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A review by ruminations_reverie
A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by John Hornor Jacobs
4.0
3.5 rounded up
First let let start by saying that I thank Mr. John Hornor Jacobs is an absolutely expert of the craft. His writing style, language, and imaginative writing are what many writers, including myself, aspire to. As you can tell from my review, I was not overly blown away by the stories at hand here, but I want to state definitively that I would not hold that against Mr. Jacobs in any way. His strength of writing alone will draw me to more of his work.
Now to the meat and bones of this review. If you have read any of my other reviews you will note that I don't summarize the synopsis of the book or offer any long drawn out recounts of the details of the story. I am focusing on 3 things as they relate directly to my enjoyment of the writing. Those three things would be the characters and setting, the language and style of writing, and the story itself. I am not here to poke holes in a book and create a bias in your time spent reading it. I have been down that road and reviews have been responsible for me subconsciously feeling that I should like/dislike the book based on others experiences with it. I do not wish for that to be the case. Every book has an audience, and anyone who decides to share a story with the world should be praised for doing so because stories have driven our society forward for centuries.
With all of that out of the way lets talk about the two Novella/Short Novels held within this collection. Both stories were artfully written and (I listened to the Audiobook) extremely well performed. The characters in the first piece, "The Sea Dreams it is the Sky" were interesting and wholly engrossing. I found the inclusion of the culture of the setting as well as the timeframe to help add that extra level of depth that many books are lacking. The characters in the second piece, "My Heart Struck Sorrow" were maybe a little jumbled at times. I felt like John (Author) added too many layers to each of the characters and some of which were never fully explored or appreciated. Overall, the setting and the characters were detailed and well thought out pieces of this puzzle.
As for each of the two stories, there was just something lacking. We have decided that it wasn't the language or the characters that are dragging this review, so I must come to the conclusion that it is the story itself. At the root of each of these tales is a story about knowledge. Each of the MCs is on a journey through the journals/experiences of another and their decent into forbidden knowledge and the dark realms they abide. His imagination went wild while writing these tales, but I feel that with the first story it comes to an end to abruptly. The second story winds around a path in so many directions like a writhing snake that the reader ends up at the conclusion, slightly lost or disjointed.
I do feel that there are two great stories here with some flaws, but I absolutely recommend them to the next reader. I may even revisit them in print myself to see if I come to a different conclusion with the different medium (As I mentioned, I listened to Audiobook).
First let let start by saying that I thank Mr. John Hornor Jacobs is an absolutely expert of the craft. His writing style, language, and imaginative writing are what many writers, including myself, aspire to. As you can tell from my review, I was not overly blown away by the stories at hand here, but I want to state definitively that I would not hold that against Mr. Jacobs in any way. His strength of writing alone will draw me to more of his work.
Now to the meat and bones of this review. If you have read any of my other reviews you will note that I don't summarize the synopsis of the book or offer any long drawn out recounts of the details of the story. I am focusing on 3 things as they relate directly to my enjoyment of the writing. Those three things would be the characters and setting, the language and style of writing, and the story itself. I am not here to poke holes in a book and create a bias in your time spent reading it. I have been down that road and reviews have been responsible for me subconsciously feeling that I should like/dislike the book based on others experiences with it. I do not wish for that to be the case. Every book has an audience, and anyone who decides to share a story with the world should be praised for doing so because stories have driven our society forward for centuries.
With all of that out of the way lets talk about the two Novella/Short Novels held within this collection. Both stories were artfully written and (I listened to the Audiobook) extremely well performed. The characters in the first piece, "The Sea Dreams it is the Sky" were interesting and wholly engrossing. I found the inclusion of the culture of the setting as well as the timeframe to help add that extra level of depth that many books are lacking. The characters in the second piece, "My Heart Struck Sorrow" were maybe a little jumbled at times. I felt like John (Author) added too many layers to each of the characters and some of which were never fully explored or appreciated. Overall, the setting and the characters were detailed and well thought out pieces of this puzzle.
As for each of the two stories, there was just something lacking. We have decided that it wasn't the language or the characters that are dragging this review, so I must come to the conclusion that it is the story itself. At the root of each of these tales is a story about knowledge. Each of the MCs is on a journey through the journals/experiences of another and their decent into forbidden knowledge and the dark realms they abide. His imagination went wild while writing these tales, but I feel that with the first story it comes to an end to abruptly. The second story winds around a path in so many directions like a writhing snake that the reader ends up at the conclusion, slightly lost or disjointed.
I do feel that there are two great stories here with some flaws, but I absolutely recommend them to the next reader. I may even revisit them in print myself to see if I come to a different conclusion with the different medium (As I mentioned, I listened to Audiobook).