Books read in 2015 - For Board Members

Lou_Sytsma

Been jumping around with several things - articles, short stories etc up to this point - a post holiday season cleansing before getting back into the regular reading rhythm.

Here's what I've read so far this year.

1) Shadows Beneath - a collection of four short stories from the crew over at the Writing Excuses podcast. Very engrossing to see how pros like Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Brown, and Howard Tayler take a story idea from concept through first draft, writing group feedback, revisions, and then final edit. The differences in the story through each phase are quite illuminating as each writer tightens up and fine tunes each story. I was surprised how much input they rely on from each other and their writing groups. Always inferred that full time writers tended to work much more in isolation with a select group of first readers only.

Highly instructive book.

2) The King In Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - this book was referenced most recently by the True Detective series but has been referred to by King in Thinner and Brian Keene amongst many other writers. Published in 1895 I was astounded by how modern the first story read. It could have been written in the last 20-30 years. After that the age of the other stories show themselves. About halfway through the book and I doubt I'll finish it as the quality of the stories diminishes.  BTW having just reread King's Gramma - I noted the Hastur Lovecraft reference.  

3) The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan - just starting this. Kiernan is an amazing writer but one you definitely have to be in the right mood for. She excels at everything - character, mood etc and it is all so layered. And complicated and oft depressing. Yet still beautiful. Her books are very personal and feel very autobiographical too. I marvel at her skill. And feel the conflict that her writing and thoughts she wrestles with.

Lou_Sytsma

Books on hold at the library:

1) The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

2) Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

BevVincent

I liked the first handful of stories in The King in Yellow, but the rest not nearly as much.

Lou_Sytsma

Added to holds:

3) The Border by Robert McCammon

BevVincent

I ordered this from Sub Press, though I have to say that I wasn't completely enthralled by the synopsis.

Lou_Sytsma

Fingers crossed. His most recent Corbett book wasn't the best either.  His last book I loved was The Five.

BTW - obtained an ARC of Trigger Warning so that's next on my TBR pile.

BevVincent

Which Trigger warning? Gaiman's or Keene's? I think there's another book with the same title out there, too!

Lou_Sytsma

Gaiman's.

Lou_Sytsma

4) Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman

Short story collections are like a buffet.

Some items you like, others you skip, and a few choice ones you stack your plate with.

Gaiman's collection here is very much in that vein. It's a varied collection. Chances are the ones I like, you won't and vice-versa. Some experimental stuff here too.

Overall, I'm glad I read it but at the end I felt slightly underfed.

Lou_Sytsma

5) Deja Vu by Ian Hocking

"It is 2023. Scientist David Proctor is running for his life. On his trail is Saskia Brandt, a detective with the European FIB. She has questions. Questions about a bomb that exploded back in 2003. But someone is hunting her too. The clues are in the shattered memories of her previous life. "

This a lean, sparse and fast paced thriller that mixes many SF elements, including time travel, into a roller coaster ride. It's a quick read that sacrifices character development for action. Enjoyable summer movie type of novel.  Lots of great concepts that I wished were explored in more detail.

But that's not what this book is. And for what it is, it was very enjoyable and I tore through it.

Lou_Sytsma

6) Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress

Interesting premise about a branch of humans who were transplanted to another planet thousands of years ago, coming to Earth to warn them about impending disaster.

There is a twist to the story that is telegraphed well before it appears. The main characters - a geneticist and here three children are not that deep. As are none of the characters really. Never get to know any of the alien characters at all - they are pretty interchangeable.

The whole thing feels like an outline for a much larger book that would give more breathing and development room. On the positive side, the sparseness of the story allows for a brisk pace and I was never bored. Just left wanting more in terms of emotional engagement.

Loved the concept of a branch of transplanted humanity and the reveal as to the real reason why they have come to earth. Kress is a great writer and it shows despite the brevity of everything. She nails the big picture stuff while skimming through the small stuff.

I really enjoyed it.  Wished I could have loved it.

Lou_Sytsma

7) Dark Screams: Volume Two - Edited by Richard Chizmar

Really enjoyed Volume One and Volume Two continues at the same level.

Stories by:

Robert McCammon
Norman Prentiss
Shawntelle Madison
Graham Masterton
Richard Christian Matheson

Had read McCammon's story - The Deep End before. It's a nice tight little thriller a la The Twilight Zone's - Nightmare At 20,000 Feet - done in a public swimming pool. Excellent piece.

The other stories are solid and with Richard Matheson positioned to close out the book, I had high expectations but Matheson's tale of a 1970s Rock'n Roll band - Whatever - was aptly titled. The story left me with a whatever reaction. Too long. Too rambling. And brought nothing new to the table.

Bummer - but despite the disappointing closing the rest of the book is very worth while reading. 

Lou_Sytsma

8) Read a first draft of a book from a member in my writing group. Good stuff and I wish him with it.

9) Consumption by Heather Herrman - early review copy - Expected publication: May 26th 2015 by Hydra

Many horror books are purported to be the next thing fans of Stephen King should be sure to read. Almost every time such claims turn out to be false. Almost. 

But not this time. Heather Herrman shares King's ability to create characters that seem alive and that we come to care about. Consumption is in many ways like King's Salems Lot in concept and Carrie in execution. A small town hides a dark secret. One that preys on its habitants time and time again. This time, the darkness is poised to escape out of the isolated town of Cavus, Montana and out into the rest of the world unless a small band of disparate people join together to form a dysfunctional family to protect each other's back and face the Feeder.

Herrman writes with a deft hand handling character, setting and - all important in a horror story - pacing. This is a real page turner with nary a dull section. The real strength of the book are the weaknesses each of the protagonists are embued with. It makes them more alive and makes their struggle to overcome evil all that more engrossing. We are pretty sure what the outcome will be but Herrman keeps us on the edge of our seats guessing how it will all come to pass until the very end.

Heather Herrman is a writer I definitely plan to keep an eye on.

Lou_Sytsma

10) The Enchanted by Rene Denfield

Either my King type of story telling sensibilities is permeating the way I perceive other stories or other writers are similarly influenced by him. Or maybe it's a combination of the two but the last two books I have read feel very heavily King inspired.

In this book, Rene Denfield puts her background, personal and professional, to craft a raw, bleak and yet very uplifting story.

From her bio:

"Rene has written for many publications including The New York Times Magazine, The Oregonian, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has published three non-fiction books.In addition to her writing career, Rene Denfeld is a death penalty investigator who works with men and women facing execution. She is the happy mother of three children she adopted from state foster care"

This is a prison based story that further explores a settting where under the worst of conditions the most magical things occur. Sound familiar? Echoes of The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption resonate through this story. Denfield employs an interesting conceit where only the inmates have proper names and everyone else, including the protagonists, are only known by labels - the prison of their own making? - ; the lady, the priest, the warden, the guards, the blackshirts etc

This is a story of prisons not just of stone and steel but of the, if not more confining, mind that people build. The language of this story is the real enchantment as it pulls you into this tale full with horror, beauty, and longing.  It is grim but uplifting. It is a raw edged wonderf. It is Del Toro's - Pan's Labyrinth - done as a prison movie.

Highly recommended.

Lou_Sytsma

11) Elements by Suzanne Church

Excellent collection of short stories. Very imaginative - self aware personal items, indoctrinated gene mutation that turns us into rats and cockroaches, plus ravenous soul sucking ghosts afraid of facing the after-after life.

12) Death By Stephen King

Nifty little piece by an accused killer who proclaims his innocence to the point that a veteran sheriff begins to have doubts.

Lou_Sytsma

13) DARK SCREAMS: VOLUME THREE edited by Richard Chizmar and Brian James Freeman

The most eclectic mix in this series yet and a uniformly strong collection from which it is impossible to pick a favorite. I truly enjoyed all of them for their individual uniqueness.

THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES OF FREDDIE PROTHERO by Peter Straub

I had read Straub's piece elsewhere before and enjoyed reading it again about a "precocious" child writer.

GROUP OF THIRTY by Jack Ketchum

Jack Ketchum's entry is a nifty little piece about a writer receiving inspiration in a most unusual and tense way.

NANCY by Darynda Jones

A nifty twist on the possession story.

I LOVE YOU, CHARLIE PEARSON by Jacquelyn Frank

Another nifty twist on the stalker story.

THE LONE AND LEVEL SANDS STRETCH FAR AWAY by Brian Hodge

A strong finish to this collection with an urban spelunking / apocalypse bent. This one contains well drawn characters.

  

Lou_Sytsma

14) Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison

Been a long while since I read an Ellison short story and his prose is as powerful as ever. The theme of this one is modern gods and even though the collection was published in 1974 - none of its relevancy has been lost. 

Quite the opposite.

Highly recommended.

Lou_Sytsma

15) The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

I loves me some Sherlock Holmes and Simmons spin on him is a most intriguing exercise in simultaneously deconstructing the version the world knows as well as reconstructing Holmes in a manner he undoubtedly sees as superior. Can't argue against Simmon's criticisms about the Holmes mythos but also can't help but feel Simmons uses the dynamics between writers and their characters as a crutch to move the story along. 

The story in The Fifth Heart is one big McGuffin anyhow as Simmons is less concerned about telling a story. His focus in this book is on using the conceit of Holmes as a fictional character and mixing him with historical characters such as Henry James and Mark Twain - making them all, in the course of the book, self aware fictional characters.

Simmons last few books have exposed his penchant for laying a lot of research into the book narrative which runs counter to much of the advice about doing so. It is only the skill at which he is able to do so that prevents such sections from becoming a chore to read. Though The Fifth Heart totters close to that edge a few times.

Not one of my favorite Simmons books by a long shot but definitely a worthy read and an interesting exercise in writing.

Lou_Sytsma

16) The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

A suspense book filled with twists and turns and a bevy of unreliable narrators. 

An onion of a book where story peels away to new reveals. Same goes for the characters who are both compelling and repellant - often at the same time.

Tightly paced and plotted, the book rarely flags and the book's opening conceit of a woman taking a London bound commuter train past her previous place of residence works well in that Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window - voyeuristic way to hook this reader into the story.

Hawkins's grasp of pacing is perfect as she keeps this conceit going alive until just the right moment and then releases the reader and the story out of the train and shifts the narrative focus out into the world to race to the climax.

Fun read.  

Lou_Sytsma

17) The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson

18) Dark Screams Volume 4

Lou_Sytsma

19) Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Stephen King's latest book showcases a master at work. Beautifully plotted, Wonderful characters - duh! And awesome hints at what is yet to come.

Especially loved the bits about how readers keep characters alive.

There was one moment in the book where something happened and I had to close the book. I thought, you didn't just do that did you? That is how invested in the story I had become.

 I devoured it and it was a big five star - YUMMY!

Lou_Sytsma

20) Writers of the Future - Vol 31

A solid, if unspectacular, collection. Not at the same level as Volume 30.

Lou_Sytsma

21) The Border by Robert McCammon

A SF romp that truly has echoes of McCammon's previous apocalyptic novel - Swan Song. This a straight forward action story with some mild ideological underpinnings. Two warring races - the Gorgons and the Cyphers - are in the process of destroying Earth which has the bad luck of being on the border of their respective races claimed territory - remain pretty alien. Which reduces their roles in the story to very traditional antagonists.

The real power of the story lies expectedly with the human survivors and their amazing ability to truck ahead under the most dire of circumstances. That, and a third alien party - who even though he is beyond human comprehension - reports to an even higher power, he in turn does not understand.  Taking on the body of a young teenage boy near death - Ethan comes to learn and appreciate the worthiness of saving the human race. 

So many terrible things happen to people and Earth that it becomes apparent early on that the story can only take one direction. And it does. Which both takes the tension down a notch but delivers the payoff a reader wants to see.

McCammon is always a fun writer to read. And I hear his next Matthew Corbett novel - FREEDOM OF THE MASK - clocks in at 180,000 words. Can't wait!

Lou_Sytsma

22) After #0: First Light & After #1: The Shock by Scott Nicholson

Read the prologue and first book in this apocalyptic series by Nicholson and enjoyed them a bit. I've read other books by Scott Nicholson and he's a solid writer for sure. His After series is a winner so far. There are 5 books in the series and I definitely plan to read them as well.

Here the apocolaypse is caused by intense solar flares that blanket the world in EMPs that fry all the circuits and plunge the world back to the Middle Ages. A major portion of the world's population are turned into zombie like Zapheads but as the story progresses the Zapheads begin to evolve into something else. Something more dangerous. Nicholson has a great flair for creating interesting characters.

This is a fun ride through a devastated story scape. 

Also working through the Aurora - Canadian SF Awards and Hugo voter packages.

Lou_Sytsma

23) Aurora Award Nominee Reads

Generally enjoyed all the short stories and browsed through the novels but not going to read them all as they are not formatted well or a part of a series. 

24) Cemetery Dance Collection - Bev Vincent

I enjoyed all the stories quite a bit - each for different reasons.

Loved the world set up in Murder of Vampires - sounds like the springboard for a novel or two. Want to know more about that female vampire!  And Halifax too!

Overtoun Bridge - cool title and concept. This one has a great sense of place and atmosphere. Spooky!

Centralia - another cool concept and Vicky and Burt make for an interesting brother and sister duo. Plus they have an intriguing family history.

What David Was Doing - nifty twist on a classic mystery trope. This one was very Hitchcockian.

Overall a very fun read with cool ideas - and/or twists on them - peopled with characters that felt real.

Lou_Sytsma

25) 500 Ways To Write Harder by Chuck Wendig

A blunt, funny, and honest look at the writing process and writing work ethic. Wendig's advice boils down to the two main mantras - read and write - and adds the bald truth that it is up to you, and only you, as to how much writing you will accomplish.

There is no yesterday. Or tomorrow. There is only today. Only NOW is the moment when you can write so ...write.

The book is structured like a Letterman Top Ten List but the topics have 25 items instead of 10.  

Wendig has a sharp tongue and I laughed out aloud several times.

Great book for writers - especially if you feel in a rut or need a motivational kick in the pants.