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Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke
Charles Dickens lived and breathed London in a way few authors ever have, before or since. In his fiction, his non-fiction, and even his own life, Dickens cast an extraordinary shadow over the city he so loved - so much so, indeed, that his name has become synonymous with a certain image of London. A London of terrible social inequality and matchless belief in the human potential; a London filled with the comic and the repulsive, the industrious and the feckless, the faithful and the faithless, the selfish and the selfless.
Stories of the Smoke is dedicated to bringing together original short stories by some of today's finest genre authors - stories about London and inspired by Charles Dickens, the self-styled Sparkler of Albion.
Contributors Archie Black, David Bryher, Aliette de Bodard, Michelle Goldsmith, Jonathan Green, Alexis Kennedy, Sarah Anne Langton, Rebecca Levene, Sarah Lotz, Glen Mehn, David Thomas Moore, Adam Roberts, Esther Saxey, Lavie Tidhar, Jenni van der Merwe, James Wallis and Kaaron Warren.
Smoke is introduced by Christopher Fowler and illustrated by the amazing Gary Northfield. A portion of all proceeds from the sales of Smoke goes to English PEN, a cause of which Dickens would wholly approve.
Stories of the Smoke is dedicated to bringing together original short stories by some of today's finest genre authors - stories about London and inspired by Charles Dickens, the self-styled Sparkler of Albion.
Contributors Archie Black, David Bryher, Aliette de Bodard, Michelle Goldsmith, Jonathan Green, Alexis Kennedy, Sarah Anne Langton, Rebecca Levene, Sarah Lotz, Glen Mehn, David Thomas Moore, Adam Roberts, Esther Saxey, Lavie Tidhar, Jenni van der Merwe, James Wallis and Kaaron Warren.
Smoke is introduced by Christopher Fowler and illustrated by the amazing Gary Northfield. A portion of all proceeds from the sales of Smoke goes to English PEN, a cause of which Dickens would wholly approve.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 18, 2012
Anyone who has followed my blog for any amount of time knows I love London. It's my favourite city in the world and in my opinion I get to visit it way too seldom. So an anthology of SFF short stories inspired by London was sure to get my attention. Stories of the Smoke, however, is not based on any old London; the inspiration for these stories was the London as seen by way of Charles Dickens. The grimy, sooty, Victorian London, peopled by cold-hearted industrialists and the deserving poor; the London of Oliver, Fagin, Scrooge, Pip, David Copperfield, Martin Chuzzlewit, Little Dorrit and Tiny Tim. All of the tales in this anthology contain the flavour of the Smoke, of pea-soup fog and horse manure, some more literally than others. And all of them contain the spirit of Dickens, whether it is his social activism, his humour, his sense of the darker side of human nature, his keen eye for the details of everyday life or some of the themes of his best-known novels.
As with any theme-based anthology, one of the main questions after finishing the book is whether the anthology achieved what it set out to do, in this case bring together short stories with a fantasy and science fiction slant, inspired by Dickensian London. So how is this question answered for Stories of the Smoke? In my opinion, very favourably; Stories of the Smoke clearly touches upon its theme in all of its stories. This isn't to say that all of the connections are obvious, some of them are more so than others, but with a little thought the links can be identified in all the stories. I'm a rather indifferent student of Dickens: I've read Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations and I took in snippets of Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop while at university, but that's about as far as my Dickensian knowledge goes. So I was surprised at how much I recognised in these stories as riffs on Dickens stories and it made me curious to read some more of Dickens work and see whether I can identify more. If only there were more hours in the day or I could dispense with the need for sleep! These riffs might be nothing more than a character name or a place important to Dickens, or a plot device – the three spirits past, present and future being a popular one – but it can also be just a quote from a Dickens work or a more thematic link, such as the dreadful living conditions of the poor and their disenfranchisement in Victorian London.
In any story collection, be it an anthology or a collection by a single author, there will be stories that work and stories that don't work so well. In Stories of the Smoke the stories are all good, though there are some that worked better for me than others. What ties the ones I liked best together is the fact that they either were set in an obviously Dickensian London, such as Glen Mehn's The Unkindness of Ravens, David Thomas Moore's An Unburdening of the Soul or Kaaron Warren's The Pickwick Syndrome, or they contained a clear plot element taken from Dickens, such as Adam Roberts' Martin Citywit or Jenni van der Merwe's Londoner. Three stories that I really liked that don't fit as easily in either category are Sarah Lotz's Inspector Bucket Investigates, Michelle Goldsmith's The Hound of Henry Hortinger and James Wallis' Aye, There's the Twist. The conceit in Lotz's story – a Disney-run Dickensian theme park populated by cloned Victorians called Drones, who live in a Truman Show-like reserve, where the affluent come to gawk at Dickens' stories brought to life – was fantastic and I found the murder mystery for which it formed the setting fun and very cleverly done. Both Goldsmith's and Wallis' stories mixed Dickens with another literary great. In Wallis' case this is quite clear in both plot elements and what the characters themselves put forth. He mixes his Dickens with Shakespeare, specifically Oliver Twist with Macbeth, and the combination is amazing. Using this mix Wallis addresses social injustice and questions if Shakespeare couldn't speak truth to power and Dickens did exactly that, what should we do and what do we do today? I loved this story and its ending, for me it was one of the best stories in the anthology. Goldsmith's The Hound of Henry Hortinger gave me not just a Dickensian vibe, but also reminded me of Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I adored the distinctly gothic feel of the story, from the creepiness of the dog to the heartlessness of the main character and the tragedy of his daughter's demise, making it another favourite.
It's hard to find something to really criticise in this anthology. True, some stories were harder to get into or to connect with, but if the reader (in this case me) put in the energy and thought, there was something worthwhile to find in all of the stories. Funnily enough I enjoyed the SFnal stories as much as I enjoyed the fantasy stories, which I hadn't expected as fantasy is far more my comfort zone than SF. Shurin and Perry deliver a strong anthology that offers something not just to SFF readers but to Dickens aficionados and London lovers as well. If you fall in any of these categories, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
As with any theme-based anthology, one of the main questions after finishing the book is whether the anthology achieved what it set out to do, in this case bring together short stories with a fantasy and science fiction slant, inspired by Dickensian London. So how is this question answered for Stories of the Smoke? In my opinion, very favourably; Stories of the Smoke clearly touches upon its theme in all of its stories. This isn't to say that all of the connections are obvious, some of them are more so than others, but with a little thought the links can be identified in all the stories. I'm a rather indifferent student of Dickens: I've read Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations and I took in snippets of Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop while at university, but that's about as far as my Dickensian knowledge goes. So I was surprised at how much I recognised in these stories as riffs on Dickens stories and it made me curious to read some more of Dickens work and see whether I can identify more. If only there were more hours in the day or I could dispense with the need for sleep! These riffs might be nothing more than a character name or a place important to Dickens, or a plot device – the three spirits past, present and future being a popular one – but it can also be just a quote from a Dickens work or a more thematic link, such as the dreadful living conditions of the poor and their disenfranchisement in Victorian London.
In any story collection, be it an anthology or a collection by a single author, there will be stories that work and stories that don't work so well. In Stories of the Smoke the stories are all good, though there are some that worked better for me than others. What ties the ones I liked best together is the fact that they either were set in an obviously Dickensian London, such as Glen Mehn's The Unkindness of Ravens, David Thomas Moore's An Unburdening of the Soul or Kaaron Warren's The Pickwick Syndrome, or they contained a clear plot element taken from Dickens, such as Adam Roberts' Martin Citywit or Jenni van der Merwe's Londoner. Three stories that I really liked that don't fit as easily in either category are Sarah Lotz's Inspector Bucket Investigates, Michelle Goldsmith's The Hound of Henry Hortinger and James Wallis' Aye, There's the Twist. The conceit in Lotz's story – a Disney-run Dickensian theme park populated by cloned Victorians called Drones, who live in a Truman Show-like reserve, where the affluent come to gawk at Dickens' stories brought to life – was fantastic and I found the murder mystery for which it formed the setting fun and very cleverly done. Both Goldsmith's and Wallis' stories mixed Dickens with another literary great. In Wallis' case this is quite clear in both plot elements and what the characters themselves put forth. He mixes his Dickens with Shakespeare, specifically Oliver Twist with Macbeth, and the combination is amazing. Using this mix Wallis addresses social injustice and questions if Shakespeare couldn't speak truth to power and Dickens did exactly that, what should we do and what do we do today? I loved this story and its ending, for me it was one of the best stories in the anthology. Goldsmith's The Hound of Henry Hortinger gave me not just a Dickensian vibe, but also reminded me of Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I adored the distinctly gothic feel of the story, from the creepiness of the dog to the heartlessness of the main character and the tragedy of his daughter's demise, making it another favourite.
It's hard to find something to really criticise in this anthology. True, some stories were harder to get into or to connect with, but if the reader (in this case me) put in the energy and thought, there was something worthwhile to find in all of the stories. Funnily enough I enjoyed the SFnal stories as much as I enjoyed the fantasy stories, which I hadn't expected as fantasy is far more my comfort zone than SF. Shurin and Perry deliver a strong anthology that offers something not just to SFF readers but to Dickens aficionados and London lovers as well. If you fall in any of these categories, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
June 30, 2012
Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke brings you London as you’ve never seen it before – science fiction and fantasy in the great tradition of Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens lived and breathed London in a way few authors ever have, before or since. In his fiction, his non-fiction, and even his own life, Dickens cast an extraordinary shadow over the city he so loved – so much so, indeed, that his name has become synonymous with a certain image of London. A London of terrible social inequality and matchless belief in the human potential; a London filled with the comic and the repulsive, the industrious and the feckless, the faithful and the faithless, the selfish and the selfless.
This London is at once an historical artifact and a living, breathing creature: the steaming, heaving, weeping, stinking, everlasting Smoke.
At the tail end of 2011, those crafty folk over at Pornokitsch published their first anthology Stories of the Apocalypse. I’ll admit that I rather enjoyed it (what can I say, I have a soft spot for the end of the world, feel free to ask me about it sometime). In April this year, their second release Stories of the Smoke was released. I had such a good time with the first collection there was no way I wanted to miss out on the second.
For the princely sum of just three pounds and ninety nine pence, there are eighteen stories to be found in the pages of this compendium. That works out at a mere twenty two pence each, and that doesn’t even include the introduction from Christopher Fowler and some nice illustrations scattered throughout.
Inspector Bucket Investigates by Sarah Lotz - I’m a firm believer that the first story in any anthology has the toughest job of all. It has to act as the perfect hook. If it doesn’t draw me in the chances of me reading any further are vastly reduced. I’m pleased to say that this story manages that and then some. Dark, a little mysterious and containing a subtle understated humor, this is a great way to begin. Blending the classic elements of murder mystery and science fiction, as well as a nice homage to one of my favourite movies; I don’t think I could ask for much more.
Londoner by Jenni van der Merwe - What was once London, is now a city divided by a huge wall. A story of segregation, the haves and have-nots. I particularly liked the concept of guilt workers – people who take on another’s guilt to make a living.
The Hound of Henry Hortinger by Michelle Goldsmith - A self important and thoroughly unpleasant business man is plagued by a huge supernatural hound. This has nice traditional quality and reads like classic Dickens. It feels like Henry Hortinger could easily have escaped the pages of Dickens’ own work.
A Brief History of The Great Pubs of London by Lavie Tidhar - Possibly the most informative of all the items in the collection. This author has obviously done a great deal of research into the more notorious drinking establishments in our nation’s capital. If you’ve never visited London I would strongly suggest purchasing this compilation on the strength of this article alone. (Wait, what do you mean this is fiction? Boo! I want this story in particular to be one hundred percent real).
Cuckoo by David Thomas Moore - In the seedy world of illegal bare knuckle fist fights there is a new champ who isn’t quite what he appears to be. The author manages to subtly incorporate some fairytale-esque elements into this short story without being heavy handed about it. Nothing is ever explicitly mentioned but I am sure if you read this you’ll pick up on it. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting these two worlds to collide in such an effective manner.
Martin Citywit by Adam Roberts - By the 22nd century self-aware cities spend their time accruing fabulous wealth, pondering the mysteries of existence and tinkering around with time travel. I think the best short stories always leave you wanting more and this definitely falls into that category. I would love to see the ideas explored here being expanded on in more depth. I feel like I’ve had just a split second glimpse of something much larger. I really enjoyed this.
On top of the six stories I’ve just mentioned above there are another twelve, yes twelve, tales from the likes of Jonathan Green, Sarah Anne Langton and even one from Dickens himself. Each story explores the differing faces of London, from the hypnotic hustle and bustle to the dark seldom travelled streets. This collection will take you a grand tour through the highs and lows of Victorian society right up to the present day and, in some cases, beyond. Overall this is a wonderfully crafted anthology that is likely to leave any reader hungry for more.
Stories of the Smoke is published by Jurassic London and is available as an ebook now.
Charles Dickens lived and breathed London in a way few authors ever have, before or since. In his fiction, his non-fiction, and even his own life, Dickens cast an extraordinary shadow over the city he so loved – so much so, indeed, that his name has become synonymous with a certain image of London. A London of terrible social inequality and matchless belief in the human potential; a London filled with the comic and the repulsive, the industrious and the feckless, the faithful and the faithless, the selfish and the selfless.
This London is at once an historical artifact and a living, breathing creature: the steaming, heaving, weeping, stinking, everlasting Smoke.
At the tail end of 2011, those crafty folk over at Pornokitsch published their first anthology Stories of the Apocalypse. I’ll admit that I rather enjoyed it (what can I say, I have a soft spot for the end of the world, feel free to ask me about it sometime). In April this year, their second release Stories of the Smoke was released. I had such a good time with the first collection there was no way I wanted to miss out on the second.
For the princely sum of just three pounds and ninety nine pence, there are eighteen stories to be found in the pages of this compendium. That works out at a mere twenty two pence each, and that doesn’t even include the introduction from Christopher Fowler and some nice illustrations scattered throughout.
Inspector Bucket Investigates by Sarah Lotz - I’m a firm believer that the first story in any anthology has the toughest job of all. It has to act as the perfect hook. If it doesn’t draw me in the chances of me reading any further are vastly reduced. I’m pleased to say that this story manages that and then some. Dark, a little mysterious and containing a subtle understated humor, this is a great way to begin. Blending the classic elements of murder mystery and science fiction, as well as a nice homage to one of my favourite movies; I don’t think I could ask for much more.
Londoner by Jenni van der Merwe - What was once London, is now a city divided by a huge wall. A story of segregation, the haves and have-nots. I particularly liked the concept of guilt workers – people who take on another’s guilt to make a living.
The Hound of Henry Hortinger by Michelle Goldsmith - A self important and thoroughly unpleasant business man is plagued by a huge supernatural hound. This has nice traditional quality and reads like classic Dickens. It feels like Henry Hortinger could easily have escaped the pages of Dickens’ own work.
A Brief History of The Great Pubs of London by Lavie Tidhar - Possibly the most informative of all the items in the collection. This author has obviously done a great deal of research into the more notorious drinking establishments in our nation’s capital. If you’ve never visited London I would strongly suggest purchasing this compilation on the strength of this article alone. (Wait, what do you mean this is fiction? Boo! I want this story in particular to be one hundred percent real).
Cuckoo by David Thomas Moore - In the seedy world of illegal bare knuckle fist fights there is a new champ who isn’t quite what he appears to be. The author manages to subtly incorporate some fairytale-esque elements into this short story without being heavy handed about it. Nothing is ever explicitly mentioned but I am sure if you read this you’ll pick up on it. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting these two worlds to collide in such an effective manner.
Martin Citywit by Adam Roberts - By the 22nd century self-aware cities spend their time accruing fabulous wealth, pondering the mysteries of existence and tinkering around with time travel. I think the best short stories always leave you wanting more and this definitely falls into that category. I would love to see the ideas explored here being expanded on in more depth. I feel like I’ve had just a split second glimpse of something much larger. I really enjoyed this.
On top of the six stories I’ve just mentioned above there are another twelve, yes twelve, tales from the likes of Jonathan Green, Sarah Anne Langton and even one from Dickens himself. Each story explores the differing faces of London, from the hypnotic hustle and bustle to the dark seldom travelled streets. This collection will take you a grand tour through the highs and lows of Victorian society right up to the present day and, in some cases, beyond. Overall this is a wonderfully crafted anthology that is likely to leave any reader hungry for more.
Stories of the Smoke is published by Jurassic London and is available as an ebook now.
August 12, 2016
I have a weak spot for stories where the setting is a main character (literally, in Martin Citywit) and Dickens' London is arguably the greatest of the kind.
Now, I haven't had that much Dickens: I've read A Christmas Carol, I've seen the last Oliver Twist movie, and I've looked at the pictures of an illustrated edition of Little Dorrit at least twice. Luckily Dickens' London has been imitated so many times it feels like an old friend. For a foreigner like me, it can feel more real than the real London.
This idea binds the stories in the anthology together. It's funny how every element reminds me of the city:
"Finley dropped a cheap teabag into a cup: a once-dainty, now damaged china teacup wich had lost its lustre long ago."
Londoner by Jenni van der Mewe
Is it the tea, or the decadence? I almost laughed when I read that. It's Londony London at its Londoniest.
Anyway, I really enjoy how every capital has its own personality. Paris sounds like a wonderful, homely place to live in:
"O Paris! Paris!
You are the true Babylon, the battlefield of the spirits, the temple where evil welcomes its worshippers and disciples, and I believe that you feel the eternal breath of the archangel of darkness upon you, as the high seas tremble upon the winds of the storm."
Sir Williams - Rocambole
And when I think of Rome:
Rome, the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and trophies gathered from afar.
George Eliot - Middlemarch
Hey! At least it's sunny down there!
Back to what I was saying, I would have been happier if I could have understood the numerous references to Dickens, mainly because I would have felt more intelligent. Being as I am, I could say "hey, I' m pretty sure this is from Great Expectations! Let's check wikipedia! Again!"
Well, since the stories are mostly very good, I still had fun in any case. Some of them, like The Pickwick Syndrome and Aye, there's the Twist I found truly great. Some others had a great concept to begin with, which helps, and made really interesting things. I'm talking about Inspector Bucket Investigates, Martin Citywit, Cuckoo. Others had great concepts, and were either too short to really harness that potential or I simply didn't understand a thing.
... which happens. I remember a particular Kipling story where I didn't know if they were on a ship or a plane throughout the whole thing, and that kind of matters to the plot.
Victory Year would fit in that category. I'm sorry, since that story is the reason I bought the book. I came across Stories of the Smoke while looking up Alexis Kennedy for his work in Fallen London.
It surprised me how well Victorian mixes with Science Fiction. Now I'm watching Doctor Who and it doesn't anymore, but back then it did. Everything fits together like a puzzle.
Stories of the Smoke is original, well written, coherent by and large. That about sums it up.
Now, I haven't had that much Dickens: I've read A Christmas Carol, I've seen the last Oliver Twist movie, and I've looked at the pictures of an illustrated edition of Little Dorrit at least twice. Luckily Dickens' London has been imitated so many times it feels like an old friend. For a foreigner like me, it can feel more real than the real London.
This idea binds the stories in the anthology together. It's funny how every element reminds me of the city:
"Finley dropped a cheap teabag into a cup: a once-dainty, now damaged china teacup wich had lost its lustre long ago."
Londoner by Jenni van der Mewe
Is it the tea, or the decadence? I almost laughed when I read that. It's Londony London at its Londoniest.
Anyway, I really enjoy how every capital has its own personality. Paris sounds like a wonderful, homely place to live in:
"O Paris! Paris!
You are the true Babylon, the battlefield of the spirits, the temple where evil welcomes its worshippers and disciples, and I believe that you feel the eternal breath of the archangel of darkness upon you, as the high seas tremble upon the winds of the storm."
Sir Williams - Rocambole
And when I think of Rome:
Rome, the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and trophies gathered from afar.
George Eliot - Middlemarch
Hey! At least it's sunny down there!
Back to what I was saying, I would have been happier if I could have understood the numerous references to Dickens, mainly because I would have felt more intelligent. Being as I am, I could say "hey, I' m pretty sure this is from Great Expectations! Let's check wikipedia! Again!"
Well, since the stories are mostly very good, I still had fun in any case. Some of them, like The Pickwick Syndrome and Aye, there's the Twist I found truly great. Some others had a great concept to begin with, which helps, and made really interesting things. I'm talking about Inspector Bucket Investigates, Martin Citywit, Cuckoo. Others had great concepts, and were either too short to really harness that potential or I simply didn't understand a thing.
... which happens. I remember a particular Kipling story where I didn't know if they were on a ship or a plane throughout the whole thing, and that kind of matters to the plot.
Victory Year would fit in that category. I'm sorry, since that story is the reason I bought the book. I came across Stories of the Smoke while looking up Alexis Kennedy for his work in Fallen London.
It surprised me how well Victorian mixes with Science Fiction. Now I'm watching Doctor Who and it doesn't anymore, but back then it did. Everything fits together like a puzzle.
Stories of the Smoke is original, well written, coherent by and large. That about sums it up.
April 26, 2012
Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke is a collection of highly imaginative short stories inspired by Dickens and his London. There is a great variety of stories in this collection with works by both established and emerging authors. There are plenty of gems in this book and I'm sure everyone can something that they like in this collection of Dickensian short stories.
The stories that stood out the most for me were Inspector Bucket Investigates by Sarah Lotz, The Hound of Henry Hortinger by Michelle Goldsmith, An Unburdening of the Soul by David Thomas Moore, and Aye, There's the Twist by James Wallis.
Inspector Bucket Investigates is a wonderful mix of science fiction and the Dickensian world. Set in a theme park based on Dickens's stories, Inspector Bucket must investigate who is killing off the clones in the park. The Hound of Henry Hortinger is an atmospheric and unrelentingly fast-paced story about the demise of Henry Hortinger. An Unburdening of the Soul paints a great picture of the poverty faced in Dickens's London, although a little short and Aye, There's the Twist is a modern day Dickens story with great twists and turns.
Recommended for anyone who is looking for something that is a little different to their usual science fiction and fantasy.
For more information on the Pandemonium series, please visit Pandemonium Fiction.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
The stories that stood out the most for me were Inspector Bucket Investigates by Sarah Lotz, The Hound of Henry Hortinger by Michelle Goldsmith, An Unburdening of the Soul by David Thomas Moore, and Aye, There's the Twist by James Wallis.
Inspector Bucket Investigates is a wonderful mix of science fiction and the Dickensian world. Set in a theme park based on Dickens's stories, Inspector Bucket must investigate who is killing off the clones in the park. The Hound of Henry Hortinger is an atmospheric and unrelentingly fast-paced story about the demise of Henry Hortinger. An Unburdening of the Soul paints a great picture of the poverty faced in Dickens's London, although a little short and Aye, There's the Twist is a modern day Dickens story with great twists and turns.
Recommended for anyone who is looking for something that is a little different to their usual science fiction and fantasy.
For more information on the Pandemonium series, please visit Pandemonium Fiction.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
February 9, 2022
I never expected to read an SF/F anthology inspired by Charles Dickens, yet here we are. Every story tends to be centered on London (or a London) in some way, and often share characters or themes from Dickens's work (and we even get a short piece from Dickens himself, a musing about walking around a mostly vacant London).
The anthology started off quite strongly with Sarah Lotz's "Inspector Bucket Investigates," which was a murder mystery set in a Dickensian theme park, but unfortunately, most of the the rest of the stories were if not exactly disappointing, were not fully engaging for whatever reason (some had endings that didn't work for me, or perhaps evoked from Dickensian aspects that I simply wasn't familiar with). I did often enjoy elements, though, like Rebecca Levene's story of a man seeking "The Knowledge" (i.e. the ability to memorize the streets of London) or James Wallis's engrossing "Aye, There's the Twist" which ended in a way I wasn't expecting and not sure that I liked.
My favorite stories aside from Lotz's were Michelle Goldsmith's "The Hound of Henry Hortinger", Lavie Tidhar's amusing "A Brief History of the Great Pubs of London", David Thomas Moore's "Cuckoo" which was just so nicely written, and the concluding story, Adam Roberts's "Martin Citywit" which was such a fun take on a Dickens classic.
The anthology started off quite strongly with Sarah Lotz's "Inspector Bucket Investigates," which was a murder mystery set in a Dickensian theme park, but unfortunately, most of the the rest of the stories were if not exactly disappointing, were not fully engaging for whatever reason (some had endings that didn't work for me, or perhaps evoked from Dickensian aspects that I simply wasn't familiar with). I did often enjoy elements, though, like Rebecca Levene's story of a man seeking "The Knowledge" (i.e. the ability to memorize the streets of London) or James Wallis's engrossing "Aye, There's the Twist" which ended in a way I wasn't expecting and not sure that I liked.
My favorite stories aside from Lotz's were Michelle Goldsmith's "The Hound of Henry Hortinger", Lavie Tidhar's amusing "A Brief History of the Great Pubs of London", David Thomas Moore's "Cuckoo" which was just so nicely written, and the concluding story, Adam Roberts's "Martin Citywit" which was such a fun take on a Dickens classic.
April 18, 2012
What might seem like an unreasonably restrictive brief--genre fiction about Dickens and his London--has produced an anthology of startling breadth and depth. No two stories are alike, there's no sense of authors treading on each other's toes or jostling through a narrow doorway to gain entrance. Instead the memory and spirit of Dickens is invoked in different aspects and milieus, and there's more variety in here than in most straight un-themed anthologies. A lucky dip of a book with a prize in every handful of sawdust.
Also the design and typography are delightful, which makes a pleasant change from most e-books. A book that's easy on the eye and ticklish in the brain.
(Bias: I have a story in the Stories of the Smoke. It's about Shakespeare. Because that's what I'm like.)
Also the design and typography are delightful, which makes a pleasant change from most e-books. A book that's easy on the eye and ticklish in the brain.
(Bias: I have a story in the Stories of the Smoke. It's about Shakespeare. Because that's what I'm like.)
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April 13, 2012Stories from lots of exciting authors and, somehow, me! Excitement!
I'm a bit uncomfortable rating a book that I contributed to, so I might just leave it unrated for now.
However, I will say that (not considering my story which I can't really pass judgement on) the quality of the collection is very high. As high, if not higher, than the previous collection by the same editors.
There is a great variety of different stories and some really interesting takes on the Dickens London theme.
After reading it I have a strong urge to book a trip to London. :P
I'm a bit uncomfortable rating a book that I contributed to, so I might just leave it unrated for now.
However, I will say that (not considering my story which I can't really pass judgement on) the quality of the collection is very high. As high, if not higher, than the previous collection by the same editors.
There is a great variety of different stories and some really interesting takes on the Dickens London theme.
After reading it I have a strong urge to book a trip to London. :P
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews