Daniel Arthur Smith

This omnibus collects the first 5 issues of the Canyons of the Damned pulp horror series. Overall, it was far from terrible, but not great. Daniel Arthur Smith's stories (which comprise the majority of this collection) all deal with the occurrence and aftermath of a Lovecraftian takeover of New York City; it's interesting how they build on each other to form a larger picture, but on their own they're really little more than bleak vignettes. Barring Jon Frater's "Sole Survivor" (which takes place in Smith's world), the other authors all do their own thing. Most of these are fairly unremarkable, but are couple a worth mentioning:

• Jason Anspach's "Ledge Town" is the standout story of the entire collection. Decently written, with some good worldbuilding and a nice twist at the end.
• Honorable mentions include S. Elliot Brandis's "Bloom" and Will Swardstrom's "Razor", the latter of which is genuinely creepy. Good stuff.
• The collection unfortunately ends on the worst of the batch, Bob Williams's "Magenta", which is poorly written, poorly edited (including missing words, repeated words, and inconsistently-spelled names) and just altogether cringeworthy—though the seed at the heart of the story is a decent one.

I got it for $3 on Kindle, which feels maybe a little high, but I guess not unreasonable, considering I'd pay that much to buy the three stories I liked individually (which can be found in the third, fourth, and fifth issues, respectively.)… (mehr)

Hugh Howey is a popular science fiction author himself, but here he is a major character, locked into (and kept alive by) a cybernetic contraption 150 years in the future. The main characters are two women sailing the ocean. One of them, one of the few humans still practicing the craft of authorship, believes she has found clues in books written in Howey's style by the 23rd century's mechanized author system but which she believes indicate he is actually writing the books and is alive. She has followed those leads to an island where the two take shelter in a hurricane.

Interesting characters, intriguing plot, and a mirror to Howey's own style. What a great tribute!

(At the time of this writing, the book is available for free on Kindle Unlimited.)… (mehr)