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bookreview

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 8, 2022.

Clown in a Cornfield

By Adam Cesare – HarperCollins – August 25, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

Uprooted from Philadelphia after the death of her mother, Quinn Maybrook and her father move to the rural town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, for a change of scenery. She attempts to befriend her high school classmates, but quickly realizes that the personal relationships surrounding her are more complicated than they appear, and the town as a whole harbors a collective trauma simmering just under the surface. Looming over it all is Frendo, an ominous clown mascot emblazoned on the town's burned-out corn processing plant.

This fast-paced book is a throwback to the lurid spinner-rack paperbacks and 80-minute straight-to-VHS horror flicks of the 80s. The title is a good example of truth in advertising. You want a murderous clown in a cornfield? Here you go.

While I enjoyed the book, I couldn't help thinking that it was also a victim of its own pacing. The violence ramps up pretty quickly and remains pretty constant through the end of the book. The results are action-packed, but the horror side could have benefited from more page count devoted to setting up a menacing atmosphere, hinting more at the wrongness of Kettle Springs, and building some more audience affection for the teenagers before slaughtering them.

Published by HarperTeen, this is apparently a Young Adult book. The violence is pretty graphic, and apart from the focus on teenaged characters there don't appear to be many concessions to the younger audience. It reminded me a bit of the old Christopher Pike YA horror novels, which could be similarly gory.

While it appears that a follow-up volume, Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives, is forthcoming, I'm not sure I'm in a rush to read it. I feel like my cornfield clown needs have been satisfied. The itch has been scratched. That being said, I'd happily read other work by author Adam Cesare.

Recommended for killer clown fans and readers who don't mind a heavier emphasis on the action- part of action-horror.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Horror #AdamCesare #ClownInACornfield

This review originally appeared at This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 25, 2021.

Edited by D.M. Ritzlin – DMR Books – January 1, 2019

Review by Robin Marx

Available free to mailing list subscribers, this promotional collection offers a sampling of the works by authors published by DMR Books. Most of the stories fall firmly in the sword & sorcery sub-genre of pulp fantasy. While not all of the stories left a strong impression on me, there were a number of standouts.

The books starts off strong with the title story by publisher D.M. Ritzlin himself. A muscular wanderer named Avok encounters a treacherous sorcerer and, but for his strength and wits, nearly finds himself the prey of a demon. A pretty traditional S&S tale, but an enjoyable one.

“Thannhausefeer's Guest” is another strong story. In this Viking-themed tale, a shipwrecked man finds himself drawn into a gladiatorial competition to entertain a giant cannibal. While a bit on the dour side, the story is vividly written and atmospheric.

“Into the Dawn of Storms” is more of a vignette than a self-contained story, but the situation it presents—an Elizabethan ship captain named Caleb Blackthorne receiving ominous portents from famous occultist Doctor John Dee—is intriguing enough to tempt me to seek out the complete book.

“The Gift of the Ob-Men” by Schuyler Hernstrom is a nicely weird sword & sorcery tale, also serving as the source of the title for Hernstrom's solo collection, The Eye of Sounnu. This story is one of the highlights of both books, seamlessly blending science fiction and fantasy.

Much like “The Infernal Bargain,” “Adventure in Lemuria” is another fairly traditional sword & sorcery adventure, this time complete with a strange cult, human sacrifice, and an evil temptress. The protagonist is ostensibly from Crete, but historical and cultural details are fairly light, seemingly more for spice than to ground the story in our world.

The book concludes with “The Heaviest Sword,” a horror story set in feudal Japan. This story is quite brief and vaguely sketched, but the Japanese flavor set it apart from the many Eurocentric stories in the book. I'd happily read more Japan-themed stories by Geoff Blackwell, but so far his output seems rather sparse and his Internet presence minimal.

Overall, this book offers a solid look at the kind of stories offered by DMR Books. It has encouraged me to research some of the authors further, but the anthology itself is harmed a bit by the presence of a couple novel excerpts that don't work particularly well independently. Most of the stories are by modern writers, so the inclusion of “The Sapphire Goddess” (1934) and “The Thief of Forthe” (1937) from the pages of Weird Tales also strike a bit of an odd note. That being said, this collection succeeds as a free sampler of DMR Books' output and is worth a read for sword & sorcery fans.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #DMRitzlin #DMRBooks #TheInfernalBargain

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 27, 2018.

Life on a Mediaeval Barony: A Picture of a Typical Feudal Community in the Thirteenth Century

By William Stearns Davis – Harper & Brothers – 1923

Review by Robin Marx

Although published in 1923, this book is an engaging and eminently readable survey of various aspects of life in medieval France. Davis handles the text like a cinematographer wields his camera, panning over expansive scenery before zooming in closely to various scenes of interest.

While the barony and its inhabitants described are fictional, serving as a sort of amalgamation of typical elements from the time period, numerous footnotes compare and contrast aspects with specific named holdings and personages from history. The result is an entertaining and enlightening presentation of the “gist” of life in this era, rather than a potentially dry summation of events and lineages and so forth.

Highly recommended to both history students and fans of fantasy fiction hoping to learn a bit more about how things were in the real world.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #History #LifeOnAMediaevalBarony #WilliamPenn

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 29, 2017.

The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz

By Dan Simmons – Subterranean Press – June 30, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

With the death of archmagician Ulfant Banderoz, the Dying Earth seems closer to destruction than ever. Shrue the diabolist decides to make the dangerous journey to Banderoz’s Ultimate Library and Final Compendium of Thaumaturgical Lore and acquire the mystic knowledge housed within.

This charming novella evokes the color and vibrancy of Jack Vance’s classic Dying Earth cycle without attempting the fool’s errand of parroting the style of Vance himself. The end result is a story that feels at home in the setting (pelgranes, deodands, and the Excellent Prismatic Spray are all present and accounted for), but with a milder dose of Vance’s world-weary cynicism. There’s even some optimism mixed in here. That seems like a strange choice for a Dying Earth story, but somehow it works. An absolute gem of a story.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #DyingEarth #DanSimmons #TheGuidingNoseOfUlfantBanderoz

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

Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy

By Michael Moorcock – UNKNO – March 16, 2004

Review by Robin Marx

This is an interesting and erudite overview of epic fantasy by one of the genre's living masters. The breadth of Moorcock's knowledge is impressive, particularly when it comes to pre-Tolkien fantasy and it's roots in gothic literature. It's also incredibly opinionated; there's something in here to irritate any serious fantasy fan. I delighted in his notorious portrayal of Lord of the Rings as safe and bland “Epic Pooh,” but I thought he gave Robert E. Howard short shrift in places, especially since he appeared to be working from one of the inferior products resulting from L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter's tampering. For the most part everything is well-argued, however. This is a worthwhile read for serious fantasy fans.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #WizardryAndWildRomance #MichaelMoorcock

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 9, 2015.

Eight Skilled Gentlemen

By Barry Hughart – Foundation/Doubleday – January 1, 1991

Review by Robin Marx

While still a pleasure to read, Eight Skilled Gentlemen hews disappointingly close to The Story of the Stone's formula. As with the last book, there's a barrage of digressions, false starts, betrayals, and red herrings. While individual scenes are invariably entertaining—one where Number Ten Ox and Master Li have to dispose of a corpse was stomach-churningly hilarious—I felt they didn't quite come together to form a single cohesive book.

That being said, Master Li and Number Ten Ox have earned a place in my heart as two of my favorite characters, and it seems a great loss that there won't be any more adventures starring them.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #Mystery #HistoricalMystery #BarryHughart #EightSkilledGentlemen #TheChroniclesOfMasterLiAndNumberTenOx

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 9, 2015.

The Story of the Stone

By Barry Hughart – Spectra – October 1, 1989

Review by Robin Marx

It was great to read more about Master Li and Number Ten Ox's exploits, but I can't help feeling like it didn't quite live up to its predecessor.

While Bridge of Birds is more of a traditional fantasy adventure, The Story of the Stone ends up more like a murder mystery. While investigating an apparent forgery, the protagonists come upon the scene of a killing, along with hints that the killer may be the Laughing Prince, a long since deceased despot.

The premise is interesting, but the story that follows has even more meanderings, red herrings, and side treks that Bridge of Birds. The adventures described are always entertaining—the heroes' visit to a number of the Chinese hells stands out in particular—but with so much misdirection and dead ends I found myself losing the plot at times. It turns out there's a reason for all this, revealed (in true mystery novel fashion) as a climactic twist.

Master Li and Number Ten Ox continue to entertain, but Master Li's idiosyncrasies in particular seemed somewhat muted in this novel compared to the first one. Perhaps it was due to the spotlight time given to newly-introduced characters Moonboy and Grief-of-Dawn.

The Story of the Stone didn't wow me as much as Bridge of Birds, but then again very few books do. This is still an interesting novel and very much worth a read.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #Mystery #HistoricalMystery #BarryHughart #TheStoryOfTheStone #TheChroniclesOfMasterLiAndNumberTenOx

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 9, 2013.

Witch of the Four Winds / When the Idols Walked

By John Jakes – Open Road Media – July 31, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

This ebook volume collects the third and fourth Brak the Barbarian novels as well as two subsequent short stories. I enjoyed the first volume well enough, but this one left me pleasantly surprised. The novels here are much stronger than those in the previous book.

Witch of the Four Winds was the highlight of this volume. The premise is pretty standard; Brak must stop an evil sorceress from using her magic to destroy a beleaguered kingdom. But the great thing about the story is how lean it is. There is nothing extraneous here. Every character has an important role to play in the story, and no plot threads are left dangling. Everything comes together in the end to form a neat and tidy package.

The fourth novel, When the Idols Walked, was interesting, but not quite as strong as the third. The antagonists' motives are less clear than in other stories, and apart from a perceived debt of honor, Brak doesn't have much reason to stick around and become involved in a war that doesn't involve him. Still, the use of bound souls to control inanimate objects is an interesting one and leads to a pretty spectacular finale.

The novels are followed by “Brak in Chains.” While it wasn't quite as action-packed as the novels, the premise was an interesting one. Taken as a slave and blamed for heresy in a drought-cursed land, Brak is ordered to make it rain within two days or be executed. Like Witch of the Four Winds, the plot he uncovers is a clever one, and there's very little wasted verbiage or exposition.

Unfortunately the concluding story, “The Mirror of Wizardry,” is the dog of the collection. While it had a neat monster appearing it (piranha-like stones), the rest of the story is rather unremarkable and the characterization thin. It's a shame the book ended like this. To the best of my knowledge, this is the last Brak story, and with John Jakes' considerable age and the fact that his historical novels are so much more commercially successful, it doesn't look like Brak will ever get a worthy send-off.

While it didn't affect my opinion of the stories either way, one thing I noticed was how chaste the stories are. There's a pretty significant amount of gore (people reduced to “red slime” by falling rocks, enemies getting stabbed in the eyes, etc.), but zero sensuality. Every story has a beautiful girl appearing in it (or two: a companion/damsel and a femme fatale), but unlike Conan, Brak doesn't get any action at all. The evil girls tempt him but are ultimately rejected, and the good girls are either already romantically involved with other characters or lamely rejected by Brak by the story's conclusion. Brak has to be the most celibate literary barbarian I've come across.

While nowhere near as innovative and indispensable as the Conan, Elric, Kane, or Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser stories, the Brak stories are still worthwhile reads for fans of sword & sorcery. If you're new to the subgenre, however, I'd recommend you stick to the classics.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #JohnJakes #BrakTheBarbarian #WitchOfTheFourWinds #WhenTheIdolsWalked

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 22, 2015.

By Laird Barron – Night Shade Books – July 1, 2007

Review by Robin Marx

This anthology collects more unsettling weird tales by Laird Barron. The overall quality is high, but a couple of the stories suffer from being too obscure (“Procession of the Black Sloth,” which has a great atmosphere otherwise) or a little slight plot-wise (“The Royal Zoo is Closed”). “Old Virginia,” “Parallax,” and the title story are particularly strong and creepy. I continue to enjoy Laird Barron's brand of thoroughly modern Lovecraftian fiction that doesn't rely on Lovecraft's monsters.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Horror #CosmicHorror #LairdBarron #TheImagoSequence

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 29, 2012.

Meg: Origins

By Steve Alten – Gere Donovan Press – August 16, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Many people would characterize the Meg series as a guilty pleasure. I think it's silly to get apologetic about one's choice in entertainment, but I'd certainly admit that Alten's books are goofy. The subject matter (giant prehistoric sharks!) is so appealing, however, that I have no trouble ignoring the creaky bits and enjoying the ride.

I've always liked sharks, and Alten focuses on one of the most interesting of all: Carcharodon megalodon, ancestor to the great white shark. Through some REALLY flimsy science and frantic “ignore the man behind the curtain” hand-waving Alten brings the megalodon up from the Mariana Trench to where it can snack on people for four books, with a fifth on the way.

Meg: Origins is an e-book prequel novella to his first story, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror. The events in this prequel are referred to a number of times throughout the series, making this prequel fairly redundant and unnecessary. Still, I was lured in by the premise (giant prehistoric sharks!) and the $0.99 price tag. The story had all the familiar issues—stilted prose, paper-thin characters, chunks of scientific exposition that still manages to seem hinky—but as with the other books, the giant prehistoric shark action makes up for the weak spots. Did I mention this book has giant prehistoric sharks(!) in it?

Steve Alten is not an especially technically skilled author, but he is a very enthusiastic one. It's easy to imagine him at his computer thinking “Oh man, wouldn't it be cool if THIS happened?!” and then tapping away frantically. The 12-year-old inside me agrees: yes, it would be totally cool. Radical, in fact.

I doubt I'll pick up his non-Meg stories, but as long as he keeps writing more books about giant prehistoric sharks(!), he's got a customer in me.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Adventure #Horror #MegOrigins #TheMeg #SteveAlten