Friday 6 April 2012

MULTIPLE GENRE REVIEW: Vivisepulture - Various

Release Date: 15/12/11

SYNOPSIS:

Welcome to our anthology, a collection of weird and bizarre tales of twisted imagination by Neal Asher, Tony Ballantyne, Eric Brown, Richard Ford, Ian Graham, Lee Harris, Colin Harvey, Vincent Holland-Keen, James Lovegrove, Gary McMahon, Stan Nicholls, Andy Remic, Jordan Reyne, Ian Sales, Steven Savile, Wayne Simmons, Guy N. Smith, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jeffrey Thomas, Danie Ware, Ian Watson and Ian Whates. Artwork by Vincent Chong.

The anthology is dedicated to the late Colin Harvey, with great affection.

In the tradition of Poe, Kafka, Borges and H. G. Wells, this collection of weird stories are written with the primary drive of presenting twisted deviations of normality. Whether it's the deviant factory workers of Neal Asher's Plastipak™ Limited, the pus-oozing anti-cherub of Ian Graham's Rotten Cupid, the acid-snot disgorging freak of Andy Remic's SNOT, or Ian Watson's alternate zombie-crucifixion, each story will drag your organs up through your oesophagus and give your brain a chilli-fired beating.

FOCUS ON -
• WEIRD TALES
• DISTURBING CONCEPTS
• DEVIATED BLACK HUMOUR
• NO GENRE LEFT UNGOUGED


REVIEW:

I love a book that gives the reader not only tales that they can dip into, but also allows them to try some writers that they may not previously had chance to give a go to due to costs. So when new publisher Anarchy Books launched last year, they hit out hard and they brought a number of big names to the budget reader.

Here, in this tribute to Colin Harvey, a whole host of stories generate a full spectrum of reactions within and to be honest whilst not every tale will be your personal cup of tea, the sheer talent within is something to not only give you that thrill but makes you wonder how the hell they managed to pack so much in at such a cheap price.

It’s crisp, the authors do what they do best and the reader is in for a treat as these tales have clear arcs without relying on a single line for the pay off or leaving you wondering what the hell happened keeping the stories within the realm of easy accessibility rather than the highbrow stories that are becoming more popular.

All in a great compendium and a sure sign that Anarchy is here to stay.

1 comment:

Matthew Lee Adams said...

Love the cover - very arresting.

I'm glad there are so many authors still doing service to the short story. What was it Stephen King once said, that a short story was like a kiss in the dark from a stranger?

There is a kind of desperate intimacy when the right use of compact prose and story intersect with a reader and draw them in for just a very short while.

It takes a lot of skill and a collection like this one gives a reader a chance to taste a variety of different styles.