What do you think?
Rate this book
Showtime
Family drama can be found anywhere: in kitchens, in cafes. Derelict hotels, showground rides. Even dungeons far below ruined Hungarian castles. (Okay, especially in Hungarian dungeons.)
Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you’re undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else’s family, the way you couldn’t save your own, would you take it?
Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody’s perfect.
Family history can weigh on the present like a stone. But the thing about families is, you can’t escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don’t want to.
.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Seanan McGuire
Stalemate
Thrall
The Truth About Brains
Showtime
Old family fights can go on forever, especially if you’re undead. If an opportunity came to save someone else’s family, the way you couldn’t save your own, would you take it?
Your family might include ghosts, or zombies, or vampires. Maybe they just have allergies. Nobody’s perfect.
Family history can weigh on the present like a stone. But the thing about families is, you can’t escape them. Not ever. And mostly, you don’t want to.
.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Seanan McGuire
Stalemate
Thrall
The Truth About Brains
Showtime
124 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 2012
161 people want to read
About the author
Narrelle M. Harris
66 books120 followersI grew up in a home bursting with books. My father was in the Royal Australian Air Force – we moved roughly every three years – and my parents were passionate advocates of reading and the importance of access to a library of ideas, no matter where we lived.
Between a childhood spent on the move yet steeped in literature, and a naturally dramatic personality, it’s no surprise I became a storyteller.
At home, and at libraries all over Australia, I read everything from Little Golden Books to The World Book Encyclopaedia. As my family moved so frequently, my companions wherever I went were the Pevensies of Narnia, a horse named Flicka and the Hardy Boys. I grew up with the characters created by Diana Wynne Jones as they too learned independence and responsibility. Miss Marple and the Dragonriders of Pern were always at my side.
Writers like Eric Frank Russell and Lois McMaster Bujold were as influential on my character and my writing as surely as Shakespeare and the Brontes. I’m still always picking up new influences, from modern writers like Emily Larkin and Neil Gaiman as well as classics by PG Wodehouse and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Before you figure I am always and forever reading, I’m a traveller too. My early years spent moving from state to state led to itchy feet. After moving out of the family home, I lived in Perth, then met Tim Richards and we decided to have adventures of our own. We moved to Egypt to teach English as a Foreign Language, then went on to Poland.
After we finished teaching, we kept travelling: we’ve been to the UK and US, to Thailand, Germany, Hungary, Syria, Jordan, France, Italy, Slovenia, Czech, and Canada – and we’re not done travelling yet.
The places I’ve visited – London, Hungary, Canada – often appear in my work, but the home of my heart is the place I write about most often.
Melbourne, Australia. The town we chose to live in always. The city I love so much she is practically a character in her own right in books like The Opposite of Life and short stories like Near Miss. I even researched the Marvellous Melbourne of the 1890s for my Holmes♥Watson romance, The Adventure of the Colonial Boy.
Given my background and all my literary influences, it’s hardly astonishing that my storytelling is eclectic: crime, adventure, fantasy, horror and romance – separately or combined.
For all the different genres I write in, everything I write generally includes the same tone and the same type of themes. They are full of the families one is born with and the families we make for ourselves. The protagonists all face challenges they’ve made for themselves as well as external threats that test them. They’re full of people who’ve made mistakes who seek to learn and to make better choices.
Whether you’re reading a vampire adventure in modern Melbourne, a Holmesian mystery in London or a racy lesbian romance in the Middle East, you’ll find humour, heart, friendships and love.
Awards
Jane: In 2017, my ghost/crime story Jane won the Athenaeum Library’s Body in the Library prize at the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia.
Other nominations and shortlistings include:
Fly By Night (nominated for a Ned Kelly Award 2004)
Witch Honour (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize as Witching Ways in 1998)
Witch Faith (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize in 1999)
Walking Shadows (Chronos Awards; Davitt Awards in 2012)
__
Narrelle's erotica published as NM Harris is listed on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Between a childhood spent on the move yet steeped in literature, and a naturally dramatic personality, it’s no surprise I became a storyteller.
At home, and at libraries all over Australia, I read everything from Little Golden Books to The World Book Encyclopaedia. As my family moved so frequently, my companions wherever I went were the Pevensies of Narnia, a horse named Flicka and the Hardy Boys. I grew up with the characters created by Diana Wynne Jones as they too learned independence and responsibility. Miss Marple and the Dragonriders of Pern were always at my side.
Writers like Eric Frank Russell and Lois McMaster Bujold were as influential on my character and my writing as surely as Shakespeare and the Brontes. I’m still always picking up new influences, from modern writers like Emily Larkin and Neil Gaiman as well as classics by PG Wodehouse and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Before you figure I am always and forever reading, I’m a traveller too. My early years spent moving from state to state led to itchy feet. After moving out of the family home, I lived in Perth, then met Tim Richards and we decided to have adventures of our own. We moved to Egypt to teach English as a Foreign Language, then went on to Poland.
After we finished teaching, we kept travelling: we’ve been to the UK and US, to Thailand, Germany, Hungary, Syria, Jordan, France, Italy, Slovenia, Czech, and Canada – and we’re not done travelling yet.
The places I’ve visited – London, Hungary, Canada – often appear in my work, but the home of my heart is the place I write about most often.
Melbourne, Australia. The town we chose to live in always. The city I love so much she is practically a character in her own right in books like The Opposite of Life and short stories like Near Miss. I even researched the Marvellous Melbourne of the 1890s for my Holmes♥Watson romance, The Adventure of the Colonial Boy.
Given my background and all my literary influences, it’s hardly astonishing that my storytelling is eclectic: crime, adventure, fantasy, horror and romance – separately or combined.
For all the different genres I write in, everything I write generally includes the same tone and the same type of themes. They are full of the families one is born with and the families we make for ourselves. The protagonists all face challenges they’ve made for themselves as well as external threats that test them. They’re full of people who’ve made mistakes who seek to learn and to make better choices.
Whether you’re reading a vampire adventure in modern Melbourne, a Holmesian mystery in London or a racy lesbian romance in the Middle East, you’ll find humour, heart, friendships and love.
Awards
Jane: In 2017, my ghost/crime story Jane won the Athenaeum Library’s Body in the Library prize at the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia.
Other nominations and shortlistings include:
Fly By Night (nominated for a Ned Kelly Award 2004)
Witch Honour (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize as Witching Ways in 1998)
Witch Faith (shortlisted for the George Turner Prize in 1999)
Walking Shadows (Chronos Awards; Davitt Awards in 2012)
__
Narrelle's erotica published as NM Harris is listed on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 26, 2012
Last year I read and reviewed Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Nightsiders by Sue Isle, and other authors are involved in the project include Margo Lanagan, Cat Sparks and more! The best news that has happened since last year is that the books that have previously been published are now available on ebook so people outside of Australia can get hold of them. If nothing else, I would suggest getting hold of Love and Romanpunk at the very least (mainly because that is where I started) if you are interested in trying some different Australian spec-fic authors.
Whereas the two previous Twelve Planet books I have read had a similar structure in that the four individual short stories were linked through either narrative or characters, Showtime featured four stories that were not connected at all with each other. It also doesn't feature the same types of paranormal creatures in each story. We do have a couple of vampires, but there are also ghosts and zombies found in the pages.
The first of the stories in the collection is Stalemate and I must confess that, at first, I was a little perplexed because it doesn't actually seem all that speculative in nature, but the reader does gradually get to see how this particular story very definitely sits within the remit of a speculative fiction collection. The story is quite mundane to begin with - a woman who has been unwell has had her mother staying with her to help look after her. The stay is getting to the point where it has been too long and the house guest is not quite as welcome as she initially was or could be and every little thing is becoming intolerable. (I totally related to this particular aspect of the story!). There was a very satisfying twist in the tale in this story.
If I had to pick an absolute favourite of the collection (you know, picking just one!) then it would be the second story, Thrall. Dragomir has been a vampire for several hundred years. He is struggling a bit now. In this modern age, the blood he ingests just isn't as pure as it once was, he keeps on getting filmed and ending up on the news and Youtube, and truth be told he is kind of short and his physical presence is not as dominating of the general population as he once was. Even ordering a cup of tea is nowhere near as simple as he would like it.
He returns to his ancestral home with a view to taking refuge away from the modern world. In order to do this, there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled and so he sends a summons to the family who have been sworn to do his bidding for centuries. They always send the strongest man so he is not best pleased when the person who answers his call is a middle aged woman called Erszebet, but beggars can't be choosers.
Zombies are the focus of the third story, The Truth About Brains, and from a pure, smiling-while-reading it perspective, this was nearly my favourite mainly because I really liked the voice of the teenage protaganist, Amy. She is supposed to keep her eye out on her younger brother Dylan, but that gets a bit wearing after a while so she sneaks off with her friends, leaving him to his fate. As a result of some misadventure, he becomes a zombie. Amy knows that her mum is going to be VERY annoyed when she finds out and so she has to try and work out how it happened, and how to fix it fast! There is also a hint of an older story in the pages, one that it would also be interesting to read.
Here are a couple of quotes from early on which give a good idea of the tone of the story. Firstly, the opening paragraph:
My little brother Dylan is dead, but that doesn't stop him from being a pest. He still follows me everywhere, and Mum still makes me take him with me when I go to the shops.
and then a couple of paragraphs later:
He's only been like this for a few days. I thought it would be cool, having a zombie for a brother, but it's not. The fact is that it stinks. Literally. And it's getting worse every day. Maybe it's okay in Europe or whereever, but Australian summers are bad news. Nothing's fallen off him yet, but it's only a matter of time. I hate to think what's going to happen when school starts again in February. I don't think Mr Browning is going to let Dylan on the school footy team this year.
The final story, and the one that gives the collection its title Showtime, is connected to Narrelle's previous novel called The Opposite of Life which features a less-than-enthusiastic vampire, Gary and his human friend, Lissa, who is a librarian in her day job. I haven't read The Opposite of Life and, given the choice, I would not normally read a series out of order, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. I do now have the book waiting for me to pick up from the library after having to get it sent over by interlibrary loan.
Gary is somewhat different to the other vampires that you read about. He doesn't enjoy being vampire. He likes Lissa because she reminds him what it means to be human, really human. What could be more human than spending the day at the show (kind of like a big country fair in the city in case you don't know about the show). There's so much to do - you can see the cake decorating, the wood chopping, look at the animals (although they do tend to react badly to a vampire being in their midst) and not forgetting the sideshows with the rides, including the haunted house.
I can't remember the last time I went to the show, and I wouldn't normally spend a lot of time down Sideshow Alley even if I did go. Let's just say I would be even less likely to visit Sideshow Alley after having read this story because there could be all sorts of nefarious dealings going on down there!
This was another fun collection of stories from the Twelve Planets series. I definitely can't wait to see the next books when they arrive in my mailbox!
Rating 4/5
This book was also reviewed at my blog:
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012...
March 24, 2012
This review forms part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge.
Showtime by Narrelle M. Harris is one of the Twelve Planets series published by Twelfth Planet Press (12 boutique collections of stories by Australian women writers). It is made up of four shorter stories, including:
- Stalemate
- Thrall
- The Truth About Brains
- Showtime
Continuing the Twelve Planets trend of very differently themed collections, Showtime uses traditional horror characters (ghosts, zombies and vampires) to tell this set of stories.
The prose of this collection is clean, with appealingly streamlined language and deceptively simple plot lines. This was one of the more satisfying parts of the book, good stories clearly told with enough interesting ideas to remain thought provoking.
While there is some violence in the stories, it is incidental and not the focus of the collection. The collection should appeal to those that like the concepts of horror, but aren't attracted to over the top gore-fests that sometimes make their way into horror movies and books. Indeed, at least two of the stories had more of an urban fantasy feel than horror.
Stalemate is set in a typical Australian suburban kitchen, and starts off with what seems like a very un-speculative and often repeated airing of issues between a woman and her ageing mother. The pacing of this story was very good, with the gradual slide into the speculative aspects of the story handled particularly well. The ending was particularly satisfying.
Thrall tells the story of an ancient vampire, Dragomir, and his failed attempts to deal with modern society, including issues like every bozo with a mobile phone being able to video your attempts to lure a victim to their doom. The rendition of an old vampire, yearning for the world of their undead youth and deploring the trappings of the 21st century, was refreshing. The story revolves around Dragomir's views of the world around him and decision to retreat to home soil in Hungary to wait out these irritating trends.
The other main character in the story is Erzsebet, a woman in her late middle age whose family has been enthralled to the vampire throughout the generations. The interplay between the two forms the core of the story. Both characters were interesting for different reasons, and this was probably my favourite story in the collection.
The Truth About Brains is a suburban zombie story. While I found this story the most difficult to relate to (the age of the protagonists and the suburban setting weren't really my cup of tea), the writing was very good. There was a backstory that was hinted at in this book, regarding the parents of the protagonist and their own zombie experiences, that caught my interest. That would be a story I wouldn't mind reading if Ms Harris ever writes it.
Showtime, the last story in the collection, tells the story of Gary and LIssa, two characters from Ms Harris' previous book The Opposite of Life. Gary is a vampire and Lissa is human, and they work together as an investigative team. The story is set at the Melbourne Show, which makes an interesting setting. This story has the most urban fantasy feel of the collection.
Again Showtime gave a good take on a vampire character. I particularly liked the concept that becoming undead made the brain slow down a little, reducing intuition and making it harder to learn things.
While Ms Harris does a good job sketching in enough background that those new to Gary and Lissa can follow along, I suspect that those that have read The Opposite of Life would get more out of this story. However, there was enough in this to make me want to read more, so I'll be tracking down a copy of The Opposite of Life in the near future.
I've been impressed with the whole Twelve Planets collection so far, and Showtime continues that trend. A highly recommended (and very quick) read.
I also reviewed this book on my website.
Showtime by Narrelle M. Harris is one of the Twelve Planets series published by Twelfth Planet Press (12 boutique collections of stories by Australian women writers). It is made up of four shorter stories, including:
- Stalemate
- Thrall
- The Truth About Brains
- Showtime
Continuing the Twelve Planets trend of very differently themed collections, Showtime uses traditional horror characters (ghosts, zombies and vampires) to tell this set of stories.
The prose of this collection is clean, with appealingly streamlined language and deceptively simple plot lines. This was one of the more satisfying parts of the book, good stories clearly told with enough interesting ideas to remain thought provoking.
While there is some violence in the stories, it is incidental and not the focus of the collection. The collection should appeal to those that like the concepts of horror, but aren't attracted to over the top gore-fests that sometimes make their way into horror movies and books. Indeed, at least two of the stories had more of an urban fantasy feel than horror.
Stalemate is set in a typical Australian suburban kitchen, and starts off with what seems like a very un-speculative and often repeated airing of issues between a woman and her ageing mother. The pacing of this story was very good, with the gradual slide into the speculative aspects of the story handled particularly well. The ending was particularly satisfying.
Thrall tells the story of an ancient vampire, Dragomir, and his failed attempts to deal with modern society, including issues like every bozo with a mobile phone being able to video your attempts to lure a victim to their doom. The rendition of an old vampire, yearning for the world of their undead youth and deploring the trappings of the 21st century, was refreshing. The story revolves around Dragomir's views of the world around him and decision to retreat to home soil in Hungary to wait out these irritating trends.
The other main character in the story is Erzsebet, a woman in her late middle age whose family has been enthralled to the vampire throughout the generations. The interplay between the two forms the core of the story. Both characters were interesting for different reasons, and this was probably my favourite story in the collection.
The Truth About Brains is a suburban zombie story. While I found this story the most difficult to relate to (the age of the protagonists and the suburban setting weren't really my cup of tea), the writing was very good. There was a backstory that was hinted at in this book, regarding the parents of the protagonist and their own zombie experiences, that caught my interest. That would be a story I wouldn't mind reading if Ms Harris ever writes it.
Showtime, the last story in the collection, tells the story of Gary and LIssa, two characters from Ms Harris' previous book The Opposite of Life. Gary is a vampire and Lissa is human, and they work together as an investigative team. The story is set at the Melbourne Show, which makes an interesting setting. This story has the most urban fantasy feel of the collection.
Again Showtime gave a good take on a vampire character. I particularly liked the concept that becoming undead made the brain slow down a little, reducing intuition and making it harder to learn things.
While Ms Harris does a good job sketching in enough background that those new to Gary and Lissa can follow along, I suspect that those that have read The Opposite of Life would get more out of this story. However, there was enough in this to make me want to read more, so I'll be tracking down a copy of The Opposite of Life in the near future.
I've been impressed with the whole Twelve Planets collection so far, and Showtime continues that trend. A highly recommended (and very quick) read.
I also reviewed this book on my website.
May 19, 2016
Showtime by Narelle M. Harris is the fifth volume in Twelfth Planet Press’s Twelve Planets series. The stories in this volume aren’t linked, in terms of settings and characters, but they do contain some thematic linkage, in that they all deal in some way with families and feature supernatural elements.
The first story in the collection is Stalemate. This is a deceptive story, which on the surface features a mother and daughter confronting one another in a kitchen. There’s an emotional gutpunch that I didn’t see coming (and frankly, didn’t want to, since I think knowing going in might have ruined some of the impact of the story), and a very clever ending. Really liked this one.
Thrall takes a tonal shift, and can be summed up as the story of an ancient vampire facing the modern world. I loved so many of the details in this one, with lots of twisting of vampire mythos, and I loved Erzsebet in particular.
The Truth About Brains takes another shift, this time taking us firmly back to modern Australia, and features both magic and zombies (and also zombies in Australian summer, which ew). The grounding of the characters in this one is fantastic, with the teenage protagonist’s voice absolutely spot on.
I looked forward to the last story in the book, Showtime, because it takes place in the world of, and features characters from, Harris’s novel The Opposite of Life (which if you haven’t read, you should). Again, Harris manages to twist “known” monster mythology, and her vampires are truly her own. You can definitely read this one on its own if you haven’t read The Opposite of Life, but I’d recommend reading them both, just because the fictional world of the book and story are so much fun.
This is a quieter collection than the previous Planets, and feels more grounded, especially in terms of the characters, who all feel very much like anyone you might pass on the street (with perhaps the exception of Dragomir from Thrall. I hope.). I enjoyed all of the stories, and I feel that they are all great examples of Harris’ talent with characterisation and subtle twisting of supernatural mythologies to create new worlds.
The first story in the collection is Stalemate. This is a deceptive story, which on the surface features a mother and daughter confronting one another in a kitchen. There’s an emotional gutpunch that I didn’t see coming (and frankly, didn’t want to, since I think knowing going in might have ruined some of the impact of the story), and a very clever ending. Really liked this one.
Thrall takes a tonal shift, and can be summed up as the story of an ancient vampire facing the modern world. I loved so many of the details in this one, with lots of twisting of vampire mythos, and I loved Erzsebet in particular.
The Truth About Brains takes another shift, this time taking us firmly back to modern Australia, and features both magic and zombies (and also zombies in Australian summer, which ew). The grounding of the characters in this one is fantastic, with the teenage protagonist’s voice absolutely spot on.
I looked forward to the last story in the book, Showtime, because it takes place in the world of, and features characters from, Harris’s novel The Opposite of Life (which if you haven’t read, you should). Again, Harris manages to twist “known” monster mythology, and her vampires are truly her own. You can definitely read this one on its own if you haven’t read The Opposite of Life, but I’d recommend reading them both, just because the fictional world of the book and story are so much fun.
This is a quieter collection than the previous Planets, and feels more grounded, especially in terms of the characters, who all feel very much like anyone you might pass on the street (with perhaps the exception of Dragomir from Thrall. I hope.). I enjoyed all of the stories, and I feel that they are all great examples of Harris’ talent with characterisation and subtle twisting of supernatural mythologies to create new worlds.
March 15, 2012
I'm horribly sick with the flu. Just want to lie in bed hating everyone and everything. Heaven help the GoodReads rating of whatever book I pick up when I'm feeling this foul, right?
Wrong. It turns out "Showtime" was exactly the distraction I needed.
The opening story of this collection, "Stalemate," seems at first to be simple, a quietly desperate situation of domestic miscommunication.
It isn't. It's creepy. It's horrific. It's wonderful.
It's my first taste of Narrelle M Harris and my favourite of this collection, and now there's no going back.
"Thrall," the second story, made me chuckle from start to finish. "Dragomir had been a man of his time, short and stocky...his prey...towered over him with their rangy bodies, made giant by decades of better eating and better health than he had achieved in his human lifetime."
Hahaha! "Thrall" was an enjoyable tale with a twist.
The teen protagonist's eye-rolling voice carried me quickly through the third story, "The Truth About Brains."
Unlike the character Carrie from this entertaining zombie story, I don't (normally) love vampire books. I am completely over "the number of deaths, the amount of blood and the hotness of the vampire."
But as I started reading the fourth and final story, "Showtime," I became instantly enamoured of Narrelle's vampire character, Gary, as well as his companion with a "real live brain," amateur detective and librarian, Lissa, who says in the first few pages: "He missed being alive so much he made me realise the value of what I had."
And I said, "Yes!" - aloud, even though I was alone in my loungeroom, because what I hate about most vampire stories is the glorification of sacrifice and death, and this one was such a lovely, light-hearted relief from that.
I will be picking up Narrelle's Gary and Lissa novel, "The Opposite of Life," at the first opportunity.
Wrong. It turns out "Showtime" was exactly the distraction I needed.
The opening story of this collection, "Stalemate," seems at first to be simple, a quietly desperate situation of domestic miscommunication.
It isn't. It's creepy. It's horrific. It's wonderful.
It's my first taste of Narrelle M Harris and my favourite of this collection, and now there's no going back.
"Thrall," the second story, made me chuckle from start to finish. "Dragomir had been a man of his time, short and stocky...his prey...towered over him with their rangy bodies, made giant by decades of better eating and better health than he had achieved in his human lifetime."
Hahaha! "Thrall" was an enjoyable tale with a twist.
The teen protagonist's eye-rolling voice carried me quickly through the third story, "The Truth About Brains."
Unlike the character Carrie from this entertaining zombie story, I don't (normally) love vampire books. I am completely over "the number of deaths, the amount of blood and the hotness of the vampire."
But as I started reading the fourth and final story, "Showtime," I became instantly enamoured of Narrelle's vampire character, Gary, as well as his companion with a "real live brain," amateur detective and librarian, Lissa, who says in the first few pages: "He missed being alive so much he made me realise the value of what I had."
And I said, "Yes!" - aloud, even though I was alone in my loungeroom, because what I hate about most vampire stories is the glorification of sacrifice and death, and this one was such a lovely, light-hearted relief from that.
I will be picking up Narrelle's Gary and Lissa novel, "The Opposite of Life," at the first opportunity.
April 4, 2012
Short but sweet, Showtime is a nice collection of short stories from Melbourne author Narrelle Harris.
With a supernatural theme that focuses on relationships, the four stories are a quick, fun and interesting read.
My favourite is the title story 'Showtime', for the continuing adventures of Gary and Lissa (stars of the most excellent 'The Opposite Of Life'), though 'The Truth About Brains' comes a close second.
Pick it up if you like a good dose of the supernatural, a little bit of humour* and more than a touch of blood.
(*My sense of humor is a little twisted. This is a horror/supernatural theme that we're talking about after all)
With a supernatural theme that focuses on relationships, the four stories are a quick, fun and interesting read.
My favourite is the title story 'Showtime', for the continuing adventures of Gary and Lissa (stars of the most excellent 'The Opposite Of Life'), though 'The Truth About Brains' comes a close second.
Pick it up if you like a good dose of the supernatural, a little bit of humour* and more than a touch of blood.
(*My sense of humor is a little twisted. This is a horror/supernatural theme that we're talking about after all)
March 19, 2012
Awesome storytelling in all four short stories .I particulary loved reading Showtime ,but i do have a solf spot for Gary and Lissa.S9o well written an aboulute joy to read .
I encourage every one to contact Twelthplanet press and buy Showtime and check out what else is on offer !
I encourage every one to contact Twelthplanet press and buy Showtime and check out what else is on offer !
November 25, 2019
Fantastic little collection! Here be ghosts, vampires and zombies, but don’t expect hackneyed tropes. Narrelle Harris puts her own unique spin on these stories to great effect.
March 21, 2020
Creepy in only the best way short stories can be.
May 22, 2016
Showtime is the fifth book in the Twelve Planets series, released by Twelfth Planet Press, which showcase the talent of female Australian authors. There is now to be a thirteenth in the series, but that's a review for another time. The brief given to authors was to write 4 short stories of up to 40,000 words in total. The stories could be separate, discrete narratives or linked through character, setting or theme.
This collection contains four unconnected stories about vampires, ghosts, witches, zombies. As you can probably guess, these are more into the 'horror' side of speculative fiction but most remain at the accessible level of horror - a bit creepy but not at the level where you have to put the book down and go play with a puppy in the sunshine to get past it.
Stalemate
A mother has come to stay will her ill 30-year-old daughter, to lovingly nurse her back to health. Only while the mother tries well it's more about her own health issues (reminds me a little of the mother in Pride & Prejudice), and how no one appreciates her. The daughter takes the opportunity to finally say what's been bothering her for her whole life, however the mother isn't really there to listen.
This one was quite electric, where you think you know exactly where it's going until it throws you a curve ball (or two). It works so well because while you don't see it coming, so many things make sense when the ending is revealed.
Thrall
Set in Hungary, vampires still exist. A family beholden to him come to his call every time he wakes from his 100 year slumber. It's usually the fittest male of the family, so he's not amused when an older woman turns up, suffering a cold and both lactose and gluten intolerant (so basically, me.) Regardless, he'll take her help. She's to come to his castle at a certain time, with certain ingredients to ensure his slumber can continue, even if he's starting to really hate how the world is these days, what with the security cameras everywhere, and people uploading things to youtube.
This one was really excellent. Vampire lore is twisted up together to cover seemingly all bases, and it really does feel real. Erzsebet, the woman, is marvellous and strong - even though he thinks that people of today don't compare to those from his time at all. Because of her intolerances and allergies he thinks that in his day, people like her wouldn't have survived infancy and that it was a good thing. Hence, he underestimates her, much to his own ill luck.
The Truth About Brains
The things kids do sometimes is stupid. Stupid dares, stupid ways to try to fix things before their parents find out... this one really takes the cake, though. Two kids dare Amy's younger brother Dylan into climbing over something in a derelict house. He falls and dies - blood everywhere, broken bones, the lot. When Amy is brought to the scene the two kids assure her it'll be alright, because they have a way to fix this. A magic spell to bring the dead back to life. Only that means zombies, doesn't it?
This captures the way kids interact with each other so perfectly. The way they speak and the way they pass along a message like calling someone totally different in order to get them to tell so-and-so to do a thing. Or at least it was this way before everyone had a mobile phone, I suppose. It also captures parents quite well, and I love how, like in Thrall, someone in underestimated.
Showtime
This one features characters from Narrelle's novel The Opposite of Life, and features vampires yet again. A vampire (Gary, wears Hawaiian shirts) and a human (Lissa, librarian) go to the Melbourne Show. You don't need to have read her novel (as I haven't) to get a feel for these characters, as she gently refers to their previous adventures in a non-info-dump kind of way - it makes you want to read more about them. We see how vampires are surviving in Melbourne and how the public even help them out (humans will do anything to feel part of a special elite group, above the other normals), and you also get a good feel for Melbourne Show itself.
What's good about this, and the whole collection, is how it shows how horror is in everyday life and/or lurking there, but how mundane it also is or can be, kind of like how Harry Potter can exist so easily through London and surrounds. It gives the anthology a depth of being just below the surface, and it's all very well handled.
This collection contains four unconnected stories about vampires, ghosts, witches, zombies. As you can probably guess, these are more into the 'horror' side of speculative fiction but most remain at the accessible level of horror - a bit creepy but not at the level where you have to put the book down and go play with a puppy in the sunshine to get past it.
Stalemate
A mother has come to stay will her ill 30-year-old daughter, to lovingly nurse her back to health. Only while the mother tries well it's more about her own health issues (reminds me a little of the mother in Pride & Prejudice), and how no one appreciates her. The daughter takes the opportunity to finally say what's been bothering her for her whole life, however the mother isn't really there to listen.
This one was quite electric, where you think you know exactly where it's going until it throws you a curve ball (or two). It works so well because while you don't see it coming, so many things make sense when the ending is revealed.
Thrall
Set in Hungary, vampires still exist. A family beholden to him come to his call every time he wakes from his 100 year slumber. It's usually the fittest male of the family, so he's not amused when an older woman turns up, suffering a cold and both lactose and gluten intolerant (so basically, me.) Regardless, he'll take her help. She's to come to his castle at a certain time, with certain ingredients to ensure his slumber can continue, even if he's starting to really hate how the world is these days, what with the security cameras everywhere, and people uploading things to youtube.
This one was really excellent. Vampire lore is twisted up together to cover seemingly all bases, and it really does feel real. Erzsebet, the woman, is marvellous and strong - even though he thinks that people of today don't compare to those from his time at all. Because of her intolerances and allergies he thinks that in his day, people like her wouldn't have survived infancy and that it was a good thing. Hence, he underestimates her, much to his own ill luck.
The Truth About Brains
The things kids do sometimes is stupid. Stupid dares, stupid ways to try to fix things before their parents find out... this one really takes the cake, though. Two kids dare Amy's younger brother Dylan into climbing over something in a derelict house. He falls and dies - blood everywhere, broken bones, the lot. When Amy is brought to the scene the two kids assure her it'll be alright, because they have a way to fix this. A magic spell to bring the dead back to life. Only that means zombies, doesn't it?
This captures the way kids interact with each other so perfectly. The way they speak and the way they pass along a message like calling someone totally different in order to get them to tell so-and-so to do a thing. Or at least it was this way before everyone had a mobile phone, I suppose. It also captures parents quite well, and I love how, like in Thrall, someone in underestimated.
Showtime
This one features characters from Narrelle's novel The Opposite of Life, and features vampires yet again. A vampire (Gary, wears Hawaiian shirts) and a human (Lissa, librarian) go to the Melbourne Show. You don't need to have read her novel (as I haven't) to get a feel for these characters, as she gently refers to their previous adventures in a non-info-dump kind of way - it makes you want to read more about them. We see how vampires are surviving in Melbourne and how the public even help them out (humans will do anything to feel part of a special elite group, above the other normals), and you also get a good feel for Melbourne Show itself.
What's good about this, and the whole collection, is how it shows how horror is in everyday life and/or lurking there, but how mundane it also is or can be, kind of like how Harry Potter can exist so easily through London and surrounds. It gives the anthology a depth of being just below the surface, and it's all very well handled.
June 7, 2012
Showtime is yet another of the Twelfth Planets Press series and I was lucky enough to win a copy of this one on Goodreads. This is the second lot of short stories from this collection that I’ve read now, the first being Love And Romanpunk, by Tansy Rayner Roberts. This is a collection of four stories, which are unrelated.
In the first story, a young woman is sitting at the table in her kitchen and fails to notice for some time that her mother has entered the kitchen, because the likelihood of that happening is so remote that it just doesn’t register. From there the two women bicker about the possibility of the mother’s appearance and why she shouldn’t be there, finally each learning a horrible secret about what they have both done to the other.
In the second story we move to Hungary where elder vampire Dragomir has requested something of a family long bound into his service. The only member left who is able to heed his call is a dumpy, middle aged woman, not entirely what he expected when he put out his request. Dragomir is struggling with modern life, unable to sneak around to feed in an age where everyone has a mobile phone and he finds a failed attack of his posted on Youtube. Determined to increase how power, to return to a time when he was feared, he puts in place a plan – but he might just be in for a surprise himself.
The third story is entitled The Truth About Brains and involves a pair of siblings, Amy and her younger brother Dylan. Reluctant to have Dylan tagging along after her all summer, Amy sneaks off without him and Dylan gets into trouble in her absence, dying and being turned into a zombie by a couple of teenagers Amy knows, in a botched Resurrection spell. Amy desperately tries to hide the truth from her mother that her little brother is now a zombie, even though he’s starting to smell a bit! An interesting girl from Amy’s school that she’s always thought she might like to be friends with, if it weren’t for peer pressure, thinks she might be able to help.
The final story is set in Melbourne, during the Royal Melbourne Show and involves vampires. Lissa, a human and her vampire friend Garry are attending the show when they hear the screams of a young girl. They investigate and find the King of Vampires and another vampire arguing over the stranger vampire kidnapping the young girl, something that the King and Queen now forbid as it causes the local vampire community too much bad publicity. Lissa and Garry decide that they must rescue the young girl, possibly drawing the ire of not only the strange vampire but also the King.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve never been much for short stories. I’ve read very few collections in my time and those I have read have been okay but I often seemed to feel like I was left hanging – like they were unfinished or that I had missed something somehow. I’m pleased to say that with these stories, I didn’t feel that way at all and I quite enjoyed all four of them, particularly the two middle stories, that of Dragomir the vampire bemoaning the lack of respect and fear he invoked these days and of the teenage Amy who found herself with a zombie brother. In both cases I particularly enjoyed the characterisation. Dragomir was a different take on vampires than seems to be the popular norm these days (handsome, charming, etc) being short, dumpy and relatively unremarkable but yet previously, had instilled a terror in the population. It seems that people these days don’t show the respect and fear anymore, much to his chagrin.
So far I am quite liking these collections – I think there’s going to be 12 in all and I know I have at least one more here to read that I’ve borrowed from Marg and some are due to be launched very soon, including one from acclaimed Australian author Margo Lanagan. I’m hoping to attend that event in the next couple of weeks.
In the first story, a young woman is sitting at the table in her kitchen and fails to notice for some time that her mother has entered the kitchen, because the likelihood of that happening is so remote that it just doesn’t register. From there the two women bicker about the possibility of the mother’s appearance and why she shouldn’t be there, finally each learning a horrible secret about what they have both done to the other.
In the second story we move to Hungary where elder vampire Dragomir has requested something of a family long bound into his service. The only member left who is able to heed his call is a dumpy, middle aged woman, not entirely what he expected when he put out his request. Dragomir is struggling with modern life, unable to sneak around to feed in an age where everyone has a mobile phone and he finds a failed attack of his posted on Youtube. Determined to increase how power, to return to a time when he was feared, he puts in place a plan – but he might just be in for a surprise himself.
The third story is entitled The Truth About Brains and involves a pair of siblings, Amy and her younger brother Dylan. Reluctant to have Dylan tagging along after her all summer, Amy sneaks off without him and Dylan gets into trouble in her absence, dying and being turned into a zombie by a couple of teenagers Amy knows, in a botched Resurrection spell. Amy desperately tries to hide the truth from her mother that her little brother is now a zombie, even though he’s starting to smell a bit! An interesting girl from Amy’s school that she’s always thought she might like to be friends with, if it weren’t for peer pressure, thinks she might be able to help.
The final story is set in Melbourne, during the Royal Melbourne Show and involves vampires. Lissa, a human and her vampire friend Garry are attending the show when they hear the screams of a young girl. They investigate and find the King of Vampires and another vampire arguing over the stranger vampire kidnapping the young girl, something that the King and Queen now forbid as it causes the local vampire community too much bad publicity. Lissa and Garry decide that they must rescue the young girl, possibly drawing the ire of not only the strange vampire but also the King.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve never been much for short stories. I’ve read very few collections in my time and those I have read have been okay but I often seemed to feel like I was left hanging – like they were unfinished or that I had missed something somehow. I’m pleased to say that with these stories, I didn’t feel that way at all and I quite enjoyed all four of them, particularly the two middle stories, that of Dragomir the vampire bemoaning the lack of respect and fear he invoked these days and of the teenage Amy who found herself with a zombie brother. In both cases I particularly enjoyed the characterisation. Dragomir was a different take on vampires than seems to be the popular norm these days (handsome, charming, etc) being short, dumpy and relatively unremarkable but yet previously, had instilled a terror in the population. It seems that people these days don’t show the respect and fear anymore, much to his chagrin.
So far I am quite liking these collections – I think there’s going to be 12 in all and I know I have at least one more here to read that I’ve borrowed from Marg and some are due to be launched very soon, including one from acclaimed Australian author Margo Lanagan. I’m hoping to attend that event in the next couple of weeks.
December 16, 2015
I'm not a big fan of horror, so I am not the ideal reader for this collection which, although not overwhelmingly scary, uses horror tropes to tell its stories. Nonetheless, it is a quite readable quartet.
The first story, "Stalemate," is probably the scariest, and that's because it is the most mundane. Which is saying something, because three out of four of these stories are defined by being set in domestic settings (by which I mean only non-exotic, like another planet or a medieval castle). It's a suburban kitchen, with a mum and her grown-up daughter, arguing over all the tired old things that parents and grown-up kids argue over, with the added bitterness that Mum is there to help the daughter while she is sick. Of course, it turns out that things aren't quite as mundane as they seem - and this revelation makes things all the more awful because of the very setting, and the consequences. It's terrible.
My favourite story is "Thrall," because it does the most clever things with the horror ideas it's working with. It's the story that is least obviously 'domestic', involving as it does a Hungarian castle; but even then, it opens in a dingy suburban cafe, and the castle is a tourist trap. Dragomir is a vampire, returned to Hungary to get a bit of rest. He has called a thrall to him - a woman whose ancestors pledged their allegiance to him many centuries before - to help him get ready. The narrative is fairly simple and straightforward. What really makes the story intriguing though is people's reactions to Dragomir, and his reactions to them. Harris has gone with a much more 'realistic' vampire, in that he is very much a man of his times - his original times. He is shorter than the average 21st century man. He despises much of the modern world. And, in return, much of it despises him, too.
"The Truth about Brains" makes the reader into zombie territory, and the heady days of summer in the suburbs. Again the characters revolve around the family, this time an older sister impatient with her brother who, as the story opens, has kind-of sort-of accidentally been turned into a zombie. The narrative backtracks to explain how that happened, and then explores the consequences for the sister, the brother, and the other people involved. I think I found this the least convincing of the stories, mostly because the characters didn't work for me. It could also be that I just don't like zombie stories.
The last story is the longest, and relates to Harris' novel The Opposite of Life, which I've not read. "Showtime" involves Gary - a not-that-happy-with-it vampire - and his friend Lissa, a librarian, heading to the Melbourne Show, location of rides, craft, wood-chopping exhibitions... and a haunted house. Harris does well to bring those unfamiliar with this version of Melbourne up to speed, with crafty hints at Gary and Lissa's shared past of dealing with less-than-friendly vampires, and how this friendship manages to exist at all. It captures some of Gary's angst and rue at not being alive, and suggests an interesting take on the implications of being undead (sunlight isn't deadly but more like a beta-blocker; he has no adrenaline so rollercoasters are pointless). However, in the end the story fell a bit flat for me, and I think that was partly because I wasn't as invested as I could have been in the lives of Gary and his vampire brethren existing (as it were) in the shadows of Melbourne.
Overall, this is generally an interesting look at how horror tropes can be used in familiar settings, and it's certainly a neat addition to the Twelve Planets series.
The first story, "Stalemate," is probably the scariest, and that's because it is the most mundane. Which is saying something, because three out of four of these stories are defined by being set in domestic settings (by which I mean only non-exotic, like another planet or a medieval castle). It's a suburban kitchen, with a mum and her grown-up daughter, arguing over all the tired old things that parents and grown-up kids argue over, with the added bitterness that Mum is there to help the daughter while she is sick. Of course, it turns out that things aren't quite as mundane as they seem - and this revelation makes things all the more awful because of the very setting, and the consequences. It's terrible.
My favourite story is "Thrall," because it does the most clever things with the horror ideas it's working with. It's the story that is least obviously 'domestic', involving as it does a Hungarian castle; but even then, it opens in a dingy suburban cafe, and the castle is a tourist trap. Dragomir is a vampire, returned to Hungary to get a bit of rest. He has called a thrall to him - a woman whose ancestors pledged their allegiance to him many centuries before - to help him get ready. The narrative is fairly simple and straightforward. What really makes the story intriguing though is people's reactions to Dragomir, and his reactions to them. Harris has gone with a much more 'realistic' vampire, in that he is very much a man of his times - his original times. He is shorter than the average 21st century man. He despises much of the modern world. And, in return, much of it despises him, too.
"The Truth about Brains" makes the reader into zombie territory, and the heady days of summer in the suburbs. Again the characters revolve around the family, this time an older sister impatient with her brother who, as the story opens, has kind-of sort-of accidentally been turned into a zombie. The narrative backtracks to explain how that happened, and then explores the consequences for the sister, the brother, and the other people involved. I think I found this the least convincing of the stories, mostly because the characters didn't work for me. It could also be that I just don't like zombie stories.
The last story is the longest, and relates to Harris' novel The Opposite of Life, which I've not read. "Showtime" involves Gary - a not-that-happy-with-it vampire - and his friend Lissa, a librarian, heading to the Melbourne Show, location of rides, craft, wood-chopping exhibitions... and a haunted house. Harris does well to bring those unfamiliar with this version of Melbourne up to speed, with crafty hints at Gary and Lissa's shared past of dealing with less-than-friendly vampires, and how this friendship manages to exist at all. It captures some of Gary's angst and rue at not being alive, and suggests an interesting take on the implications of being undead (sunlight isn't deadly but more like a beta-blocker; he has no adrenaline so rollercoasters are pointless). However, in the end the story fell a bit flat for me, and I think that was partly because I wasn't as invested as I could have been in the lives of Gary and his vampire brethren existing (as it were) in the shadows of Melbourne.
Overall, this is generally an interesting look at how horror tropes can be used in familiar settings, and it's certainly a neat addition to the Twelve Planets series.
May 22, 2016
This review is an exerpt of the full revoew posted at my blog The Conversationalist. It is presented as part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2016, and as part of the Journey Through the Twelve Planets Reading Challenge.
------------------------------------------
And here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I found a horror story that was truly chilling but that I really enjoyed reading and loved the hell out of! Maybe I can do this reading horror thing afterall! Showtime is the fifth collection in the Twelve Planets project orchestrated by Twelfth Planet Press and it is another fine addition to the series. I really enjoyed this book and the stories. I must also report that much to my amusement when I was reading the introduction, it reminded me of Seanan McGuire’s voice/tone well before I knew she did actually write the introduction. I was reminded quite strongly of interviews I’ve listened to recently, her voice was incredibly strong in my mind. I laughed out loud when I realised that it really was McGuire speaking.
I really enjoyed this collection a lot, as a whole I think – I can’t actually pick a favourite story from it, they are all excellent! I love the central theme of family that runs throughout the book. Although none of the stories are connected directly, they all resonate with that same thematic element of family exploring the joys and tribulations of dealing with family, all with a supernatural twist. As an exploration of family themes, I’m hard pressed to think of a book that does a better job of considering some of the difficult concepts shared here, mother and daughter love that is as fraught as the love is deep, that frustration and love that comes from being a sibling and finding your younger brother annoying as hell – and yet, you don’t really want him dead. Being the matriarch of a line and being done with old curses, wanting freedom and hope for your family into the future, and supporting a child’s bravery and truth, appreciating chosen family in friendship. Congratulations to Harris and Twelfth Planet Press on such a well rounded read that demonstrates Harris’ talent so well.
------------------------------------------
And here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I found a horror story that was truly chilling but that I really enjoyed reading and loved the hell out of! Maybe I can do this reading horror thing afterall! Showtime is the fifth collection in the Twelve Planets project orchestrated by Twelfth Planet Press and it is another fine addition to the series. I really enjoyed this book and the stories. I must also report that much to my amusement when I was reading the introduction, it reminded me of Seanan McGuire’s voice/tone well before I knew she did actually write the introduction. I was reminded quite strongly of interviews I’ve listened to recently, her voice was incredibly strong in my mind. I laughed out loud when I realised that it really was McGuire speaking.
I really enjoyed this collection a lot, as a whole I think – I can’t actually pick a favourite story from it, they are all excellent! I love the central theme of family that runs throughout the book. Although none of the stories are connected directly, they all resonate with that same thematic element of family exploring the joys and tribulations of dealing with family, all with a supernatural twist. As an exploration of family themes, I’m hard pressed to think of a book that does a better job of considering some of the difficult concepts shared here, mother and daughter love that is as fraught as the love is deep, that frustration and love that comes from being a sibling and finding your younger brother annoying as hell – and yet, you don’t really want him dead. Being the matriarch of a line and being done with old curses, wanting freedom and hope for your family into the future, and supporting a child’s bravery and truth, appreciating chosen family in friendship. Congratulations to Harris and Twelfth Planet Press on such a well rounded read that demonstrates Harris’ talent so well.
July 8, 2012
Showtime by Narrelle M Harris is another of Twelfth Planet Press’s Twelve Planets collections. The stories in it are thematically linked — supernatural creatures such as vampires, zombies and ghosts feature — but there isn’t a linking setting or common characters as in Nightsiders, Bad Power or Love and Romanpunk.
The general theme throughout the four stories is of subverting some of the tropes associated with the aforementioned supernatural creatures. There’s either a bit of a twist or something upfront that’s a bit unusual in each of them. They’re also all ultimately about families in different ways. I really enjoyed all of the stories and I would highly recommend this collection to anyone with even a passing interest in vampires, zombies or ghosts. The fact that two of the stories were also set in Australia only added to my enjoyment (of the other two, if you’re wondering, one’s set in a kitchen which could be almost anywhere and the other is set in Hungary).
Stalemate
Stalemate is the story set in a kitchen. It’s a story about family and about family fights and how the same fight can feel never-ending.
Thrall
Thrall is the story set in Hungary. It’s about an ancient vampire that hasn’t quite gotten with the modern times (and has discovered that YouTube videos have no problem capturing his likeness, unlike good old silver nitrate film). A story about how the old isn’t always compatible with the new.
The Truth About Brains
The truth about brains is that one day your little brother can accidentally get turned into a zombie. And then you don’t necessarily want him around when he’s getting increasingly smelly in the Australian summer. That doesn’t stop your mum from making you take him with you every time you go out, though…
Showtime
The titular story is about a (human) librarian and a vampire going to the Melbourne Show. If you’ve read Narrelle M Harris’s The Opposite of Life (I haven’t yet), then you might recognise the two main characters.
~
Overall, it’s hard to pick a favourite story as there are different nice things to recommend about each of them. As I said, I very much enjoyed this collection and I highly recommend it.
4.5 / 5 stars
The general theme throughout the four stories is of subverting some of the tropes associated with the aforementioned supernatural creatures. There’s either a bit of a twist or something upfront that’s a bit unusual in each of them. They’re also all ultimately about families in different ways. I really enjoyed all of the stories and I would highly recommend this collection to anyone with even a passing interest in vampires, zombies or ghosts. The fact that two of the stories were also set in Australia only added to my enjoyment (of the other two, if you’re wondering, one’s set in a kitchen which could be almost anywhere and the other is set in Hungary).
Stalemate
Stalemate is the story set in a kitchen. It’s a story about family and about family fights and how the same fight can feel never-ending.
Thrall
Thrall is the story set in Hungary. It’s about an ancient vampire that hasn’t quite gotten with the modern times (and has discovered that YouTube videos have no problem capturing his likeness, unlike good old silver nitrate film). A story about how the old isn’t always compatible with the new.
The Truth About Brains
The truth about brains is that one day your little brother can accidentally get turned into a zombie. And then you don’t necessarily want him around when he’s getting increasingly smelly in the Australian summer. That doesn’t stop your mum from making you take him with you every time you go out, though…
Showtime
The titular story is about a (human) librarian and a vampire going to the Melbourne Show. If you’ve read Narrelle M Harris’s The Opposite of Life (I haven’t yet), then you might recognise the two main characters.
~
Overall, it’s hard to pick a favourite story as there are different nice things to recommend about each of them. As I said, I very much enjoyed this collection and I highly recommend it.
4.5 / 5 stars
June 14, 2012
Fair warning that I should mention that I received my free copy of Showtime by Narrelle M. Harris as part of a Goodreads give away. Now onto the review.
Showtime is composed of four short stories of roughly the same length (20ish pages). The stories are a nice small slice of speculative fiction that take place in modern times but with a touch of the supernatural/paranormal thrown into it. They are about a wide range of topics from a dead mother still being her same old self which annoys the hell out of her daughter (Stalemate) to an older sister trying to find a way to fix her recently zombified younger brother (The Truth about Brains). Showtime, the title story, is a fun and simple story of two friends at carnival with some unfriendly friends popping up while Thrall is an interesting and realistic vampire story finding out that modern time isn't that wonderful (sidenote: a creepy vampire getting caught on cellphone camera and having said video uploaded to youtube made me laugh).
I find that short stories can be a hard thing to do properly since there's a lot to be done in a limited amount of pages: introduce the characters, introduce the plot, solved the problem and finish. That's the basis of every story, but some stories need hundred of pages to get it right. Harris has written some wonderful stories in this collection as they quickly draw the reader in and leaving a satisfying finish at the end. Things do wrap up nicely though sometimes there's just hint that there are more stories to tell.
My only real complaint is that it is only a small collection of stories, four stories, and I wish there were more stories in it 'cause 18 Australian Dollar (roughly 18$ Canadian dollar) is a bit steep for 100ish page book. I'm not sure how book prices work over down under, but I'm sure many people in North American are use to under 10$ paperback books. But otherwise, I'm looking forward to picking up another novel by Narrelle M. Harris though this might be a problem since I am in Canada.
Showtime is composed of four short stories of roughly the same length (20ish pages). The stories are a nice small slice of speculative fiction that take place in modern times but with a touch of the supernatural/paranormal thrown into it. They are about a wide range of topics from a dead mother still being her same old self which annoys the hell out of her daughter (Stalemate) to an older sister trying to find a way to fix her recently zombified younger brother (The Truth about Brains). Showtime, the title story, is a fun and simple story of two friends at carnival with some unfriendly friends popping up while Thrall is an interesting and realistic vampire story finding out that modern time isn't that wonderful (sidenote: a creepy vampire getting caught on cellphone camera and having said video uploaded to youtube made me laugh).
I find that short stories can be a hard thing to do properly since there's a lot to be done in a limited amount of pages: introduce the characters, introduce the plot, solved the problem and finish. That's the basis of every story, but some stories need hundred of pages to get it right. Harris has written some wonderful stories in this collection as they quickly draw the reader in and leaving a satisfying finish at the end. Things do wrap up nicely though sometimes there's just hint that there are more stories to tell.
My only real complaint is that it is only a small collection of stories, four stories, and I wish there were more stories in it 'cause 18 Australian Dollar (roughly 18$ Canadian dollar) is a bit steep for 100ish page book. I'm not sure how book prices work over down under, but I'm sure many people in North American are use to under 10$ paperback books. But otherwise, I'm looking forward to picking up another novel by Narrelle M. Harris though this might be a problem since I am in Canada.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2012
Showtime is the fifth book in the Twelve Planets series published by Twelfth Planet Press – a series showcasing the quality and variety of Australian women’s speculative fiction through short collections of short stories and novella’s.
They are a chance for each of the invited authors to showcase their talent, to have a little fun, to produce work they might not get the freedom to produce elsewhere.
Showtime is an excellent example of that. I found the title a perfect fit for the collection and having listened to Narrelle speak at Continuum 8 I get the sense that this collection is an extension of her vibrant and dramatic persona.
Showtime is an eclectic mix in both tone and content. Comprised of 4 stories, Stalemate captures beautifully the oppression of the everyday, the suffocation of domesticity and family. Thrall gives the reader a modern take on the monstrous but slightly out of date European vampire. The Truth About Brains is a quaint story that every older sister would appreciate – your kid brother turned into a stinking zombie (some might say there’s not too much difference) and Showtime gives us a window into Harris’ characters from her longer work The Opposite of Life featuring the Gary the Hawaiian shirt wearing vampire ( who I picture played by Bruce Campbell).
This collection was a bit of a hoot, though there’s some seriousness and comment in both Stalemate and Thrall. As a showcase it’s worked – I am sorely tempted to pick up Narrelle’s longer fiction – featuring vampire’s sans glitter.
So in summary a very neat little package. My favourite’s Thrall as it returns us to the “evil vampire” and yet also casts that vampire as a relic of a bygone age.
Disclaimer: I am a fan of Twelfth Planet Press and contribute to the Galactic Chat podcast.
They are a chance for each of the invited authors to showcase their talent, to have a little fun, to produce work they might not get the freedom to produce elsewhere.
Showtime is an excellent example of that. I found the title a perfect fit for the collection and having listened to Narrelle speak at Continuum 8 I get the sense that this collection is an extension of her vibrant and dramatic persona.
Showtime is an eclectic mix in both tone and content. Comprised of 4 stories, Stalemate captures beautifully the oppression of the everyday, the suffocation of domesticity and family. Thrall gives the reader a modern take on the monstrous but slightly out of date European vampire. The Truth About Brains is a quaint story that every older sister would appreciate – your kid brother turned into a stinking zombie (some might say there’s not too much difference) and Showtime gives us a window into Harris’ characters from her longer work The Opposite of Life featuring the Gary the Hawaiian shirt wearing vampire ( who I picture played by Bruce Campbell).
This collection was a bit of a hoot, though there’s some seriousness and comment in both Stalemate and Thrall. As a showcase it’s worked – I am sorely tempted to pick up Narrelle’s longer fiction – featuring vampire’s sans glitter.
So in summary a very neat little package. My favourite’s Thrall as it returns us to the “evil vampire” and yet also casts that vampire as a relic of a bygone age.
Disclaimer: I am a fan of Twelfth Planet Press and contribute to the Galactic Chat podcast.
October 3, 2014
I don't normally read short stories, i am a big fan of the novel to be honest, but as I know Narelle, and think she is quite funny, I was prepared to risk all and fork out for her collection of short tales from Twelfth Planet Press. I enjoyed each story immensely and was impressed by the craft, especially when I found out one of the stories was from a set of novels. You didn't need previous knowledge of the novels to get immersed in the world created and all it did was make me want to buy the novel, so I suppose the story did its job :)
April 9, 2012
Narrelle is a truly excellent story-teller, and there is much to be said for all four of these pieces. They are the kind of fiction where the ideas, images and ramifications linger in the mind for a while as you ponder.
My two favourites, if I must choose, were a ghost story that chills in more significant ways than I'd expected, and a vampire story in which a centuries-old vampire finds that the peasants aren't what they used to be.
Nicely done, 'Relle!
My two favourites, if I must choose, were a ghost story that chills in more significant ways than I'd expected, and a vampire story in which a centuries-old vampire finds that the peasants aren't what they used to be.
Nicely done, 'Relle!
March 31, 2015
Small book, lots to think about in the four short stories. I love the way that Harris has inverted and perverted a range of monster tropes, up to and including 'but the human is the real monster'.
I think "Thrall" is probably the best of the stories - looking at the way that the life of a Vampire is impacted by the modern world, and by the education of the "unwashed masses" that they have taken advantage of.
I think "Thrall" is probably the best of the stories - looking at the way that the life of a Vampire is impacted by the modern world, and by the education of the "unwashed masses" that they have taken advantage of.
July 5, 2012
I received this book free from Good Reads First Reads. Thank you Goodreads for introducing me to Narrelle M. Harris and her book Showtime. Showtime consists of 4 short horror stories which are not terribly scarey unless perhaps you are a person in the story. The stories are well written and very imaginative and a delight to read.
July 7, 2012
Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This review is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my review here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my review here until after the AA are over.
January 23, 2016
A charming selection of stories in which universal family problems are refracted through supernatural lenses. Ms Harris excels in drawing complexity and depth from the ostensibly mundane. My pick is "Thrall", the tale of a traditional Eastern European vampire going three rounds with the modern world.
July 18, 2014
A very enjoyable taste of Harris's brand of paranormal. "Thrall" has to be the best vampire fiction I've read since Salvage (although it's hardly comparable in style).
November 5, 2012
Bloody brilliant! I don't always like collections of short stories but this collection by Narrelle Harris, one of my favourite authors, is fabulous.
September 12, 2014
Serendipitous find. Will look out for more in the Twelve Planet range...
www.twelfthplanetpress.com
www.twelfthplanetpress.com
September 18, 2012
Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews