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sarahrara's review against another edition
3.0
A mixed bag, but worth reading.
This collection of short stories was a little all over the place. Some are genuinely funny (the first one in particular), some are interesting, some are gripping and/or disturbing (Sandalman, I'm looking at you...), and some are just kind of strange and seem to be full of unfulfilled potential.
Some of the shorter stories seem like descriptions of either nothing much, or of something weird, and then not much happens and it ends abruptly. It's a bit unsatisfying. And there were a few stories that had a really good build-up but the ending didn't fulfil the promise ( Cold Feet and The Rapture... being good examples).
My favourites were The Life (and Death)..., Mirrored and It's in the Cards.
I also really enjoyed The Saloon... and thought it brought up some really interesting concepts, but they were mostly referred to off-hand and given no proper background or detail. I feel like this could easily be the basis for a sci-fi novel if given a bit more room to grow. It's almost like it's an outline for a novel rather than a (slightly long) short story.
So, Clayton Smith is clearly a good writer, who can pull of a lot of different styles and has a fantastic imagination - I just wish he'd given some of the stories more room to grow and maybe polished them a little more.
Overall I enjoyed this quick read and would recommend it.
This collection of short stories was a little all over the place. Some are genuinely funny (the first one in particular), some are interesting, some are gripping and/or disturbing (Sandalman, I'm looking at you...), and some are just kind of strange and seem to be full of unfulfilled potential.
Some of the shorter stories seem like descriptions of either nothing much, or of something weird, and then not much happens and it ends abruptly. It's a bit unsatisfying. And there were a few stories that had a really good build-up but the ending didn't fulfil the promise ( Cold Feet and The Rapture... being good examples).
My favourites were The Life (and Death)..., Mirrored and It's in the Cards.
I also really enjoyed The Saloon... and thought it brought up some really interesting concepts, but they were mostly referred to off-hand and given no proper background or detail. I feel like this could easily be the basis for a sci-fi novel if given a bit more room to grow. It's almost like it's an outline for a novel rather than a (slightly long) short story.
So, Clayton Smith is clearly a good writer, who can pull of a lot of different styles and has a fantastic imagination - I just wish he'd given some of the stories more room to grow and maybe polished them a little more.
Overall I enjoyed this quick read and would recommend it.
benevolentreader242's review
3.0
Some of the stories I enjoyed, others still seem to haunt my nightmares. Quick and easy to read, but the style was repeated over and over despite the change of characters.
silelda's review
3.0
Very strong start. The blend of stories was well thought out. Some were downright hilarious, others had me scared to turn off the light. An interesting collection.
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