ThReads Must Roll: the new, improved rolling fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction &c. thread

i didn't say i disliked it! and the revelation of the Evil's origins was neat, if not enough so to make me actually read lovecraft.

but, you know, rip wu-tang

yeah i would recommend the broken earth series

on my list. if it's like city we became, i'll probably tear through them

SP Somtow - Vampire Junction

I first heard of Somtow and this book in the additional recommendations at the back of Horror: 100 Best Books, his name stood out but so did the word "Junction", which is nothing like the words generally used in vampire titles. This is his most famous book (considered by many to be an early splatterpunk book), not his best, I've only read 4 of his books but the Inquestor series is on a higher plane.

Timmy Valentine is a 2000 year old vampire stuck with the body of a 12 year old boy, now he's an extremely successful pop star. We frequently visit previous eras of his life and the various characters connected to him. Jungian archetypes are central to the story and the more it gets into them, the more hallucinatory the story is. Vampires can change form based on the fears and desires of the people who see them and somehow Valentine's home has same ability.

This is very much set in the modern world (or the early 80s) with all the cultural references, videogames, famous brands and preposterous merchandise. Vampire films are often referenced and I think one scene was a nod to Stephen King's Salem's Lot. Somtow's classical music background is used even more extensively than in Inquestor.

The best scenes have an incredible energy, I really like the way it developed the archetypes concept, it's frequently funny. Stephen Miles is such an odd character.

Some complaints: the writing is not quite as refined as the other Somtow books I've read. As much as he executes his imagery very well (and he can do this brilliantly), there's still lots of scenes that I think needed more fleshing out and description, because so many things that seem ripe for a juicy description just pass by without conjuring much of a vivid picture or just land awkwardly (a scar that moves like a worm), Inquestor didn't have this problem often. It isn't a long book but I think quite a lot of scenes of relatively ordinary stuff could have been trimmed a bit (especially the vampire hunters getting supplies).
I don't think Somtow aims for realistic dialogue but some choices are just head scratching. This particularly in the chauffeur scenes that are told only in dialogue, it doesn't work very well, the scenes (as I say above) could have had more impact if they were more conventionally fleshed out and the characters describe what they see at such length that I wasn't sure if their dialogue was to be taken as completely literal.
Why couldn't Valentine escape the wooden cage? What does an "irish face" look like? Why does the shoshone mother let the children out so easily? In what way did Brian being with her resemble what his awful brother was doing?

But all in all it's an admirably ambitious, frequently fun and violently energetic novel with lots of fractured, hallucinatory images. I'm looking forward to the sequels but more excited about getting to many of his other books.
Just a warning: Somtow can be disarmingly light hearted and earnest before he plunges you into taboos and extreme horror, Valentine (remember he has the body of a 12 year old boy) has sex with a handful of adults, is raped and butchered and lives through and repeatedly dies in the holocaust. Enjoy!

https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-valancourt-book-of-world-horror-stories-vol-2.html

ok so i finally cracked open exhalation by ted chiang and that first story (merchant and the alchemist’s gate)...holy shit

^^^

That was the first story of his I read. Still my favourite tbh. So good.

All of his stories are great but yeah that one's special.

He can do no wrong

Am reading Broken Stars, an anthology of Chinese SF/F. Not that I want the same old western pabulum but a lot of the stories are a bit too reliant on knowledge of Chinese history and culture (others here might get more out of them!) The best one so far is enjoyable with only a broad grasp, it's an alternate history story where time goes forward as usual but historical events are reversed - Gorbachev gets elected president of Russia and creates the USSR, China moves from a market to a planned economy. At one point our hero travels to America where he sees the sequel to Star Wars episodes I-III: episode IV A New Hope. He bemoans the basic story and amateurish effects, blaming the downturn in the US economy.

Yeah, like I said upthread, I was disappointed in a lot of those---but the title story is amazing, and will check some of them again (although already did a fair amount of re-reading the first time through).

Found your post in among the other 5000, maybe time for a new thread. Agree with you on the editorial/lecturing aspect, and the "wtf oh well" nature of many the stories (for me including the title story, the magical realism/horror vibe just didn't do it for me) - though in my experience that's par for the course for almost any sf anthology. I abandoned the 'connecticut yankee' story after just a few pages.

If you want to be the next ThReadroller, feel free and go ahead, you have my blessing.

ThReadRoller

Thread of Wonder, the next 5000 posts: sci-fi, fantasy, speculative fiction 2021 and beyond