C. F. PageRecensioni

When I went to start this review, I was shocked at how few reviews this book had garnered because, quite frankly, this is possibly THE best multi-author anthology I've ever read.

Page has gathered an incredibly diverse group of very talented authors and the stories are almost uniformly brilliant and wildly different from each other.

I know the big trend in indie anthologies now is to have a unifying theme. I've been published in several myself. And, while each one will still have diverse stories, each is tightly bound to that theme and, to me, the experience is somewhat lessened. Not always, but often.

But, to me, what was even more shocking (in a seriously pleasant way) was that, typically, with any anthology, I'll find that I maybe like a quarter, or as much as a third of the stories, and the rest kind of land like filler. They tend to be okay, but not memorable.

This collection had precisely three stories that I wasn't overly fond of, and not one of them was because they felt like filler, or they weren't memorable. Honestly, in each case, it felt more like I wasn't smart enough to get what they were going for. I feel like the fault fell to me, not the stories. And for a collection of 30 different pieces—running from larger ones, 20+ pages, to single-page flash pieces, and even a bit of poetry—to have three that didn't quite grab me? Only three?

That, my friends, is an impressive feat. This collection has it all. Yes, there's a theme, and it's cosmic horror, but that's such a broad, vague canvas that these stories reach from deep space, to deep underwater, and all points in between.

If you want to read stuff that will disturb you, make you think, leave you in awe, and simply blow your mind?

Then this is literally the only anthology you need.

This one took me a long time to read, but it was due more to circumstance than anything.

There's enough other reviews that fill you in on plot and character details that I won't bother. Here's what you probably need to know...

Page wears a lot of his influences on his sleeve and they show up on the page. However, that being said, despite the obvious influences, he's developed his own very unique style of telling a story. For me, I will say I found it intensely readable, but I can also see how some may find it off-putting. Basically, unlike most novels, Page tends to eschew the standard practice of climbing inside the character's head, then giving the reader only the observations and thoughts of that viewpoint character. You do get those thoughts and observations, but Page also gives you more of a god's eye view of the proceedings, often adorning his characters' observations with parenthetical asides that could only come from an all-knowing narrator.

Most of the time, I had no problem with this, though I did find it a little heavier toward the end and I personally felt it slowed the pacing just a touch.

There was also an interlude toward the end that I honestly could have done without, where one character ruminates that, if he was a character in a novel, this is likely what the author would have done with him, but here's what happened instead.

So, while I wasn't crazy about that section—and really, it was only three or four pages—here's what I will say about the narrative style Page chose: it was a very bold choice, it was a very unconventional choice, and I absolutely applaud him for the the courage and willingness to try something different. Because, quite frankly, 99% of the time, it succeeded. I really did enjoy the writing style, more than I have in a long time.

I'm guessing I probably missed some fun stuff, as the author states that this book is a rather obvious love letter to Resident Evil, a game I am completely unaware of. But overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I am looking forward to seeing what else is crawling around inside Page's brain.

Review coming soon!