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Emergence
Following the death of his wife, Jack lives alone on the northeast coast of England. But this year, something worse than isolation and loneliness stalk the bay in front of his home.
When his grandson Paul comes to stay, they find intricately crafted cones of sand jutting from the beach, and a tautness in the air affecting their sleep patterns.
And then something else arrives...something that may want to trouble much more than their dreams.
EMERGENCE...they're closer than we fear.
When his grandson Paul comes to stay, they find intricately crafted cones of sand jutting from the beach, and a tautness in the air affecting their sleep patterns.
And then something else arrives...something that may want to trouble much more than their dreams.
EMERGENCE...they're closer than we fear.
- GenresHorror
52 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 29, 2013
I think that great fiction is about people and a writer that is very good with characters is one that I want to read. Just my humble opinion.
"Emergence," first and foremost is about a man and his grandson. It is about growing old, losing the other half of yourself and being left alone to spend those remaining days and hours suddenly alone. It is about connecting to the people we care about, in this case, a grandchild. You will see yourself in these characters. They are real.
And it is about fear. Fear of the larger ramifications of the little ways in which we are slipping, mentally and physically, and approaching our own frailty. It is about fear for our loved ones.
Emergence is a literary novella. Don't look for a madman to chase down any of the characters here. We are not sure if the demons from without are real or merely reflections of demons from within. Are we witnessing an encroachment from a hostile dimension or are we seeing the fragmentation and disintegration of a character's control on reality. Either way, there is threat and menace and chilling imagery and an overall sense of dread.
What I am sure of is that this is good dark fiction and if you like the stories of those whose horror is more personal and literary going all the way back to Henry James, then you will appreciate this very fine novella.
Once again, kudos to Darkfuse for consistently publishing novellas of such high quality.
"Emergence," first and foremost is about a man and his grandson. It is about growing old, losing the other half of yourself and being left alone to spend those remaining days and hours suddenly alone. It is about connecting to the people we care about, in this case, a grandchild. You will see yourself in these characters. They are real.
And it is about fear. Fear of the larger ramifications of the little ways in which we are slipping, mentally and physically, and approaching our own frailty. It is about fear for our loved ones.
Emergence is a literary novella. Don't look for a madman to chase down any of the characters here. We are not sure if the demons from without are real or merely reflections of demons from within. Are we witnessing an encroachment from a hostile dimension or are we seeing the fragmentation and disintegration of a character's control on reality. Either way, there is threat and menace and chilling imagery and an overall sense of dread.
What I am sure of is that this is good dark fiction and if you like the stories of those whose horror is more personal and literary going all the way back to Henry James, then you will appreciate this very fine novella.
Once again, kudos to Darkfuse for consistently publishing novellas of such high quality.
March 24, 2013
This wasn't a typical horror novella, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
A young boy arrives at his grandfather's house by the sea for a week. What should be a fun visit for the boy is turned into something else altogether.
I liked the philosophic nature of this story; it talks about aging, one's fears and desires. It also presents some interesting questions about what form alien life would take if it were trying to communicate with us.
I can't elaborate for fear of ruining the story for someone but I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. Recommended!
A young boy arrives at his grandfather's house by the sea for a week. What should be a fun visit for the boy is turned into something else altogether.
I liked the philosophic nature of this story; it talks about aging, one's fears and desires. It also presents some interesting questions about what form alien life would take if it were trying to communicate with us.
I can't elaborate for fear of ruining the story for someone but I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. Recommended!
March 29, 2013
I originally gave Gary Fry's Emergence four stars, but after a day or so of the story simmering in my thoughts, going over some of the themes, I had to move up to five stars. I even moved it into my favorites. Every time I think about Emergence, the more I like it.
Is Emergence a perfect story? No. It's not. No story is. Emergence is a slow burn with an ambiguous ending that I know will leave a bad taste in some people mouths. But not mine.
For me, the characters and, as mentioned, the themes touched me very deeply. Jack, who has just lost his wife, and his grandson are spending the week together in his house on the coast of northeast England. Both are experiencing similar problems with reading. Jack, who was an English teacher, is now having difficulty identifying words, while Paul, the grandson, is just learning to read and therefore suffers similar problems.
They wake up one morning to find a series cones that have been carved out on the beach sand. And the morning after that, an entire city.
What these have in common with the stumbling blocks of communication you will have to read for yourself. The fear of getting old, however, that existential horror of realization that your body will one day fail, perhaps is failing, is a fascination (more of a dark obsession) of mine. It kept me focused on not just where the story was taking me, but Jack's awesome characterization.
What we have here is a story of existential and cosmic horror that can be read easily in one sitting. Very well written. If you like the weird fiction of the early twentieth century with a modern sense of culture, then this story should be right up your alley. It certainly was mine. Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Is Emergence a perfect story? No. It's not. No story is. Emergence is a slow burn with an ambiguous ending that I know will leave a bad taste in some people mouths. But not mine.
For me, the characters and, as mentioned, the themes touched me very deeply. Jack, who has just lost his wife, and his grandson are spending the week together in his house on the coast of northeast England. Both are experiencing similar problems with reading. Jack, who was an English teacher, is now having difficulty identifying words, while Paul, the grandson, is just learning to read and therefore suffers similar problems.
They wake up one morning to find a series cones that have been carved out on the beach sand. And the morning after that, an entire city.
What these have in common with the stumbling blocks of communication you will have to read for yourself. The fear of getting old, however, that existential horror of realization that your body will one day fail, perhaps is failing, is a fascination (more of a dark obsession) of mine. It kept me focused on not just where the story was taking me, but Jack's awesome characterization.
What we have here is a story of existential and cosmic horror that can be read easily in one sitting. Very well written. If you like the weird fiction of the early twentieth century with a modern sense of culture, then this story should be right up your alley. It certainly was mine. Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
March 30, 2013
A predictable, ho-hum novella about a grandfather and his grandson discovering symmetrical cones on the beach. From the amazing cover I was expecting to be blown away (especially on the heels of the excellent novella Children of No One by Nicole Cushing), but alas, the cover was better than the story for me. I've seen this general story told too many times before.
I liked the relationship between the grandfather and son but never felt fear, darkness or enough tension or conflict in what happened in the story with and to them. Yeah, the ending has one scene that was interesting, but the resolution left me feeling hollow.
Some of the language was unnecessarily wordy (characters would have actions that suggested their moods and yet the author would tell us what their moods were too--why?) even though it weighed in at the lowest word count of any DarkFuse novella I've read to date. 844 Kindle locations. 2.5 stars rounded up on the strength of the relationship between the boy and his grandfather. Not recommended.
I liked the relationship between the grandfather and son but never felt fear, darkness or enough tension or conflict in what happened in the story with and to them. Yeah, the ending has one scene that was interesting, but the resolution left me feeling hollow.
Some of the language was unnecessarily wordy (characters would have actions that suggested their moods and yet the author would tell us what their moods were too--why?) even though it weighed in at the lowest word count of any DarkFuse novella I've read to date. 844 Kindle locations. 2.5 stars rounded up on the strength of the relationship between the boy and his grandfather. Not recommended.
March 23, 2013
I did enjoy reading the story and how well written it was. But there wasn't alot to the story. This is why I gave it only 3 stars. This was a short supernatural tale. About a man name Jack that lives by the bay and what happens when his grandson visits.
May 6, 2013
High-concept horror/sci-fi with a lot of heart. An easily digested novella about a grandfather and grandson's encounter with some inexplicable and deeply unnerving sandcastles, but really about language, connection, and the chaos lurking just beyond the threshold of the human.
September 3, 2013
Emergence, by Gary Fry, if you ask me, can be read two ways.
There's absolutely no doubt that it is written beautifully, with language which is honed to perfection, and a cracking storyline.
So, we have Jack, recently widowed, probably spending a little too much time by himself at his remote seaside house in North Yorkshire. He worries about his mental faculties and about ageing. His seven-year-old grandson Paul comes to stay for a week. Paul himself is dyslexic and Jack, a former school teacher, helps him to read of fantastic creatures and the like. Do the stories they read have a bearing on what happens next? Is Jack over-thinking, or actually going a bit mad?
When the two see strange things on Google Maps, cone-like structures appear on the beach, followed by a wondrous city made of sand, it would appear not.
The sense of creeping dread is palpable, and mimics the storms which batter the house and coastline. Fry uses nature as another character wonderfully. And when strange creatures threaten their existence, your heart does beat in terror for the two.
So, a supernatural story definitely.
But Emergence is also a really touching tale about the relationship between grandfather and grandson, who would do anything for each other, though the young boy might not know how much his presence is a comfort. And when Jack has to reach into his very being to be brave beyond belief to keep his grandson from harm, both of their lives change - for the better.
I can't think of another book where the essence of the characters is so well done, it goes far beyond physical description and right into the heart of them.
An absolutely marvellous read, can highly recommend it.
There's absolutely no doubt that it is written beautifully, with language which is honed to perfection, and a cracking storyline.
So, we have Jack, recently widowed, probably spending a little too much time by himself at his remote seaside house in North Yorkshire. He worries about his mental faculties and about ageing. His seven-year-old grandson Paul comes to stay for a week. Paul himself is dyslexic and Jack, a former school teacher, helps him to read of fantastic creatures and the like. Do the stories they read have a bearing on what happens next? Is Jack over-thinking, or actually going a bit mad?
When the two see strange things on Google Maps, cone-like structures appear on the beach, followed by a wondrous city made of sand, it would appear not.
The sense of creeping dread is palpable, and mimics the storms which batter the house and coastline. Fry uses nature as another character wonderfully. And when strange creatures threaten their existence, your heart does beat in terror for the two.
So, a supernatural story definitely.
But Emergence is also a really touching tale about the relationship between grandfather and grandson, who would do anything for each other, though the young boy might not know how much his presence is a comfort. And when Jack has to reach into his very being to be brave beyond belief to keep his grandson from harm, both of their lives change - for the better.
I can't think of another book where the essence of the characters is so well done, it goes far beyond physical description and right into the heart of them.
An absolutely marvellous read, can highly recommend it.
February 2, 2020
Ages & ages ago I joined the DarkFuse book club. Life happened and I never got round to reading anything they sent. Most of them bad pretty kick ass jacket art, the kind that begs to be read and Fry's Emergence was one of the most intriguing. Now, six, seven years after its release, I'd have been better served pondering what the story would be like rather than reading it. Cookie cutter characters and an almost non-existent plot. Reading this on the Kindle O was about 50-55% in before anything remotely peculiar happened. What did occur was so vaguely touched upon, and the characters so lifeless, that there was little reason to care. Bout the only positive was the length, which was mercifully short
June 19, 2013
An excellent novella that struck me as being a first-class spiritual successor to The Colour Out of Space and The Willows. It works very effectively with its balancing of cosmic horror against the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson, creating a powerful emotional engagement that it could be argued isn't always the strong point of cosmic horror stories. It is here. There are echoes of the author's earlier work, The Respectable Face of Tyranny, as we see the minor things, little details, mirroring more major developments and imagery as we are shown a world that is thoroughly interconnected in ways that create a sense of melancholy awe as much as unsettling horror.
March 22, 2013
I did like this story, however, there was not a whole lot to it. The writing was good and the character(s) were well drawn but it just lacked some depth for me. I found the premise interesting just wish that there was more time spent on the "events".
June 5, 2022
I liked the book, it's not the usual horror or lovercraft however there are hints of these elements being present, it's more about the human condition, the relationships we have and the concerns with growing old and what can possibly happen because of it, are the creatures real or is it his disease acting up? is it a disease or a creature?
July 21, 2013
I do not recommend this story. I really wanted to like this but I felt that the author had a specific intent of what he wanted to get across and it was completely lost on me. Things may not seem what they appear to be? There were some brilliant moments within the story where there was written color that made everything seem alive but then moments where it seemed cold sterile, almost like reading a college text book. I don’t mind that the mystery was left open but what bothered me was how the underlying theme didn’t come through very well, I think it might have to do with communication and understanding but once again I am guessing.
March 27, 2013
original and well written, the story just wasnt really my cup of tea and the ending was lacking.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews