Something Completely Different
Jun. 10th, 2007 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
handful_ofdustAnd now, in apology for the stupid personal bullshit I've inflicted on people thus far, some quick reviews:
First off, one I've meant to post for some time--Richard Gavin's latest collection, Omens. I picked this up at WHC 2007, from mythos books LLC by way of Gavin himself. In his introduction, he calls the type of verbose, decadent sketches he does "gnostic nightmares", Lovecraftian studies in darkness; they remind me strongly of both Thomas Ligotti and early Ramsey Campbell, with some Bradbury/Al Saraontino touches, and flashes here and there that seem entirely personal and specific. Perhaps as an interesting biproduct of him apparently being able to work well within today's publishing world's stringent 4,000 words-or-less standards, many of his stories strike me as intensely intriguing, yet somehow incomplete in a hard-to-define way. My favorite entries include "Beneath the Shadow of the Nodding God", "& On the Eve of Yule...", "The Pale Lover", "The Bellman's Way" (which has a real M.R. Jamesian feel) and "Beneath the House of Life". "Daniel" has striking moments, but I found it harder to read than I would have before Cal was born (something Gavin has no control over, obviously ;)). My least favorite has to be "Evoking the Horrors", in which two darkness-worshipping Goths move to Rural Nowhere, Ontario, only to discover that true evil is PEOPLE!--it seems Afterschool Special-ish in a surprising way. Luckily, it's the last piece, as well as the slightest. One way or another, Gavin remains a talent to watch, well worth the occasional difficulty of seeking out his product.
And with that...more to come later today. I need to dress, and go work out.
First off, one I've meant to post for some time--Richard Gavin's latest collection, Omens. I picked this up at WHC 2007, from mythos books LLC by way of Gavin himself. In his introduction, he calls the type of verbose, decadent sketches he does "gnostic nightmares", Lovecraftian studies in darkness; they remind me strongly of both Thomas Ligotti and early Ramsey Campbell, with some Bradbury/Al Saraontino touches, and flashes here and there that seem entirely personal and specific. Perhaps as an interesting biproduct of him apparently being able to work well within today's publishing world's stringent 4,000 words-or-less standards, many of his stories strike me as intensely intriguing, yet somehow incomplete in a hard-to-define way. My favorite entries include "Beneath the Shadow of the Nodding God", "& On the Eve of Yule...", "The Pale Lover", "The Bellman's Way" (which has a real M.R. Jamesian feel) and "Beneath the House of Life". "Daniel" has striking moments, but I found it harder to read than I would have before Cal was born (something Gavin has no control over, obviously ;)). My least favorite has to be "Evoking the Horrors", in which two darkness-worshipping Goths move to Rural Nowhere, Ontario, only to discover that true evil is PEOPLE!--it seems Afterschool Special-ish in a surprising way. Luckily, it's the last piece, as well as the slightest. One way or another, Gavin remains a talent to watch, well worth the occasional difficulty of seeking out his product.
And with that...more to come later today. I need to dress, and go work out.
