Veins and Skulls by Daniele Serra

Veins and Skulls by Daniele Serra. SST Publications. £16.95

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

If you love the work of Daniele Serra – as I do – you should love this art book. Dani Serra has the ability to use a limited palette coupled with few bold brush strokes to generate paintings that are alive with motion and emotion. Based on the PDF I was sent for review, these examples represent some of Serra’s best work. But it’s not all pictures: the book starts off with a three-page introduction by Jeffrey J Mariotte.

The trouble with reviewing an art book in PDF format is that it’s difficult to get a feel for the book as a whole – the page size and format, the quality of the paper (sure, there are the facts [reproduced below] but I am an old-fashioned type of reader/reviewer and I like to touch the artefact). I am confident, though, that anything with Serra’s name attached to it will be of the highest standard. Currently only available via the SST website.

Their website states the following:

• SST Art Book Series #1
• Publisher: Short, Scary Tales Publications
• Release Date: December 2013
• ISBN: 978-1-909640-12-2
• Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.5 inches, 64 pages
• Unjacketed hardcover with four-colour matte laminated cover, full four-colour interior, printed on acid-free paper

Hellblazer: Death and Cigarettes – graphic novel review

Death and Cigarettes is the final volume in Vertigo’s Hellblazer series. What a shame. I gather that John Constantine – the dubious hero of these stories – will return but in a more family-friendly incarnation. So I imagine out goes his smoking and drinking and womanising... Not that Constantine womanise much, now that he’s married – that happened a graphic novel or two ago.

Anyway, Death and Cigarettes contains four stories – “Suicide Bridge”, “The House of Wolves”, “The Curse of the Constantines” and “Death and Cigarettes” – collected from the Hellblazer annual 1 and issues 292-300. All are penned by Peter Milligan with artwork coming from Simon Bisley, Guiseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini. All the pictures perfectly complement the stories – dark and grim and, when needed, suitably graphic.

 As is usual, Constantine often finds himself enmeshed in a sequence of supernatural events, usually drawn into them by others asking favours or calling in debts. Constantine embarks on the quest to find so-and-so in order to keep a promise – not that he’s adverse to breaking promises when it suits him. In “Suicide Bridge” he searches for a boy-hood friend who went missing decades ago, and in the process other lost souls are discovered.

“The House of Wolves” fills in some of the Constantine-Epiphany back-story, and is bleakly humorous.  In “The Curse of the Constantines” our hero seeks the long-lost son of his dead sister (although she’s in Hell she asked him to do just that). It seems that Contantine’s nephew is in Ireland and may be a serial killer...

And finally we come to “Death and Cigarettes”. Here, Constantine knows that within a week he will be dead. All the signs and portents can’t possibly be wrong. Do the Fates get their way and does he die? Does the Devil (or one of the devils) claim Constantine’s soul, as they have tried to do so over the years? Or is there another outcome? I’m not saying...

As I mentioned, this sees the last of the present John Constantine incarnation. It’s been a good run. Can it possibly be equalled? Let’s hope so.

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

13 by Kelley Armstrong: book review

13 by Kelley Armstrong. Orbit £16.99

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

13 is the final and – yes, the thirteenth – volume in the Women of the Otherworld series, since Bitten, the first in the series, appeared in 1999.

War is coming thanks to a cult led by the insane immortal Gilles de Rais’s, hell-bent on exposing the world of vampires, werewolves and demons to the world at large by creating immortals of his own design, and under his control.

13 follows directly on from (for me at least) the slightly disappointing Waking the Witch and Spellbound, and is a welcome return to form!  Yes we still have the irritating Savannah to contend with (21 years old - going on 12) but though ‘Savannah effect’ is central to the themes it is thankfully diluted by the presence of all those characters we’ve grown to know and love: Elena and Clay; Paige and Lucas, Jeremy and Jaimes; Hope, Eve and all the rest. Plus some old enemies we have come, delightedly, to hate, such as Jaz, Balaam, Josef etc.

I did feel at times that we were being led through an i-dotting and t-crossing exercise, but given the scope of the WOTO series, this has to be expected, and I don’t think it detracted from the overall reading satisfaction-factor; though it is, of course, not a book that could be read in isolation.  A knowledge of at least some of the previous volumes is essential to understand the plot and character dynamics. But I doubt that a newcomer to the WOTO universe would start with this volume, anyway, so it’s not really an issue. The pace is good and the character interaction excellent as we follow the crew through a minefield of demon plots and politics, and of avenging angels, by way of Savannah’s mother – formerly Demon’s daughter and evil witch – to a rousing crescendo in de Rais’s underground lair out in the wilds of America’s corn belt.

While the novel does have a satisfactory ending, it does, whatever the author may protest, leave everything wide open for sequels, prequels and spin-off narratives. Nevertheless, even if you have read only a few of the previous twelve Women of the Otherworld volumes, 13 is well worth your time.

Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan: book review

Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan. Solaris £7.99

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

Alice blocked out the trauma of her mother’s passing. People do that when things they cannot comprehend happen to those they love the most. She carries on her life as normally as she and her grief-stricken father can when a mother and wife has been taken from them. And then things go really bad. She gets home, wet, tired and really pissed off, to find two men who are vaguely familiar and extremely ominous. Once hands had reached down through the ceiling to grab her father she knows her life has gone pear shaped in a way that won’t ever be repaired. To say more would give away the plot and that would be a tragedy, because Blood and Feathers romps away into a world of angels and demons at such a speed that you are nearing the end before you’ve had a chance to breathe.

The subject matter did put me off reading this book, to tell the truth. I am not an angel person and I avoid the usual angst-ridden Angel romances that seem to weigh down the paranormal romance shelves. But this is like no other angel book you have come across: no weeping or swooning involved. In fact, not a paranormal romance at all. Plenty of the paranormal, but more in the true urban fantasy vein, with battles and blood and vengeance being wreaked right and left through the city streets – and below! Blood and Feathers is peopled by beings with bigger issues to be dealt with, rather than random inter-species bonking. Alice is fighting for her own life, and the survival of the world, and there isn’t the time or energy for much else.

There is plenty of subterfuge and double dealing, however, and Alice is never quite sure who she can trust. The reader is presented with a well- constructed story: edgy, and with tension that is never predictable – and still allows breathing space to take in what’s going on. It is, perhaps, slightly confusing through the early chapters; it must be said, a basic knowledge of Angelology (that I didn’t possess) might be useful. Fortunately, Lou Morgan’s characters step up and look you in the eye, and dare you to question their motives – so much so that you are compelled to read on.  

Witty and well paced with plenty of scope for things to come, Blood and Feathers is an impressive debut novel that I highly recommend.

The Forbidden by F R Tallis: book review

The Forbidden by F R Tallis. Macmillan £12.99

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

F R Tallis is the cunning disguise of crime writer Frank Tallis – now branching into supernatural horror with this novel mostly set in late 19th century France. The first-person narrative is the story of Paul Clément. As a trainee doctor he takes a position in the Caribbean where he witnesses a voodoo murder. On his return to Paris he investigates the use of electricity to save lives (an antecedent of today’s defibrillator) … and marrying his experience on the tropical island he embarks on a quest to explore the moments after death to discover what, if anything, is out there. (I will try to avoid plot spoilers in the following but I fear some will leak through.)

To pursue this he “kills” himself, to be re-vitalised by a colleague using batteries. But Clément doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, he encounters the depravities of hell, of demons and devils inflicting unending torture on the condemned souls. On his return to life Clément unwittingly brings with him a demon, infecting him, gradually altering his actions, his perceptions of right and wrong. And then there is the exorcism with its terrifying consequences.

Clément is a sceptic, doubting the existence of an omnipotent God. And yet he soon accepts demons and hell as real, not simply illusions or metaphors, even though the first exorcism required a priest and hallowed ground his scepticism persists. It is only when he finally believes that he finds the strength to face and possibly defeat the evil of the demon.

At times this novel felt too polemical. Also, I think the book would’ve worked better from the third person perspective. In horror fiction it’s not unusual for the narrative to come from beyond the grave. However, as the story progressed I knew that Clément would survive to recount his tale, would be redeemed, which takes away some of the uncertainty of the finale. Nevertheless, I enjoyed The Forbidden and I recommend it. The story is compelling, the characters engaging. But note: it’s not a pacy read; the story develops slowly, perhaps mirroring the speed of life of those times. Indeed, the style emulates that of a 19th century novel, a little wordy, where unfurling events are described deliberately – with, I suggest for a 21st century horror fan, a bit too much research slipping through.

Some of the set pieces seem destined to be scenes in a movie. The exorcism and trip to hell reminded me of The Exorcist and Constantine, for example. It’s not “Hell on Earth” – as the press release states – it is, most certainly, Clément’s personal hell.

Sherlock Holmes and the Army of Dr Moreau

Since Titan is about to publish a new Sherlock Holmes adventure, Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Doctor Moreau by Guy Adams, I thought I’d reprint a review of an earlier volume in the new series (originally posted on the BFS website in October 2011).

The Army of Doctor Moreau: “Following the trail of several corpses seemingly killed by wild animals, Holmes and Watson stumble upon the experiments of Doctor Moreau.  Moreau, through vivisection and crude genetic engineering is creating animal hybrids, determined to prove the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin. In his laboratory, hidden among the opium dens of Rotherhithe, Moreau is building an army of 'beast men'.”

Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God by Guy Adams. Titan £7.99

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

Titan Books is publishing new titles featuring the famous and infamous creations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including Kim Newman’s Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D’Urbervilles and this novel by Guy Adams. Beginning The Breath of God, I was struck by how many memories it brought back, of a time long ago when I devoured the stories of Sherlock Holmes. That was an auspicious start.

Dr Silence seeks the expertise of London’s greatest detective, telling Holmes a tall tale. Holmes at the time seems to be suffering from ennui, with no case able to stretch his logical mind. Silence’s story does. And pretty soon Holmes and Watson are off on an adventure that involves murder, mayhem and the supernatural (or is it?).

With characters named Carnacki, Karswell, Crowley, Silence … it’s rather obvious in which direction the author takes this novel. And maybe certain readers of the Conan Doyle stories will be taken aback by the inexplicable, preferring the more rational explanations, not the supernatural. Nevertheless, readers steeped in the tales of Hope Hodgson and James et al, as well as Conan Doyle, will find themselves fully engaged in this book.

I won’t call this a pastiche since that has negative overtones. This is a homage that treats with respect the characters Adams has borrowed. Personally, I prefer Holmes in the short story format but other than that nitpick, this is well written, engrossing and effective.

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle: book review

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle (Jo Fletcher Books £14.99)

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

A silver bough is, in parts of Scotland, the name for apple trees in general; Lisa Tuttle’s novel is a retelling of the Mabinogi story of King Bran and the mystic ringing silver bough which bears the golden apples.

The Silver Bough centres around a village on the Scottish coast. Once a prosperous place, the significantly named Appleton has fallen into decay. Enter three American women all looking for something in their lives: Ashley Kaldis, a teenager searching for the truth about her grandmother who left Appleton for Texas so many years before; Kathleen Mullaroy, the town’s new librarian, recently divorced and  looking for a new start; Nell Westray, a young widow looking for a hiding place to recover from her beloved husband’s death.

A landslide blocks the only road in and out of Appleton, cutting off all power and communications to the modern world; plus a mystery fog creeps into the shoreline and keeps shipping at bay. This catastrophe brings about changes throughout the town and its inhabitants. All of those changes gradually coalesce around a strange young man named Ronan and the apple tree that has remained hidden in a walled garden for years on years.

As the town’s enforced isolation goes on, its turns in on itself to examine its demise. The focus falls upon the Apple Queen celebrations, an ancient fertility rite, which they had ceased to celebrate in the 1950s, and from which neglect the older inhabitants feel sure their woes began. When Nell finds a way into the walled garden and determines to resurrect the old tradition Appleton begins to subtly change.

This skilful weaving of old folk traditions with modern urban myth makes The Silver Bough a fascinating, wistful and intriguing tale that cannot fail to satisfy any lover of fantasy, any kind of fantasy. Lisa Tuttle ramps up the mystery and tension right to the very end. Love story, folktale, fantasy, supernatural mystery: The Silver Bough is all of these things. Its characters are fully formed and their histories complete, as are their intertwined fates, all encased in a excellently-written narrative. This is an excellent read, beautifully presented in a handsome hardback edition. (Note: The Silver Bough was first published by Bantam in 2006.)

Shiny Shorts

Jenny Barber has created a new website / blog: Shiny Shorts. Here's why:

"Shiny Shorts was born out of a passion for a fiction form that perhaps doesn't get talked about as much as it should. Whether it's flash, short stories, novellas; podcasts, print or online magazines; anthologies or collections; horror, SF, fantasy or crime -- if it's story we're there, so drop by and share the love."

Now it's time to visit Shiny Shorts.