Each story, reviewed in my "writer's perspective." Of course, since I listened on audiobook the narrators themselves are on trial here as well- sometimes they fit the story, other times they get it wrong in my opinion.
Fantastically read, this a very short story with an interesting premise that stops just where it should- a bit open-ended, but not very, and satisfactory. I thought I was in for a whole tome of this. I was wrong.
“Fossil-Figures” by Joyce Carol Oates
I thought to myself, give it a chance. Just because you hated We Were the Mulvaneys doesn't mean you have to hate this. Nope. It meanders, its heavy-handed, and it has no payoff. At no point in time does it ever GO anywhere, even when it thinks it does. I hate Joyce Carol Oates officially.
“Wildfire in Manhattan” by Joanne Harris
Gods in the world of the humans- American Gods does it better. But it wasn't the story- it was the inconsistencies. Wildfire is the younger brother of hearth fire? The "our Thor/Arthur" pun was pitiful and instead of cheekily making it once it happened earnestly multiple times. And the bodiless villains were random and not fleshed out (THAT pun intended).
“The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains” by Neil Gaiman
He's a master storyteller. He wraps up all his threads and keeps even dark stories whimsical and fun.
“Unbelief” by Michael Marshall Smith
This is the perfect example of how to keep revealing information about who your character is. The perfect pace.
“The Stars are Falling” by Joe R. Lansdale
Kind of weird. Super into it at points, other times not so much. I thought when he got killed AGAIN at the end, there'd be him coming back, but... no answers. Good characterization but I need more rhyme and reason to my resurrections.
“Juvenal Nyx” by Walter Mosley
A juvenile name, but this was the time the narrator did his best reading. I wish it had tied in more from the beginning about the racial issues- they seemed to just be dropped by the wayside, even for a vampire story that's usually about the unwanted and downtrodden. Longer than it needed to be, and then shorter than it should have been. Could use some editing. Can't all vampire stories?
“The Knife” by Richard Adams
I didn't remember this one. I really had to try. It wasn't bad. But it was very short and kind of unsettling. It didn't make me care, let's just say that. An unremarkable plot with minimal characterization.
“Weights and Measures” by Jodi Picoult
I fucking bawled. I cried in the airplane. So sad. Wow.
“Goblin Lake” by Michael Swanwick
It's like he started writing a story, then decided to morph it into a meta-treatise on writing and storytelling, but never edited the beginning to make the promise to me, the reader, that he was going to go meta. So Miklas would love it but I very much did not.
“Mallon the Guru” by Peter Straub
"I'm gonna write a story! That was fun!" Yeah, fun, but utterly pointless. Nothing to say about humanity or society or religion or writing, or...
“Catch and Release” by Lawrence Block
Creepy. Could have been shorter, but the length made it more visceral for the type of story that it was. Meant to unsettle, it did. I can't say I want to read more of the writer, but he did what he set out to do very well.
“Polka Dots and Moonbeams” by Jeffrey Ford
I dug it. Very "San Junipero" from Black Mirror. Maybe they were inspired by it. Very lighthearted and fun, which I could appreciate. Too many of these stories are serious. Like the last one.
“Loser” by Chuck Palahniuk
Funny, but inaccurate. I was in a fraternity. We would have loved that guy. Didn't seem to fit this collection though.
“Samantha’s Diary” by Diana Wynne Jones
Listening to this one really messed up the ending of it. I had to listen to it four times to understand. In print, I could have figured it out, but the didn't use a man's voice for the man's voice, they just read out "a man's voice comes on" even though up until that point they had been reading it like an audio diary. Irksome.
“Land of the Lost” by Steward O’Nan
An interesting read- I see other people online hating on it, but I really liked it. I've never read anything like it before. But I found it accurate.
“Leif in the Wind” by Gene Wolfe
Fun science fiction. Unsympathetic characters. Yet I give it a thumbs up.
“Unwell” by Carolyn Parkhurst
What a bitch! I really liked this story. I sped up the narration to 1.25x to really capture the franticness of such a terrible woman, and I do believe it helped.
“A Life in Fictions” by Kat Howard
I think it got too self-important about the bleeding of identities, and I really don't think it would have been that hard for her- or this story could have been the last written story.
“Let the Past Begin” by Jonathan Carroll
Booooooo. It tries to leave you with chills, but it's stupid. It's concept is stupid, the characters are stupid, it could have gone in such a better direction- with "being just like his father" meaning the child will also have an absent father- but that's not where the writer goes with it. He tries to lead to mystery and magic and wonder but it just feels hokey. And again, my big complaint, there's no payoff.
“The Therapist” by Jeffrey Deaver
It really changed modes, a bit abruptly, so for a portion of the story I didn't care, but then it came back around (back again to the advice of keep the promises you make to the reader). I get wanting to put in a twist, but in a short story I don't think twists are all that great, I think. In the end though it won me over, even if "nemes" are a bit cheesy.
“Parallel Lines” by Tim Powers
Another forgettable one. I had to look it up even though it was recent. Basically part of the plot of the Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin movie I really like, but instead about old ladies with no redeeming characteristics. Blah.
“The Cult of the Nose” by Al Sarrantonio
Like the Therapist, but worse. The payoff wasn't there. Instead of leaving a question about a man's sanity, or the truth, he's clearly just crazy. And that's a big disappointing copout. We never even learn "the cult"'s secrets, even though that's what it tries to build too. Not even a lie.
“Human Intelligence” by Kurt Anderson
Now this one's Santa Claus reveal was unnecessary and foreshadowed poorly. And the story didn't need it! The story was great, uplifting, and full of hope. So he could have cut out the winking at the reader and just gone with the fun thinking science fiction.
“Stories” by Michael Moorcock
Strange. I don't know... Didn't really fit with the rest of the collection. A memoir, kind of. I'm glad I didn't live in the 60s.
“The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand
Great characterization. The longest story, but it didn't drag like some of the others which weren't nearly its length. Mostly interesting, but definitely not classifiable in any "genre." Very realistic, even with its strange and eerie instances. I liked it, and I'll keep thinking about it, I'm sure.
“The Devil on the Staircase” by Joe Hill
In this case, the story would have been served better by a different narrator. Truly. A good yarn.
