Posts tagged Fantasy
Review: I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells
Apr 26th
Dan Wells’ debut novel deals with John Wayne Cleaver, a disaffected teenage boy living somewhere in the Midwest with his mother, a mortician by trade, and dealing with both the absence of his father and an unreliable sister. Also, he’s a diagnosed sociopath who visits a therapist once a week. Growing up around dead people has had an effect on John, who loves the process of embalming (described in lavish and well-researched detail by Wells), and is fascinated with serial killers. He has one friend, another outcast named Max, who he keeps around in attempt to fool the world into thinking he’s normal. He’s seemingly incapable of empathy and is struggling with his natural instinct to kill for pleasure.
And then something happens — people in town start dying in grotesque ways. It is clear that serial killer has taken up residence in town, and John commits himself to not only uncovering the killer’s identity, but also stopping him. Like fellow literary psycho Dexter Morgan, John believes that he can unleash his inner monster if it’s in the service of stopping another killer. But what happens when the killer is not what he seems — when there’s more to him than John suspects? That he kills for a reason John is virtually incapable of understanding. A reason that ultimately causes John to question who the real monster is — the killer, or himself?
In many ways I am reminded of another supernatural novel set in a snowy environment, featuring a disaffected teenage boy with psycopathic tendencies — the excellent Swedish Vampire novel, Let the Right One In. And although it doesn’t have that book’s amazing emotional core, but it shares Let the Right One In‘s mixing of mundane life with elements of horror and insanity.
I Am Not a Serial Killer is a relatively short book, but does an excellent job of establishing John and his inner struggle. It has an unexpected, though welcome fantasy element, and although it can be easily pigeon-holed as a teenage Dexter, it only shares the same concept. Wells does different things than one might expect. It is not perfect, however — John’s first person narration sometimes rings false, with John using words and terminology a teenage boy would not use. At times, I found myself taken out of the otherwise engaging narrative due to certain expressions and phrases not ringing true. That said, it is an extremely promising first novel and establishes Dan Wells as a writer to watch. I’m not sure that I agree with the publisher’s decision to market it as young adult fiction given some of the themes it deals with — but all and all, it is an enjoyable read and well worth your time.
Review: Well of Ascension (Mistborn Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson
Apr 15th
With every action, there is a consequence — and Well of Ascension, the follow-up to Brandon Sanderson’s excellent Mistborn: The Final Empire is all about unintended consequences and their impact on the residents of the Final Empire.
Following the events of the first novel, things haven’t quite worked out quite how Vin, Elend and Kelsier’s crew had in mind. Luthadel is under siege and strange things are happening in the mists. A mysterious Mistborn is stalking the streets of the city at night and many questions remain about the Lord Ruler, the Deepness and allomancy.
In the first half of the book, Sanderson begins his set-up and there are some interesting twists and turns, but it does tend to drag a bit. Vin deals with some internal struggles, which while logical, do feel a bit like the infamous “ball” sequences in the first novel.
Yet somewhere after the midway point Sanderson finishes assembling his plot and things begin to unfold in a surprising and exciting manner. Although the climax of Mistborn: the Final Empire is superior, the closing events of Well of Ascension are impressively rendered, offering Sanderson’s strong blend of compelling characters and huge action sequences. The ending expertly sets up book three, following the overall theme of “unintended” consequences that runs through the course of the novel.
Despite the slow start, Well of Ascension is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor and is more proof that Brandon Sanderson is the best fantasy novelist of his generation, the true heir to Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin
Looking at the “New Weird” Movement in Fantasy
Jan 7th
Probably the most interesting recent development in fantasy literature, “New Weird” combines aspects of the pulps, horror, surrealism and traditional fantasy into a tasty stew. China Mieville and Jeff Vandermeer are two of my favorite writers and probably the best examples of “New Weird.”
Inexplicably, the San Antonio Current has a great overview of the movement.
