This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 31, 2018.

Heart-Shaped Box

By Joe Hill – William Morrow – March 25, 2010

Review by Robin Marx

This extremely entertaining ghost story involves an aging heavy metal musician (I basically pictured him as Danzig with a beard) haunted by the ghost of a dead groupie's stepfather. Simple yet effective, this initial premise develops additional layers over the course of the story.

This was my first Joe Hill book, and I was curious to see how his work compares to that of Stephen King, his father. Their styles are decidedly similar. Most of the story takes place in the kind of rural locales favored by King, but Hill emphasizes the South as opposed to Maine. Hill also excels at characterization, one of his father's strengths. But he also avoids some of King's weaknesses. Stephen King characters often tend to have a catchphrase or tic that inevitably wears out its welcome, but that's not present here. Hill also sticks the landing, and ending the story is something that his father has struggled with. While it'd be doing Hill a disservice to compare him to his father too much—especially since he's carved out his own successful career without relying on the King name—if you like King's work you'll probably like Hill's.

I was especially impressed by the characterization and the pacing of this book. Hill starts off with some fairly stock characters in a rockstar and associated hangers-on, but all of them are humanized and made real as the story progresses. The pace is also breakneck. Events in the story built at such a speed that it seemed like I was reaching the climax at only the one-third point. I had to check and make sure this book wasn't a collection of novellas instead of a full novel.

This was a very satisfying read and something I can wholeheartedly recommend to horror fans.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on March 9, 2021.

The Angel of Darkness

By Caleb Carr – Ballantine Books – March 25, 2010

Review by Robin Marx

The second Dr. Laszlo Kreizler story, this one involves a kidnapped baby and a disturbed nurse whose youthful charges tend to end up dead.

While this was an enjoyable read, it didn’t equal or surpass The Alienist. The pacing felt a bit off in several sections, with strange detours and an occasional lack of urgency despite the core conflict. While it’s not really a complaint for me, there are a number of action sequences (and one particular supporting character) that cross a bit into pulp territory, which is not something I remember from the first book. Also, Dr. Kreizler seemed to take a back seat to much of the proceedings. Perhaps it was due to the new choice in narrator, but Kreizler spent much of the story off-screen, doing vague psychology stuff while the scrappy kid narrator got into punch-ups with juvenile gang members.

That being said, this book offers an opportunity to spend more time with Carr’s appealing characters, which is what I (and probably many readers) wanted most. There’s not as much mystery or investigation as the previous book, but the characters are solid and the historical figure cameos are fun, if a bit forced at times.

The first thing I did after finishing this book was check when the next book in the series is expected to arrive. I think that can be taken as a solid recommendation.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 31, 2012.

Siddhartha

By Hermann Hesse – S. Fischer Verlag – 1922

Review by Robin Marx

As an atheist fascinated with religion, I have an especially ambivalent stance towards Buddhism. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by its complexity and counter intuitiveness, other times—a bit disappointed—I wonder “is that all there is? A lot of cruft surrounding a few basic recommendations?” I've read D. T. Suzuki's writings on Zen, a translation of the Lotus sutra and even Buddhism for Dummies, and still my confidence about “getting” Buddhism wavers. Happily, Siddhartha wasn't just a pleasant, lyrical read, I felt it furthered my understanding of Buddhist concepts as well.

Despite having five translators listed for the Project Gutenberg edition I read, it was a surprisingly smooth read. The story was told in a fairly straightforward fable-like manner that reminded me a bit of Lord Dunsany, of all people.

The characterization was especially deftly handled; there are several places in the narrative where the reader is subtly tipped off that Siddhartha is straying from the path towards enlightenment or becoming a bit sanctimonious, only to have that become a major plot point later on. I also enjoyed that this wasn't a story of one righteous man surrounded by fools and the misguided. Although Siddhartha himself has an ingrained tendency to be skeptical of teachers and condescending towards those he calls “the childlike people” (i.e., you and me), all of the other characters in the novel, from the exalted to the lowly, end up playing a crucial part in his journey.

Although it's never called out directly, the Buddhist precept this book seems to deal with most directly is mindfulness, one facet of the Noble Eightfold Path. Siddhartha sees the most when he's quiet and receptive, willing to pay attention to the small things in life. Like a lot in Buddhism, it's almost childishly simple but sometimes hard to put into practice.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 24, 2012.

Free: The Future of a Radical Price

By Chris Anderson – Grand Central Publishing – June 22, 2009

Review by Robin Marx

“Business books are basically romance novels for men. Silly fantasies, terrible writing, large type, cheap paper and one good idea per book.” – @BenedictEvans @Twitter.com

It's becoming clear that freemium business models cannot be ignored, and this book heralds those models as the way of the future. For digital content in particular, Anderson argues that the march to free is inevitable. While laudably detailed in some respects, this book is disappointingly glib and superficial in others.

Anderson unleashes a veritable deluge of cases in which free services or content can play a role in a successful business, but while he acknowledges some of the concerns held by skeptics, all too often he dismisses them out of hand without effectively rebutting them. Sheryl Crow is concerned about the increasing difficulty of selling music? Pshaw, says Anderson, you'll make it all back on live performances and merchandise sales! I'm not a particular fan of her music, but I'm willing to bet that she has a more functional knowledge of the music industry than a dude from Wired. But maybe she's just a square and not with the hip new digital economy, man.

Another concern is that many of Anderson's success stories have, in more recent years, turned out to be not so successful. He mentions Digg, which was huge for a while before becoming a shell of its former self. Facebook has had trouble providing value for shareholders. (Facebook's inability to provide a return on investment for advertisers is actually called out in the text, but subsequently glossed over.) Freemium game giant Zynga is seeing huge drops in profit. He cites Radiohead's pay-what-you-want album In Rainbows as a great success, but doesn't mentioned the fact that Radiohead abandoned this model after about three months in favor of CD sales and standard iTunes distribution. If pay-what-you-want was such an unalloyed success, why didn't the band stick with it?

The whole book is written with a wide-eyed, breathless tone that immediately puts this reader on his guard. Free is the way of the future, man, and if you don't get it you're a fossil. (Ignore the burned out husks of countless companies that were unable to turn a profit with freemium.)

Despite what this book says, I think the jury is still out on freemium. There's been a huge die-off of freemium gaming companies over the last year or so, and other companies are struggling. I suspect we're in the middle of another, more low-key, dotcom bubble. In the end, freemium will probably resume its place as just one tool of many, rather than become some dominating trend.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 11, 2022.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart

By Jesse Bullington – Orbit – October 27, 2009

Review by Robin Marx

Natural Born Killers in the 14th century. Grand Theft Wagon. This grimdark picaresque romp through the Holy Roman Empire and points beyond follows two grave-robbing brothers on a grandiose journey to loot the tombs of Egypt.

Hegel and Manfried, the titular Brothers Grossbart, are not good people. They rob from the dead and have zero compunctions about creating new corpses. Shortly after being introduced to them, we see the pair murder a family of farmers with no real provocation. This inciting event plants the seeds for future strife experienced by the brothers as well as marking the start of their medieval international crime spree. Along the way they encounter witches, demons, and brigands every bit as cruel and vicious as themselves.

The brothers are churlish, thuggish, and ignorant. They’re hot-tempered, violent, arbitrary, and petty. They’re also pious in an idiosyncratic way: they’re reverently horny for the Virgin Mary, but they don’t think much of her son. Like most villains, they view themselves as the heroes of their narrative, and despite their repellant natures, they make compelling protagonists.

The Grossbarts are perfectly at home in the medieval Europe portrayed in the book. The people they encounter tend to be every bit as treacherous and untrustworthy as themselves. The supporting cast is vicious, diseased, demented, avaricious, and/or occasionally literally in league with the devil.

This book isn’t for everyone. People who require likable protagonists and happy endings should stay away. The book is full of graphic violence and drenched in various bodily fluids. Children are casually murdered. Blasphemy is present and accounted for. But for those who can enjoy grim and dark tales, this book is exhilarating and slyly humorous.

The dialogue was the highlight of the book for me. The brothers speak in a crass and blunt dialect that never ceases to entertain. Their interactions with other characters pleasantly reminded me of Jack Vance’s Cugel the Clever stories, albeit with Cugel’s highfaluting bloviating replaced with hammer-blunt gutter slang.

My only real complaint with the book is that the pacing lags in some sections. The brothers’ sojourn in Venice seems to go on longer than necessary, and there’s an ocean journey that feels a little slow. That being said, a lot of territory (geographically and spiritually) is covered over the course of the book, and it was sufficiently gripping that I finished the final third of the book in a single sitting.

As I said, this book isn’t for everyone, but I found it a lot of fun. If you have an affinity for grimdark, this is an entertaining and wryly funny read.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 14, 2012.

Wrath of the White Tigress: A Tale of Pawan Kor

By David Alastair Hayden – Typing Cat Press – June 25, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Billed as a modern sword & sorcery tale in the tradition of Moorcock and Gemmel, this book starts with a compelling premise: an assassin tasked with killing a high priestess manages to shake off decades of mystical brainwashing. Working with Zyrella, the high priestess, he turns against the evil emperor Salahn and attempts to destroy the regime he once helped build.

I enjoyed the book, but it had a few issues. The beginning and conclusion were quite strong, but the middle part seemed to lose focus and meander a bit. I liked the main trio of characters, Jaska, Zyrella, and Ohzi, but the middle third of the book rapidly introduces a number of new faces that failed to leave much of an impression. As a result there are a couple cases of dramatic self-sacrifice that fell flat. I didn't really need the archer twins with their vague prophecy or the desert tribesmen, they were all fairly interchangeable and I would've rather spent more time with the main characters.

The prose was solid, but not particularly ostentatious. Not much time was spent on world-building, but the setting seemed interesting and a pleasant change from pseudo-Europe. The magic presented was interesting, but perhaps a little under-developed (the star-based magic was especially vague). The fast pace and action reminded me a bit of my favorite sword & sorcery stories, but the frequent divine intervention and good versus evil plot are well-trodden epic fantasy tropes and appealed less.

Hayden is a newer author, and I suspect my issues with the book are related to that. It was a fun read, though. I own another Hayden book besides this one and I plan to keep an eye out for future releases as well.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 23, 2013.

The Kingdom of Shadows

By K. W. Jeter – Editions Herodiade – June 8, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

I started this book hoping for a decent horror tale, but it turned out to be quite a struggle to get through. Set mainly in Germany during World War II, half of the plot deals with a Nazi doctor's deranged and homicidal investigation into the Lazarene—a Romani-like Christian sect believed to possess the secret to immortality—and (the less interesting) half deals with an actress of Lazarene heritage.

Despite heartbreaking circumstances (forced to act as Joseph Goebbels' mistress, having her child torn away from her), actress Marte is presented as more or less a flat, passive cipher. Concentration camp internee Pavli shows a bit more initiative, but he too is more or less a reactive character until the climax. The plot is as weak as the characters. Events happen and then the book stops. Marte's child is hinted as having some greater importance, but he doesn't really.

Throughout the book Jeter demonstrates technical competence, but I can't remember the last time I read a story this uninteresting and unengaging. It's not poorly written, just tedious and bland. It sparked almost no emotion or surprise in me whatsoever. It was only my dislike of leaving books unfinished that kept me from abandoning it partway. This is the second book I've read by Jeter and assuredly the last.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 28, 2013.

The Yellow Wall-Paper

By Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Rockwell & Churchill Press – 1892

Review by Robin Marx

This story is frequently mentioned in connection with weird and Gothic fiction, with H.P. Lovecraft himself praising it in his Supernatural Horror in Literature essay. I'm glad I got around to reading it, as it's surprisingly effective despite its brief length.

The premise isn't shockingly new (and probably wasn't even in 1892): a young couple vacation in a creepy old house, and madness ensues. The vehicle for the insanity is novel, however, as the anxiety-ridden protagonist finds herself becoming more and more obsessed and disturbed by the elaborately patterned, torn, and stained wallpaper decorating her sickroom.

Lovecraft aside, most of the commentary on this story has to do with its feminism. Readers get the sense that the protagonist isn't very well-served by her doctor husband's dismissive paternalism, and her condition is likely exacerbated by—if not completely due to—her subservient role and lack of agency. This is communicated effectively and subtly; the protagonist seems largely unconcerned by the restrictions imposed on her by her husband, while the author is clearly critical of that treatment.

While the feminist subtext is interesting (especially given when this story was released), one shouldn't overlook that it's also a really good spooky story. The atmosphere is very claustrophobic and tense, and the descriptions of the wallpaper are intriguing. The truth of what's going on is left mostly ambiguous, but concluding that the protagonist has been driven insane (by the Patriarchy!) and should therefore be distrusted is probably the least interesting interpretation.

By all means, read this as an early example of feminist literature, but don't forget that it's a nice bit of Gothic horror!

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 23, 2013.

Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form

By Anna Anthropy – Seven Stories Press – March 20, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

I think Anna Anthropy's has done great work in spreading a sort of punk rock DIY mentality to game creation, and her articles and interviews are always a treat. I found this book to be curiously lacking in passion and depth, however. The title (and statements she's made in interviews, etc.) made me expect an inspirational manifesto, but while the book was logically structured and informative, it lacked much in the way of impact. There wasn't much about people “taking back an art form,” instead the central thesis was more like “Hey, you don't have to be a formally educated programmer to make games. Here are some tools that reduce the barrier to entry.”

The “freaks, normals, amateurs...” subtitle hinted there would be some discussion about the democratization of game development, and how marginalized people were using games as a powerful tool for self-expression, but that topic was only touched upon. One of the appendices introduces some indie games, but the discussion was fairly superficial and there wasn't much to suggest why these particular games are important beyond being made by one or two people and having an offbeat concept. Another appendix suggests tools an aspiring game designer could use to get his or her feet wet, but while interesting, this section is also disappointingly brief.

This wasn't a bad book, per se, just not as radical and impassioned as the title suggested and not as substantial as I had hoped. I'd still recommend Anna Anthropy's work to people interested in game design, but they could probably benefit just as much by saving their $15 bucks and reading some of her blog posts and interviews instead.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 23, 2016.

Remember Why You Fear Me: The Best Dark Fiction of Robert Shearman

By Robert Shearman – ChiZine Publications – November 1, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

Like most short fiction collections, this book is a mixed bag. The best stories (e.g, “George Clooney's Mustache”) are quite good, but the book is dragged down by a number of competently-written but uninspired stories. Making matters worse, most of these are concentrated in the second half of the book. The ebook edition includes a few stories not found in the print version, but all of these could have been cut without being particularly missed. Another slight disappointment was that the stories were mostly dark fantasy with a level of creepiness on par with Neil Gaiman, rather than the truly unsettling early Barkeresque horror suggested by the book's ridiculously badass title and cover artwork. Overall I enjoyed the book, and will keep an eye out for Shearman's work in the future, but it didn't live up to the cover.

★★★☆☆

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