Take a photo of a barcode or cover
8 reviews for:
Houses Under the Sea
Vince Locke, S.T. Joshi, Piotr Jabłoński, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Kenn Mortensen, Michael Cisco, Richard A. Kirk
4.31 AVERAGE
8 reviews for:
Houses Under the Sea
Vince Locke, S.T. Joshi, Piotr Jabłoński, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Kenn Mortensen, Michael Cisco, Richard A. Kirk
4.31 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Houses Under the Sea by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Book 4/60 of 2023
I only read the titular story of this collection and I am thinking about it a lot. My type of horror.
Book 4/60 of 2023
I only read the titular story of this collection and I am thinking about it a lot. My type of horror.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A few that didn't chime with me but overall an excellent collection of enjoyable and weird stories
Caitlin R. Kiernan is so damn skilled at worldbuilding that it's a wonder why other fantasy authors even try sometimes. Considering much of the terminology and atmosphere of their tales are borrowed directly from Lovecraft's playbook and the vast creative canvas of the Cthulhu Mythos, you'd think one's writing would fall back on it as a reliance rather than a fully unique creation, but the complete opposite is true. Each one of these stories builds its own atmosphere and world entirely self-contained enough to be read on its own, but with each tale layers upon layers are built and connected in subtle and electrifying ways, leading to a vision of the Mythos that is Kiernan's and Kiernan's alone, despite the surface-level terminology at use. Furthermore, their works beautifully humanize the Mythos, bringing extremely sharp emotional depth and character to a genre which often doesn't concern itself much with those things. An incredible collection from an incredible writer.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Caitlin R. Kiernan is so damn skilled at worldbuilding that it's a wonder why other fantasy authors even try sometimes. Considering much of the terminology and atmosphere of their tales are borrowed directly from Lovecraft's playbook and the vast creative canvas of the Cthulhu Mythos, you'd think one's writing would fall back on it as a reliance rather than a fully unique creation, but the complete opposite is true. Each one of these stories builds its own atmosphere and world entirely self-contained enough to be read on its own, but with each tale layers upon layers are built and connected in subtle and electrifying ways, leading to a vision of the Mythos that is Kiernan's and Kiernan's alone, despite the surface-level terminology at use. Furthermore, their works beautifully humanize the Mythos, bringing extremely sharp emotional depth and character to a genre which often doesn't concern itself much with those things. An incredible collection from an incredible writer.
Caitlin R. Kiernan is so damn skilled at worldbuilding that it's a wonder why other fantasy authors even try sometimes. Considering much of the terminology and atmosphere of their tales are borrowed directly from Lovecraft's playbook and the vast creative canvas of the Cthulhu Mythos, you'd think one's writing would fall back on it as a reliance rather than a fully unique creation, but the complete opposite is true. Each one of these stories builds its own atmosphere and world entirely self-contained enough to be read on its own, but with each tale layers upon layers are built and connected in subtle and electrifying ways, leading to a vision of the Mythos that is Kiernan's and Kiernan's alone, despite the surface-level terminology at use. Furthermore, their works beautifully humanize the Mythos, bringing extremely sharp emotional depth and character to a genre which often doesn't concern itself much with those things. An incredible collection from an incredible writer.