LIGHT. There's really not much hint of that King touch. This story could have been written by anyone. Observation: The shorter stories in here are not as strong as the longer pieces. I think maybe King needs a higher word count in order to do what he does best- - - rich characterization. Coincidentally or not, the longest story in here is novella length, DANNY COUGHLIN'S BAD DREAM, and remains my favorite of the bunch. I really enjoyed LAURIE, but I'm a sucker for a good heart-warming dog story. . . . LIGHT.
July 29: RATTLESNAKES is one of the better stories in this collection. Very creepy with squeamish moments. A solid Five Stars. King pays homage to both DUMA KEY and CUJO within the novella, as readers learn what's happened to Donna after the St. Bernard attack as related by the narrator of RATTLESNAKES, her former husband. . . . . . DARK THE DREAMERS is a nice departure from the rest of this collection, and dabbles in cosmic horror with Lovecraft elements. It was another favorite of mine. Four Stars, for sure, and . . . . DARK
July 30: THE ANSWER MAN is a clever premise, but the story itself with the history of the family far surpasses it. While there are uplifting moments, this is essentially a sad story that nearly brought me to tears. For that reason, I rate it . . . . . DIM. This collection ended with a strong finish. Those last four stories were especially good....more
When I learn a book is described as "cosmic horror" I approach it with certain expectations. At first I wasn't sure that the story in LACUNA'S POINT wWhen I learn a book is described as "cosmic horror" I approach it with certain expectations. At first I wasn't sure that the story in LACUNA'S POINT would actually justify that designation. It didn't matter, as I was hooked by the prologue and thoroughly enjoying the mystery of two different parents joining forces to pursue a weird text message from beyond, giving them hope that their missing daughters were alive and well but crying out for help. There was a real Twilight Zone type of vibe coming off those proceedings. Then it gets even stranger when the town of Lacuna's Point if finally located, which looks like a ghost town to the uninvited - - and the invited aren't aware why they can see it and interact with the residents. I usually expect cosmic horror stories to center around New England, particularly Rhode Island --- but never thought of the state of Virginia as harboring such elements. But as the story proceeds, Lacuna's Point brought back memories of H. P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". It also reminded me of the "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" and a little "Wicker Man". Tim Meyer's version of "cosmic horror" blends a lot of seemingly disparate elements but manages to make each weird occurrence or situation integral to the main story. This is also cosmic horror of the most extreme horror/body horror nature so squeamish readers beware. There is an abundance of gorey scenes. I was delighted by the last half of this book, and finished at a much quicker pace than I began. I believe I'll keep a certain type of shellfish out of my diet for some time.
Aarrrggghhh! This one gets under your skin and wriggles around. Ugh! THE MORASS is a quick read, a fascinating blend of body horror, extreme horror anAarrrggghhh! This one gets under your skin and wriggles around. Ugh! THE MORASS is a quick read, a fascinating blend of body horror, extreme horror and cosmic horror (with its' Lovecraftian creature.) A novella, but I took as long to read this as I usually do a novel - - simply because the descriptions were so vivid that I needed to put some pauses between chapters for full appreciation. If Ashford simply focused on the serial-killer-with-a-serious-fly obsession the story would still be pretty frightening. I was reminded of both the Wolf Creek film and series (Shudder TV) but that creepy thing hanging out around the meteor impact site took this to another level entirely. The prologue foreshadows enough that I anticipated a horrifying and exciting reading experience, and this did not disappoint. This has to be the most revolting as well as most elaborate depiction of a swarm of troubling black flies as I am likely to read/encounter. The main character is truly deranged and frightening with a grotesque appearance. When Ashford introduces the sentient maggots into the story I could almost taste them. Ugh! The character depictions are more detailed that you sometimes find in a novella, and go beyond the usual. You'll become attached to some of these characters, and Ashford will make you regret that. I began to feel both their pain and disgust. Zachary Ashford, thank you for the horrible reading experience!...more
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