Title: Holy Jingle Author: Alan Dean Foster In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Urban fantasy, Weird western Dates read: 13th August 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: Regaining her poise, she replayed her smile.
He’s been asked by a friend to help someone return to the fold. But what he finds instead is a little unexpected…
I loved that this short story bought in the Chinese settlers to the Western front. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but it worked brilliantly. And I love that it bought in a new perspective that I hadn’t really expected / anticipated. It wasn’t quite what I’ve come to expect from Weird Westerns. But I loved the departure from the expected.
This story seriously felt like it must be part of a bigger series. And, without actually looking any further into that theory. I’m completely intrigued by the idea that it is. It felt a little bit like a crime / mystery series with a super awesome paranormal spin. I could be completely nuts… but I’m hoping that I’m not. I’m looking forwards to adding a few more books to my ever expanding wish list…
It did take a little bit for the title of this story to actually make sense. But, once I finally clicked… I actually thought that it was quite clever. Pleasantly and unexpectedly so to be honest. Not only was the title clever, but it was also nice to see the lengths that some people could go to to protect each other, even if they are complete and total strangers.
Title: Command Author: James Warner Bellah In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 13th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1946 5th sentence, 74th page: It pleased Flint Cohill to be able to think Santee Sioux instead of plain Sioux, as everybody usually did back in the States.
Moving up the chain of command can be difficult. Especially when you’re not sure if you’re fighting for the right side or not…
I like that some of this short story is about questioning the whys and the whats of the war against the Indians. Or at least, that was my understanding of who the war was between. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure because I don’t know that much of the American West and the different groups which were in play during the time…
This story highlights all of the battles and horribleness which take place on the Western Front. It wasn’t exactly a nice, warm or fuzzy story. But it was a nice one that made me stop and think a little about the ways in which disagreements and war on a frontier would work and how some of the soldiers and those in command may feel.
This short story is all on horseback, with a constant internal monologue playing through the story. I think that once I know a little bit more about American history, it might be something that draws me in more fully. But, for now, it was pleasantly enjoyable and something that I would like to read again.
Title: Sweet Poison Wine Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.06 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 12th August 2020 Pace: Medium Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: The three men he’d brought along to assist in proving his point climbed out on his signal, following him inside.
Jonathan and Frances Healy are beginning their new lives together with that most traditional of celebrations: the honeymoon. Leaving their infant son with Jonathan’s parents, the Healys are leaving Buckley Township, Michigan for the cosmopolitan wonders of the city of Chicago, where they can properly celebrate the fact that they managed to have a wedding without anybody winding up dead.
Of course, these are the Healys we’re talking about, and nothing in Chicago is exactly fitting the description provided by the Bureau of Tourism. From the gorgon-run hotel where they’ll be staying to the swamp hags in the Chicago River, things are definitely business as usual, at least by the family definition of “usual.”
Bootlegger Arturo Gucciard has only just been introduced to the Healy definition of “usual,” but he’s going to need to get awfully familiar with it if he wants to live long enough to have a honeymoon of his own. And Jonathan, well. Jonathan just wants to have a normal honeymoon.
Good luck with that.
This is the longest Fran and Johnathan short story yet. Which, of course, pulled me in fairly quickly – I wanted to know what was going to happen after their wedding that would take longer than everything before. And I really wasn’t disappointed. This is exactly the kind of honeymoon that I would have imagined for these two. A perfect, fun and kind of quirky journey.
I love that this story features wine… of the supernatural variety. Each cryptid in this series has its own culture and needs (much like humans) and McGuire’s talent at seamlessly integrating this into her works is not only fun, but incredibly potent and powerful. Particularly when you think about the fact that part of culture is also food and wine. And in the case of this short story, it’s the wine that is an integral aspect of Gorgon culture.
One of the things I think I love the most about Fran is that she just gets bored seriously easy. Luckily for me, I mostly find my entertainment in books, rather than in fights. But there is still that same sense of adventure and need to try something new that I find completely relatable. The fact that in this case it leads to an adventure that delivers wine and justice… she’s definitely my kind of lady.
Title: Married in Green Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.05 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 12th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Free online short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: Turns out being a Healy brings a parcel of problems along for the ride.
After a rocky start and a lot of dangerous adventures, the day everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived: Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown are going to be married, and none too soon, since their first child is set to arrive at any moment. Alexander and Enid couldn’t be happier about their son gaining a wife and a child, while giving them a daughter-in-law. The mice have been celebrating for weeks. If only Jonathan and Fran were so sure…
Marriage is a big step, and Fran is terrified of what her future will bring. Is this her happily ever after, or just one more short-term home in a long string of the same? Help comes in the form of her old circus friends…but that just raises more questions. Will she ever be happy holding still? And what does it mean to be married in green?
You are cordially invited to join the Healys and the members of the Campbell Family Carnival on the joyous event of the marriage of Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown. Assuming they go through with it.
Everything changes today.
This short story opens with a bit of a quote. A saying about marriage that is full of superstition, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a unique and fun way to set the setting for this short story. The fact that it hints at some possible sadness in the future of Fran and Johnny’s lives doesn’t really make me feel super happy and lighthearted. But it was a good way to start a story about a marriage in the insane Healy clan.
Fran’s family in and her past with the Circus are established fairly early on in this series of short stories. But it isn’t until this tale that you actually get to meet all of the players. I’ve not had the pleasure of reading many stories which feature circus folk. But the few that I have made this one feel something like coming home. Or maybe, that was just because Fran’s emotions and this feeling seemed to just jump from the pages. It was such a beautiful reason for a delay in a wedding and a great way to introduce an extended family.
Even though this story is all about Fran and Johnny’s wedding, the Aeslin Mice still steal the show. There is just something wonderful, funny and completely adorable about these creatures that makes every single moment all about them. Which is, in my mind, exactly how it should be.
Title: No Place Like Home Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.03 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 11th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: This wasn’t where she belonged.
Road trips are wonderful things, filled with adventure, excitement, and questionable lodgings, but there comes a time in every man’s life where all he wants is the chance to sleep in his own bed, eat at his own table, and reunite his colony of talking pantheistic mice with their fellows, thus making sleep a little bit more likely. With Buckley Township in his sights, Jonathan Healy is finally going home.
The trouble is, home for him isn’t home for Fran, who grew up in the desert, never lived under a fixed roof for more than a week at a time, and has no idea what to expect. To make matters worse, Jonathan’s parents—Enid and Alexander Healy, late of the Covenant of St. George—are right on hand to make things more awkward for everyone.
With her future on the line, it’s time for Frances Brown to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. Does she stay in Buckley Township and try to make a life with the Healys? Or does she saddle up her horse and ride back into the sunset?
Returning home after a while is always difficult. But this story didn’t so much focus on Johnathon’s difficulties in returning home. It focused on Fran’s feelings of not quite belonging. And it also highlights the first indications of the relationship between Fran and Johnny and where that relationship is going to go…
This is the first of the InCryptid stories that actually enters the Healy household. And the madness and insanity that seem to be a part of the outlay for this family. It’s not anything like what I expected (and I had high expectations)… rather, it’s way, way, way more. A great, fun and incredibly unique household.
I love that this story starts out with the feeling that Enid doesn’t quite approve of Fran. But, throughout all of the testing and conversations, you begin to see that that isn’t really the case. And, at the end, you see a whole different light as the different generations find a way to accept one another and move forwards in life.
Title: One Hell of a Ride Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.02 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 11th August 2020 Pace: Fast Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: “That’s that, then,” said Clark.
After a rather…eventful…visit to Tempe, Arizona, Jonathan Healy wants nothing more than to return to his home in Buckley Township, Michigan, where at least the threats are generally familiar ones. With the last of the blood mopped up and the locals none the wiser, it seems he’s just a train ride away from getting his wish.
Of course, there are a few small complications. Like the lovely and occasionally violent Miss Frances Brown, former star of the Campbell Family Circus, who seems to have become his new traveling companion. And then there’s the matter of the train having driven through a dimensional gateway into Hell…
Maybe Jonathan shouldn’t be quite so worried about getting back to Michigan. Maybe his time would be better spent in worrying about how to get off the train while he, and Fran, are still among the living.
Following The Flower of Arizona, and Fran and Johnathon’s meeting… it was nice to see how their relationship began and was likely to develop. Partly I loved the fact that this story involved a train ride and an adventure that had me giggling and smiling all the way through. Even if I now don’t necessarily want to ride a train…
I love that this story is literally what the title suggests – one hell of a ride. A train ride that passes through hell and all of the fun complications that that entails. The fact that it also highlights the evilness of corporate companies and capitalism… it just makes it all that much better.
Not only was this a fun adventure, but it showed a new aspect to the crypto world that I hadn’t expected. There was a mention of a Hell dimension in Discount Armageddon, but not really much beyond that. This provided that bit of extra information that helped make that much more sense…
Jonathan is monster hunting… on circus grounds. But, the woman he expects is the perfect villain might actually be something else entirely…
I did read the Fran and Jonathan short stories a little out of whack. Or at least, I read Stingers and Strangers before I read The Flower of Arizona and so there were a few steps in that story that were missed. The Flower of Arizona however filled in those gaps. It was a great way to show how Fran and Jonathan were introduced and how their relationship first began…
One of the things I absolutely adore about Fran is that she has a great passion and love for life. She’s lively and completely irrepressible. Which completely lit up the pages of this short story and drew me in from the very first moment it was fun and seriously cute. A great meet-cute and beginning of a whole new relationship, written with McGuire’s sense of humour and pizzazz.
Love that the beast in this is a Chupacabra. Well… probably not, but it was something akin to a Chupacabra… they seem to be popping up more and more in the stories I read, and I’m really loving them. They’re a little bit weird, definitely unique and I just want one as a pet… partner this with the Aeslin mice… and two of my favourite paranormal creatures seem to be present.
Title: Tomorrow, When the War Began Author: John Marsden Series: Tomorrow #1 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Dystopia, War Dates read: 6th – 11th August 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Novel Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Year: 1993 5th sentence, 74th page: We agreed on total silence, and we left Kevin’s old corgi, Flip, chained up at the Mackenzies’.
TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN: The astonishing adventure begins
Ellie and her friends leave home one quiet morning, wave goodbye to their parents, and head up into the hills to camp out for a while; seven teenagers filling in time during school holidays.
The world is about to change forever. Their lives will never be the same again.
Would you fight? Would you give up everything? Would you sacrifice even life itself?
Tomorrow, When the War Began asks the biggest questions you will ever have to answer.
I first read this book when I was about ten years old. My mum probably didn’t quite realise what an intense story she was buying me. But it was certainly a great read, even back then. But, now? As an adult? Wow. I had actually forgotten just how damn good this book actually is! It’s brilliantly written, has a seriously intense storyline, manages to somehow be relatable in unrelatable circumstances, and, the part that I probably like the most… it has a great and strong character development / arc that makes you want to pick up the next book immediately and without reservation.
As with my first reading through of this when I was younger – it makes me incredibly grateful for the life I lead. Especially with the global climate right now. It just makes me more and more grateful for what I have in my own life. It’s definitely charmed living in Australia, and I just can’t imagine my life being torn apart in one moment as it is in this novel. It’s so lovely to read a book that highlights the good things in our lives by showing just how quickly things can go drastically wrong.
As I mentioned in my first paragraph, one of my favourite things about this novel is the way in which Ellie evolves as a person. At the beginning she’s a fairly typical teenager. Worried about boys, her friends and slightly rebelling against her parents. Even the first moments of the war are a little disjointed to her. But, as the story evolves, so does she. Quite drastically, but in a way that is entirely plausible. I love that her self-awareness and understanding of her own motives grows as she becomes a stronger, more independent woman. It means that I can’t wait to see how she further evolves as things get darker and darker…
I love novels that, when you’ve turned that final page, you constantly think about them. Either because of the emotions that they impart, or, as is the case with this book – a question that you ask yourself. In this case, I am constantly wondering what I would have done / would do in this situation. And whether I would even survive (I strongly suspect I wouldn’t… but it’s an interesting thought exercise). Now I have to weigh up the pros and cons of whether or not I want to read the next book just now… and whether my heart can bear the intensity of the storyline…
Title: The Mansion of Imperatives Author: James Grady In: Home Improvement (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Horror Dates read: 11th August 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: We could clean it up.
Five people enter the house. Who will be allowed to leave?
So this is a super dark and powerful and uncomfortable story. It’s kind of awesome. But definitely give you the heebie jeebies as you read it. It’s pretty obvious that it’s going to be like that from the very beginning though. There is no misleading from that first sentence that this is likely to be a fun or light-hearted story. Actually, from the first sentence I kind of just assumed that they would all die…
Although I was expecting a lot of death throughout this story. I still wasn’t expecting the depth of insanity and craziness throughout this story. It was somewhat surprising and a little confronting in some places. A little bit about hidden desires. But also the First Imperative… the Will to Survive.
After finishing this story, I had a bit of a mad urge to jump up and go sit out in my backyard. The only thing that quite honestly stopped me was the fact that it was dark, raining and cold. Otherwise, something about this story would most likely have led me to sit outside and just stare at my house and wonder about it for a little while before getting the guts to come back inside…
Title: Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger Author: Charles Yu In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Psychics, Weird western, Westerns Dates read: 7th August 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: And that, to my great and everlasting surprise, is where I come into the story.
They’re the narrator and the bookkeeper for their tiny little town. But, when an accidental slip of the tongue leads them into a gunfight… they also become a gunslinger.
I’ve been reading a lot of western short stories lately. Yet, weirdly enough, this felt like the first story which features a gunslinger. I’m not entirely sure how that hasn’t happened before now. But I definitely loved reading about a gunslinger. The fact that he’s a bit of a dweeby guy who is also the town narrator and bookkeeper… it just made me that, that, that much happier…
From the very beginning, there is something slightly different and weird about the narrator’s talent as a gunslinger. And I loved how the truth behind their new-found talent is slowly revealed. This slow trickling of information is seriously brilliant. And it made it all that much more difficult to actually put the book aside…
I love when the title of a story makes total sense once you read that tale. In this case, the title of this short story is completely self-explanatory and wonderful once you’ve read through it all. I loved that each and every role that the lead character filled was pretty much outlined from the very beginning…
Earth and Skye 