Reviews for 10/26/2003

The below appear(s) in 999 edited by AL SARRONTONIO 

Mad Dog Summer  by Joe R. Lansdale 

An old man narrates the horrific events of his youth. It concerns a
serial rapist on the loose, killing women and leaving their bodies
strewn all over the muck encrusted swamp. The narrator believes it to
be the legendary Goat Man stalking the region and he even sees the
creature several times, each time getting closer and closer to his
home. But nothing prepares him for the shock of having to go after it
when it makes off with his younger sister into the marsh one night nor
what it is he will find at the end of his search. An excellent novella
of youth, enriched by many good things but also marred by detestable
scenes of violence and racism. Lansdale has crafted a wonderful piece
of Southern Gothic.

The below appear(s) in ANGLES & OTHER STORIES by ORSON SCOTT CARD,
read by the author and others....


St. Amy's Tale

The earth of the future is mostly barren of people but among those
surviving are a group of environmentalists going around vaporizing
every shred of human technology. This is the story of one family of
misfits who're torn apart by greed. God what a sad and confusing
story, I hope I got the plot right because that whole thread revolving
around the vaporizer units was just god awful. And as cute as it might
sound on paper having an adult voice a baby is just ludicrous, I can't
believe narrators Bonnie MacBird & Lisa Menacheck (there were two???)
could go through voicing baby Amy with a straight face. Avoid.

Malpractice

A man is slowly transformed into the living incarnation of a radical
cult's prophet, from the inside out. Narrated by literary giant Harlan
Ellison, I was expecting more, but to me the tale played out more like
a comedy what with Ellison's brash and outgoing style. This is one
story I was certainly looking forward to but what a let down.


A Thousand Deaths

In a future where Russia has become a world powerhouse, an American is
sentenced to a terrible fate when he's convicted of involuntary
manslaughter. He is to be executed ad nauseum through the use of
cloning, each clone remembering the memories of its predecessors. A
slow beginning yields horrific results in sadistic torture when the
executions begin. Narrator Theodore Bikel does a fine job although his
tendency to slide into an overtly Yiddish accent during his narration
can be a little irritating.

Billy's Box

A little boy uses the box his family's new refrigerator came in as an
instrument for his imagination, turning it into everything from a
store to a tiger's den. Cutesy fantasy with a happy ending, what can I
say? Narrated by Ellen Andrews.
Angles

The mystery of the mind itself (well memory anyway) is revealed among
several plotlines all revolving around what it means when you feel
deja vu and the reason why you can't remember something that seems to
be on the tip of your tongue might come as a shock. The complex plot
involves a Japanese man haggling with a Jew about the concept of time
travelling to a world where they are not in the minority anymore,
another involving bickering scientists arguing about poltergeists and
and yet another describing the title concept in one hell of a mindfuck
of an explanation. I didn't know Card had it in him to write something
so literary yet so technical at the same time. Would make for an
interesting movie I say. Narrated by Scott Brick, Geoffrey Card,
Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki, & M.E.Willis.


Kingsmeat

An alien race of squids enslave a colony of humanoids and feed off of
them one at a time by hacking off limbs and dining on them, until over
time, the entire victim is consumed. What makes the matters worse is
that one of the colonists own has sold his soul in exchange for doing
the creatures' dirty work for them. That is, until help arrives and
then its too late for the aliens and him. I enjoyed this horror story
it was narrated in third person and tragedy of the village as it is
plundered for body parts was horrific enough. And the fact that the
author made the shepard character sympathetic made it all the more
difficult to hate him. The conclusion evoked memories of Barry
Longyears ENEMY MINE. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki.


tx,
arage
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