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Small Magic: Collected Flash Fiction
Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2011
20 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Polson
82 books77 followersAaron Polson currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife, two sons, and a tattooed rabbit. His stories have featured magic goldfish, monstrous beetles, and a book of lullabies for baby vampires. His work has seen print in Shock Totem, Blood Lite II, and Monstrous with several new stories forthcoming in Shimmer, Space and Time, and other publications. The Saints are Dead, a collection of weird fiction, magical realism, and the kitchen sink, is due from Aqueous Press in 2011. "
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 6, 2011
I have not read a lot of flash fiction, but I find that, at least in this case, it is quite enjoyable. Aaron Polson has created a platter of deletable appetizers to tempt our imaginations. I found that each vignette made me consider the "what next". In the past I have felt unsatisfied by the nibble of story that flash fiction provides, but in this case, each tidbit was well-sculpted to feel complete, yet enticing.
The subject of these fictions range from the mystical to the macabre, the delightful to the disturbing. A few of them were a bit more gory than I like, but on the whole, especially reading this around Halloween, the level of darkness was well-tempered. As another reviewer mentioned, even the darkest stories seemed to be written with glee. The overall tone of the collection reminds me of a 19th century museum - wandering creaky narrow halls within a dimly lit room created by rows of bright display cases of odd and unusual curiosities from around the world - from butterfly collections to shrunken heads, Ming vases to two-headed calves.
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark humor, horror, and the original versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
I received a review copy of this book through a LibraryThing giveaway.
The subject of these fictions range from the mystical to the macabre, the delightful to the disturbing. A few of them were a bit more gory than I like, but on the whole, especially reading this around Halloween, the level of darkness was well-tempered. As another reviewer mentioned, even the darkest stories seemed to be written with glee. The overall tone of the collection reminds me of a 19th century museum - wandering creaky narrow halls within a dimly lit room created by rows of bright display cases of odd and unusual curiosities from around the world - from butterfly collections to shrunken heads, Ming vases to two-headed calves.
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark humor, horror, and the original versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
I received a review copy of this book through a LibraryThing giveaway.
October 27, 2011
Aaron Polson's flash fiction collection, Small Magic, is composed of brilliant, bite sized, dark short stories, ranging from slightly-off-kilter to downright macabre. The stories do not rely on shock tactics for their effectiveness; instead, the writing is subtle, cleverly and tightly written, all the more impressive considering the length of the stories. He uses touches of black humour and little nudges to prick up the reader's senses to the realisation that something is ever so slightly out of place. A few of the stories revolve around words or writing; a guide to writing horror fiction is deliciously tongue in cheek, while in another, the words themselves take action. Others revolve around normal daily occurrences that veer towards the hideously wrong, or are focused on children's interactions. All in all, a wonderful collection of weird tales covering a wide variety of themes.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys well written short, dark fiction.
Review copy supplied by the author as part of LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.
Overall rating: 5 stars
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys well written short, dark fiction.
Review copy supplied by the author as part of LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.
Overall rating: 5 stars
October 29, 2011
I'll hold my hands up to never previously being a fan of flash fiction. The ultra-short story tended to leave me more frustrated than fulfilled; like having someone wave a bit of your favourite treat under your nose and then yank it away from you.
And then I got this.
Every now and then you come across writing that makes you turn green with envy, simply because you never wrote it.
This little book of magic is one of those. From the funny to the outright disturbing, not a single one of these pieces of flash fiction is boring. Some of them are pure delight. Most of them are not for the squeamish, and the ability to make me flinch in the space of a paragraph is pretty impressive.
The best part of all, though, is the sense that Aaron Polson just had an absolute blast writing these; even the darkest of them have the overtone of the author rattling them out with one major grin on his face.
I still prefer longer fiction, but missing out on these would have been my distinct loss; I'll be hunting down more from this author.
Recommended for : horror fans and short commutes.
And then I got this.
Every now and then you come across writing that makes you turn green with envy, simply because you never wrote it.
This little book of magic is one of those. From the funny to the outright disturbing, not a single one of these pieces of flash fiction is boring. Some of them are pure delight. Most of them are not for the squeamish, and the ability to make me flinch in the space of a paragraph is pretty impressive.
The best part of all, though, is the sense that Aaron Polson just had an absolute blast writing these; even the darkest of them have the overtone of the author rattling them out with one major grin on his face.
I still prefer longer fiction, but missing out on these would have been my distinct loss; I'll be hunting down more from this author.
Recommended for : horror fans and short commutes.
December 22, 2011
Aaron Polson's Small Magic is a book of, well, small magic. It is collection of flash fiction stories (where the idea is that the story should be no longer than 1000 words) that overall are very good. Aaron Polson is a fine writer and often manages to create an atmosphere of dread and wonder.
The main problem with this book is the sheer length of it. There are a lot of stories in this book, and it is hard to sit down and read many flash pieces in one sitting. The best stories are the longer ones and unfortunately Aaron has put in a number of very short stories that go nowhere and often seem like clever, short anecdotes. The book would have been much better if all stories under 500 words would simply have been cut.
Overall however, the book manages to reach some very high points, with stories that linger in the memory and are alone worth the small price of the book. I highly recommend this book (despite the faults I mention) to anyone who has previously read and liked flash fiction stories.
The main problem with this book is the sheer length of it. There are a lot of stories in this book, and it is hard to sit down and read many flash pieces in one sitting. The best stories are the longer ones and unfortunately Aaron has put in a number of very short stories that go nowhere and often seem like clever, short anecdotes. The book would have been much better if all stories under 500 words would simply have been cut.
Overall however, the book manages to reach some very high points, with stories that linger in the memory and are alone worth the small price of the book. I highly recommend this book (despite the faults I mention) to anyone who has previously read and liked flash fiction stories.
December 3, 2011
Aaron Polson again brings his stories to vivid life by using only the bare bones to describe them - these little flash fiction gems are really amazing. Most if not all of the stories are quite dark - some range into horror, but most are, at the least, dark fantasy or dark magical reality. If you are looking for something to be able to read in small snippets in between other tasks, this is the book for you!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews