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Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
WINNER OF THE 2009 WONDERLAND AWARD!
In the brutal zero-sum game of the new future, every meal is a murder, and every act of love is a declaration of genocidal war. To survive it, you will have to make alliances with the sleeping demons in your blood; learn to wear new names and faces, and shed your soul; feed your inner child to the machine, before it eats you alive; build and defend your own heaven; and become one of the sacred, secret tools with which nature reinvents itself.
To win this game, you will have to change into everything that you are not. To play you need only open this book and arm yourself with...
SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS
In the brutal zero-sum game of the new future, every meal is a murder, and every act of love is a declaration of genocidal war. To survive it, you will have to make alliances with the sleeping demons in your blood; learn to wear new names and faces, and shed your soul; feed your inner child to the machine, before it eats you alive; build and defend your own heaven; and become one of the sacred, secret tools with which nature reinvents itself.
To win this game, you will have to change into everything that you are not. To play you need only open this book and arm yourself with...
SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS
212 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
12 people are currently reading
690 people want to read
About the author
Cody Goodfellow
162 books384 followersCODY GOODFELLOW has written nine novels and five collections, and has won three Wonderland Book Awards for Bizarro Fiction. He wrote, co-produced and scored the short Lovecraftian hygiene films Stay At Home Dad and Baby Got Bass, which have become viral sensations on YouTube. He has appeared in numerous short films, TV shows, music videos and commercials as research for his previous novel, Sleazeland. He also edits the hyperpulp zine Forbidden Futures. He “lives” in San Diego. Find out more at codygoodfellow.com.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 6, 2012
A fine collection of surreal horror fantasies, some with a sci-fi bent. Dark, unsettling, visceral, cerebral, gritty, mythic, lush, dreamlike stuff. In these stories, Goodfellow often writes with an intricately literary, metaphor-laced, jazzy sort of prose that is the perfect vehicle for the expression of the nightmarish realities and predicaments he sets out to show you. Highlights for me include “El Santero,” “The Good News About God,” “Magna Mater,” and “Losers, Weepers.” And the indelible “A Drop of Ruby” ranks as one of the best horror stories I've read this year.
November 10, 2023
Wonderfully diverse and bonkers. I think I'm finding my favourite little niche of short stories. Filled to the brim with gods and madness, hypnotically dark and comedic. Some stories hit like a shotgun with twists that come from absolutely nowhere. Can't wait to read more of the authors work.
January 3, 2012
Favorite stories (like they aren't ALL badass in their own right) include: Atwater, Magna Mater, The Good News About God, Losers Weepers, and Baby Teeth. These stories are full of black magic and mutilation. Goodfellow's writing is the grumbling rants of a genius madman whose crooked glare pierces the skin of things, and usually draws blood.
February 8, 2014
So this is where "The Living Thesaurus" Cody Goodfellow got his start. This was the one that sealed for him the 2009 Wonderland Award for Best Collection. I can see why. Cody has earned himself a reputation for being a 'maximalist', that is, the opposite of a minimalist. He tosses in every word and turn of phrase he possibly can to convey the idea, to transmute the symbols in his brain to you. He sometimes manages to use every word in the English language in some stories (feel free to find out for yourself).
With that being said, his talent doesn't dwarf his enormous heart. He shows a lot of heart and soul in these stories as well as those of his most recent collection, All Monster Action!
In 'Baby Teeth', a son returns to his childhood home after the death of his father to find it in ruins and a boy in a cheap Halloween mask running rampant to destroy every good memory he has of the place.
In 'El Santero', a vigilante growing fat on legend and rumor finds a novel way to take back the streets for the impoverished and downtrodden.
In 'Drops of Ruby', a person sacrifices their anatomy in order to be closer to a Kali-like entity.
'Champagne Room' shows what happens to those missing holes of time when we black out from drink and drug.
'Losers and Weepers' pours out the vial of loss across an entire landscape of debris with a Bradburian splendor.
The point is, Cody Goodfellow is not just a wordsmith. He's a scholar. And I have the privilege of interviewing him for my podcast later today.
With that being said, his talent doesn't dwarf his enormous heart. He shows a lot of heart and soul in these stories as well as those of his most recent collection, All Monster Action!
In 'Baby Teeth', a son returns to his childhood home after the death of his father to find it in ruins and a boy in a cheap Halloween mask running rampant to destroy every good memory he has of the place.
In 'El Santero', a vigilante growing fat on legend and rumor finds a novel way to take back the streets for the impoverished and downtrodden.
In 'Drops of Ruby', a person sacrifices their anatomy in order to be closer to a Kali-like entity.
'Champagne Room' shows what happens to those missing holes of time when we black out from drink and drug.
'Losers and Weepers' pours out the vial of loss across an entire landscape of debris with a Bradburian splendor.
The point is, Cody Goodfellow is not just a wordsmith. He's a scholar. And I have the privilege of interviewing him for my podcast later today.
March 18, 2019
Goodfellow’s writing is sharp and strange and breathtakingly original, and this book shows he has been this way from the start. It is a tasty melange of bizarro, science fiction, weird, noir, and horror, feverishly prepared by a word chef with a giant spice cabinet and no fear. Fantastic and recommended.
March 14, 2011
I have so much to say, I'm sitting here and typing-deleting-typing-deleting! ^^;
As a fan of bizarro literature (because it's great) - this is an absolute joy to read. It doesn't smack nearly as hard of "I'm being different for the sake of me being an amazing individual and you're all stupid cattle" as some people who enjoy the genre are.
My favorite aspect of the book: The verbose vocabulary. It was an utter dream to read something that used words that I so rarely see without feeling like "Oh, hello, Mr. I-Just-Used-My-Thesaurus" - but it was genuinely within Cody Goodfellow's writing style. My hat is off, good sir - and you have won an obnoxiously critical fan. (Ignore that I tend to only give 5 stars. :P) I would not call it a draw back, but I definitely got the sense of "Ho ho ho Freud" in a few of the works. It's not negative, but definitely pronounced.
All in all, if you share my love of the bizarre and a stronger stomach (as not many people could always stomach some of the imagery - giant women composed of blood may disturb some) - check him out.
Cheers!
As a fan of bizarro literature (because it's great) - this is an absolute joy to read. It doesn't smack nearly as hard of "I'm being different for the sake of me being an amazing individual and you're all stupid cattle" as some people who enjoy the genre are.
My favorite aspect of the book: The verbose vocabulary. It was an utter dream to read something that used words that I so rarely see without feeling like "Oh, hello, Mr. I-Just-Used-My-Thesaurus" - but it was genuinely within Cody Goodfellow's writing style. My hat is off, good sir - and you have won an obnoxiously critical fan. (Ignore that I tend to only give 5 stars. :P) I would not call it a draw back, but I definitely got the sense of "Ho ho ho Freud" in a few of the works. It's not negative, but definitely pronounced.
All in all, if you share my love of the bizarre and a stronger stomach (as not many people could always stomach some of the imagery - giant women composed of blood may disturb some) - check him out.
Cheers!
November 17, 2014
استراتيجيّة الإلهاء: هذه الاستراتيجيّة عنصر أساسي في التحكّم بالمجتمعات،
وهي تتمثل في تحويل انتباه الرّأي العام عن المشاكل الهامّة والتغييرات التي تقرّرها النّخب السياسية والإقتصاديّة،
ويتمّ ذلك عبر وابل متواصل من الإلهاءات والمعلومات التافهة. استراتيجيّة الإلهاء ضروريّة أيضا لمنع العامة من الإهتمام بالمعارف الضروريّة في ميادين مثل العلوم، الاقتصاد، علم النفس، بيولوجيا الأعصاب و علم الحواسيب.
"حافظ على تشتّت اهتمامات العامة، بعيدا عن المشاكل الاجتماعية الحقيقية، واجعل هذه الاهتمامات موجهة نحو مواضيع ليست ذات أهمية حقيقيّة.
اجعل الشعب منشغلا، منشغلا، منشغلا، دون أن يكون له أي وقت للتفكير، وحتى يعود للضيعة مع بقيّة الحيوانات.
" (مقتطف من كتاب أسلحة صامتة لحروب هادئة)
وهي تتمثل في تحويل انتباه الرّأي العام عن المشاكل الهامّة والتغييرات التي تقرّرها النّخب السياسية والإقتصاديّة،
ويتمّ ذلك عبر وابل متواصل من الإلهاءات والمعلومات التافهة. استراتيجيّة الإلهاء ضروريّة أيضا لمنع العامة من الإهتمام بالمعارف الضروريّة في ميادين مثل العلوم، الاقتصاد، علم النفس، بيولوجيا الأعصاب و علم الحواسيب.
"حافظ على تشتّت اهتمامات العامة، بعيدا عن المشاكل الاجتماعية الحقيقية، واجعل هذه الاهتمامات موجهة نحو مواضيع ليست ذات أهمية حقيقيّة.
اجعل الشعب منشغلا، منشغلا، منشغلا، دون أن يكون له أي وقت للتفكير، وحتى يعود للضيعة مع بقيّة الحيوانات.
" (مقتطف من كتاب أسلحة صامتة لحروب هادئة)
October 2, 2016
Cody Goodfellow...what can you say?
Nobody can summon the hallucinatory dread like this Goodfellow guy. Holey moley...when he conjures a monster, it will haunt you for a very long time. I think he's the only author who can really build on the foundation Lovecraft built. This is good stuff.
Nobody can summon the hallucinatory dread like this Goodfellow guy. Holey moley...when he conjures a monster, it will haunt you for a very long time. I think he's the only author who can really build on the foundation Lovecraft built. This is good stuff.
June 7, 2017
High-octane horror shorts, well written and very satisfying.
March 20, 2022
If you know...you know.
August 15, 2013
This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for a long while. I’d heard good things about it, but getting me to actually pick up a book and read it is a chore. Finally, though, I decided it was time. Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars ended up being a good collection of short stories wrapped in a nice Alan M. Clark cover. In fact, once I started reading, it was hard to stop. More than once, I’d see that it was 2am again, and I knew I needed to sleep, but flipping ahead, the next story wasn’t too long, so maybe I could read just one more…
What was different about these stories, compared to other Bizarro books I’ve read, is that they have a strong horror vibe. I was reminded of old TV shows, like Tales from the Crypt and Monsters. Some of the stories have an H.P. Lovecraftiness to them. Though I like most of the stories here, Drop of Ruby, Atwater, Magna Mater, and Losers Weepers are probably my favorites. Goodfellow has people encountering dark forces, insanity, Platonic Forms, alchemic creations, mental landscapes, and mysterious porn booths.
I’ve seen this collection as being referred to as Goodfellow’s best short stories, and that’s good enough to make me interested in picking up more of his writing. I’d like to see what he does with a novel.
What was different about these stories, compared to other Bizarro books I’ve read, is that they have a strong horror vibe. I was reminded of old TV shows, like Tales from the Crypt and Monsters. Some of the stories have an H.P. Lovecraftiness to them. Though I like most of the stories here, Drop of Ruby, Atwater, Magna Mater, and Losers Weepers are probably my favorites. Goodfellow has people encountering dark forces, insanity, Platonic Forms, alchemic creations, mental landscapes, and mysterious porn booths.
I’ve seen this collection as being referred to as Goodfellow’s best short stories, and that’s good enough to make me interested in picking up more of his writing. I’d like to see what he does with a novel.
November 29, 2010
This is a collection of bizarre and surreal stories dreamed up by a very twisted yet capable mind.
Each story tends to paint a vivid picture for the readers mind to grasp on to.
But be warned, once you have a grip, hold on tight, because you are in for one hell of a ride.
This was my first introduction to Cody Goodfellow, and I will say based on this excellent collection of short stories that I will be returning.
As a matter of fact, I already have Goodfellow's novel PERFECT UNION on my to read pile. I can't wait to dive in and drowned in the wonderful word slurry that is Cody Goodfellow.
Each story tends to paint a vivid picture for the readers mind to grasp on to.
But be warned, once you have a grip, hold on tight, because you are in for one hell of a ride.
This was my first introduction to Cody Goodfellow, and I will say based on this excellent collection of short stories that I will be returning.
As a matter of fact, I already have Goodfellow's novel PERFECT UNION on my to read pile. I can't wait to dive in and drowned in the wonderful word slurry that is Cody Goodfellow.
March 24, 2012
A collection of stories, some merely spooky, others quite bizarre. Topics range from ancient Aztec rituals to alien entities and science gone mad. Goodfellow has a gift for wards, creating vivid imagery that doesn't feel forced. Goodfellow's characters are desperate people doing desperate things as they endure encounters with the unknown, a lucky few finding the possibility of redemption in the process. The prose is solid, mostly straight-forward storytelling within an other-worldly framework where anything is possible. Interesting stuff.
September 8, 2010
There are some stories here, like El Santero, Magna Mater and A Drop of Ruby that are good -very, very good. Others, like Burning Names and In his Wake did not personally appeal to me as much as some of the others. I would characterize the individual efforts as a bit uneven, but the volume overall as definitely worth a read, and Goodfellow as an author to follow, read & re-read.
March 7, 2015
This was a great collection of really weird stories. Unfortunately, it has been nearly a year since I read the collection, and I do not specifically remember any of the individual stories. I do, however, remember reading this gave me distinct joy.
June 14, 2010
intense and feverish collection of short stories that i could NOT stop reading.
surreal horror and bizarro in the perfect blend for my sensibilities!
surreal horror and bizarro in the perfect blend for my sensibilities!
January 8, 2016
This book was way over my head. This rating is not Cody Goodfellow's fault. I'm too stupid to understand it.
September 11, 2012
was expecting a lot more after reviews of this book but i honestly didn't get them coz i'm thick.i got fed up of reaching for the dictionary.
June 20, 2010
more like 4 and 3/4 stars but i rounded up...overall a pretty solid story collection
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews