Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Retellings
Posted on July 28, 2020 16 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish, a weekly meme that now resides at That Artsy Reader Girl. The meme first came about because of a love of lists. Who doesn’t love lists? The original creators also wanted their lists to be shared with fellow book lovers and to ask that we in turn share ours with them and connect with other book bloggers. To learn more about participating, stop by their page dedicated to it and dive in!
This week’s topic: Top Ten Retellings (Freebie!)
This week’s theme is a freebie, and while I’m still away on vacation I thought it would be great to schedule a topic that I’ve wanted to do for a while! In recent years I have been reading a lot of retellings, so today I just want to shine a spotlight on ten of my favorite ones.
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White
Pride and Prejudice retellings and other Austenesque-inspired stories have traditionally been hit-or-miss with me, but there was something about Heartstone that drew me to it right away. Might it have been the dragons? Okay yeah, it was the dragons. Heartstone is actually a pretty faithful rendition of the original, in some places following the plot so closely that I was surprised the author took such a direct route. The story follows Aliza Bentaine, the second of five daughters in a family living at Merybourne Manor. Their home has been set upon by monsters as of late, and six months ago tragedy struck as Aliza’s youngest sister was attacked and killed by one of the wild gryphons that have invaded the surrounding woods. This has led to the arrival of a band of Riders who have come to Merybourne to eradicate the creatures, and among them are the warriors Master Brysney and Master Daired. The publisher blurb for this book describes it as Elle Katharine White infusing Austen’s classic with her own brand of magic. With the exception of the ending, I wouldn’t say that the strength of Heartstone is in its story since most of the plot closely mirrors the original, but what really shines is the world-building. White doesn’t stop at populating her book with all sorts of extraordinary creatures from hobgoblins and wyverns to lamias and lindworms, for she has also fleshed out the world with a vibrant culture that’s entirely of her own imagination. (Read the full review…)
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey
Few things get me more excited than a book by Jacqueline Carey, and on the list of my must-read authors, her name definitely sits way up near the top. And with the growing trend in Shakespeare retellings these days, I suppose I wasn’t too surprised when I initially discovered that she was working on a retelling of The Tempest. That project ultimately became Miranda and Caliban. As the book’s blurb states, many of us are already aware of how the original story goes, with Prospero and his quest for revenge against his usurping brother as well as the complicit king. But in her version of this classic tale, Carey has chosen instead to shine the light on Prospero’s gentle and kindhearted daughter Miranda, reimagining her in a coming-of-age romance with the other titular character Caliban, who was actually the monstrous antagonist of The Tempest. In this book, however, Caliban is the misunderstood feral boy who opens up to Miranda after being enslaved by her father, with the bond between them increasing in strength over the years as the two grow up together on the lonely island under Prospero’s overbearing tutelage. The Tempest fans will love this beautifully written and richly imagined retelling which approaches the story differently from an interesting and thought-provoking angle. (Read the full review…)
Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone by G.S. Denning
Any book that can make me laugh like a maniac deserves high marks from me. This one’s funny—and I do mean funny, as in exploding-in-uncontrollable-giggles-so-that-nearby-bystanders-are-staring-at-you-sidesways-and-backing-up-slowly funny. This was something I did not expect. When the Warlock Holmes series was pitched to me, I figured it would be your run-of-the-mill classic literature mashup with paranormal elements. Oh, little did I know. The key to this book’s success, I think, was the way Denning stuck close to the source material while still keeping the tone light and readable, and he dressed the story up with just enough of the fantastical to make it feel unique and different. After all, everyone knows of the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes whose logical reasoning and powers of observation are unparalleled. But what if, instead of a brilliant genius, he was a bit of a dippy eccentric, albeit endowed with arcane powers and the scary ability to tap into the world of demons? This, in essence, is Warlock Holmes. He’s well-intentioned, but rather dim. To make up for it though, at least he’s something of an expert in the supernatural and occult. I had a hell of a good time with this book. (Read the full review…)
Lost Boy by Christina Henry
Christina Henry has written quite a few dark fairy tale retellings at this point, but this one reimagining Peter Pan from Hook’s point-of-view is my favorite. In this book, Peter is the villain, who spends his never-ending childhood stealing boys from the “Other Place” to bring back to his island paradise so that he will always have playmates to amuse him. However, Peter has a very sick sense of what constitutes “amusement”. His outward appearance of an eleven-year-old boy belies the fact that he is a master manipulator, with an infectious charm that makes all his Lost Boys love him and want to please him. The only one who can see through all of this is Jamie, the first boy Peter ever brought to the island. They’ve been the best of friends for a long, long time—long enough that Jamie has become Peter’s favorite companion and right hand man, the one who takes care of the rest of the boys. Someone has to, after all, considering the way Peter goes through playmates like dogs go through chew toys, a fact that Jamie hates. And here I thought Disney’s depiction of Peter Pan was an annoying little shit. The portrayal of the Boy-Who-Wouldn’t-Grow-Up in Lost Boy on the other hand, is on an entirely different level of evil and heartlessness. This in turn made it easy to root for Jamie, whose characterization was a huge part of what made Lost Boy such a fascinating, addictive read. (Read the full review…)
Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel
Here we have another Pride & Prejudice retelling, but this one also had the added element of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Although the book may draw inspiration from one of two of the most beloved novels of classic literature, it would be a disservice to simply label Pride and Prometheus as just your average literary mashup. Not only has the author succeeded in capturing the tone, spirit, and style of these two works, he’s managed to create a perfect fusion of its deeper themes as well. Kessel’s writing is absolutely gorgeous, emulating the style and manner of the original novels that inspired this tale. All in all, I adored everything about Pride and Prometheus, from the utterly engrossing struggles of its characters to the emotional themes about obsession and attachment. I think Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein fans will be impressed with how well Kessel has captured the original novels’ forms and styles, but even if you’re familiar with both classics, there will still be plenty of surprises. This book endeared itself to me and then broke my heart, but all I could think about after finishing this was how I wanted more. Truly a treasure of a novel. (Read the full review…)
All The Ever Afters by Danielle Teller
I’ve never been able to say no to a good fairy tale retelling, especially by the recent crop of novels touting the point-of-view of the “villain.” That ultimately led me to pick up All the Ever Afters, which boldly bears the tagline describing itself as the untold story of Cinderella’s stepmother, the notoriously cruel and wicked antagonist from the classic fairy tale we all know and love. However, Danielle Teller’s approach to this novel is one that I’ve seldom seen in most fairy tale retellings I’ve read, in that she has completely eschewed all aspects of fantasy and magic, choosing instead to ground her story in history. Our tale introduces readers to Agnes, a young girl born into poverty. Worked to the bone and unfairly treated, she had no choice but to use all her wits and wiles to finagle a better position for herself. With Cinderella only playing a bit part, this tale truly belongs to her stepmother, who has been given new life in this heartfelt novel. With no magical spells or fairy godmothers, Agnes is a woman who relies on nothing but herself to change her life and make a better future for her children. If you prefer fantasy in your fairy tale retellings, you may wish to reconsider this one, but if you don’t mind a narrative that’s more rooted in realism, then I really can’t recommend this highly enough. (Read the full review…)
The Winters by Lisa Gabriele
The Winters has been described as an updated, modern retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Like its 1938 inspiration, the book stars an unnamed narrator, but many of the similarities to the original character end there. Our protagonist is a 20-something-year-old American woman from the Cayman Islands, where she works at a boat charter company that caters to clients from many of the elite local clubs. That is how she meets Max Winter, a charming and wealthy state senator from New York, who has come to the Caribbean for work and holiday. He is also a widower, his wife having died in fiery car crash about two years ago. In spite of this recent loss, Max and our protagonist fall into a whirlwind romance, and within a month of their meeting, he asks her to marry him. Before she knows it, our narrator is whisked away to the Hamptons, where Max’s family owns a lavish seaside estate called Asherley. Needless to say, life in New York takes some adjusting to for our protagonist. Like all retellings, The Winters takes a particular slant on a familiar story, and therein lies plenty of opportunities for fun fresh spins but also the possibility for some difficulties. Fans of Rebecca will probably want to read this, with the added caveat that while it pays homage to the Daphne du Maurier novel by drawing heavily from some of its plot elements and themes, Lisa Gabriele’s retelling also brings a lot of her own voice and originality to the table. More generally, fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful family dramas may also want to check it out. (Read the full review…)
The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross
Few retellings invite more scrutiny from me than Beauty and the Beast, one of the most beloved fairy tales, so I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this. As retellings go, The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross is pretty low-key, focusing on atmosphere and emotion instead of miring itself in attempts at audacious new twists. Told from the perspective of the Beast, our story begins in the enchanted forest where our protagonist lives with the curse cast upon him long ago. Slowly, painfully, he begins to remember the man he once was, but has no memory of why he was made into this beastly form, let alone how to break the curse. My favorite part of this book is hands down Shallcross’ depiction of the Beast. He is no monster, and over time it becomes clear that there’s not a malicious bone in his body. In fact, I wasn’t even sure why he was cursed in the first place (though later we do get some answers). As for the atmosphere, The Beast’s Heart also offers a nice change of pace. It is dark, but not oppressively so; moody, but not to the point of being melodramatic. In fact, I found the whole book to be quite charming and lovely. Overall, this is not a fast-paced read, but it’s a passionately earnest and eloquent debut that would be perfect for fans of quiet, evocative and lyrical fairy tale retellings. (Read the full review…)
The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas
After consistently being disappointed by so many books described as “Mulan retellings”, you can probably understand why I went into The Magnolia Sword with no small amount of trepidation. But ultimately, I was blown away. Sherry Thomas has written a refreshing new take on this famous Chinese folktale about the legendary female warrior, applying her own unique approach to the portrayal while staying faithful to the original story and ensuring historical and linguistic accuracy. Inspired by the traditions of wuxia, a genre which translates to “martial-chivalric” fiction, Sherry Thomas spins an epic tale of courage and adventure. I adored her depiction of Mulan, who embodies all the traits we think about when it comes to the character—fiercely independent, altruistic, and honorable. At the same time, the narrative never lets us forget that behind all that armor, our protagonist is a teenager, and wholly human. I was also glad this story shone a light on Mulan and the love and respect she has for her father, which a surprising number of retellings tend to neglect, considering his role in her decision to enlist in the army in his place. The Magnolia Sword adds another complex layer to their bond, making the final chapter with Mulan’s homecoming and seeing her father again even more touching and poignant. Bottom line, I just loved this. (Read the full review…)
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Even though I first read this a while ago, it remains a perennial favorite so I decided to I had to include it in this list. The book introduces us to Sorcha, who should have been the seventh son of a seventh son, but she is loved no less for being a girl, the only daughter of Lord Colum in the kingdom of Sevenwaters. She grew up with her six doting older brothers, and the siblings could not have been closer despite their different personalities and walks of life. However, peace at Sevenwaters is shattered when their widower father is seduced into marriage by an evil enchantress. To stop the siblings from meddling, the witch curses them all, turning Sorcha’s brothers into swans. It’s up to Sorcha to lift the spell, but she has to undertake a long and difficult quest thrust upon her by the Fae to do so, all the while remaining silent until she completes it. To those familiar with their fairy tales, this is of course a retelling of The Six Swans, one of the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm. It’s a pretty close adaptation, actually, though Marillier fleshes it out a lot more and sets her version in the medieval Celtic era. She does not stray too far from the source material, which ended up being perfect for someone like myself, who adores fairy tales but at times wishes someone to come along and give them the deeper, more detailed treatment. This is simply a gorgeous book, filled with pain and sadness but also hope, healing and love. (Read the full review…)
Guest Post: “Where The Trail Cuts: The Golgotha Series, The New Trilogy, and the Ghost Dance Judgment” by R.S. Belcher
Posted on July 27, 2020 8 Comments
Today we’re thrilled to welcome author R.S. Belcher to the BiblioSanctum! As you know, I’m a huge fan of his work, ever since I discovered The Six-Gun Tarot, which also led to me check out his Nightwise and Brotherhood of the Wheel series and most recently The Queen’s Road which was published as an Audible Original. Now Belcher is back with another installment in the Golgotha series, called The Ghost Dance Judgment! With the book due to be released soon, we’re celebrating with a guest post! Mr. Belcher has kindly shared with us his inspiration for the novel and series, and I hope you’ll enjoy and check out strange and amazing world of Golgotha!
WHERE THE TRAIL CUTS: THE GOLGOTHA SERIES, THE NEW TRILOGY, AND THE GHOST DANCE JUDGMENT
by R.S. Belcher
I first stumbled across Golgotha in the years before my daughter was born. I was living in Richmond, Virginia and I had finished my first novel, Crusader’s Blues. It hasn’t, to date, seen print. I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.
I recall my first idea for the book, which was originally going to be called Golgotha but became The Six-Gun Tarot, was a man stumbling through a hellish desert and coming across a pile of sun-bleached skulls holding up a slate sign that said: “Golgotha: 18 miles, Redemption: 32 miles, Salvation: 50 miles.”
I wasn’t writing for a living when the idea jumped me. And it was many years before I got a chance to start on the novel. After I won the Strange New World anthology contest and had a Star Trek story published in the early 2000s, that was when I got to start building the tiny town of Golgotha, Nevada.
I hadn’t heard the term “Weird Western” yet, that came after Six-Gun was published. I didn’t think that I was writing steampunk either. I found all this out when the book reviews came out. No, I was writing a traditional western story except for all the weirdness and horror. I viewed it as “High Plains Drifter Meets Twin Peaks, with some H.P. Lovecraft thrown in for good measure.” In short, I didn’t think I had a chance in hell of selling this thing, but I sure was enjoying writing it.
Needless to say, it managed to get sold, and did pretty well. Soon my publisher was asking what I might want to work on next, and of course I said a sequel. Then years later,there was a third book, but that was one of the places where the trail into Golgotha began to cut back on itself a little.
After the sequel, The Shotgun Arcana, came out, I had an idea to do kind of a spin-off series from the main Golgotha books, the ones that focused on an ensemble cast of all the characters that made up the town. I wanted to do this other series of books that focused on one of the characters, exclusively. The pitch to the publisher was to buy both the single character-focused book and the next ensemble book. My agent and I pitched five books (from three different series I was writing at the time) total and they bought three. Not too bad, if I do say so myself, but they passed on the ensemble book at that time.
So the third book in the series, The Queen of Swords was a bit of a game-changer. It focused on the character in the Golgotha books who is most popular with the readers. That would be Maude Stapleton, Daughter of Lilith, secret defender of Earth, and single mom in the late 1800s. It also focused on Maude’s mentor, the Pirate Queen, Anne Bonny, who I also get a lot of positive comments about. If you’re curious, after Maude, I get a lot of positive feedback on Deputy Mutt, Sheriff Jon Highfather, oh, and of course, Malachi Bick.
The Queen of Swords was well-received but many readers wanted to go back to Golgotha and catch up with everyone else. So, now, after several years, I am very excited to announce that the fourth Golgotha novel, will be released very soon (either late July or early August) by the wonderful folks at Falstaff Books. It’s called the Ghost Dance Judgement and it is an ensemble novel with all the characters you’ve come to know over the last three books together again, along with a few new faces.
Ghost Dance is exciting for me in numerous ways. It begins a “second trilogy” for the series that will be coming out over the next few years. After Ghost Dance, we have book five: The Hanged Man, a novel that focuses on Golgotha’s mysterious Sheriff, Jon Highfather, and then book six: Slap Leather With the Devil , which is another ensemble story with all our characters together in Golgotha.
Ghost Dance Judgement shakes up the series in several way, which I think long-time readers, as well as those picking up the series with the latest book, will enjoy.
Book six is the last Golgotha book I presently have plotted out and under contract, but if the readers continue to enjoy the series, believe me, I have plenty more Golgotha stories to write. I have an idea for an anthology of Golgotha short fiction, maybe filling in some the previous bizarre events in the town, that are alluded to but never fully detailed.
I hope you pick up and enjoy the next novel in the Golgotha series. Please let me know what you think. I’d like to thank the BiblioSanctum, and Steff for letting me drop by and tell you a little about my home away from home and how I found it in the desert.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.S. (Rod) Belcher is an award-winning newspaper and magazine editor and reporter. Rod has been a private investigator, a DJ, a comic book store owner and has degrees in criminal law, psychology and justice and risk administration, from Virginia Commonwealth University. He’s done Masters work in Forensic Science at The George Washington University, and worked with the Occult Crime Taskforce for the Virginia General Assembly. He lives in Roanoke Virginia with his children: Jonathan and Emily.
YA Weekend Audio: Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power
Posted on July 26, 2020 8 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Young Adult, Horror
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (July 7, 2020)
Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Lauren Ezzo
Rory Power is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while, ever since her debut Wilder Girls took the YA world by storm. Thus it was with great excitement that I started Burn Our Bodies Down, which I was fortunate enough to receive from NetGalley’s new audiobook review program. I loved the description of the book, and the fact it sounded closer to an “American Farmland Gothic” than a true horror. So then, why didn’t I enjoy this more? Well…a lot of it to do with the main character.
Margot has always been something of an outsider. The only close relationship she’s ever had is with her mom Josephine, and she’s not exactly mother of the year. Josephine works a lot, and even when she’s at home in their tiny run-down apartment, she’s emotionally distant or volatile, causing Margot to tiptoe on eggshells whenever she’s around. And when she asks about her father, or any question about family really, Josephine simply shuts her out. Finally, Margot has had enough. Defying her mom, she uncovers an old photograph with a name and phone number of someone she believes is her maternal grandmother. After calling the number, the old woman who answers confirms Margot’s suspicions and extends an invitation to visit her in a nearby rural town called Phalene.
Excited at the prospect of answers at long last, Margot travels by herself to Phalene to meet her Gram. Upon her arrival though, Margot quickly gets the sense that things aren’t quite right. First, Vera, her grandmother, is not the exactly the kind little old lady she led Margot to believe. Her farm, Fairhaven, is an eerie place, yielding strange and unnatural crop. Soon, Margot starts seeing and experiencing disturbing things that defy explanation. She came to Phalene to learn more about where her family came from, but the longer she stays, the more she understands why her mother left this town, never to speak of it again.
As usual, I’ll start with the good. First, we have the incredible atmosphere. Burn Our Bodies Down is all about the setting—a creepy small town that feels isolated and forgotten by the rest of the world. What amazed me most was how such a wide open space with its sprawling fields and endless skies could still result in such a strong sensation of claustrophobia and suffocation. Phalene feels like its own little world, the tensions growing ever more stifling as the pressure builds within. As the reader, you’re made to feel acutely aware that this tight little bubble can burst at any time, and when it does, you know bad things are gonna be a-coming.
However, the trade-off for such thick and delectable atmosphere is a hit to the pacing. Admittedly, this is not a story that goes anywhere fast. While I think there’s plenty to keep the reader entertained, especially when Margot meets other people in town like Tess and Eli, for the most part the plot development chugs in place as the narrative focuses on establishing the mystery and immersing you into the setting. There’s also a lot that doesn’t make sense—at least at first. Rest assured things come together in the end—mostly. There will be some loose ends, and for a long time, it just feels like you’re supposed to ignore all the questions and inconsistencies, which might be a bit too much to ask.
And now, time for what I struggled with, which was mainly Margot. I know she was written to be a little abrasive and belligerent, but I could only put up with her attitude for so long. After a while, that massive chip on her shoulder started getting on my nerves and I just wanted to slap her every time she got snappy or confrontational—which was pretty much all the time. Unfortunately, the fact that I listened to the audiobook did not help, since the narrator tended to overact and made Margot sound even more hysterical and annoying.
Bottom line, the world-building was fantastic, but atmosphere alone couldn’t carry this novel, and ultimately I thought the story and characters were lacking. My experience was also affected by an overdramatic narrator, but if you’re not listening to the audiobook, you’ll most likely not encounter that issue, though I can’t say I was feeling all that sympathetic towards the protagonist regardless. At the end of the day, Burn Our Bodies Down wasn’t a bad book and I thought its premise was interesting, but overall, I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as I’d hoped.
Friday Face-Off: Framed
Posted on July 24, 2020 14 Comments
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
~ a cover featuring a FRAME
Mogsy’s Pick:
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
There were several ways to interpret this week’s theme, and we were free to choose any one we wished. I decided to go with the idea of a picture frame, and even though I haven’t read this particular book, I’ve been a fan of Claire North for years and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August has been on my to-read list for years.
From left to right:
Redhook Paperback (2014) – Redhook Hardcover (2014) – PS Publishing (2017)
German Edition (2015) – Dutch Edition (2014) – Italian Edition (2017)
French Edition (2015) – Portuguese Edition (2017) – Danish Edition (2016)
Hebrew Edition (2016) – Persian Edition (2017) – Estonian Edition (2015)
Winner:
It might be the one I’m most familiar with, but the Redhook paperback also happens to be my favorite. I just love the visual effect with the frames, and it definitely makes the cover extremely eye-catching!
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
Guest Post: “My Favourite Creepy Children” by Tim Major
Posted on July 23, 2020 11 Comments
Today we’re very happy to present a very special treat! Earlier this year saw the release of Hope Island by Tim Major, a novel described as a thought-provoking exploration of family, identity, and community. Nina is a workaholic mother struggling to keep everything in her life together after her partner Rob walks out on her, traveling to a beautiful but remote island with her teenage daughter Laurie in order to reconnect with family. But once there, they find a world full of mystery, strangeness…and creepy children. And on this subject, Tim has very graciously written us an awesome guest post that I hope you will find as fascinating and fun to read as I did! Hope you’ll enjoy it, and be sure to check out Hope Island, available now from Titan Books.
MY FAVORITE CREEPY CHILDREN
by Tim Major
My favourite creepy children are my own two sons. What I’m saying is that all children have the capacity to be creepy. When they were younger one or the other of them might shout in the night, and when I’d enter their room they might be standing upright in their cot, staring in the darkness, and then scream at me to leave.
My novel, Hope Island, is about an island community off the coast of Maine, where the children are behaving decidedly creepily. British mother Nina Scaife is only a visitor to the island, but once her daughter, Laurie, befriends the group of children, it’s inevitable that Nina will become embroiled.
I had fun writing these children. A kind of fun, anyway. The scratching of an itch. I worked through a bunch of my parental anxieties.
For this article I’d initially intended to present a survey of creepy children in fiction, particularly films. But last night I tried to watch the 1980 Troma film The Children, featuring atomic children who kill by hugging, and recently I attempted a viewing of the 1894 adaptation of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, but couldn’t manage to sit through either of them, and I couldn’t even get hold of a copy of The Bad Seed (1956).
So this is not comprehensive list. Consciously or unconsciously, these are some the fictional children I (probably) drew upon while writing Hope Island.
The Midwich Cuckoos
I read John Wyndham’s 1957 novel The Midwich Cuckoos when I was about 11 years old, just after reading his The Day of the Triffids and H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. As with other Wyndham novels, there are two phenomenon vying for centre stage. At first, the mystery is that the entire population of the village of Midwich have fallen asleep spontaneously. The xenogenetic pregnancies, and the identical children produced, come later. Being identical, there’s little characterisation of the children of Midwich. Their creepiness is the product of this eerie similarity, synchronised movements, and their burgeoning ability to control minds. I saw the 1960 film adaptation, Village of the Damned, much later, but I like it very much. Less so the sequel, Children of the Damned (1964), but it still has its moments.
Who Can Kill a Child?
This 1976 Spanish horror film (original title ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?) featured in Mark Gatiss’ 2010 documentary series A History of Horror, which is where I learned about its existence. Retrospectively it was a huge influence on Hope Island, featuring as it does English tourists already out of their depth even before they encounter the inexplicably feral children. A couple of scenes from the film are particularly striking, including a high-angled shot of the children in a bay, which, now that I think about it, probably explains why the first dead body in my novel is discovered in similar circumstances.
Dark Season and other horrific children’s fiction
Still, in my opinion, Russell T Davies’ finest hour, the first story in this short-lived 1991 Children’s BBC serial featured schoolchildren brainwashed by computers gifted to them by a mysterious company. I was 11 at the time and, after reading The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross and Grinny by Nicholas Fisk (both in whole-class readthroughs – my primary-school teachers had no qualms about terrifying us at a young age), I was primed for paranoia and a deep mistrust of both adults and my fellow classmates. The first Doctor Who episode I ever saw was the first episode of Remembrance of the Daleks in 1988, in which an unbearably creepy schoolgirl who chants nursery rhymes as she skips through the playground of Coal Hill School, and then murders people indiscriminately. You could say I was predisposed to channel all these early experiences of fictional horror, and that it was only a matter of time before I wrote Hope Island.
The Omen
Probably my first experience of truly adult horror featuring creepy children. Actually, no – my first horror film was Poltergeist (1982), and little Carol Anne’s possession and “They’re here…” announcement is genuinely unnerving. But The Omen (1976) was a particular milestone, shifting my attitude to horror films from an ordeal to endure to an ordeal in which to delight. My sister and I started watching The Omen when it was screened in a late-night TV slot, and it was horrific, and then she decided to go to bed, leaving me alone and terrified. I don’t think I’ve really recovered. Now, it’s the scenes at the beginning of the film of Damien’s fifth birthday party that linger in my mind – his superficial cuteness, his malign influence on his doomed nanny. Only Don’t Look Now (1973) challenges The Omen for terror, though the creepiness of the young girl in that film is due to her absence.
The Lord of the Flies
It’s now clear to me that my personal cornerstones of creepy children in fiction relate to experiences during my school years. William Golding’s 1954 novel The Lord of the Flies was another book that I first read at school, around the age of 13. And it’s horrific, of course. What were my teachers thinking? While there are no supernatural goings-on here (—and are there supernatural goings-on in Hope Island, I hear you ask? There may well be), the cruelty of children towards fellow children is front and centre, and of course the island location is key to the scenario. And I’m sure that I wasn’t the first reader to fear for the safety of the British naval officers who arrive at the island at the end of the book to discover these feral, warlike children…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Major is a writer and editor from York, UK. His love of speculative fiction is the product of a childhood diet of classic Doctor Who episodes and an early encounter with Triffids.
Tim’s earlier novels and novellas include Snakeskins, You Don’t Belong Here, Blighters, Carus & Mitch, the YA novel Machineries of Mercy, the short story collection And the House Lights Dim, and a non-fiction book about the silent crime film, Les Vampires. His shorts have appeared in Interzone, Not One of Us and numerous anthologies including Best of British Science Fiction and The Best Horror of the Year.
Find out more about Tim at www.cosycatastrophes.com or on Twitter at @onasteamer.
Waiting on Wednesday 07/22/20
Posted on July 22, 2020 9 Comments
Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
Red Widow by Alma Katsu (March 23, 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
I’ve only known author for her historical horror, so Red Widow sounds very different but interesting to me! Not to mention I’m really into thrillers these days.
“An exhilarating spy thriller about two women CIA agents who become intertwined around a threat to the Russia Division–one that’s coming from inside the agency.
Lyndsey Duncan worries her career with the CIA might be over. After lines are crossed with another intelligence agent during her most recent assignment, she is sent home to Washington on administrative leave. So when a former colleague, now Chief of the Russia Division, recruits her for an internal investigation, she jumps at the chance to prove herself once more. Lyndsey was once a top handler in the Moscow Field Station, known as the “human lie detector” and praised for recruiting some of the most senior Russian officials. But now, three Russian assets have been discovered–including one of her own–and the CIA is convinced there’s a mole in the department. With years of work in question, and lives on the line, Lyndsey is thrown back into life at the agency, only this time tracing the steps of those closest to her.
Meanwhile, fellow agent Theresa Warner can’t avoid the spotlight. She is the infamous “Red Widow,” the wife of a former director killed in the field under mysterious circumstances. With her husband’s legacy shadowing her every move, Theresa is a fixture of the Russia Division, and as she and Lyndsey strike up an unusual friendship, her knowledge proves invaluable. But as Lyndsey uncovers a surprising connection to Theresa that could answer all of her questions, she exposes a terrifying web of secrets within the department, if only she is willing to unravel it…”
2020 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag/Mid-Year Roundup
Posted on July 21, 2020 13 Comments
I’m not really in the habit of doing book tags (too many reviews to write, too little time!) but for this one I decided to make an exception. For one thing, I think it serve as a great jumping off point for a mid-year roundup post, featuring some pretty interesting categories that are fun to think about.
So here we go!
Best Books I’ve Read So Far
Oof, this is a tough one. I’m limiting each category to three books, so I’ve narrowed it down to these…
Best Sequels I’ve Read So Far
…and good thing I can spread the love by giving sequels their own category!
New Releases I Haven’t Read (But Want To)
Ha, take your pick from my huuuuge list of new books I want to read but haven’t gotten to yet! So I’m just going to pull the top three from the past month or so.
Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of the Year
Another tough category! Using the UK Rhythm of War cover as a placeholder until Tor releases theirs.
Biggest Disappointments
This is a list I never like to make, but I can’t deny there were more than few books this year that didn’t live up to my expectations.
Biggest Surprises
On the flip side, these are some of the books I didn’t have many expectations for, but they ended up blowing me away!
Favorite New Authors
Some more authors to add to my must-read list.
Favorite Characters
Since I don’t do fictional crushes, I’ve changed these next two questions to favorite characters/least favorite characters. Favorite new characters: Roberto from Cries From the Lost Island, and Noemí Taboada from Mexican Gothic, Alessandra from The Shadows Between Us.
Least Favorite Characters
Least favorite new characters: Jelt from Deeplight, Frances from The Age of Witches, and Audrey from Follow Me (great book, but the protagonist was an annoying idiot).
Saddest/Emotionally Heavy Books
This category was originally “Books The Made Me Cry” but since nothing has met the requirement so far this year, I modified it slightly.
Authors With a Great Sense of Humor
Again, this category was modified from “Books That Made Me Happy” because I don’t think anything this year I’ve read can be classified pure “happy happy joy joy” books. But the following authors have a great sense of humor, and you see a lot of that energy transferred to their books as well.
Media Tie-Ins/Books I’d Love To See Made Into Movies
This category is originally “Best Book To Film Adaptation”, but I don’t get to watch TV or go to the movies as much as I would like to these days…but I do read a crap ton of media tie-ins and there are quite a few books I’d like to see adapted.
Favorite Post
Hmm, I mostly write reviews on this blog, along with the odd meme and update, so I don’t know if I really have a favorite post. I did, however, have a lot of fun putting together those “A-Z” type lists! Here’s Favorite Books A-Z, Favorite Science Fiction A-Z for Sci-Fi Month, and also Top Ten Tuesday: One to Ten!
Prettiest Books I Received This Year
Feast your eyes!
Books I Need to Read By the End of the Year
A lot! Too many to name here, really. But if you want to see a complete list of 2020 must-read releases I’ve got my eye on, you can always check out my “Most Anticipated” posts. Here’s the one from January to March, the one from April to June, and the one from July to September. I do plan on trying to read most of them! 😛
Overall it’s been a good first half of 2020, considering. I’m glad I got to highlight a lot of books!
Audiobook Review: Obliteration by James S. Murray with Darren Wearmouth
Posted on July 20, 2020 11 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Obliteration by James S. Murray with Darren Wearmouth
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 2.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Series: Book 3 of Awakened
Publisher: HarperAudio (June 23, 2020)
Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
Author Information: James S. Murray | Darren Wearmouth
Narrator: James S. Murray
Although I’m glad I got to finish the Awakened trilogy, it is unfortunate to see the quality go down with each book. To be fair, the authors probably weren’t aiming for anything more than a mindless action-packed thriller, but still, when you compare the first book with Obliteration, the differences between the two are quite telling. Gone is any attempt at creating suspense or atmosphere, as the focus shifts entirely to cramming as much action into as little time possible.
In terms of the plot, Obliteration picks up shortly after the end of The Brink. To get the most out of it, you do have to be caught up with the previous books, so be aware there may be possible spoilers in this review for what came before. As the story begins, our big baddie Albert Van Ness has been stopped and is currently serving time in a high-security prison for his murderous crimes against humanity. It was only thanks to the efforts of Tom Cafferty that millions more did not die in the name of Van Ness’ fanatical crusade against the ancient bloodthirsty creatures that have emerged from their underground nests. The world can finally catch its breath and begin rebuilding, now that it’s safe from both monster attacks and total nuclear annihilation by a madman.
But is it really over? Tom isn’t so sure. He knows there are more creature nests still out there, and he won’t rest until he finds and destroys them all. On his latest mission with his team out in the Nevada desert though, he is shocked to arrive on the scene of a purported creature stronghold to find it completely empty. Realizing too late what it means, Tom races back up to the surface to find the world in chaos. Across the globe, cities are being overrun by the monsters who have emerged from their lairs to launch a coordinated attack all at once, killing everything in their path. Within moments, the United States loses every single one of its major urban centers, including Washington DC. Left with no choice, the President orders Tom to turn to his archnemesis, Albert Van Ness. He may be an evil maniac, but Van Ness has also dedicated his entire life to annihilating these creatures, and if anyone knows what to do now, it would be him.
This was a fun book, perfect for a bit of escapism. And had I not known the authors are capable of so much more, that would have been perfectly fine. Except I have read this series starting from Awakened, and the difference going to this one reminds me of when movies get straight-to-TV sequels. While Obliteration still delivers rapid-fire cinematic action, it does smack of going through the motions. The plot is all flash and no substance, all bloodbath and no subtlety. An army of super-soldiers just appearing out of nowhere? Hey, whatever, it’s not like the audience actually cares about explanations!
Well, except I kind of care. At the very least, I wanted more development of these characters I’ve spent three books following. What we get is pretty shallow at best, though, and it’s even more lacking for the new POVs presented. I’m also disappointed that the atmosphere was a casualty in the trade-off for more action and thrills. Looking back at my review for Awakened, I praised the book for giving me serious flashbacks to the Alien movies, as well as for its claustrophobia-inducing intensity and edge-of-your-seat suspense. That’s all been thrown to the wayside apparently, and it’s actually been happening since The Brink, sad to say.
Overall, I guess there’s something to be said about the entertainment value in a book like Obliteration, but can’t say I really enjoyed myself all that much. That said, I’m glad I saw this series through to the end, even if I can’t it remaining in my memory too long. It’s a shame, because the first book started out quite strong, but unfortunately the rest of the trilogy just wasn’t able to continue the same levels of interest or momentum.
Audiobook Comments: To his credit, James “Murr” Murray once again did a great job narrating his own book. He’s clearly experienced from his TV work, and being intimately familiar with the story and characters also helped. While I wasn’t too crazy about the book itself, I thought the narration and audio production values were well done.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Awakened (Book 1)
Review of The Brink (Book 2)
Audiobook Review: Night Train by David Quantick
Posted on July 19, 2020 12 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Eilidh Beaton
It’s interesting that on the cover of this one there is a blurb from Neil Gaiman, because Night Train actually feels like a story Gaiman could have written and that his fans would like. And I definitely mean that as a compliment.
However, despite the wildly imaginative concepts in this darkly eccentric horror, the style was simply not for me. To put it plainly, this book was just straight-up weird. So weird, I wouldn’t even know how I would go about summarizing the story, but here goes nothing. As the novel opens, a young woman wakes up on a train surrounded by corpses. She can’t remember who she is or how she got there, but decides to adopt the name Garland based on the name patch stitched to the uniform-like clothing she finds herself wearing.
As the train continues to hurtle through a nightmarish alien landscape, Garland soon discovers the presence of other passengers, who are just as frightened and confused as she is. As a group, they all decide to work together to make sense of their situation, beginning their exploration of the train by going from car to car. But instead of answers, they only find more strangeness, like bizarre creatures and pocket worlds of surreal and impossible environments. There is no rhyme or reason to the things they experience, as everything on their mysterious train seems to defy the laws of the real world.
I think I realized fairly early on that Night Train wasn’t for me, but I persisted anyway, hoping the story would start making sense. And in a very surface-level way, a rough framework of a plot did begin emerging after a certain point, but unfortunately, the disjointed and abstract structure of the book didn’t change one bit. Needless to say, I felt untethered and lost amidst all this ambiguity, and I struggled as a result.
That said, I will give this book some major points for humor, which was an element I did not expect in this strange dark tale. Clearly, the author used the laughs to emphasize the surrealism of it all, and I have to say he did with great effect. We mostly have the characters to thank for this, as well as the crackling dynamics that resulted from throwing together a group of confused strangers on a train from hell. The characters themselves were well-written, even the couple of those with personalities that were deliberately exaggerated or over-the-top. It made for some hilarious dialogue and lighter moments that left me howling.
But while the humor might have alleviated some of the frustration I felt from the confusing storyline, I couldn’t say I really enjoyed the book overall. In addition to the muddled plot, the overall mystery also dragged somewhat, ironically because the author kept ramping up the chaos by dropping our characters into increasingly crazy and nonsensical situations without giving up any solid answers. Bottom line, I can only put up with being left in the dark and going in circles for so long until I begin to lose my shit.
Ultimately, Night Train was not the book I expected, though I’m glad I plowed on if nothing else to experience the humor. But as a story, it simply felt too fragmented and confusing, leaving me lost for most of the time. That being said, I’m sure the book will find an audience. If you’re a fan of postmodern dark horror with a good dose of the weird and surreal, you may enjoy this.
Audiobook Comments: The narrator has a rather strong accent, one which made me listen the audio of Night Train on a slower speed setting than normal, at least until I could get used to her voice and pronunciations. But other than that, I found no issues with narration or production, had a good listen.
Bookshelf Roundup 07/18/20: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on July 18, 2020 11 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Hey everyone, I hope you’re all having a great summer and staying safe! Before I continue on to my usual roundup, I actually have a few updates. Tomorrow I’ll be off on a family trip and I have no idea if I’ll have reliable internet or time to get online, so for the next week I probably won’t be as regular in visiting your blogs or replying to comments. That said, I’ve left a bunch of posts scheduled in advance so the blog will still have content, but next Saturday might be roundup-less depending on when I get back. Either way, I look forward to catching up on everything upon my return!
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
I think a lot of publishers are resuming their regular mailings again, because activity in my mailbox has been picking up. With thanks to Saga Press, I received a finished copy of Savage Legion by Matt Wallace. I’ve read and enjoyed some of his Sin du Jour novellas, which makes me super excited for this! The publisher also sent along this beautiful hardcover of Live to Tell the Tale by Keith Ammann, who also authored The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, a compilation of villainous battle plans from his Dungeons & Dragons blog. This one can be seen as the players’ answer to that, providing them the tools they need to fight back!
Next, I’d also like to thank Orbit Books for sending me a finished copy of Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler. I started this one a few days ago, and even though reading has kind of stalled, I’m actually enjoying it a lot. The epic fantasy genre being what it is though, the story is just really rich and dense, and unfortunately my concentration this week has been all over the place. I’ve been alternating in some quicker reads in the meantime, but will definitely be done with this one by the end of the month and will hopefully have a review up soon after.
My thanks also to Subterranean Press, from whom I received a box earlier in the week containing these lovely gems. Dying With Her Cheer Pants On by Seanan McGuire sounds like a total blast, a collection of stories about the physical challenges and dangers of cheerleading starring the supernatural members of the Fighting Pumpkins squad. Next is The Best of Michael Marshall Smith, a mammoth anthology containing the author’s classic tales as well as his previously uncollected fiction. And finally, Comes A Pale Rider by Caitlín R. Kiernan is the second collection of short stories featuring Dancy Flammarion, considered to be one of the author’s most enduring creations. Readers will follow the character across the country as she continues to battle monsters in her never-ending holy war against darkness and evil.
Some exciting new audiobooks in this digital haul this week. With thanks to Harper Audio, I received listening copies of Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay and The Bright Lands by John Fram. My TBR has certainly been seeing an influx of horror titles lately!
From Simon & Schuster Audio, I also received a review copy of Every Sky A Grave by Jay Posey. It’s been years since I read his book Three, and I’m so excited to dive into his newest project.
I was also thrilled to receive a listening copy of Incursion by Mitchell Hogan. Huge thanks to the author for offering me the opportunity! This book is also a contestant in this year’s SPFBO, so I’ve been seeing it around a lot and wanting to check it out!
Reviews
The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters (4.5 of 5 stars)
Malorie by Josh Malerman (4 of 5 stars)
Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim (4 of 5 stars)
The Half-Sister by Sandie Jones (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
This Week’s Reads
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Let me know what you plan on checking out. Until next time, see you next Roundup!
The BiblioSanctum