Stories Recently Read

I shudder when I have to read anything longer than a short blog post or news story on a computer screen. Laptop, desktop, doesn't matter - I hate the glare, the wide screen, the inflexibility of it. Great to surf, a pain (for me at least) to use as an e-reader.

Kindle changed all that. I now send documents to my handheld and read family newsletters, Christmas greetings (yes, those long family updates), articles, short stories and more (oh, and uh, books) on my e-reader. For longer blog posts and free short stories posted online I'll even copy and paste them into a word doc and, as mentioned, email them to my Kindle. It's pretty slick.

So I'd saved a bunch of short stories on my Kindle to read "later." With time in short supply, later never happened. But round trip flights for Thanksgiving provided the right opportunity to catch up on my penchant for short fiction. Here's a quick take on some of what I read.

Two Poker Boy stories ('The War of Poker' and 'Just Shoot Me Now') by Dean Wesley Smith. The series is fun and fanciful, and features Poker Boy, a superhero in the gambling universe who answers to Stan, the God of Poker, as well as Lady Luck herself. With the help of a colorful cast of characters, the sometimes reluctant hero solves problems that fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be) come his way - usually one per story! I started reading Dean's challenge stories awhile back and enjoy most of what I find on his site. Each story is free until the next one is posted and then it becomes available for 99 cents at sites like Amazon, Smashwords, etc.

This past week I also read 'The Wages of the Moment,' a Jukebox Story, which is another series of short stories by Dean. This one features a time travel machine that happens to be a...jukebox. Admittedly lighter fare, I appreciate the fact that Dean doesn't take himself too seriously in writing these pieces. He also provides a little blog entry on how each story in this self-challenge came about, how long it took to write, and anything else that seems pertinent to the creative process. I don't think he'll reach his goal of 100 new stories for 2011 (due to some life interruptions), but what he's done so far has been inspirational - and provided some reading pleasure during my recent holiday travels.

Three more, briefly:

'The Woman Who Was Afraid of Lightning' by Jeff Ambrose is a quirky, slightly horrific piece that was pretty well written, had me hooked, but didn't quite satisfy my curiosity as to the supernatural occurrence that frightened the woman. But maybe that was the Lovecraftian influence, and if so, then it met its own expectations fairly well.

'The Peacock's Tower' by David Barron is definitely an odd bit of a steampunk/fantasy mash-up that wasn't particularly my cup of coffee. It's free on Smashwords, so go decide for yourself.

'A Pleasure to Burn' by David Bain is a reflective, somewhat horrific ghost story. Sort of a ghost story. The protagonist is definitely haunted by his past. Pretty good yarn.

What have you been reading?

Castle of Endless Woe Reviewed

The Castle of Endless Woe
by Ty Johnston

This is a solid novelette set in the same world as the author's epic fantasy trilogies known collectively as The Ursian Chronicles. The setting of this story is vivid and the pacing is steady, and like a novel it takes awhile to warm to the plot. But by a third of the way in I was hooked.

Johnston is a deliberate writer, choosing words and images with care. His characters are soundly developed with just enough ambiguity to keep you guessing as to their drives and motives.

As for the suspense, it definitely simmers but doesn't quite boil over, in my opinion, and ultimately the mystery surrounding the Castle of Endless Woe isn't fully explained. Not all loose ends need to be tied up, but I was expecting a bit more revelation as to the evil residing in the haunted manor. However, if you enjoy storylines with an episodic feel to them, this long short story will provide some engaging entertainment while leaving you wanting more.

(Note: I downloaded a free promotional version of this story. It's now 99 cents at Amazon, which is not a bad deal for an afternoon of reading pleasure.)

Winterland Reviewed

Winterland, a novella by Mike Duran, is part psychological fantasy, part intrapersonal suspense, and part allegorical thriller. Think Pilgrim meets the Phantom Tollbooth, but in Purgatory. The premise works well enough - and has since Dante took his journey of redemption - but as in many allegory-esque tales, the tension slips now and again due to the inevitable and somewhat predictable outcome. (But hey, we all knew Dorothy would return from Oz, so this doesn't necessarily mean this type of story can't work.) 

Duran is a solid writer (his novel, Resurrection, is published by Charisma House) and the opening hook pulls you in fairly quickly. Our heroine, Eunice, on her way to see her dying mother, winds up in a car accident on a SoCal freeway. She slips into a between-worlds darker dimension (Winterland being the opposite of the Faery's cheerful Summerland) where she must reach her mother before it's too late! (See what I mean about the tension level? At this point I started skimming a bit to get to the action that never quite reaches a climax.) 

Along the way, Eunice has to travel through the Swamp of Mlaise and face her family's generational demons of license, legalism, perfectionism, and regret. While not a straight up Everyman tale, the symbolism is fairly transparent. But again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just a particular style of storytelling, one that I'm not overly fond of. I'd give it a 6 out of 10, but if you like your morality fables spiced up with a bit of suspense, this novella might be right for you. It's competently self-published and at $2 isn't a bad bargain.


(Note: I received a free promotional copy of Winterland with no obligation to review it. Mike Duran blogs about Faith, Culture, and Composition at deCOMPOSE.)