An omnibus of five books.
By Blood We Live – John Joseph Adams
The The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One – Ellen Datlow
How to Make Friends with Demons – Graham Joyce
Madness of Flowers – Jay Lake
House of Windows – John Langan
An almost all reprint vampire anthology. It isn’t a best vampire stories of all time, as it pretty much only states with Stephen King’s era. Probably not such a bad idea as a ton of anthologies will have the famous Victorian era ghost stories contained therein. I’ve read quite a lot of vampire anthologies, and a chunk of these tales are new to me, which is always good. King’s is from the 70s, but there are 80s, 90s and 00s, and even stories from the last year or two. L. A. Banks excellent immortal meets copy hellbent for revenge on the mob in Atlantic City tale for example.
The new novella by John Langan is actually the best story in the book, so that is very well done, and certainly original. One of the best stories of the year, without a doubt.
At a 3.54 average, a good book. Also great price from Night Shade webscriptions, no DRM, even better! In a timely bundle for Halloween is even better still!
There’s a brief introduction, and a short reading list. Also, if you want to indulge in corporate onanist weasel words, in best practice terms Adams has the world leading promotional/informative websites for his anthologies. You’ll find sample stories – with no paranoid horrible to use faecal flash interfaces or anything, just html. Interviews, and more.
Something most publishers are absolutely terrible at. If you look up johnjosephadams with the usual suffix you’ll find it. Plus links to his several other anthologies, done similarly.
At the end is a suggested reading list of other work of possible interest. Speaking of websites, though, such destinations could still be used for more expansive introductions or lists of interest if the writers in question had more to add.
So for stories etc., a 4.00 – for added extras and cutting edeg anthologising, format, etc. no problem taking this over the mark to round to 4.5.
By Blood We Live : Snow Glass Apples – Neil Gaiman
By Blood We Live : The Master of Rampling Gate – Anne Rice
By Blood We Live : Under St. Peter’s – Harry Turtledove
By Blood We Live : Child of an Ancient City – Tad Williams
By Blood We Live : Lifeblood – Michael A. Burstein
By Blood We Live : Endless Night – Barbara Roden
By Blood We Live : Infestation – Garth Nix
By Blood We Live : Life is the Teacher – Carrie Vaughn
By Blood We Live : The Vechi Barbat – Nancy Kilpatrick
By Blood We Live : The Beautiful The Damned – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
By Blood We Live : Pinecones – David Wellington
By Blood We Live : Do Not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu – Norman Partridge
By Blood We Live : Foxtrot at High Noon – Sergei Lukyanenko
By Blood We Live : This is Now – Michael Marshall Smith
By Blood We Live : Blood Gothic – Nancy Holder
By Blood We Live : Mama Gone – Jane Yolen
By Blood We Live : Abraham’s Boys – Joe Hill
By Blood We Live : Nunc Dimittis – Tanith Lee
By Blood We Live : Hunger – Gabriela Lee
By Blood We Live : Ode to Edvard Munch – Caitlín R. Kiernan
By Blood We Live : Finders Keepers – L. A. Banks
By Blood We Live : After the Stone Age – Brian Stableford
By Blood We Live : Much at Stake – Kevin J. Anderson
By Blood We Live : House of the Rising Sun – Elizabeth Bear
By Blood We Live : A Standup Dame – Lilith Saintcrow
By Blood We Live : Twilight – Kelley Armstrong
By Blood We Live : In Darkness, Angels – Eric Van Lustbader
By Blood We Live : Sunrise on Running Water – Barbara Hambly
By Blood We Live : Hit – Bruce McAllister
By Blood We Live : Undead Again – Ken MacLeod
By Blood We Live : Peking Man – Robert J. Sawyer
By Blood We Live : Necros – Brian Lumley
By Blood We Live : Exsanguinations – Catherynne M. Valente
By Blood We Live : Lucy in Her Splendor – Charles Coleman Finlay
By Blood We Live : The Wide, Carnivorous Sky – John Langan
By Blood We Live : One for the Road – Stephen King
Prefer heartless little girls.
4 out of 5
Burning down the house as dead dad suggested a better move.
2.5 out of 5
Papal Christ feeding.
4 out of 5
Sad stories say so much, says the vamp.
4 out of 5
If a vamp’s gonna get you, maybe any religion will do.
2.5 out of 5
Cold and scary.
3.5 out of 5
Vampire$ slayer scenario not alien to Judas.
4 out of 5
New vampire city seduction.
3.5 out of 5
Stuck by old style.
3 out of 5
Fictional disappearance.
2.5 out of 5
First colony suckers.
3 out of 5
Quincey not dead, Drac not dead, Lucy not dead. Blimey.
4 out of 5
Vampire anti-vampire gang.
4 out of 5
Think we’ll stay away from the suckers.
3 out of 5
Undeath requires child offering.
3.5 out of 5
Vamp a bye baby.
3 out of 5
Finding some horror in dad’s other job, and weapons.
3.5 out of 5
Vampire princess scares Snake.
3 out of 5
Band feeding.
4 out of 5
Old drinker meeting.
3.5 out of 5
Mob revenge good, but temporary.
4.5 out of 5
Ultra vampire Master diet.
3.5 out of 5
Lugosi and Tepes, temporal communication.
3.5 out of 5
Tenacious, Da Tribute.
3.5 out of 5
Private detective undead.
4 out of 5
Birthday lifetaking.
3.5 out of 5
Wing change.
4 out of 5
Titanic vampire hunt sunk.
3.5 out of 5
On a Mission From God. Of the killing vampire kind.
3.5 out of 5
Vampire generation ship.
4 out of 5
Stoneage vampires.
3 out of 5
Summer lovin’ cut horribly short.
3.5 out of 5
Death is colourless. But stinky and rather academic.
3.5 out of 5
Voyeuristic adjustments.
3.5 out of 5
The Shadow Out Of Space Vampire.
4.5 out of 5
What sort of people go to ‘Salem’s Lot? Not smart ones, that is for sure.
4 out of 5
4.5 out of 5
A bit down for a Year’s Best bunch, at 3.37. This new series does have an overview of various media and the horror contained therein – with a focus on prose. However, all written by Datlow by the looks, so rather more succinct than in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series version. Probably have sacrificed that for stories perhaps.
Best two are by leMoal and Edwards – one nasty, one rather whacky.
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Cargo – E. Michael Lewis
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : If Angels Fight – Richard Bowes
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Clay Party – Steve Duffy
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Penguins of the Apocalypse – William Browning Spencer
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Esmeralda – Glen Hirshberg
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Hodag – Trent Hergenrader
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Very Low-Flying Aircraft – Nicholas Royle
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : When the Gentlemen Go By – Margaret Ronald
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Lagerstätte – Laird Barron
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Harry and the Monkey – Euan Harvey
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Dress Circle – Miranda Siemienowicz
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Rising River – Daniel Kaysen
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Loup-garou – R.B. Russell
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Girl in Pieces – Graham Edwards
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : It Washed Up – Joe R. Lan
sdale
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Goosle – Margo Lanagan
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : Beach Head – Daniel LeMoal
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Man From the Peak – Adam Golaski
Best Horror Of the Year 1 : The Narrows – Simon Bestwick
Evac body blow.
3.5 out of 5
Jumper boy.
3.5 out of 5
Gets much smaller, furry.
3 out of 5
Pooka drink.
3 out of 5
Junk piles.
3 out of 5
Whitey beast.
3.5 out of 5
Headless swooping.
3.5 out of 5
Hollow, blokey existence.
3 out of 5
Plane crash ghosts.
3.5 out of 5
Missing kid doolally.
3.5 out of 5
Rocky skirting.
3.5 out of 5
Ghost bear mad.
3.5 out of 5
Movie me.
3 out of 5
Golem help Athena serial fate.
4 out of 5
Harmonica blasted.
3 out of 5
Arsebanditry better than cannibalry.
3.5 out of 5
Up to the neck clubbing.
4 out of 5
Prudence snack story.
3.5 out of 5
Everything gone. Pray for Death.
3 out of 5
4 out of 5
Do not meddle in the affairs of crazy veterans, because they might not be.
Or, there are a variety of dodgy blokes to be found here. One that gets involved with more than one bookish scam – and claims he can see demons.
Whether he actually can or not is quite debatable, as this is not populated with a bunch of stable types.
One character, a professional with the skills to do so suggests he may be a functioning schizo – that is, all this demon junk may just be his craziness, too.
Do not meddle in the affairs of crazy veterans, because they might not be.
Or, there are a variety of dodgy blokes to be found here. One that gets involved with more than one bookish scam – and claims he can see demons.
Whether he actually can or not is quite debatable, as this is not populated with a bunch of stable types.
One character, a professional with the skills to do so suggests he may be a functioning schizo – that is, all this demon junk may just be his craziness, too.
Other than that, a lot of meandering from pub to pub with various women.
3 out of 5
Madness of Flowers is a different animal to Trial of Flowers. First is is considerably longer. The first book was closer to 120000 words. This volume clocks in at somewhere approaching 150000 words.
The book itself is broken down into four parts:
I: POLLINATION
II: GERMINATION
III: BLOSSOMING
IV: HARVEST
In the first novel, Trial of Flowers, Bijaz the Dwarf, Imago the lawyer and Jason the Factor were more in the situation of ‘what thehell is going on and what do we do about it, if we can at all’?
At the outset of this novel, Bijaz wields the magic powers of minordivinity, Imago is the Lord Mayor, and ‘Jason the Factor, the dead man of winter who was now in hiding’. He undergoes transformation. Something like Swamp Thing without all the moss if you like, but witha rather more Man-Thing taciturnity.
The first and second parts are of similar length, with the second the longer at around 60000 words. The last part is pretty much an epilogue, being extremely brief and probably pushes the whole vegetation naming metaphor thing a bit far, by content.
The experience of a follow-up to a novel that partly trades on its Weird is different. Generally speaking that setting, if similar, cannot in most cases have the same impact as the initial exposure. The strange or surreal aspect is lessened. Bears aside that is-the cover art character does indeed appear, somewhat unexpectedly. This, along with the enhanced competence and experience of the major characters and the more leisurely pace combine to make Madness of Flowers less
compelling than Trial Of Flowers.
Each section is broken into strands, following major characters.Bijaz and Imago again are major features. Another dwarf, Onesiphorous also features, being and agent of Imago, and undertakes a mission downriver on his behalf.
Conflict comes because there are those not happy with the way things are done now, and with Imago’s rule as Lord Mayor. Jason’s sister Kalliope, the Tokhari sand-mage also plays a major role. This time on the side of the faction that supports Imago.
Rebellion divides The City Imperishable, and divides it rather brutally, with targeted killings of those supporting Imago. The problem with dividing the City is that outside interests realise this causes weakness, and it gives them an opportunity if they decide the time is right to attack.
The plot turns on whether on not Onesiphorous’ mission can succeed, cut off from any support from a beleagured Imago, and what Bijaz and Kalliope can add along with the wildcard of her transformed into something other brother Jason. Along with Imago’s burgeoning relationship with the librarian Marelle produces, as there is still quite a bit of the weird and unknown lurking in, around and under corners of The City Imperishable. Who has the best information often will come out ahead in conflict.
Possibly this is some of the author’s point. Even if you are in the middle of something outre, if you want to be in charge you still have to deal with the mundane knives-in-the-dark venality of your ambitious competitors.
3.5 out of 5
The old professor married professor has affair with fiery much younger student story. With associated academic office politics.
Well, not quite, because most of those are pretty dull compared to the one where the disowned son killed by an RPG in Afghanistan turns up again.
The majority of the novel is a recounting from the younger party point of view of what happened, as told to a visitor of somewhat authoresque proportions. From the hot affair, to the descent into horror.
3.5 out of 5
4.5 out of 5
