Robin Marx's Writing Repository

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 23, 2021.

Horrorstör

By Grady Hendrix – Quirk Books – September 23, 2014

Review by Robin Marx

Silent Hill IKEA.

Instead of a haunted house, this fast-paced horror novel centers on a haunted housewares store. After a number of vandalism incidents and strange happenings at an Orsk, an acknowledged IKEA rip-off, the manager Basil chooses a pair of employees to stay with him overnight to get to the bottom of the mystery. Inevitably, these hapless retail workers find out they’ve gotten much more than they bargained for.

The first half of this book feels like a Scooby Doo cartoon, with a light tone and broadly drawn characters. Things take a decidedly darker turn in the second half, when the true nature of the haunting is revealed. Each character reveals more depth and surprising resourcefulness as their situation grows more grim. There’s also some social commentary dealing with consumerism and the plight of retail workers, and the whole story ends on a particularly satisfying note. Highly recommended for horror fans.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Horror #Horrorstör #GradyHendrix

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 21, 2021.

The Corpse-Rat King

By Lee Battersby – Angry Robot – August 28, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

Marius dos Hellespont is a con man and a “corpse-rat,” a scoundrel who makes a living looting the dead bodies on a battlefield. A twist of fate leads him to be mistaken for a fallen king by the restless dead, who drag him to their subterranean realm to rule over them. When he reveals himself as both 1.) still living, and 2.) not a king, they return him to the surface charged with finding a replacement king. Or else.

While probably most aptly categorized in the “grimdark” subgenre of fantasy, this is a very humorous picaresque romp, with the cynicism of Jack Vance if not the verbosity. Clever cons and reversals of fortune abound. Some reviewers found this book lacking in substance, but I found the fast pace and breeziness a welcome change of pace.

This story works just fine as a stand-alone novel, but when I noticed a sequel was available I picked it up right away.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Grimdark #Fantasy #LeeBattersby #TheCorpseRatKing #MariusDosHellespont

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 15, 2013.

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: A Field Guide to Japanese Yokai

By Matthew Meyer – March 1, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

This illustrated volume is a fun, if not especially deep, look at monsters from Japanese folklore. The book is an adaptation of Matthew Meyer's A-Yokai-a-Day web project, where he uploaded an original painting of one of Japan's traditional monsters (Yokai) along with a brief explanatory article.

The book reads a bit like a Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, with each creature's appearance, diet, habits, and encounter spots listed. The text is breezy and entertaining, but doesn't offer much in the way of analysis or detail. The artwork was excellent, presented in a style that mixes traditional Japanese stylings with a more Western aesthetic. Overall this book offers an appealing look at an interesting side of Japanese culture, but those hoping for detail, citations, or more ethnographical content are going to be left wanting more.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Japan #Folklore #TheNightParadeOfOneHundredDemons #MatthewMeyer

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 26, 2022.

The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy

By Paul Myers – House of Anansi Press – October 23, 2018

Review by Robin Marx

This is a fun, breezy take on the story of the Kids in the Hall. While you can get the same story distilled into the recent—and excellent—two-part 80-minute Amazon Prime documentary Comedy Punks (the author of this book also served as an Executive Producer on the documentary), the book format naturally allows for greater detail. For casual fans, the documentary is probably sufficient, but if you own all the DVDs and have sketches committed to memory like me, you’ll appreciate the extra depth.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Humor #Biography #Memoir #TheKidsInTheHallOneDumbGuy #TheKidsInTheHall #PaulMyers

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 28, 2019.

The White Darkness

By David Grann – Doubleday – October 30, 2018

Review by Robin Marx

A brief but exciting read about a modern adventurer walking in the footsteps of his hero, Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. In addition to a quick overview of the earliest polar expeditions, this book covers Henry Worsley's successful journey as well as the disastrous solo attempt that followed years later. The story touches on hero worship and the limits of human endurance as well as reminding the reader just how much untouched and inhospitable terrain remains on our planet.

As a two-part New Yorker essay, this was perfectly sized. However, had I paid for the published book edition (currently $12 on Amazon) I likely would have felt ripped-off. This book is more of a breezy sketch than an in-depth day-by-day portrayal.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Adventure #History #Autobiography #TheWhiteDarkness #DavidGrann

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 23, 2019.

Valen the Outcast Vol. 2: Death Eternal

By Michael Alan Nelson (Writer) & Matteo Scalera (Artist) – BOOM! Studios – December 11, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

I wasn’t expecting this series to end so quickly, but the end result was satisfying. The story had a fast pace throughout and plenty of action.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #DarkFantasy #Grimdark #SwordAndSorcery #ValenTheOutcast #MichaelAlanNelson #MatteoScalera

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 23, 2019.

Valen the Outcast Vol. 1: Abomination

By Michael Alan Nelson (Writer) & Matteo Scalera (Artist) – BOOM! Studios – December 1, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

While marketed as sword & sorcery, so far this comic feels a bit closer to the grimdark sub-genre a la Joe Abercrombie (with a bit of early Berserk) rather than Robert E. Howard’s Conan.

Category quibbling aside, this series is off to a good start. The premise is simple but effective: an undead king named Valen shakes off a necromancer’s control and seeks revenge. He’s joined in this task by two slightly unreliable companions: a witch/swordswoman named Zjanna and drunkard rogue Cordovan.

The story moves at a brisk pace with no wasted verbiage or lengthy info dumps, and the world building is of the “show, don’t tell” variety. I look forward to reading future volumes and would recommend it to fans of dark fantasy.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #DarkFantasy #Grimdark #SwordAndSorcery #ValenTheOutcast #MichaelAlanNelson #MatteoScalera

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 20, 2022.

John the Balladeer

By Manly Wade Wellman – Baen Books – July, 1988

Review by Robin Marx

John roams the mountains of Appalachia carrying little more than his silver-stringed guitar and a rucksack with some provisions. Motivated by curiosity, he seeks out folklore and new songs to add to his repertoire. Along the way he encounters simple folk in need, sinister magicians, and supernatural horrors. John lives by his wits, the magic-defeating silver of his guitar strings, and his knowledge of folklore and biblical lore.

There’s a wandering outsider hero, black magic, and otherworldly menaces. These stories aren’t precisely sword & sorcery, but if you like that sort of thing, you’ll like THIS sort of thing.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Horror #Fantasy #FolkHorror #SwordAndSorcery #ManlyWadeWellman #JohnTheBalladeer #SilverJohn

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 20, 2014.

Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery

By Kurtis J. Wiebe (Writer) & Roc Upchurch (Artist) – Image Comics – March 26, 2014

Review by Robin Marx

I picked this up after reading a Tor.com review, and I'm glad I did, as this is probably the most entertaining fantasy comic I've read in quite some time.

Rat Queens chronicles the misadventures of four mercenary women. Their party matches a fairly standard D&D party composition: dwarf fighter, elf mage, human cleric, and “smidgen” (hobbit/halfling) thief, but each character has a twist. The dwarf fighter rebelled against her clan by shaving off her beard, for example, and the cleric is likewise an outcast, an atheist having turned her back on the squid-worshiping cult that trained her. Their setting is likewise familiar to role playing gamers, basically a carousing spot and base of operations for adventurers, where the mayor hands out quests and the captain of the guard is constantly having to mediate disputes between (frequently drunk) mercenaries and the local townsfolk.

Volume 1 serves mostly to introduce the characters and set up a conspiracy that looks to drive the plot for at least the next story arc or so, so it might feel a little slight to some, but I found it to be a fun, fast read. Sensitive readers might be put off by the gore and profanity, but in most cases both are used to humorous effect. In addition to the humor, I also liked how diverse the cast of characters was. People of various colors and shapes and orientations show up without it coming off as ostentatious pandering to the folks concerned by the common lack of representation of social minorities in the media.

I prefer reading comics in collected format rather than as single issues, but this is one series that tempts me to switch. I look forward to the Rat Queens' future adventures.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #ImageComics #RatQueens #KurtisJWiebe #RocUpchurch

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 24, 2019.

Roadside Picnic

By Arkady & Boris Strugatsky – January 1, 1972

Review by Robin Marx

Two decades have passed since the Visitation, when aliens visited Earth. The landscape has been left permanently altered. The so-called “Zones” remain quarantined, full of extraterrestrial disease, incomprehensible anomalies, and mysterious debris. Scientists continue to study the remains of the aliens' visit, and scavengers called “stalkers” prowl the Zones in secret, putting their lives on the line to steal artifacts for the black market. This short novel follows one such stalker, Redrick “Red” Schuhart, tracing the impact of the Zone on him and the other people in the adjacent semi-deserted town of Harmont.

I read this book in one sitting, as the premise is incredibly compelling. While the book would have been interesting enough had it focused entirely on the stalker's perilous adventures in the Zone, a great deal of attention is devoted to exploring how contact with the capital-U Unknowable changes the characters. The aliens themselves never make an appearance, and rather than a first contact scenario it's suggested that we humans are merely terrified and uncomprehending insects picking over the incidental litter of their brief visit (the titular “roadside picnic”). Despite their close proximity to the unknown, the humans largely continue to be driven by self-interest, lusting for money and fame. Despite this—if my interpretation of the ambiguous finale is correct—the book ends with the faintest glimmer of hope that humanity can move past their baser instincts.

Despite all the mystery and unanswered questions, this was an exciting and satisfying read. Although there are no direct connections, I think fans of Lovecraft's cosmic horror will especially appreciate this book.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #ScienceFiction #RoadsidePicnic #ArkadyStrugatsky #BorisStrugatsky