Mel (Epic Reading) > Recent Status Updates

Thanks Mark Lawrence… I really needed that tragic, awful image in my head (sarcasm)…
but I can’t help but love the grimdark of it all! (lol)

Story #6 - Laugh lines
OMG!!! This one is killer! (Heehee). Written entirely in emails… and the final one is sooo insane I was both laughing and scared… like the supreme nervous laugh. Loved it!

I love when the so called ‘primitive’ or monster of the world is the one with better understanding than others.
Gorgoth’s ‘dena’ and ‘coils’ that make up a person sure sounds like DNA to me! :)

Alright, let’s dive into the grimdark again with Jorg.

Every moment of bliss, agony, frustration, grief, or love has a purpose in this story. None of them are used lightly or cheaply. It’s very impressive for a horror novel to reach such depths.

The Macabre just doesn’t stop… with the punches, twists, reveals or impossible decisions. And all the while it likens itself, numerous times, to Alice entering the Looking Glass. I appreciate how Jackson has paid homage to Alice without giving up the important racial context for his main character.

You just don’t expect to see so many Alice in Wonderland references in a horror novel! Love it!

Well this is different. Appreciate our lesbian leading ladies!

”Someone once said that magic is science that hasn’t been understood yet… they’re one and the same; two different sides of the same coin.”

”Cursed antiquities do not care who they hurt.
Some nice gory moments just passed. *shudder*

I just need more time to read this! It’s riveting!! If I had the time I’m confident I’d have devoured this in a couple hours.

Switching to audio of this for a few chapters. What a wonderful male narrator. And wow what a vivid few opening chapters. Without a doubt the magic and premise here is superb. I hope it can continue in this way!

The library hardcover I have of this is gorgeous. Red sprayed edges, beautiful full colour end page illustrations and full black and white painting renditions for each part.
My ebook pales in comparison. Glad I got a hard copy to read from too!
It’s so unusual to see a modern author quote used; in this case Robert Jordan. All these things have drawn me right in; along with a strong introduction.

I’ve nearly started this one 3 times in last year. So I’m finally committing!! And print copy is about to expire for third time from library so I’m gonna get it done. lol!

Horror books about paintings always make me think of Dorian Gray. Let’s see where this one takes us.

Story # 4 - The Art of What You Want
This one is brilliant!!! An amazing twist!
Story #5 - The Lunar Eclipse
Short, sweet and sad.

New GR challenges for the quarter/season are up! I did quite poorly on the winter ones so hoping to get a few more knocked off this time around. Only time will tell if I can do it. One category is large books and I sure have enough of those on my TBR! 😅🤣

This second half is really nothing like the first half… and while the blurb tells us it transforms, I’m not sure it really gives any sense of into what the story changes into. It’s not a bad thing I just feel like this second half is a totally different book…

Well this has not gone as I expected. Interesting…
”But unseen in darkness, things are free to shift.”

Story #4 - ha! I always love a good horror Christmas story!

Story #2 - only horrific if you know the name… interesting choice…
Story #3 - shudder. Nothing gross or even that scary here unless you’ve always found pregnancy and birth (like me) to be a bit alien. Then this is like the beginning of so many nightmares I’ve had.

Pretty average so far…

Story #1 - Rest Stop (longer story)
Wow does Nat Cassidy know how to get me. Put a big spider in a confined space and sure enough I’ll have literal shivers, a want to stop reading (but I gotta know what happens to feel better right?), and an overall visceral reaction. This story is so bizarre and yet so good. The Saw reference made is perhaps a nod to some of Cassidy’s inspiration. Horror for horror’s sake.

An engaging set-up.

Short story collection starts off with a longer novella.

The physical timeline in this is so hard to get my head around. I know what happens and how passage of time is being handled; but it’s hard to imagine what they would feel like. Both for our time travelling gal and those she ‘visits’.

This is a very clever way to get a lot of non-historical readers to read about slavery. And a good way to bring non-science fiction readers into the ‘what if’ realm of science fiction. I dunno if this is ever taught in schools but it feels like a perfect literary education story (or book club book of course).

Very hard to put down!

I’m engaged.
Although I do want to know how a book on edition 12 and 30 years old still has an obvious typo…

Yup… this poor book sat for over a month with a bookmark and no progress; as library books and authors I was meeting books took precedent. Now it’s finally Kindred’s turn.