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Book Review: The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales edited by Dominick Parisien and Navah Wolfe

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales by Dominick Parisien and Navah Wolfe
Saga Press, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1481456128
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

The editors of The Starlit Wood challenged writers to choose a fairytale and view it through a dark crystal, choosing a new context to hang over the bones of the original story. In some cases, elements of the original stories were removed, and in others, transformed. Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, Garth Nix, Karin Tidbeck, Naomi Novik and Stephen Graham Jones, among others, contributed, so I’m not surprised at all by the quality of writing. The originality and unsettled feelings stirred up by these stories will intrigue fairytale lovers, but you don’t have to be familiar with the fairytale behind each story to thoroughly enjoy the collection.

Outstanding stories include Stephen Graham Jones’ “Some Wait”, a tale of disappearing children and parental paranoia and disintegration that has crawled into my brain to take up permanent residence; Seanan McGuire’s “In The Desert Like A Bone”, a supernatural, magical realist Western; Karin Tidbeck’s “Underground”, which lights the way in showing how a person can be literally trapped in an abusive relationship;  Charlie Jane Anders’ “The Super Ultra Duchess of Fedora Forest”, set in a bizarre dystopia of talking animals and breakfast meats; Amal El-Mohtar’s “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, in which two women are able to set each other free; and Kat Howard’s “Reflected”, a science fantasy grounded in mirrors, snow, love, and physics.Every story in the collection plays with the tropes of fairytales from diverse sources and cultures, creating the sense of disquiet and magic that we expect from fairytales, with more darkness and dimension. Highly recommended for lovers of fairytales, short stories, and unsettling, genre-crossing tales. If you enjoy the stories of Kelly Link, you’ll definitely want to try these.

Contains: drug use, violence, abusive behavior and relationships, implied child sexual abuse.

 

 

Posted on October 30, 2017 by , Reply

Quiz: Can You Rock The Horror Genre?

On Monster Librarian’s Facebook page, I like to share articles, quizzes, and booklists. Very recently I shared one of these “how many books have you read” quizzes, and, well, there were complaints because it was too short and too slanted towards Stephen King. I’ve created one now that’s a little more challenging.

Whether you are a huge fan or just a casual reader, I’m pretty sure you’ve read at least one book on this list. If you’ve read more than 50, though, you are in select company, and I’ll concede that you rock the genre. You’d probably be a fantastic reviewer, too!

I tried to create a balance between classics and newer titles, YA and adult, and the various subgenres, and to include women writers and persons of color. It was a challenge for me, and now I challenge you to take it and see how you do!

 

Take the quiz here:  How Many Of These Horror Novels Have You Read?

Posted on October 29, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne

The Naturalist (The Naturalist Series Book One) by Andrew Mayne

Thomas & Mercer, Seattle, 2017

ISBN-13: 9781477824245

Available: Paperback/Kindle ebook

 

The Naturalist is a mystery and thriller about a serial killer.  But, is the killer an animal or a human?

 

Theo Cray, a professor of bioinformatics (biology and computer science) is in a remote town in Montana, when a young woman, a former student of his, is found mauled nearby.  Cray has an unusual approach to research.  He uses his knowledge of biology, skills in computer science and a unique imagination to look for unexpected patterns in nature, such as the behavior of frogs and large apex predators.

 

The local law authorities at first suspect that Cray is the killer, but soon decide that a rogue grizzly bear is responsible.  But Cray’s knowledge of bear behavior tells him that they are wrong, and that a human made the killing look like an animal attack.  What’s more, he finds a report of a young woman who was similarly mauled nearby 6 years ago.  He suspects that these are not the killer’s first murders.

 

Cray created an artificial intelligence computer program for his research.  It can analyze reams of seemingly unrelated data to reveal the probabilities that underlying patterns exist.  Cray enters data about missing persons and population.  He finds that Montana and Wyoming are among the states with the highest number of missing persons per capita.  He filters the data for young women and interstate highways.  The program identifies possible patterns around certain highways, not unlike the feeding circuits of great white sharks.

 

Using this information Cray investigates the cases of missing young women in the area.  When he finds evidence that some were not run-aways, but might have been murdered, the authorities come after Cray again.  For Cray, it’s now a race between avoiding the law and a finding serial killer, who has murdered over a hundred persons over two decades and is coming for him.

 

Mayne does a good job drawing in the reader as Cray systematically works through the many steps in identifying the killer.  The pace of the plot is steady and fast, and the characters are appropriately sympathetic or chilling. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: moderate gore.

Reviewed By Robert D. Yee

 

 

Posted on October 22, 2017 by , Reply
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