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Blood Picnic: and other stories
In this diverse collection, the versatile writer and blogger Tony Noland has gathered some of his best flash fiction and short stories. These twenty eight stories range in style from fantasy and horror to magical realism and literary fiction.
*When the god of love is furious, you’d better hope it’s not you he’s gunning for.
*The most powerful magic ring in the world is defeated… by bad dental work.
*A preacher’s sermon will soften the heart of anyone except the one person who matters most.
*The funniest man in the world is asked to reveal his secret, with deadly consequences.
*A midlist author finally has a runaway bestseller. Too bad that’s the *last* thing he wanted.
Whether you’re looking for potent true-to-life tales or you want your fiction full of zombies, flying carpets, deals with the devil and superheroes in trouble, this collection will amuse, delight and surprise you.
*When the god of love is furious, you’d better hope it’s not you he’s gunning for.
*The most powerful magic ring in the world is defeated… by bad dental work.
*A preacher’s sermon will soften the heart of anyone except the one person who matters most.
*The funniest man in the world is asked to reveal his secret, with deadly consequences.
*A midlist author finally has a runaway bestseller. Too bad that’s the *last* thing he wanted.
Whether you’re looking for potent true-to-life tales or you want your fiction full of zombies, flying carpets, deals with the devil and superheroes in trouble, this collection will amuse, delight and surprise you.
75 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 21, 2011
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 16, 2011
I just finished Tony Noland's collection of short stories. These are flash fiction pieces, which means 1,000 words or less per story.
My biggest impression is of Tony's ability to capture dialog. He reminds me of John O'Hara, who could carry a deeply emotional and descriptive story through dialog alone, even without tags to indicate who is speaking. That generally works only with two characters in conversation, and Tony does that in a highly skilled way with the story "Intervention." Nothing but quoted material. Not a single "he said" or "she said." The acid test is reading it out loud. Tony nails it. The guy has an ear for dialog that is rare. Very rare.
Tony breaks this collection, helpfully, into genres: "Fantasy: Tales of the Heavens"; "Literary Fiction: Tales of the Earth"; "Horror: Tales of the Moon"; and "Magical Realism: Tales of the Sun." I'm not a particular fan of any of these except literary fiction, so I had a little trepidation that only a quarter or so of his stories would interest me. But I was wrong. I enjoyed most of them. As long as you're willing to hang on and take some rather bizarre twists and turns (and a little blood with your picnic), you'll enjoy the ride.
Things he could have improved upon: Better formatting (have each story start on a new page, for instance) and copyediting (yeah, there are a mistakes throughout, but none that materially interfere with the story).
All in all, I recommend this, especially if you're into the Horror and Fantasy side of things. These would make great short reads on a phone while you're waiting for a meeting to start or for your dentist to shove his fingers into your mouth.
My biggest impression is of Tony's ability to capture dialog. He reminds me of John O'Hara, who could carry a deeply emotional and descriptive story through dialog alone, even without tags to indicate who is speaking. That generally works only with two characters in conversation, and Tony does that in a highly skilled way with the story "Intervention." Nothing but quoted material. Not a single "he said" or "she said." The acid test is reading it out loud. Tony nails it. The guy has an ear for dialog that is rare. Very rare.
Tony breaks this collection, helpfully, into genres: "Fantasy: Tales of the Heavens"; "Literary Fiction: Tales of the Earth"; "Horror: Tales of the Moon"; and "Magical Realism: Tales of the Sun." I'm not a particular fan of any of these except literary fiction, so I had a little trepidation that only a quarter or so of his stories would interest me. But I was wrong. I enjoyed most of them. As long as you're willing to hang on and take some rather bizarre twists and turns (and a little blood with your picnic), you'll enjoy the ride.
Things he could have improved upon: Better formatting (have each story start on a new page, for instance) and copyediting (yeah, there are a mistakes throughout, but none that materially interfere with the story).
All in all, I recommend this, especially if you're into the Horror and Fantasy side of things. These would make great short reads on a phone while you're waiting for a meeting to start or for your dentist to shove his fingers into your mouth.
January 15, 2013
I don't like to be too spoilerish in my reviews, so let me talk about this collection in the abstract, or on the macro level, or.. well, you get what I mean.
First of all. Noland is a master of believable and interesting dialogue. This is more impressive than it sounds. No, really. Trust me.
Which leads me to the next thing: These stories are finely crafted. What do I mean by that? Well, if you were wanting to get an example of a perfectly paced and honed short story, you'd have a hard time narrowing down Blood Picnic to just one or two. They're ALL tightly written. They're ALL interesting, and they're ALL delicious morsels of plot chocolate.
So, like a chocolate sampler box, there are different flavors, but each one is surprise, or a delight, or a thought-provoking choice.
The anthology is organized, and another reviewer has outlined that already so I won't go into detail except to say the organization is both helpful and unnecessary. There are some stories which harken back to previous plots, and so that is when it's helpful, and intriguing. It's unnecessary in that each of the stories are able to stand on their own, apart from any kind of scheme, so at times, I got distracted by whether the theme applied instead of just enjoying the pieces.
I recommend this book, However I DO have a complaint. The shorter stories are too short, because they leave me wanting more. Each one could have been expanded into larger stories or novellas. Maybe they will be, someday.
First of all. Noland is a master of believable and interesting dialogue. This is more impressive than it sounds. No, really. Trust me.
Which leads me to the next thing: These stories are finely crafted. What do I mean by that? Well, if you were wanting to get an example of a perfectly paced and honed short story, you'd have a hard time narrowing down Blood Picnic to just one or two. They're ALL tightly written. They're ALL interesting, and they're ALL delicious morsels of plot chocolate.
So, like a chocolate sampler box, there are different flavors, but each one is surprise, or a delight, or a thought-provoking choice.
The anthology is organized, and another reviewer has outlined that already so I won't go into detail except to say the organization is both helpful and unnecessary. There are some stories which harken back to previous plots, and so that is when it's helpful, and intriguing. It's unnecessary in that each of the stories are able to stand on their own, apart from any kind of scheme, so at times, I got distracted by whether the theme applied instead of just enjoying the pieces.
I recommend this book, However I DO have a complaint. The shorter stories are too short, because they leave me wanting more. Each one could have been expanded into larger stories or novellas. Maybe they will be, someday.
August 9, 2016
Tony Noland's Blood Picnic is packed full of top notch stories, but I still completed it in one evening. I couldn't put it down. The opening story "Truly, Deeply, Endlessly" sets the tone for the stories that follow - well written, witty, and a good dash of the unexpected.
The author has divided his work into four sections that show his impressive range through a variety of genres. Fans of horror and sci-fi will not be disappointed, and there is a liberal dose of spice sprinkled throughout.
This is a rich and satisfying collection to savour over several readings or to devour in one sitting.
The author has divided his work into four sections that show his impressive range through a variety of genres. Fans of horror and sci-fi will not be disappointed, and there is a liberal dose of spice sprinkled throughout.
This is a rich and satisfying collection to savour over several readings or to devour in one sitting.
September 4, 2011
For being a short (less than 30,000 words) book, it felt much longer. Storytelling: 5 stars. Writing: 5 stars. Editing: 4 stars.
Full review on my blog.
Full review on my blog.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews