Everything is worth remembering. The details in life that are often overlooked or considered irrelevant are the very details that make something what it is, that tell the story of its passage through the world. There are no insignificant people, just as there are no meaningless memories. This is the philosophy of the clerics of…
The Heatwave
Well, count The Heatwave among reasons why I don’t want to have children. Two seemingly normal people come together to make a child that is a psychopath, without any kind of reason or explanation. A child that purposefully torments her mother, kills animals, tries to murder her little sister? No thanks. I’ll remain childless. The Heatwave is great…
Night of the Mannequins
Night of the Mannequins is the second story by Stephen Graham Jones that I’ve read this year, and I have enjoyed them both. I will say that I didn’t like this one quite as much as The Only Good Indians, but it is still a good story with a unique premise and Jones’s signature prose. I really…
Dragons of Winter Night
With the war between the draconic armies and the rest of Krynn heating up, Dragons of Winter Night begins with the companions having recovered a relic for the Dwarves in order to assure their aid in the battles to come. Through the course of events our heroes are separated and set along their own individual paths, some…
‘Salem’s Lot
In my endeavor to read through Stephen King’s rather prodigious catalog, I find myself finishing ‘Salem’s Lot. This is another book that I’d read many years ago, but I enjoyed it much more this time around. Perhaps it is a better understanding of King and literature as a whole but, regardless of the reason for it, ‘Salem’s…
Into the Black Nowhere
I think the disparity of my feelings for UNSUB and Into the Black Nowhere might be the greatest of any series I’ve read. I really enjoyed UNSUB because of Caitlin’s strong but flawed character, the creepy and semi-supernatural nature of the Prophet, the strained but tough relationship between Caitlin and her father, and the twists and turns of the case that…
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
What happened to fantasy novels like Dragons of Autumn Twilight? There is something to be said for stories devoid of complex political machinations, endless lineages, and inscrutable character motivations. The straightforward approach allows the reader to focus solely on the journey and wonder, to become enveloped in a fantastical world rather than concerned about retaining a…
Blacktop Wasteland
Can a man ever really change who he is? That is the overarching question that Blacktop Wasteland strives to answer. Beauregard is a hardened criminal, guilty of theft and murder and known as one of the best getaway drivers there is. At the beginning of Blacktop Wasteland, he’s attempted to put that life behind him in a desperate…
Carrie
Carrie marked an important time in the world of literature, as it was Stephen King’s first published novel. With this story of bullying and insane religious fundamentalism and revenge, the face of modern horror would be changed forever. I had read Carrie a long time ago but, in an effort to finally read my way through King’s prodigious…
The Fighter
Every time I pick up one of Michael Farris Smith’s novels, I am amazed at his ability to craft characters and story. The amount of depth and emotion and complexity he is able to weave into his stories is difficult to find in other authors. Having read Blackwood first, I was eager to delve into The Fighter and get…
The Time of Contempt
Apparently I was a much less discerning reader when I was younger. I have been touting The Witcher books as peak fantasy ever since reading them many years ago. Re-reading them now has opened my eyes to to the fact that, unfortunately, these books are not as great as I once thought. The Last Wish remains amazing and, most…
The Shadows
This is easily the worst book I’ve ever read. I tend to think that a lot, but it always seems like another book comes along that’s worse than the last. I think The Shadows has finally taken that title for good. The prose, the characters, the plot… there is not a single redeemable thing to be found…
Quite Literary 