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jlperidot's review
4.0
Liked the story, loved the world. This book hit me right where “What Dreams May Come” and “The Five People You Meet In Heaven” hit me, only more fantastically and with much more action. This is one of those stories I wish someone would make into a movie or a video game—some vivid medium to capture Stephen Coghlan’s tapestry of light and shadow.
mattdoylemedia's review
5.0
Let’s start with a definition. Some may not be familiar with the term ‘dreampunk’. The thing is, it’s quite a broad genre, and the chances are that you are familiar with something that falls within it. For example, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novels would certainly be part of the genre. As a basic definition though, it can be viewed as a literary subgenre that, while at times similar to other ‘punk’ genres (such as cyber and steam), includes dream logic as an integral part of its workings.
Now, onto the book itself. Being a novella, it was a fairly quick read. This was aided by Stephen’s writing style. I would say that his work – or those examples that I’ve read – tends to be very tidy insofar as nothing feels wasted. There’s no filler, and everything serves to help push the story along. And it’s certainly an intriguing story, at that. We’re immediately thrown into a narrative that quickly and effectively introduces us to Alec and how he views his place in the world, and then dives headlong into the beginnings of the dream focus. It all feels very rapid fire, but in a way that keeps you moving rather than confuses.
That’s important because, when we learn things about the world of Urban Gothic, we do so quickly. Without the clarity and focus, it would be easy to get lost in the concepts presented. And that would be a real shame, because it’s one concept in particular that drew me into the story the most: the idea of dreams as living things. If you’ve ever written stories, you may find yourself feeling guilt over killing off a character or wrecking their lives. Readers too get this, with plenty of messages sent to authors bemoaning how they’ve treated a character each and every year. Urban Gothic does a great job of presenting this connection to fictional characters as a tangible thing, where fiction becomes something more solid. It’s wonderful to read, because it really makes you think about how much attachment we have to other worlds. Even outside this though, the world building is fun, and the story feels all the more fleshed out because of it.
Alec is a decent lead for this story too. Not perfect, not even close in fact, but with enough sense of good intentions built in to make him likable. The supporting cast are also good, with Veleda being the one that gets the most page time. She helps drive the plot forward in terms of introducing Alec to his surroundings and potential purpose, and remains interesting throughout. Frederick too was important in helping Alec find what he needed to be a hero, and while I would have liked a little more page time for him, his role shouldn’t be understated .
The one issue that you may find here is that, as is often the case with a good novella, you may feel that the story would have also worked as a full length novel. As such, there’s the potential that you’re left wanting there to be more to read. The thing is, I do feel that it works absolutely fine in this shorter form. In a way it’s fitting, as dreams themselves can sometimes feel far shorter than we want them to be. So, I’m going to give this one a solid 4.5 out of 5.
Now, onto the book itself. Being a novella, it was a fairly quick read. This was aided by Stephen’s writing style. I would say that his work – or those examples that I’ve read – tends to be very tidy insofar as nothing feels wasted. There’s no filler, and everything serves to help push the story along. And it’s certainly an intriguing story, at that. We’re immediately thrown into a narrative that quickly and effectively introduces us to Alec and how he views his place in the world, and then dives headlong into the beginnings of the dream focus. It all feels very rapid fire, but in a way that keeps you moving rather than confuses.
That’s important because, when we learn things about the world of Urban Gothic, we do so quickly. Without the clarity and focus, it would be easy to get lost in the concepts presented. And that would be a real shame, because it’s one concept in particular that drew me into the story the most: the idea of dreams as living things. If you’ve ever written stories, you may find yourself feeling guilt over killing off a character or wrecking their lives. Readers too get this, with plenty of messages sent to authors bemoaning how they’ve treated a character each and every year. Urban Gothic does a great job of presenting this connection to fictional characters as a tangible thing, where fiction becomes something more solid. It’s wonderful to read, because it really makes you think about how much attachment we have to other worlds. Even outside this though, the world building is fun, and the story feels all the more fleshed out because of it.
Alec is a decent lead for this story too. Not perfect, not even close in fact, but with enough sense of good intentions built in to make him likable. The supporting cast are also good, with Veleda being the one that gets the most page time. She helps drive the plot forward in terms of introducing Alec to his surroundings and potential purpose, and remains interesting throughout. Frederick too was important in helping Alec find what he needed to be a hero, and while I would have liked a little more page time for him, his role shouldn’t be understated .
The one issue that you may find here is that, as is often the case with a good novella, you may feel that the story would have also worked as a full length novel. As such, there’s the potential that you’re left wanting there to be more to read. The thing is, I do feel that it works absolutely fine in this shorter form. In a way it’s fitting, as dreams themselves can sometimes feel far shorter than we want them to be. So, I’m going to give this one a solid 4.5 out of 5.
briarsreviews's review
5.0
Urban Gothic by Stephen M. Coghlan is the dark, mythic novel I've been searching for.
Do you remember back in English class where they said don't use words in the sentence to describe the sentence? Well, I'm gonna break that rule. This book FELT gothic. It gave me goth vibes in so many ways, and somehow Urban Gothic fit the book just right.
The writing is tremendous. I felt whisked away and enchanted, unable to pull myself from the beautiful writing in this book. It felt like artwork, which I can't always say for reading (yeah, yeah... I know... writing is an art... hush now).
Our lead Alec works in a hospital as a cleaner (but used to be a Medical Technician - what a down grade. That majorly sucks). His past trauma weighs down on him and makes it impossible for him to truly experience his life and dreams. We open on his walking about, and suddenly he sees a woman and three men. It's not looking good for the lady, so he kills those three wicked attackers, and then tries to save our lady Veleda. She's quite mystical and fantastical, making Alec's life forever changed. He chooses to go on quite the adventure with her, and disappear into a world of gothic insanity.
The dreamscape and the other realm with different people (and their kooky abilities) was so cool. It's one of those unique imaginative ideas that you've probably dreamed about and wanted to write about, but never did. It gave me those dreamy vibes and made me just so impressed. The story really pulled me in, and I am totally enchanted by Stephen's writing and ideas. Like, I can't express it enough. The descriptions alone gave me wonderful and intense images in my head. I love this! It's so cool! The story is so good at whisking the reader away.
But that's just me - me and my nostalgic love of gothic reading. It gave me dark Alice in Wonderland vibes, mixed with Donnie Darko and Rocky Horror-esque niche-ness.
There's also a fair amount of action throughout the pages. I loved the mix of dramatic story telling and thrills packed tight in this story. It's just enough to pull you along but also keep you intrigued.
Ah, I love this.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the author, Stephen M. Coghlan, in exchange of an honest review.
Do you remember back in English class where they said don't use words in the sentence to describe the sentence? Well, I'm gonna break that rule. This book FELT gothic. It gave me goth vibes in so many ways, and somehow Urban Gothic fit the book just right.
The writing is tremendous. I felt whisked away and enchanted, unable to pull myself from the beautiful writing in this book. It felt like artwork, which I can't always say for reading (yeah, yeah... I know... writing is an art... hush now).
Our lead Alec works in a hospital as a cleaner (but used to be a Medical Technician - what a down grade. That majorly sucks). His past trauma weighs down on him and makes it impossible for him to truly experience his life and dreams. We open on his walking about, and suddenly he sees a woman and three men. It's not looking good for the lady, so he kills those three wicked attackers, and then tries to save our lady Veleda. She's quite mystical and fantastical, making Alec's life forever changed. He chooses to go on quite the adventure with her, and disappear into a world of gothic insanity.
The dreamscape and the other realm with different people (and their kooky abilities) was so cool. It's one of those unique imaginative ideas that you've probably dreamed about and wanted to write about, but never did. It gave me those dreamy vibes and made me just so impressed. The story really pulled me in, and I am totally enchanted by Stephen's writing and ideas. Like, I can't express it enough. The descriptions alone gave me wonderful and intense images in my head. I love this! It's so cool! The story is so good at whisking the reader away.
But that's just me - me and my nostalgic love of gothic reading. It gave me dark Alice in Wonderland vibes, mixed with Donnie Darko and Rocky Horror-esque niche-ness.
There's also a fair amount of action throughout the pages. I loved the mix of dramatic story telling and thrills packed tight in this story. It's just enough to pull you along but also keep you intrigued.
Ah, I love this.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the author, Stephen M. Coghlan, in exchange of an honest review.
tavenorcd's review
4.0
Urban Gothic.
Not my favorite title, and I don’t see the connection to the story, but that doesn’t exactly matter, because the story contained inside is fantastical and wonderful and poignant. It cuts to the soul, for its themes slice through the psychological and the broken and the wounded.
Suppose everyone had a doppelganger. Suppose the world itself had a doppelganger. What would such an alternative dreamscape, complete with imagined and unimagined people, be like? How would its psychological connection, through our dreams, affect our world?
Urban Gothic sets out to explore that world, a world of strange forests, heroic warriors, strange doppelgangers, and fundamentally, a world that lives and dies on love.
Alec, the main character, is a broken human searching for meaning. When he’s thrust into a dreamscape, he must recognize his own broken past and move past it to realize what he must do to not only save himself, but his new (and a few old) friends.
Sounds like a fantasy epic, right?
Wrong.
Stephen Coghlan tells this story in very few words, but every word matters. Every word leads toward the inexorable conclusion. While half of the conclusion I could predict after about forty or so pages, the very end threw me off, yet made me enjoy the story even more.
Well done, Stephen, and its time for the scores.
Writing: 5.5/10. This will be the only low score. While I enjoyed the writing, unfortunately for such a short piece there were more than just a few typos throughout. I didn’t discuss this flaw above because I don’t think it should detract from people engaging with Urban Gothic, but it is worth mentioning as part of our metrics. I’m also pretty sure I found a use of the word “guiltily” as an adverb to describe how someone said something, which I did not enjoy.
Characters: 9.5/10. In such a short narrative, Coghlan presents a multitude of characters, each with their own backstories and motivations. While Alec is the center point, the other characters feel alive, as if they’re living their own tale, too.
Plot: 9.5/10. Urban Gothic only loses half a point here because I managed to predict one half of the ending! Otherwise, well done. The themes connect with the conflict moving the characters forward, and the exploration of PTSD, drug addiction, and brokenness through dreams is a wonderful break from most fantasy.
Setting: 9/10. You can’t really get much better than a dreamscape complete with strange trees, doppelgangers, and a forest that allows you to go wherever you please. (Very indicative of Narnia, by the way). In some ways, I envisioned an Inception-like world, but infinitely more fantastical than that.
Overall: 8.375/10. So close to the potential rounding up to 5 stars! Clean up the typos and you’re on your way to five stars from the Two Doctors Review! Great job, Stephen.
Not my favorite title, and I don’t see the connection to the story, but that doesn’t exactly matter, because the story contained inside is fantastical and wonderful and poignant. It cuts to the soul, for its themes slice through the psychological and the broken and the wounded.
Suppose everyone had a doppelganger. Suppose the world itself had a doppelganger. What would such an alternative dreamscape, complete with imagined and unimagined people, be like? How would its psychological connection, through our dreams, affect our world?
Urban Gothic sets out to explore that world, a world of strange forests, heroic warriors, strange doppelgangers, and fundamentally, a world that lives and dies on love.
Alec, the main character, is a broken human searching for meaning. When he’s thrust into a dreamscape, he must recognize his own broken past and move past it to realize what he must do to not only save himself, but his new (and a few old) friends.
Sounds like a fantasy epic, right?
Wrong.
Stephen Coghlan tells this story in very few words, but every word matters. Every word leads toward the inexorable conclusion. While half of the conclusion I could predict after about forty or so pages, the very end threw me off, yet made me enjoy the story even more.
Well done, Stephen, and its time for the scores.
Writing: 5.5/10. This will be the only low score. While I enjoyed the writing, unfortunately for such a short piece there were more than just a few typos throughout. I didn’t discuss this flaw above because I don’t think it should detract from people engaging with Urban Gothic, but it is worth mentioning as part of our metrics. I’m also pretty sure I found a use of the word “guiltily” as an adverb to describe how someone said something, which I did not enjoy.
Characters: 9.5/10. In such a short narrative, Coghlan presents a multitude of characters, each with their own backstories and motivations. While Alec is the center point, the other characters feel alive, as if they’re living their own tale, too.
Plot: 9.5/10. Urban Gothic only loses half a point here because I managed to predict one half of the ending! Otherwise, well done. The themes connect with the conflict moving the characters forward, and the exploration of PTSD, drug addiction, and brokenness through dreams is a wonderful break from most fantasy.
Setting: 9/10. You can’t really get much better than a dreamscape complete with strange trees, doppelgangers, and a forest that allows you to go wherever you please. (Very indicative of Narnia, by the way). In some ways, I envisioned an Inception-like world, but infinitely more fantastical than that.
Overall: 8.375/10. So close to the potential rounding up to 5 stars! Clean up the typos and you’re on your way to five stars from the Two Doctors Review! Great job, Stephen.
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