Chris Meekings

Probably closer to 2.5 stars as it was compelling enough for me to keep reading. In fact, I laughed out loud a few times at some of the imagery. However, while This book was interesting and had its moments, it seemed to be all over the place. It would have some interesting intrigue and then would throw that away with something that did not really fit. Sometimes it felt like things were absurd just for absurdity sake for example that birds were cameras (and not in a ‘conspiracy theory’ way). Additionally, the Pixies seemed dropped in for convenience and were just a weird and perverse addition. I like weird fiction but the lack of consistent writing made this feel more like either a draft or writing that was done by committee. I did like how the ending went from present to future without giving you details on what happened in between. So has potential but felt it needed a bit more editing or linear thought.… (mehr)

Let's get this out of the way first - "Moon Mayor" by Chris Meekings is an absurd, bizarre piece of fiction that blends science fiction, fantasy, horror, and political thriller genres. It has everything from aliens and pixies to vampiric tendencies and unsavory politicians. The world is drab, unusual, and downright confusing from time to time. And that's not all bad!

Imagery & Style -

Meekings knows what he's doing when it comes to imagery. Every character is dripping with description, and they jump straight from the page into your imagination. Whether it's a nihilistic bear with satanic symbols tattooed on its body or a misshapen alien being with a mouth that splits its face, each character is absolutely vivid. The setting itself (a city named Gyre - no doubt inspired by the absurd poem "The Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll) is less vivid, and maybe that's the point. With a river overrun by pollution and a recycling center where one of the characters holds a press conference, the city is made to resemble our own industrial complex. Which makes it all the easier to believe in the political landscape offered in this novella - more on that later.

All that being said, while the characters' physical descriptions have them leap off the page, their inner workings tend to push them right back onto the page. With "Moon Mayor" clocking in at just over 100 pages, there simply isn't enough time to give character arcs to the myriad of players on display. We get snippets of a snowman mob boss, a set of wishy-washy crabs, and even a zombie who is fighting down the base urges to eat brains - but we just meet them. We don't have the time to understand them. Because we don't understand these characters, even in the absurdist/bizarro nature of the book, they make disconnected decisions that had me shaking my head. And to add to that, the main characters are such an unlikeable bunch that I started not to care whether they triumphed or not.

And again, that's the point.

Themes & Plot -

Plot is where things derail a bit. To start, we are thrust into the world of Abraham Lincoln (unrelated to the American President, of course) who loses his mayoral status in the wake of a sex scandal with a headless zombie. Yep. The new mayor chosen by the cabinet members is none other than the Moon - the celestial orb that watches over the citizens of Gyre and beyond. Still with me? After the initial setup, the novella plods through Lincoln's trials and tribulations as he attempts to become the Mayor of Gyre again amidst an alien invasion.

Even before I began the novella, I knew it was an absurd premise. That was part of the appeal. What I didn't expect to find were the stark political messages. While the bizarre characters could very well be rooted in symbolism for other groups and the action seems absurd to the point of confusion, the politics are clear and so resemble our own that allusions to current events aren't really even allusions. They are the current status.

This becomes very clear in the epilogue of the novella that ties up the plot threads into a nice themed package: united we stand, divided we fall. The problem is that the lack of character motivations and an unearned main character arc for Lincoln make this ending seem nebulous and unattainable.

Conclusion & Rating -

Chris Meekings is an outstanding artist with imagery. Every sentence in "Moon Mayor" adds to the atmosphere of a true bizarro world. However, the novella falls a bit short in its characters and, almost by extension, its plot. At just over 100 pages, this is a quick read that may scratch that itch for the weird and unusual.

3 out of 5 stars.… (mehr)

Elephant Vice
By Chris Meekings
Eraserhead Press/New Bizarro Author Series
Reviewed by Karl Wolff

After an influx of an illegal drug hits the coast community of Maybe Beach, two cops are called on to solve the case. Since this is a bizarro novella by Eraserhead Press, things will get weird pretty fast. It turns out the two cops called in are Vincent van Gogh and Ganesha. This mismatched pair learns that this new drug "turns people into the object their essence most resembles." Chris Meekins, part of Eraserhead's stable of new authors, seamlessly brings together an absurdist premise around a gripping cop thriller story. No easy task, since the pairing could fall into the domain of camp. The humor bubbles to the surface because every character is played straight.

As the story develops, we learn about a rogue gang of flamingos and meet Ganesha's assistant, Trish. She's a normal girl except she has bubblegum for hair and drives Ganesha and Vincent around in a filled bathtub. Meekings keeps the plot lunging forward as Vincent and Ganesha discover more and more dead bodies killed by the drug. We also learn about a mysterious character named M. Equal parts hard-boiled detective novel and Art History 101, Elephant Vice had me riveted right up to the end. For those who like their fiction a little strange, this is the novel for you. Violence, romance, thwarted love, jealousy, and a Hindu God and the master of French Post-Impressionism teaming up to solve crimes.

Out of 10/9.0

http://www.cclapcenter.com/2016/09/book_review_elephant_vice_by_c.html… (mehr)