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A review by orinthebard
Man V. Nature by Diane Cook
5.0
These is some of the best short fiction I've read in a while. The author interview at the end says to all:
If not bleak, many of these tales are horrifying. "Man V. Nature," the title story, stuck with me for its ability to make me care about a sickeningly manipulative, self-pitying middle-aged man. "It's Coming" is another favorite, written from the collective point of view of executives running from a monster that is made more terrifying by the fact that it is never described. The book ends on a high note with "The Not-Needed Forest," one of the few stories in the collection that I felt had a satisfying ending. Finally, the first story, "Moving On," had me hooked with its too-close-for-comfort dystopia that addressed both the increasing wealth disparity in America and our cultural discomfort with grief.
I could nitpick that many of the stories felt incomplete, stopping right in the middle of things, but that unpredictability is part of what kept me interested.
Some readers think the book is depressing, bleak, or dark. I don't feel that way about the stories. I can't say they're joyful, because that's not it, but they're exuberant. All the characters are trying to connect and trying to get past some hardship. And those are inherently hopeful acts.
If not bleak, many of these tales are horrifying. "Man V. Nature," the title story, stuck with me for its ability to make me care about a sickeningly manipulative, self-pitying middle-aged man. "It's Coming" is another favorite, written from the collective point of view of executives running from a monster that is made more terrifying by the fact that it is never described. The book ends on a high note with "The Not-Needed Forest," one of the few stories in the collection that I felt had a satisfying ending. Finally, the first story, "Moving On," had me hooked with its too-close-for-comfort dystopia that addressed both the increasing wealth disparity in America and our cultural discomfort with grief.
I could nitpick that many of the stories felt incomplete, stopping right in the middle of things, but that unpredictability is part of what kept me interested.