Bite Sized Stephen King

I took a short vacation to Charleston, SC for the New Year. We drove there and back from Western North Carolina. As we usually do, we listened to audiobooks during the drive. On the way there, we started listening to Behind Her Lives by Briana Cole. This was a missing person thriller. Well, they got the missing person part right. We did not find it thrilling. It moved too slowly. And there were some odd word choices that seemed wrong. Maybe the narrator read the wrong word? That’s what it sounded like. In any case, we turned it off before we even finished our four and a half hour drive. Definitely not recommended.

I spent some time on New Year’s Day looking for a short audiobook for the ride home. Something in the four to five hour range. There isn’t much in that time frame, especially that is a thriller. I landed on Elevation by Stephen King. It isn’t exactly what I would call a thriller, but that is how my library tagged it. It is the story of a man with a mysterious malady who uses it to help out a couple being discriminated against in small town New England. It has the fantastic storytelling that King is famous for in a package that is much smaller than usual for him.

We were pleased to learn that there were actually two short stories in the audiobook. The second is simply called “Laurie”. It tells the story of how a puppy changes the life of a recent widower in Florida who is finding it hard to move on with his life. It is funny, poignant, and completely relatable, especially to anyone who had ever had a puppy.

Storytelling at Its Finest

Something Wicked This Way Comes book cover

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury is superior storytelling, though I didn’t think so as I was reading it at first. I found the language over flowery and a little old fashioned (the book was originally published in 1962). But I got used to the language of the time. And the prose is full of so much metaphor that it almost felt like poetry that paints not just a picture you can visualize but one you feel. Instead of trying to see all the description, I instead let it wash over me and move me emotionally. That’s when the book really came alive for me.

The book is the story of two boys–best friends–in a small town in Iowa. One early morning in October, a carnival arrives. But it is no ordinary carnival. The boys are drawn to it and adventure follows. My favorite aspect of this book is the relationships. The two friends are very different but very dedicated to each other. Jim is the adventure seeker. He wants to do things just because he can and to see what happens. Will is the good boy who feels deeply and sees deeply into others. Will and his father also share a relationship that grows and changes as the story unfolds.

But the part I love most about this book is what it says about the nature of evil and how to overcome it. This story could be characterized as horror but doesn’t share the hopelessness that I associate with that genre. Rather it evokes a living and breathing sense of ominous and imminent doom but resolves it in the most unexpected and satisfying way.

Why I Read Uncanny Magazine

Every other month, I read the latest issue of Uncanny Magazine. Why do I do this? Lots of reason, really. There are great stories in each issue by well-known and new writers. The non-fiction essays touch on topics modern with respect to our culture and how it is evolving. But mostly I love how new cultural and technical ideas are explored in its pages.

Speculative fiction is my favorite genre. I love it when a writer takes some idea, tool, or practice in today’s world and twists it with a “what if” that explores some aspect of that thing that most of us have yet to consider or think about. That’s why I read this magazine. Six times a year, I get to read the thoughts of people who have pondered these ideas deeply and share them through stories and essays. I encourage you to dive in and see for yourself.

Here are the pieces I most appreciated in the latest issue of Uncanny Magazine, Issue 49 November/December 2022.

“Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills – a timely tale of pregnancies and abortion.
“The Other Side of Mictlān” by Matthew Olivas – an exploration of family and magic.
“can i offer you a nice egg in this trying time” by Iori Kusano – a story of fast food, identity, and longing. (available online December 6).

A Bit of a Jumble

We just had our latest book club meeting yesterday where we discussed Cadwell Turnbull’s No Gods, No Monsters. We all were very interested in reading it. During the meeting, I also learned that we all had some challenges reading it.

This is one of those books that doesn’t give you a lot of background and dumps you into the story. This was the main challenge. Many books start this way with a clear thread joining them. That thread seemed to be missing, leaving the reader struggling to grasp all that is going on through most of the book.

In a post on his website, the author mentions that the community is the protagonist of the story. I didn’t really get this, and I struggled with the characters. Some characters were more sympathetic than others, but I never had enough time with any of them at once to develop any deep feelings. I was taken abruptly from one to the other in what felt a haphazard way.

Interestingly, I still enjoyed this book enough to want to read the next book in the series that is yet to be published. My hope is that some of the confusion and disorientation will dissipate with this second novel. If that is not the case, I expect I won’t finish reading it. It won’t be the first time I stopped reading a series or even a book without finishing it.

Short Science Fiction and Fantasy

I still subscribe to and read every issue of Uncanny Magazine. The latest is September/October 2022. Here are my favorite stories and essays.

Girl, Cat, Wolf, Moon by Rati Mehrotra – a tale of cats, magic, and monsters
The Portal Keeper by Lavie Tidhar – an exploration of duty and relationships
As One Listens to the Rain by Andrea Chapela, translated by Emma Törzs – a look at the future and hard choices
Radcliffe Hall by Miyuki Jane Pinckard – a gothic novella of love and hauntings
Breaking Out of Capitalist Realism by Juliet Kemp – a provocative and compelling essay

Stephen King’s Latest

I haven’t read much Stephen King, but what I have read I’ve really enjoyed. The Stand was longer than I felt it needed to be, but I stilled liked it. And in both The Stand and The Dead Zone, I really felt like I got to know the characters. They felt both alive and real. For the most part I could say the same about his latest novel released in early September Fairy Tale.

In King’s latest he tells the story of a seventeen-year-old boy who lost his mother in a tragic accident and later befriends an old curmudgeon living in a run down old house on a hill. In the back yard is a shed that hides… he doesn’t know what. But as he gets to know the owner better, he learns what is in there, and it changes his life.

Once again, the characters are relatable although the story seems to drag in some places. Members of the book club I read this with commented that they felt like some of the perspective of the teenage narrator didn’t feel authentic. Kind of like an older person’s idea of today’s teenager. Despite these shortcomings, this story had me the whole time as it uses, bends, and molds fairy tale tropes to tell a rich story. While not perfect, I was hooked to the end. If you have never read any Stephen King, this might be a good start for you, especially if you are not a particular fan of the horror genre.

You can listen to Stephen King read a chapter of the book here.

Excellent Storytelling in Speculative Fiction

I’ve been a subscriber to Uncanny magazine for a little over a year now. I just finished reading issue 47, the July/August 2022 issue. It is the best issue since I started subscribing. Here are my favorite stories from the issue.

Fate, Hope, Friendship, Foe by Marie Brennan is a story about trickster gods in modern-day middle America.
Family Cooking by AnaMaria Curtis tells the story of magic in the kitchen and how emotions between generations affect the culinary results.
At the Lighthouse Out by the Othersea by Juliet Kemp gently embraces familial obligations from the point of view of both the lighthouse keeper and a visitor seeking to fulfill a siblings final wish.
If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You by John Chu crosses a superhero story with racial issues in a way that connects and challenges.
Bramblewilde by Jordan Taylor is an old-fashioned fairy tale told that way but with feminist sensibilities.

Every issue of this magazine uses speculative fiction to address the very human issues of today. Sometimes the stories are challenging and emotional. Sometimes they are just a romp. And more often than you might think, they are both. Each issue is reading. Consider supporting these writers by subscribing.

A Contemporary SFF Magazine

I am a huge fan of science fiction. I read many sci fi novels in high school, and recently subscribed to the semi-pro Uncanny Magazine. It publishes every other month and includes short stories, novellas, poetry, and essays on the topics of science fiction and fantasy. The latest issue is number 45, March/April 2022.

In this issue I dogeared five different pieces – two short stories and three essays. Flowerkicker by Stephen Graham Jones (available online April 5) is the story of a couple on a hike up a mountain. She is stopping to view every flower. He wants to get to the top and back before sunset. And they come across something out of the ordinary along the path.

In Requiem for a Dollface by Margaret Dunlap (also available online April 5) a teddy bear seeks the “murderer” of a child’s favorite doll. Upon discovering the perpetrator, he must make a very difficult ethical decision.

The essay Acknowledging Taiwanese-American Vampire Foodies by Jo Wu discusses explores cultural prejudice in the foods we eat and how they affect our attitudes toward those who eat differently. I thought the title absurd, not expecting much from the piece. Instead I found it poignant and insightful.

Resisting the Monolith: Collecting As Counter Narrative by Rebecca Romney is an essay by a collector of feminist science fiction. She traces the history back before Margaret Atwood to the nineteenth century. I added at least two titles to my “to read” pile after reading it.

Wax Sealed With a Kiss by Elsa Sjunneson (available online April 5) discusses the role of letters in general and love letters in particular throughout history and their use in fiction such as The Screwtape Letters and This is How You Lose the Time War. She even explores how her own letter writing helped her get perspective on her divorce.

I encourage anyone with an interest in contemporary science fiction and fantasy to read and subscribe to this excellent magazine.

Living Your Best Life

I thoroughly enjoyed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and its quirky premise of the titular library in the space between life and death. The author uses it to explore the nature of regrets in life. Not how to avoid them or even overcome them. Rather it is about living from your own unique experience. In other words, “Stop looking at your life from the outside and start living it!”

Not Your Average Love Story

cover of the book "This is How You Lose the Time War"

I almost stopped reading This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. I am very glad that I didn’t. I found it a little hard to get into. The language is what I would call “flowery” and poetic. And since the story is largely told through letters, learning about the world takes some investment. But the investment is worth it.

The love story is deep and complex while somehow being somewhat traditional despite it being between enemies. I am not a big fan of sappy romantic nonsense (that’s my description for absurd, unrealistic romantic ideas that pass for relationship stories). Some parts of this story gave me that feeling, but for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on I kept reading and lost that feeling.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It isn’t for everyone, but if you are willing to explore an unusual story unusually told, this might be for you.