Reviews and Comments

Probably would consider this either a contemporary fantasy or an urban fantasy. Modern era premise, more emphasis on the contemporary/urban life struggles, though they are framed as a penance for not using blood magic, it's not really elaborated on. The fantasy element is more around the mythical entities that fade in and out of the story.

I suspect my reception of the novel is more in lines of "not my genre" than mostly anything else. A literal long decline towards the end that made me note it was a thing that happened, and the "gotcha" of one character's motivations didn't seem like a payoff for me. Plot wise is very bait and switch, to the point where almost anything I say is spoilers. What one would expect of the blurb isn't the prevailing theme. It's different in that regard, and at least it isn't predictable.

The primary POVs of the story are the LaLaurie family; Daniel, Jocelyn, and some Jared, with a few side characters mixed in. It's always interesting to see what part of the author shows up in which character. Jocelyn was very real and reflective of the LGBT experience, and if the POV was just attached to them the whole way through, I would have found this story to be exceptional. Unfortunately, it was mostly centered on Daniel. Daniel is victim uno of the story, thankfully not a "woe is me character," but he didn't generate enough interaction nor connection with the other characters (including the love interest) for not only me to be invested in him, but it also made me wonder why anyone bothered. At some point a character threw their life away for a man who essentially disregarded them as a myth, and continued to do so after the sacrifice was made. Thus my general issue with the novel was a lack of human connection and real human relationships in relation to Daniel. People sacrificed for a man who was uncompromising. Which is weird, because Jocelyn (up until the second half, when it was all about Daniel) was a true person, with moods and alliances and tentative romance and overshare.

My criticisms probably tie in with the genre of New Adult and anything sub-fantasy in regards to how relationships are portrayed. If you're into this genre, this is probably expected and even normal. If not, you'll be wondering why most of the characters are so invested in a person who does next to nothing to ingratiate himself to other people. But then we have people reading 50 Shades of Grey, so... I think you'll probably enjoy this more if it is your genre.

Aran is a kelpie/water horse shapeshifter and originally a servant to Poseidon, who has a new found family that he's torn about eventually leaving. Half of the story takes place in the present, and the other half is as reflections on past events, told in tales to his young sibling. Narrative style is that type of back and forth between present-ish and past, which is far better than an ugly prologue dump at the front but also not a narrative style I'm particularly fond of. Some like it, some don't. Reader preference there. I media res my own work, so take that note with a grain of salt.

In terms of items that will be liked: YA novella with Greek gods, shapeshifting ponies. Its length is low commitment, and the past portions cover the start to end in terms of plot/narrative pretty well. On the other hand: Present Aran is an 8000-year-old demi god who looks like he's 17, who is adopted by another shapeshifting family whose Mom is probably way younger than him, and Dad even more so. He sometimes gets into "territory" disputes for no real explained reason, especially since his territory was never the Pacific. And yeah, present has a bit too many plotholes. But he can become a pretty pony, gets wet and naked a lot, and... Don't get me started on the thing about the boat. Interesting angle but, it also created more holes.

Runte was very devoted and clear on the backstory, and that part is fleshed out well. The present is lacking, and almost exists as padding. I'd have liked to have seen that part built out, where it's a two to three chapters of present, then a juicy backstory chapter chunk, repeat. Makes the book longer, but the present needed the length, and a bit more plothole bulletproofing.

The United Commission of Planets sends an ambassador on a first encounter mission, to mostly infer the nature of Crustacea’s citizenry. An unenviable position given to Pilsen, a political louse. His single human companion on this excursion is war veteran and captain, Zip, who has seen far too many fights with giant bugs to really want much to do with this mission. But hey, it pays.
They meet up with Crustacea’s crab representative, Huron, and her not-shrimpy shrimp aid, Tom. But things go awry when the lobsters revolt.
Macaulay writes it very straight, despite how absurdist the concept sounds. The crabs got smart and big, and can communicate. Just go with it. Familiar in their humanity and their biology, alien in everything else. The cravings for crab legs and garlic butter diminish as the story goes on, once the denizens of Crustacea are formally introduced. Engaging, interesting read.
Highly recommended, and readable in a single sitting. Inexpensive and more satisfying than any experience at Red Lobster will ever be.

Purchased this anthology in support of one of the authors in it. I'm unfamiliar with the 'Cute Mutants' series.

'Awakenings: A Cute Mutants Anthology' is a collective of short stories written in the 'Cute Mutants' universe. Each story is opened with, and followed by, an excerpt from the series author SJ Whitby's character Farlight. As an entire anthology, the stories start off very loosely connected to the happenings of 'Cute Mutants' and introduces the reader to more of it as the anthology progresses. The basic arrangement of this collection. The other commonality was the shear number of plant empaths/plant people, which might explain the cover. It's different to have that many in that super power skill class, my only comment of it.

The overarching glue of the anthology is from SJ Whitby's pieces, and their character Farsight. And Dylan. Farsight I compare to Professor X from X-men in that they can reach out and see the happenings of the mutants a world away, though that is the extent of their ability. Dylan is mostly there to prod them in the side and honestly, I was hoping they would eventually be punted out of the tower. Some editors choose to use this narrative method as a means to create cohesion between the short stories, but I started skipping through them because Dylan annoyed me. Although part of me thinks that may be the point of that character.

As for the actual stories, will go through these one by one, without spoilers:
Rose by Shelly Page: It was a decent opening in that it covered the 'Cute Mutants' aspects of the mutations proliferating and people freaking out about if they had it, or if someone they knew had it. Included a backwater, hick conflict that was a tad tired. It was okay, just didn't blow me away.
A Forest Hath No Fury by Elle Tesch: One that was very disconnected from the universe, but didn't lack in narrative. The stories I preferred in the anthology tended to share the qualities this one had. The prose was lovely, there was a proper sense of place. Great connection not only with the character but her wards, along with a gradual build of characterization, skill, and conflict. Feels like it lives in more of a lit writing style, but was good work.
A Guide To Running Away by Andy Perez: It's a love story, of fire and ice. A little on the cliche side, but it's adorable and a reader wants that in something that is hopelessly romantic. Cute, and put a smile to my face in the end.
Island Burnt By History by Hsinju Chen: I could tell that this author studied in the area of their characters' powers, and I was right. This is why hard sci-fi writers are a treat to read because they know how to make a story out of something that could generally come across as boring and blaise, and make a whole narrative out of it. They wielded their intellect with confidence, and guided the reader in how these powers worked and the means in which they could help others. Also, the one individual without powers was a perfect adorkable side character. Really liked this one.
When The Woods Whisper Back by Shannon Ives: The horror story in the group. Appropriately creepy, and breaks up the vibe of the other stories. If you reflect back on this story after reading the last three, it's especially grim.
Time Of Death by Melody Robinette: Anyone remember the Nickelback 'Savin' Me' music video? That is this story. Main character has this power, and basically tries to prevent a few deaths that might happen. It was rushed, the romantic interlude was sporatic and also rushed. It could have done with a longer duration and more build up. So when bad things do happen, I wasn't invested in these characters.
The Battle Song Of Gravity by Astra Daye: Short, and I don't remember anything about it. Probably the most prose/lit in the group, but if you're reading 'Cute Mutants' I'm guessing it might be a bit of a different tone from the mainline.
When The Forest Calls Us Home by Yves Donlon: Also suffered from being rushed, not enough build up, and not enough time spent with the characters to elicit sympathy at the bad things that happen. It is the first story in the collection that has a character that is portrayed as evil with their powers, however, and the consequences of misplacing affections. But still, could do with more word count and development.
Something Witchy This Way Comes by E.M. Anderson: I loved this one! It has the vibes of a modern fairytale, but also references 'Cute Mutants' little. It could be transposed into a modern Grimm tale retelling and work very well. The author knows how to write a very convincing middle-grade character and play to their naive nature, while also accurately reflecting how the adults around them receive their innocent slights. Incredible characterizations, real, raw, perfect, endearing. Kudos to how they wrote their villain even. The uncle is abusive, but the author recognized that they have some vague notion of humanity when he steps in front of his niece to guard her. Yes, still a jerk, but these characters were actual people. This is a writer who'd I'd like to see more of.
Welcome To The Weirdlands by Hester Steel: This was the one story I skipped through. Too much prose, not enough sense of character and place. It bounced between present and past so frequently that it gave me whiplash. This is however the story that introduces a good chunk of the 'Cute Mutant' lore that most of the ones after it also follow. So if you're not familiar with this universe, you need this story, but I found myself skipping it regardless and hoping that the other ones would handle that instead.
Moth, Flash, Flame by Monica Gribouski: Thankfully, this story was clear and concise in communicating the lore of the 'Cute Mutant' universe. And it also covers the Goddess versus Michael segment of the lore. Just like Hsinju Chen, I could also tell this author was studying in the area of expertise most often referred to in their work, and also knew how to wield their knowledge while creating a concise narrative. Plot twist was clever, and the Moth is maybe one of the most unexpected powers of the group.
Vibe Check by Charlotte Hayward: Empaths. And used in a way that was sweet and endearing towards the end, though the miscommunication trope in the middle made me want to grab the main character and shake some sense into them. Mutant old folks' home with adorable people and aww! The ending is like a good hug. Unexpected, but it's appreciated.
California Dreaming by Amanda M. Pierce: This is your action story. Very good action story. Clever, bombastic, but the characters are all flat stereotypes. Vegan eco chick was full-on "I'm a vegan. Save the whales. RAWR!!!" The pyromaniac villain listened to death metal and wasn't redeemable. And while the action was great, and most of the powers were some of the most creative I've ever seen, the characterizations fell flat. Little dimension, and of them, their attributes were told but never shown. I'm told at least half a dozen times the eco vegan is a super eco vegan, but never once do they actually pick up a snail from the sidewalk, or slap up posters on school grounds telling people that chickens are raised in battery cages. Characterization was lacking, but the action segment towards the end is the pay off.
Gary by Emma Jun: This is delightful in how long the author goes before revealing how exactly the mutation in their main character works. Girl is possessed by an alien... and anything else is spoilers. But basically the plot is more or less the contention between the two, and quite a lot of self-talk. If you like banter and dialogue, and a very, very nuanced sci-fi theory turned into a plot point, this works great. But I suspect for those looking for a 'Cute Mutant' vibe, this might be literally the most out there in the collection. Although I like clever science fiction, so this makes it to my top 3.

Had the pleasure of receiving an advanced reader copy of 'Spectacular Silver Earthling.' I'm not going to turn down a science fiction other world story with a humor bent. It's a concept too rare and infrequent within the publishing industry, and somehow this delightful creation landed on my lap. Sure, I get it, some people are nervous around the idea of exploring other words or concepts outside of their comfort zone. But, it was such a humorous and joyous twist that it makes me wonder why this isn't a gold standard within the science fiction genre. It's fresh and so very needed.

Other world science fiction's premise is a ton of world building in a foreign place with strange vegetation and wild biology with a whole host of rules that don't apply to our Earth existence. Then again, 'Avatar' was one of the highest grossing movies ever because it had a Pocahontas romance plot, so even actual aliens can't be that alienating to the general public. The only reason why other world stories are weird to people is because most of the time they're not attached to a story the average reader can relate to. Johnstone solved this conundrum perfectly. What if there was a camera crew led by a hyper, showboating robot called Hubcap who is filling in for a year 3000 AD-ish Mike Rowe? Dirty Jobs plus Mythbusters, and if Hubcap, Elliott and team don't find the most interesting and nutty things to film on the latest space colony, they're going to lose funding and be replaced by a fashion show. The horror! Also, everyone keeps freaking out from the invisible frenzy plague that requires needling people in the neck on top of it adds the needed tension.

There's the plight, then there is the drive to film rocket seed pods, the steroid supergophers, and to chase around alien pterodactyls like crazed maniacs for a share of their dinner (it carries an antidote.) The perspective mostly attaches to Hubcap and his grounding co-host, Elliott, whom you need to calm the excitable Hubcap. And dang, is Hubcap ever hilarious! The dialogue is genius and outrageous. He pranks, he has insane and wild ideas, but he's also a fleshed-out character. He may seem over-the-top and a jokester out to boost morale, but in a former profession he was a rescue bot. Chatty and exuberant, always looking to get a laugh; it's because he's invested in the physical and emotional well-being of others. So there is the protectiveness, the coddling, but also cheek. A character as such is hard to give a realistic drive, and Johnstone developed a perfect balance for the reader to attach to and be carried along the story with. (Though by the end of the book, I suspect that Ms. Johnstone is capable of some heinous April Fools' pranks based on what is in this book.)

Dialogue and Hubcap's crazed ideas for the best shot make the story relatable and fun. Not all are realized, which makes the humor not overbearing. The one problem with this story is that in the search for footage, the film crew does film and interact in some scenarios that do nothing to push the story forward. The three arcs are distinct: Finding good footage not to be cancelled, how the unexplained frenzy plague begins to impede on everything, then, the discovery of intelligent life. While I appreciate down time and bonding within a story, to ground it, the book felt a little long in places with content that wasn't either needed or could be attached to another chapter/segment. Example I'll go with is what is on the book cover. The film crew is following the colonists as they're trying to subdue and steal the dinners from basically giant dino pelicans. After that success, they go and try to also fight giant crabs and one of the film crew gets banged up. Of course, this is to challenge the crew and make them aware of the dangers as well as get Hubcap to be extra guarded about the fragility of life around him. On the other hand, the same character could have been injured by the pelican instead, and the crab sequence could have been cut without much care. Same goes for the supergopher section. While it fleshes out the world, and the supergophers was a natural story element that introduces the readers to how the colonists grow their edible crops (which is very important world building! A lot of authors forget to feed their characters in other world sci-fi), it doesn't move the plot along. The story slowed in places because of world building, but at least it was world building done properly, and not a grand prologue slapped on the front.

One of the other elements that perplexed me about the world building wasn't exactly why the humans were on this world, but why there were entire teams devoted to harvesting the alien resources. The commercial value of the seedpods that were being harvested wasn't elaborated on, and the sedative that was collected on the planet had yet to be marketed. I get that startups take time before they build a commercially-viable product, I personally wanted to see a little more of the economic side. Okay, I'm weird, and nitpicking. Johnstone created a novel alien language and biology that was some of the most unique I've encountered, and my 'major' criticism is what the going rate of an explosive seedpod is. That is how trivial the issues are with this book, as in none. Aside maybe the pacing being a bit slow in the odd place, this is an amazing novel, and any emotion I could express is the shear indignation that as a reader I feel robbed by an industry that traditionally snubs something this clever.

This is one of my top reads of 2022. Read it. Appreciate it. It's smart, clever, funny, and a type of sci-fi that everyone needs right now in a sea of dystopias and flaky space operas.

John Sinister is hired to investigate why a former friend/classmate died, followed by that of his employer at the behest of the man's automaton cat (Dexter). Murder, intrigue, the title says it all.

The book didn't exactly gel with me. It was sort of funny, but for me the murder-to-hire employer was obvious. And the hi-jinx that involved a wax museum of replica of Her Majesty being pantsed was chuckle worthy, but I got hung up on three things throughout. One was the cat, which while it is an automaton, is the most advanced AI ever constructed by fluke to the point I'd be more content if say someone shoved a magical amulet up its behind to give it sentience than the actual in the story (his maker can construct a helicopter as his second most advanced contraption, but also fluked something that passes the Turing Test). That, and Dexter doesn't do really any work other than a touch in the last act. The "we're teammates" cohesion could have been more, when it wasn't. The other thing that got me badly throughout the book, is that this maybe 90k novel has only six chapters. You read that right. Six. The author doesn't know how to mark scene breaks, nor chapter breaks, and one chapter took 2 1/2 hours to read. While it didn't hurt the quality of the writing, it was odd. That stuck with me more than anything else.

Dickinson's strong writing trait is sussing info with his dialogue. John's forward questions are thoughtful and he writes a clever character. He knows where his characters are at all times (as does the reader) and builds a collective case against the perpetrators at a clip that is investigative, probing, but not so blind-siding as is common in a lot of mystery books where the author doesn't really know how to make the connection from A to B. The author wraps the plot holes up nicely in a little bow and presents it in perfect packaging. It is smart work. The author wields their knowledgeable clout effectively but without doing the thing of either dumbing down the work or holding their intellect so aloft that the reader is lost from the get-go. And while I dunk on the Dexter and John Sinister lacking the buddy cop duo that the title implies, there is still a character in Dexter. He wants validation and to be cared for, but is too proud to acknowledge it outright; whereas, John clearly sees right through that act and is patient with Dexter. So, there is a lot of great merit in this read.

Shiny Metal Boxes, love it when the title shows up somewhere in the story, although until it does, "Why Shiny Metal Boxes?" Because... no wait, that's a spoiler.

This book is very thriller with elements of hard sci-fi. If you're an IT type person who loves future-tech documentaries, you'll appreciate Ruel's writing and world building. Though optimistic pessimists such as myself hope that an universal monopolization of people's corneas will never, ever be a thing. It's around the late 2070s. eyeGo has almost universally installed their devices into everyone's eyeballs, and humanity is so desperately dependent on it that even when people are getting sick in droves presumably because of it, the devices remain. Emma is a health technician for the company, tasked with documenting the condition (Jobs Disease) that no one quite knows the cause of, and definitely not the cure. She and her friends go into fight mode the moment one of their vibrant friends becomes so sickened she ends up in a coma. Sleuthing, investigation, and explorations into technology, the hows and whys, and who is really beyond a disease that has sickened tens of millions and makes Covid look as inconvenient as a tiny sniffle. Yeah, please don't touch my eyeballs.

Ruel loves his tech and his world building, the first third of the book however is plentiful in info dumps and less so in plot. I like technology info dumps, they make me happy. But, the inciting incident only comes once CynCyn's condition advances to stage 3/4. There is a fight here between giving the reader the needs of a good story, and the author wanting to indulge their readers with a dynamic and somewhat strange world. Mentions of Mars have no relevant impact on this part of the series, nor do the in-depth annoyances of the technology involved in Emma's delayed commute to work. Readers who want to dive right into the thriller narrative would find this frustrating. Again, I didn't, but it made me start to worry the book would be all world building and very little story.

The author's humor is cutting, ridiculous, and at times sublime. They are a narrator with liberal values, a cynic bent, and a cheeky way of thumbing to relics of the old world as well as hypothesized ghouls of a corporate future. Good style, great dialogue, smart and intellectual work. This may be the only story that I can say that the use of Wingdings font was relevant and refreshing. Something I'd never thought I'd praise in a review.

I didn't read the first book in the series, so went in blind to the second book. A good author technically should be able to write in a manner which can handle a reader jumping into the story in the middle of it, and Black definitely did. The most important parts of the backstory were covered without a prologue quite early on, and any important details were threaded in when appropriate, so I didn't feel lost. Great work! My only niggling is that this didn't extend to most of the cast, so knowing what they looked like for example was a blind spot for the entirety of the story. But, are you reading the book because the men look handsome, or for the story?

This is somewhat stereotypical YA Fantasy middle book of a trilogy, where point A to point B is going to be book 1 and book 3, and book 2 is the traveling between. If you're a fantasy reader, it will mostly check your tropes except for the romance thread. Interesting, considering the traveling troupe contains only one female. Very refreshing, because I'm personally not a fan of fantasy because of its plethora of tropes (chosen one and hidden princess are the two major ones in this book). The book is however the point A to point B part of the series, so not as much character building as would have been in the first nor the third, other than Kaya confronting her reluctance for violence. And boy, when she goes violent, RIP the enemy. Speaking of the enemy, other trope, the villains are irredeemably bad and the main and supporting cast are super squeaky. Tempted to call Kaya's traveling companions the Company of Extraordinary Gentlemen. These guys were pinch-ably sweet and very chivalrous.

Because of the type of story arc this particular book is, what is meant to engage the readers is HOW the cast gets to point A to B without dying, being majorly inconvenienced, or without some type of alternative plan. Black introduces this hellish concept of an ice bullet storm twister. Thank you for those nightmares, sir... Meanwhile, they're being chased by a crack team contingent of enemy fighters, and an old enemy has a beef against the princess, mostly through frozen and mountainous tundra ala Canada. At some point there are even moose (nicknamed Bullwinkles, because Kaya refuses to not use idioms for everything), I kid you not. In spite of being the middle of the story, the book was engaging, the solutions could be clever and asinine, and I wasn't bored. My only complaint is sort of related to it being part of a series, you need to read the third book for closure; Book 2 is a journey to a final destination.

The overlapping narrative without being too spoilery... A smaller portion of the novel focuses on the the first person recounting of a young girl, Jayne, who is orphaned by nuclear apocalypse and later adopted into a secret society that has oddly highly-skilled minders in it. The other, third person narrative is attached mostly to Sage, second-in-command of the Hope outpost. Jayne naively exists as a character introduced to this sheltered and new world order, with the horrors seen through the lens of a child. The latter over arching narrative is of a location that is thriving and that remnants of old world order wish to claim or exploit for all their varying reasons.

Back story wise, it's vague and unanswered. Think it's chapter 2 where there is a space ship that one military unit starts freaking out about and it's never explored after. General implications is that this is a 3rd or 4th world for humanity, unsure. Why there was a war? Who knows. But a lot of people in the story are dirt bags. Boldly violent dirt bags. Either a product of their oddly very jaded pre-society, or the issue where the writers need a contrast between good and evil and thus the evil side is extreme. I lean to this basically being one corporation playing all sides to bolster itself, but it's also not explored.

Emotional stakes and environmental conflict seemed secondary in this book, and part of me leans towards this being written from a thriller writer's mindset. We don't connect with Jayne when she realizes she will never see her family ever again. We're not embroiled in the struggles of Hope, against its cold, its rationing of resources. A militarized corporation takes over a mine and demands women to help boost the morale of its miners. They're there for 1/2 of the book, never talked about minus the initial negotiations, never are these people walking into town, disrupting things, or stirring up dust, or the women begging to be left alone, nor do the townsfolk express relief for what the corporation brought, such as the greenhouse. It's there, it's nebulous, it isn't personal, a very "this is what it is" and move on narrative. The most developed character is Gaius, who tries to shrug his guilt and suffers from PTSD, but the "we don't talk about the past" is a constrictive plot device. Please tell me about their backstories! Please build the reasons behind why their governments and corrupt corporations tried to rain fire from the sky! The world, the physical place was fleshed out well, but the nuances of the political strife, or the heartache of the populaces was absent.

I'd have to wait for book 2 for probably more of my answers, to see where Jayne connects with the plot, what she can do with her MacGyver skills. It's a different world, and a different take on the nuclear apocalypse scenario. The writing was fine, the progress of conflict and take over seemed normal, mega corps are dirt bags through and through. The driving mechanic of intrigue here does revolve around the former government, military, and mega corps trying to hold onto or regain their influence within the region. It's very, very backstabby, it's appropriately cynical. If you're a dystopia thriller reader type, this would be in your reader wheelhouse and you'd probably highly enjoy watching how many different parties are trying to do power grabs and carve what slices they can out of finite resources. If you're more sci-fi/horror dystopia type as I am, then the marinating on the horror or the human condition (or how any puddle in a radioactive wasteland is the embodiment of mortal peril) isn't something this story is geared for. That's fine. Most of my criticisms are framed by my expectations as a reader for a genre type this story likely isn't. Thriller people move through action beats, touch on a bit of mystery, carry on. Horror types... "What would happen if they stepped in a puddle and brought the water home? Evil laughter"

I'm a cynic, and gloss over the whole tormented, introspective creative narrative. Author wants to write a historical recounting of Jesus's life, creates a self-insert character who is loftily referred to as only "Master" who wishes to do the exact thing but also ironically can't because they're both stuck in Russia's bubble of influence. Plus the shock humor, because he must bite his thumb at the world. This guy knows he doesn't have much time left, so begin his magnum opus of outrage towards society at large. Skipping this part...

Anyway...

For a book that is near a hundred years old, this is an incredibly modern, pervasive use of literary voice. If you told me it was written from someone in the last 10 years, but featured this Russian noir setting mixed with some hellish interpretations of Studio Ghibli and 'The Master and Margarita' was the end result, I'd go, "Yeah, I can totally see it." It's utterly wild, strange, peculiar, but at the same time familiar. Why I bring up the self-insert part earlier, is most of his characters are creatives, particularly writers. There is an entire chapter of "Master" lamenting his work down to the critics laughing, "Haha, another Jesus fiction. These will never be published." Welcome to the 21st century, nothing has changed. If you're a writer, you will feel this. Other sensations might be revulsion or amusement depending on the reader's mindset. I'd compare the devil and his cohorts' ambitions as frolicking, strange yet gleeful, full of absurdities, money, and often nudity. Women without clothes is quite a thing in this book. Yet strangely enough, there isn't really a sense of shame. The Moscovites of the book are easily mortified, but the author comes across as quite a man before his time. He doesn't condemn the adultery of Margarita, nor the liberation of her maid. Margarita loves fiercely, but she is a woman, strong and proud. The author is a character that is self-aware and knows that in his story to introduce the nameless "Master" is odd, and even more so when the titular "Margarita" is brought in halfway through. Maybe a pacing problem, but it comes through with intention, everything does by the time it's over. Ending is quite rushed given there are scenes that are filler, more or less to prove that the devil roams wide in his pursuits. It's a very long book. Could it have been trimmed? Perhaps. Did we need the 'flashbacks which are actually Master's discarded prose?' Probably not. This is when the cross talk of editing versus preserving the intention comes up, but also the only thing that makes the book show its age. Modern books are axed into ruthless efficiency, this isn't.

I'm never a fan of books with theological connotations. I did however really appreciate the writing style, contemporary and gripping with bold literary characteristics. Mr. Bulgakov's characters are delightful, each one unique and profound, even those of minor significance. It's debaucherous and fun, snubbing at the world at large.

While the collection's idea is about stories that take you off the normal path of storytelling, it does have a few consistencies throughout all of the stories. Of them, very few characters are morally pure, and lack at least some level of intellect that would allow them to make commonsense decisions even when in a bind. There is a lot of "What do I do with the body?" moments in this. Author is from the mid-East region of the USA, and as a non-American reading this it seems sort of like one of those, "I could totally see someone Tennessee pulling these stunts." Once you catch this as a theme, it gets easier to digest. But this is the one unifying theme amongst them all, salt of the Earth type of people turning on each other, evoking the most irrational solutions, and trying to end each other.
I didn't like the characters, and once on the third story I got that basically everyone is going to get their dues, someone always dies, and that's a given throughout. In that, there can be a sort of twisted joy pulled from reading this. The author marinates on horror and spectacle, and people getting eaten very slowly and painfully is a theme in a few of these. Hard to stomach (pun!) at times. Schlock, visceral horror. The writing is solid, clean, executed well. They're good at what they do. My major gripe is that there isn't a lot of variation outside of the archetypal morally ambiguous person from story to story.
I look forward to see more of the author's work in the future, and learning from his marinating horror.