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Disintegration Visions
Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it.
These are the words of Crawford Award-nominated fantasy author J.M. McDermott (Last Dragon and Never Knew Another). McDermott says it with aliens, magical frogs, and the Berlin wall. Share his discoveries in nature, bug-infested basements, and visions of death.
Visions of the future.
Visions of forgotten pasts.
It's all here in J.M. McDermott's powerful collection of dark fantasy and horror from Apex Publications.
These are the words of Crawford Award-nominated fantasy author J.M. McDermott (Last Dragon and Never Knew Another). McDermott says it with aliens, magical frogs, and the Berlin wall. Share his discoveries in nature, bug-infested basements, and visions of death.
Visions of the future.
Visions of forgotten pasts.
It's all here in J.M. McDermott's powerful collection of dark fantasy and horror from Apex Publications.
- GenresFantasy
ebook
First published March 9, 2012
About the author
J.M. McDermott
37 books78 followersHis first novel was plucked from a slush pile and went on to be #6 on Amazon.com's Year's Best SF/F of 2008, shortlisted for a Crawford Prize, and on Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading List for Debuts. His short fiction has appeared in Weird Tales Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, Apex Magazine, and Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, among other places. He has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an MFA in Popular Fiction from the Stonecoast program of the University of Southern Maine.
By night, he wanders a maze of bookshelves and empty coffee cups, and by day he wanders the streets of San Antonio, where he lives and works.
He tries to write in between.
By night, he wanders a maze of bookshelves and empty coffee cups, and by day he wanders the streets of San Antonio, where he lives and works.
He tries to write in between.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 8, 2016
Disintegration Visions by J.M. McDermott is truly a wonderful collection of short stories. These stories range from fantasy to horror to science fiction, and I have to say I truly loved them all.
This collection starts out strongly with the stories ‘Happiness is Possible if You Have the Right Pen’ and ‘Lights, Bugs.’ These were both beautiful yet slightly dark short stories. The first involves an artist trying to rid himself of a curse in which he can break anything he paints. ‘Lights, Bugs’ is absolutely magical. A group of people follow lights/bugs down into a sewer system near a cancer center. What they find is surprising and beautiful. This is then followed by ‘The Transformation of Mr. Toad’ which is a short, but quite whimsical story that made me smile as I read it. The next few stories were great, but I didn’t find myself being truly amazed again until I read ‘Dragon Came to Galveston to Die.’ This is one of my favorite stories in this collection. The way in which J.M. McDermott describes a storm overtaking Galveston and the dragon rising out of the storm is breathtaking. I literally felt as though I were in the storm, or staring at the dragon as he emerged from the ocean. This story will stay etched on my brain forever. It is a masterpiece.
‘Aliens and Pie’ was also a great story, but when I got to ‘The Jamcoi’ I swear everything outside of me in that moment stopped. This story tells of a culture in which people enjoy and serve Jamcoi, a type of exotic bird for Thanksgiving and other occasions. However, for the Jamcoi to be truly delicious, the bird must be tortured and prepared alive. This story horrified me (and yet it was so good!). I swear this story could turn someone vegetarian…I considered it for a moment until I realized how much I love bacon. The remaining four stories in this collection are also very good. All in all I found this collection to be very impressive. J.M. McDermott just made it to my list of authors that I have to read everything they have written. He is a marvelous writer. The imagery in his stories is both stunning and magical. These stories were so vivid and beautifully (and sometimes darkly) described that I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy/science fiction/horror. A true marvel from start to finish.
This collection starts out strongly with the stories ‘Happiness is Possible if You Have the Right Pen’ and ‘Lights, Bugs.’ These were both beautiful yet slightly dark short stories. The first involves an artist trying to rid himself of a curse in which he can break anything he paints. ‘Lights, Bugs’ is absolutely magical. A group of people follow lights/bugs down into a sewer system near a cancer center. What they find is surprising and beautiful. This is then followed by ‘The Transformation of Mr. Toad’ which is a short, but quite whimsical story that made me smile as I read it. The next few stories were great, but I didn’t find myself being truly amazed again until I read ‘Dragon Came to Galveston to Die.’ This is one of my favorite stories in this collection. The way in which J.M. McDermott describes a storm overtaking Galveston and the dragon rising out of the storm is breathtaking. I literally felt as though I were in the storm, or staring at the dragon as he emerged from the ocean. This story will stay etched on my brain forever. It is a masterpiece.
‘Aliens and Pie’ was also a great story, but when I got to ‘The Jamcoi’ I swear everything outside of me in that moment stopped. This story tells of a culture in which people enjoy and serve Jamcoi, a type of exotic bird for Thanksgiving and other occasions. However, for the Jamcoi to be truly delicious, the bird must be tortured and prepared alive. This story horrified me (and yet it was so good!). I swear this story could turn someone vegetarian…I considered it for a moment until I realized how much I love bacon. The remaining four stories in this collection are also very good. All in all I found this collection to be very impressive. J.M. McDermott just made it to my list of authors that I have to read everything they have written. He is a marvelous writer. The imagery in his stories is both stunning and magical. These stories were so vivid and beautifully (and sometimes darkly) described that I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy/science fiction/horror. A true marvel from start to finish.
June 20, 2014
Not a ton of stand outs, but each story hits a high level of quality. I think most were written before his first novel and you can see him perfecting his craft.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews