Like a collision of galaxies between H.P. Lovecraft and Carl Sagan, Whom the Gods Would Destroy looks to the night skies as the source of our greatest wonder, and finds them swarming with our worst fears.

Science which is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic, right? This one crosses the lines between fantasy, horror and sci-fi, partially because we never really know what’s going on. ( )

$0.99 on amazon today or $1.24 if you live in the land that finally seems to be getting summer...the SUN is here!!!!

A beautiful mix of horror and sci-fi with a nice dose of superstition/anthropology thrown in for good measure. Does one make sacrifices to alien invaders? One does if they are indistinguishable from gods. It is in our nature, I suppose. You won’t just breeze through this one. Or at least you shouldn’t. There is too much depth to this story. Too many moments when you pause and just think about what you just read. While clearly horror, with the usual suspension of disbelief required, at its core this is a deeply unsettling and very plausible extinction event scenario. One that may have even already occurred. Yet one so subtle that we might not even realize that we are, in fact, going extinct. I was blown away and most likely will re-read this one in the near future. I have a feeling that I merely scratched the surface. ( )

4.5 stars!

WOW! That was my first thought. Let's see if I can elaborate on that.

This story begins with Damien relating his first memories, and what horrible memories they were. Memories of a mother who neglected and mentally abused him. A mother who favored Damien's half brother Cameron over him. A mother that chains her son to the steering wheel and takes off for hours at a time.

After a start like that, the reader is already invested in Damien and is hoping that he will one day gain the love and attention that he so deserved as a child. We now join Damien as a grown man, living the calm and sedate life of a grad student and dating a beautiful stripper named Ashleigh. Everything is cool and we're happy for him. Until Cameron shows up after years of no contact whatsoever and wants to have a relationship again.

From there this story heads to different cities...hell, to different WORLDS, provoking and prodding my imagination to no end. Which then brought to mind the questions-Is space infinite? If not, how far does it go? Is there life out there? If so, is it coming here, and if so, in what form? Is it coming at different times throughout the centuries? Can we call it here under the right conditions? If so, how?

Mr. Hodge provokes the reader to ask all of these questions during the course of this tale. I suspect the answers will all be different, depending upon the reader. All I know is that this novella was well written, provocative, interesting and mysterious. I will be thinking about it for some time. I also know that I've been dragging my feet in familiarizing myself with Mr. Hodge's other works. I will rectify that shortly. I highly recommend this novella to fans of dark fiction, science fiction, Lovecraft and/or cosmic horror.

( )

Damien grew up a stranger in his own family, useless baggage in the eyes of his mother and older brother. Beyond just feeling unwanted, his earliest memory is of nightmarish events involving his mother and brother. And so as soon as he can, while barely into his teens, he quietly joins a far more normal, supportive family, and cuts all contact with the family that has no interest in him anyway. Thirteen years later, he's a happy astronomy student, studying the universe and valuing the experience of being a small part of the cosmos.

Then his brother turns up, with a story about wanting to make amends, and a discovery of alien life. It is, he promises, an incredible opportunity.

While Damien doesn't altogether believe or trust him, he can't let go of the idea of how it will eat at him to not even take the chance of finding out. He and his brother set out from Seattle to Portland.

What happens there sends him searching for his family's dark secrets, including who and what his mother really is.

This story is as much horror as science fiction, and horror isn't normally my thing. This is an extremely well done novella, though, with characters and plot nicely developed with no wasted words. Anyone who has ever felt that they were the less favored sibling, true or not, will recognize Damien's nightmare version of that experience. Added to that is his reaction to the terrible dilemma he finds himself in, someone who desperately wants to be a normal, ordinary young man, confronted with an Earth-shaking threat no one else will believe.

Recommended, especially if you like horror.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )