The Vampire Genevieve series, Reading Order

I'm one of those people who wants to read things precisely in order and so the (somewhat) convoluted Vampire Genevieve series gave me a bit of a headache. For your benefit I set down the Chronological Reading Order, which follows the events exactly one after the other, below, and further down on the page, my actual recommended Reading order, together with my reasons for having this one be different than the Chronological.

The Chronological Order

1.  Drachenfels, the 30 page +/- prologue: the book-end of 'The Quest for Constant Drachenfels'
2.  Red Thirst (Silver Nails): Genevieve and Vukotich and the Great Escape
3.  No Gold in The Grey mountains (Silver Nails): Lady Melissa and the ruin of Drachenfels
4.  The Ignorant Armies (Silver Nails):  Johann and Vukotich in the North
5.  Drachenfels, the Main of the novel: Detlef Sierck and Genevieve and the play of Drachenfels
6.  Beasts in Velvet: Harald Kleindeinst and the case of The Beast
7.  Stage Blood (Genevieve undead): Detlef and Genevieve and the Phantom of the Opera
8.  The Warhawk (Silver Nails): Harald Kleindeinst and another killer
9.  The Cold Stark House (Genevieve Undead): Genevieve and the Endless Play
10.  Unicorn Ivory (Genevieve Undead): Genevieve and the Family Drama
11.  The Ibby the Fish factor (Silver Nails): Detlef and Genevieve and the end of the line

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However, the reading order for the entire series I'd recommend is a little different from this one:

Recommended Reading Order

     I'd start with The Ignorant Armies as that one stands alone quite well.
Next I'd go with Red Thirst as Vukotich will be the connecting thread that'll introduce you to Genevieve, and the story will also make reference to the ending to the Quest of Oswald and its successful completion, which will slowly hype up your interest in the Drachenfels storyline.
     The third to read will be No Gold in the Grey Mountains short story, which will subvert your expectations somewhat (though depending on the reader, this might be a bad thing, or a good thing), while introducing you to both the environs of Drachenfels and the character of Lady Melissa, who, though she isn't that important, she will be immediately present upon the start of Drachenfels proper and will have an emotional bond with Genevieve, which you, as a reader of the No Gold short story, will al have.
     Then, naturally the Drachenfels novel, followed by the Stage Blood novella.
     I'd advise not immediately continuing into the Cold Stark House short story as, though it follows Genevieve, is a bit of a confusing and almost soulless continuation of her story line. Following on from the superb Stage Blood, it can not be anything but a let-down. It's best to make the side-venture into Beasts in Velvet first, as it is a magnificent novel, though it isn't a Genevieve novel per se (but then that's actually a plus since reading Cold Stark House next would be a bad idea), then followed by the Warhawk short story. Both follow Harald Kleindienst and  Rosanna as they solve crimes.
     The Warhawk's ending is a little abrupt but this'll be a good opportunity to go ahead with the Genevieve storyline and to plunge on into the Cold Stark House story. When that misadventure has been dealt with, prepare for an uptick in quality, and a return to the feeling of Red Thirst, the lady Vampire teamed up with an unwilling ally, in Unicorn Ivory.
     Then, to round it all off, with a good ending and happy feelings, comes the Ibby The Fish Factor.

To reiterate, without a wall of text:

1.  Ignorant Armies (Silver Nails)
2.  Red Thirst (Silver Nails)
3.  No Gold In The Grey Mountains (Silver Nails)
4.  Drachenfels
5.  Stage Blood (Genevieve Undead)
6.  Beasts in Velvet
7.  The Warhawk (Silver Nails)
8.  The Cold Stark House (Genevieve undead)
9.  Unicorn Ivory (Genevieve Undead)
10.  The Ibby the Fish Factor (Silver Nails)

6 and 7 could possibly be left out if you want to just read about Genevieve but, really, you'd be missing out.

And that puts to rest my extended look at Newman's classic horror series.

A very good addition to the Warhammer Horror imprint.

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Small note:

These books were written in a time where the spirit of adventure was paramount, and the original writers liked to put in references to the works of the authors they shared their little sandbox with. As such there are references to Steve Baxter's The Star Boat, The Tilean Rat, The Wolf Riders and likely a bunch of others.

And there are also a bunch of references, flat-out or oblique, to larger works: David Ferring's Konrad trilogy, Brian Craig's Orfeo trilogy and William King's Gotrek and Felix series. It is of course not necessary to read any of these if you enjoy or enjoyed the Genevieve series.

Review: Silver Nails, Kim Newman

     Silver Nails is the last book in the Vampire Genevieve series, at least publication-wise, as it collects all the short stories that Newman wrote during his stay in the Warhammer universe. Despite being part of the Genevieve series two of these actually don't have Genevieve in them as a protagonist. However, both of these excursions; The Ignorant Armies and The Warhawk, feature characters that will meet or have met Genevieve in other adventures.

     There are various possible reading orders but I'll keep that for the next post. The short stories, in the order as they are presented here, follow the in-universe chronology, so it's a serviceable order to read them in any case.

Red Thirst

Glinka Claes' Moral Crusade sweeps the land.

Gambling, whoring, swearing and other vices are outlawed, and every transgression is severely punished with iron rod and articles of faith. Under the cover of law and night "sinners" are press-ganged into slavery for their crimes and transported west in convoys.

The mercenary Vukotich finds himself among them, but as soon as the opportunity presents itself he'll find a way to escape into the wilds together with the young girl that is shackled to him. But little does he know that the frail thing only has the appearance of a girl, and that it harbours dark secrets, and an even darker thirst.

If man and monster are to stay ahead of their pursuers they'll have to find a way to work together, and put aside their mistrust and fear. And when they, over the course of their escape, uncover an evil plot to lay the empire of man low, what then will they do? Monster and man, would they both be served by stopping this evil design, or would one of them rather work it in hand?

Yeah, it's a bit of a massive info dump but I couldn't really help myself. Newman usually puts a lot of different elements in even the slightest of short stories, and you can't really (or shouldn't) sum these up in a few sentences. I could've just said that Vukotich and Genevieve escape enslavement and, over the course of their escape uncover a plot to lay the empire low, and distrustful as Vukotich is of Genevieve, can he allow himself to work together with a Vampire, a creature best served by the fall of man, but... I think that would lessen the mood somewhat, don't you think?

     Either way, something rather interesting is that the villain here is a Cathayan (I think), who showcases a strange and different magic system than you'd usually find in the Old World, but that does have its roots in Chaos. It hardly works hand in hand together with the Warhammer World, since Cathay was quickly rendered off-limits to the authors and sculptors at GW, but then the Genevieve novels do stand apart of them somewhat, anyway.

      Red thirst is a decent short story, though it misses a lot of the heart that usually can be found in the Genevieve canon. There's little to no actual horror here, but as these stories tie in to Drachenfels, there's no real objections from me when you lump it under Warhammer Horror regardless. I'm a completionist above all things, anyway.

Chronologically this is the first story in the Genevieve timeline, but in my opinion it should be read only after you've read The Ignorant Armies one, as that one stands more or less alone, but is tied firmly to this one by the Vukotich character, who is hugely relevant there. He's of course relevant here as well but there are elements in this one that'll be more clear and more emotionally rewarding if you've read IG first. Red Thirst also has some neat foreshadowing to the Detlef/Genevieve relation in Drachenfels.



The Ignorant Armies

To the north of the Empire, in the forests of Kislev, a young man silently reminisces on the events that led him and his retainer in pursuit of the warlord who razed his family's mansion to the ground, who murdered his family and kidnapped his younger brother, Wolf.

Relinquishing his hereditary title and the claim on his lands, Johann has been giving chase to the warlord's forces, in a desperate bid to save his brother, or, if Wolf is beyond saving, to take vengeance on the monster who upset the course of all their lives.

And now the hunt draws to a close, and soon Johann, Vukotich, and the warlord will meet on the plains where champions clash and lead their ignorant armies in never-ending war for the bloodthirsty joy of the Chaos Gods.

     The Ignorant Armies was Newman's first Warhammer story, and it doesn't even focus on Genevieve at all, instead focusing on Johann and the mercenary Vukotich, the last of whom will also appear in the Red Thirst short story, which takes place about 30 years earlier.
Wolf will also have a small cameo in the Drachenfels story. Which means that this one takes place after Red Thirst and before Drachenfels proper. We'll follow Wolf and Johann around in Beasts in Velvet too. So much for how this one ties in to the rest.

     The story itself is very, very good. Newman, as usual, sets out his pieces quickly and seeds his ideas and story-tools well in advance, without giving too much away beforehand.
     Now, if this was a modern Warhammer story, the conclusion would be a foregone one: 10 years is a long time to be in the thrall of the servants of Chaos. See, for instance, Dan Abnett's classic Warhammer story, Riders of the Dead... or, really, any later Warhammer tale with characters captured by Chaos forces.... or... ooh, like Dark Apostle; an insanely dark and brooding Chaos tale in the 40k setting, also has a large part of its run-time dedicated to one such character. But as it is, the conclusion to this story is rather surprising.
     Looking back one can see the neat foreshadowing, that is nonetheless quite invisible the first time. The highpoint of the narrative, the scene itself, is a glorious but dark miracle. And as usual, Newman is excellent in his delivery, adding force to something that, in a less skilled writer, might've come off as silly or blatantly contrived. I think this is my favourite one in here.
The horror is adequate, though the intriguing strangeness of the scenes, the central idea and the setting easily drowns out allegiance to horror this story might have.


No Gold in The Grey Mountains

A small band of criminals have taken up residence in the ill-rumoured castle Drachenfels and have been using its ruined grounds to stage their robbing of the nearby road.

When a travelling coach arrives, expected to be bearing a load of taxed gold from a nearby mine they find instead of the promised gold a little girl, rich, by dress and manner. Turning a bad situation into a good one they take the girl with them with the idea of selling her back to her family for ransom.

But when they arrive in their walled lair they find that something old and hungry is in there with them, stalking in the shadows.

     This one takes place somewhere in the years between the vanquishing of Constant Drachenfels by Genevieve and Oswald in the Drachenfels prologue and the main story of Drachenfels. It follows the Lady Melissa, who will harbour Genevieve in the cloister in Drachenfels proper and will have a starring role in the Ibby the Fish Factor.

     It's another very good story that is very much  enmeshed in horror, and that could stand apart from reading the Genevieve series quite well.
     The reading pace is fast and quite interesting as a lot of details get effortlessly squirreled away in every sentence, forming a rich layer to the story. It has wholly believable and interesting characters and twist and turns to the tune of an exciting narrative.
Ieuw, I hate it when I write like this. I find it appalling. But that doesn't make my assessment of the story any less true though.


The Warhawk

The streets of Altdorf are unquiet once again, as another Pattern-Killer stalks its streets, or rather, haunts its skies. With a body count of seven and rising, The Warhawk is Altdorf's most profligate killer since the Beast's reign of terror, and the corpses haven't even finished piling up.

Rosanna Ophuls joins Harald Kleindeinst on the case, but the killer has been expecting this and is about to incorporate both investigators in his diabolical plans.

     As the 'another' should indicate, this one takes place after Beasts in Velvet, and features Harald Kleindeinst and Rosanna Ophuls. It's sadly the last story to follow them around and doesn't tie much into the rest of the Genevieve-storyline. Its ending is also a bit abrupt and though not completely unsatisfactory, one can't help wishing there was just a little bit more to tie it all off a little better.
     But. Holy damn, there's a big surprise in here: a damn cross-over with Gotrek and Felix. With Gotrek having an actual speaking role, and with Felix, looking on worriedly from the sidelines, having a quiet flirt with Rosanna.
      Gotrek actually shows up to give Harald some information on the Warhawk killer's antecedents. This doesn't feel forced either, although I do wonder if this can be constituted as canonical still, since Gotrek and Felix's Journey is such an extensive one, and has been chronicled in detail. Man... I really wish there could be a complete and definitive collection that puts everything in perfect order.

     Anyway, the story itself treads the line between silly and grotesque, with the nastiness of the actual killings themselves easily swaying one to place it on the side of horror. It's also a lot of fun to read about the two investigators again and a few off-hand comments might also clue you in on at least one of the last open threads left dangling at the end of Beasts in Velvet. It wasn't really necessary to do this as Beasts still stands on its own after The Warhawk concludes, but I'm glad for the information nonetheless.


The Ibby the Fish Factor

Genevieve Dieudonné has returned to Altdorf, but though it's only been little under 2 decades since she'd been declared a hero of the Empire, humans have short lifespans and even shorter memories, and where once she'd been welcomed with cheers and shouts of joy, now there is only violence and the promise of true death for the Undead. For a new faction has popped up, and this time Vampirekind is being targeted directly.

Ibrahim Fleuchtweig, also known as Ibby the Fish, warchief of the Fish gang, has allegedly been murdered by a vampire, and Antiochus Bland, head of the Anti-Vampire movement has ideas on how to use the murder for his own ends.

Meanwhile, Detlef Sierck, aging but still quite genius, and writer of pieces of theatre, sonnets and other assorted writings, is about to come face to face with his Undying Lady once more, as she has came to him for help.
Because there is assassination attempt afoot, and if the plot against Vampirekind is to be thwarted, Detlef and Genevieve will have to be the ones to stop it.

The very last of all of Newman's stories in the Warhammer setting, both in the internal chronology and publication-wise, Newman wrote it because he wanted to give Genevieve and Detlef a happy ending. It's an enjoyable tale, though maybe a little flighty. The horror this time is nonexistent, but who really cares? If you're still reading these stories you're not just solely here for the horror, and you've probably come to care for these characters. If so, this one will be a fun one to read. There's love, action and death, all the ingredients needed for a page-turner.

Review: Beasts in Velvet

The Empire's capital of Altdorf lies huddled beneath a shroud of fear as a killer of women stalks its fog-bound streets. The savage murderer, known only as The Beast, leaves his victims behind in grotesque displays of gore and mutilation, and there seems to be nothing the City Watch can do to stop him.

Johann Von Mecklenberg, 3 years after the events at Castle Drachenfels, has returned to Altdorf to tutor the future heir to the Empire, and to check up on his brother Wolf. The same brother who once was kidnapped, corrupted and made a servant and warrior of Chaos for more than a decade, and whose life of corruption was miraculously annulled by a heroic self-sacrifice, and who was returned to the boy he once was, young and innocent, and unmarked by Chaos.

But the taint of Chaos can not be so easily washed away, and as the Beast Murders continue to terrorize the nation's capital, Johann begins to regard his brother with a terrible suspicion.

Harald Kleindeinst, hard bastard and disgraced ex-copper, watches the mounting tension in the streets and can do nothing, removed as is from the workings of the Law. But as Johann comes to him with an offer of reinstatement in order to find and capture The Beast, 'Filthy' Harald is more than happy to reintroduce himself to the criminal element of the city, with a fist of iron and knife of steel, of course.

They are joined by Rosanna Ophuls, psychic scryer and novice in the cult of Sigmar. Her scrying gift has made her ideally suited to uncover information on the killer, but she'll have to let herself feel the horrific last moments of his victims to gain clues on his identity. And though she is no stranger to the darkest thoughts of Altdorf's citizens, the Beast's twisted mind might just be too much for her to handle.

As the fog worsens, and rumours surrounding the nature of the Beast spread among the citizens, the tension on the street rises. With the citizenry angered at the complacency of the aristocracy, and with gang violence escalating every moment, the threat of riot and calamity looms ever larger.

Johann, Rosanna and Harald will have to work together to apprehend the killer and to stop Altdorf from plunging into chaos.

Excessive blurb, anyone?
You'd think that all the bases would be covered after that, but there's some stuff I've not mentioned both to keep the word count down and to prevent spoilers, and also because I like to go along with whatever the writer puts out there. And Yes, that's right, there are no spoilers here, believe it or not. All of the above is present in, give or take, the first 60 pages.

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     Beasts in Velvet has long been my favourite stand-alone novel in the Warhammer universe. It is the one responsible for a lot of the background feeling of the fiction, or at least the fiction set in the cities of the Empire. Lankhmar was a huge inspiration for the cities of the Empire, but not even Leiber imbued his setting with the same liveliness that Newman does here.
     One of the main reasons why the Vampire Genevieve series is so beloved is that it made the world feel alive.
     In the fiction that was to follow, the capital of the Empire was such an interesting setting because Newman made it so. He made Altdorf a lived-in city, beholden to its citizens, and not just governed by the military men that came to rule the Warhammer world. And citizens have a citizen's need, and after the most basic functions, that need is predominantly the need to be entertained. Newman's stories constantly reference their in-universe's popular culture; there are references to the theatre productions of Tarradasch or Detlef Sierck, the ballads of Ferring, or the songs of the minstrel Orfeo.

And it helps enormously, of course, that Newman himself gave us such a splendid set of in-universe pieces of entertainment with The Strange case of Doctor Ziekhill and Mister Chaida (Stage Blood) and The Treachery of -REDACTED- (Drachenfels, and beyond), making the idea of popular culture within this setting infinitely more feasible.

     This, more than anything, this acknowledgment and pre-occupation with art and entertainment, gives the reader a sense of recognition and identification with the people that populate these stories. Not just the main characters, but also the others without whom there would be no story. The population at large. The faceless masses that make up the population of this world. Usually this amorphous blob is there on the background, given lip-service to, rarely seen and barely heard, but because art needs an audience Newman had to bring them alive. And all of a sudden, the masses are no longer faceless.

     And in Beasts in Velvet he explores them and their relationship with the world around them further by introducing the impact of news, gossip, and rumour.
Though it isn't perfect, Beasts in Velvet gave us more information on the normal citizens that live in the Empire, how they live, and how they would respond to a serial killer stalking their streets.

     Anyone who'd read the Vampire Genevieve series had a way more active and interesting background world for their next adventures (or battles) to play themselves out in.
Anyway, I really got off track there, but sometimes you just have to go along with what you want to say, and explore the things that really interest you. I find that sometimes I just can't write, because instead of giving myself free reign, I'm trying to work in a manner that constrains me so much until I can't write at all.

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Seeing as the above wall of text won't help with the people coming here to see about the whole 'Horror' business, I better trim this next bit down a tad. Let's start with a few words from the man himself.

From the Introduction:

And then there is the opening quote:

If that doesn't say it all, I don't know.
     And it does: Beasts in Velvet horrifies, even on re-read. It's an engaging tale of a twisted serial killer with dark psychological underpinnings (and the scene where this is revealed has some deeply upsetting stuff). It takes its cues from the Jack the Ripper murders, having mystery and sheer bloody horror at the center of its story, and it fills the streets with a thick, choking fog and enough body parts to comfortably trip over.
     The characters are engaging, the story is fast-paced and its ending is satisfying.

Full merits. If you love horror and haven't picked this one up yet; go do so, you won't be disappointed. Can't recommend it enough.

* Small note, despite appearances it isn't necessary to read anything else in the Vampire Genevieve series: Beasts in Velvet stands alone, though there's always more flavour to be had if you've read Red Thirst (SS), Ignorant Armies (SS) and Drachenfels (N).

Witcher Reads: The Ciri Saga.

Wow. I did not like the Ciri saga at all.
Sapkowski's quintet gives the fantasy genre a bad name.

Sure there are some good things, but they are far outweighed by the bad. That Polish flavour I spoke of before, that gave this series such a unique appeal, is pretty much completely gone by the end of the Ciri Saga.

From the small but emotionally engaging adventures of Geralt as he hunts unique monsters and fucks tons of women (and it's warranted to be this crass, as the books do a hell of a lot worse) to the story of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri in a world at war.

     Though the scope has opened up, the lands nonetheless seem more lifeless than before, populated as they are by the usual Tolkien Suspects: Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Humans, except with a more plausible realism to each of these, a tendency to be more down-to-earth, more prone to cynical or down-right 'human', shitty behaviour. There is no unifying enemy though, so bereft as they are without a great enemy to fight against, these races have of course set to squabbling amongst themselves. Mainly, it's the humans versus everyone else, and this brings with it an element of xenophobia coupled with distasteful and hateful dialogue.
     Said dialogue occasionally got awful, quality-wise I mean, and by the end of the series it became truly insufferable. I'm not sure how much of this is down to the translation, and this is an important thing to note in translated works like this, but somehow I doubt that the blame can not be put on Sapkowski.
     Because there are other problems here, content-wise. There's a pervasive streak of, if not outright misogyny, then it's at least something that's a shade close to it. I was also of the opinion that this got worse the longer the series went on. This may just be attrition speaking though, being worn down the longer the story unspooled, although I'm very certain that the kind of sexist, women-hating talk spouted off in the last book was a far cry from women as lustful sex-objects, always willing to ride the Geralt-train.

In the short stories, it was charming and engaging but it got old pretty quick. Also because, the more women are interested in him, the less sense Geralt's bitter exclamations make that he's feared and hated because he's a Witcher because the man does end up getting an awful amount of... fun.

     In the last novel especially it gets to be the worst of all as the main villains start barraging our protagonists (and us) at various points with a verbal avalanche of loving descriptions of all the evil things they're going to do to them. It was ridiculous and distasteful. An edgy child's depiction of evil.  And to make it all worse: the motives of the various enemies practically all hinge on them getting Ciri pregnant, whether this is going to be unwilling or not.
It was awful.

Some of this can be excused. The artist is at liberty to choose his story after all, tone-deaf as it may be, if you can't take it you need to get off the bus, because even though it might not work for you, it will undoubtedly work for others. However, when it is a question of competency...

     My actual main beef with the five books, the huge immersion-breaking thing for me was Sapkowski's highly irritating tendency to break his narrative structure. Now, I'm not averse to a challenging story structure, but this was extremely badly done, without control, and no method to it. The times where this happened it felt as if Sapkowski had become bored by his own story and felt the need to switch it up, to approach his plot in a different way just in order to keep writing. The few ways that I thought this was done well can be counted on one hand. But there's more places where it just fails outright. In the Lady of Lake in particular there is an approach that showed promise but ended up leaving the narrative with some massive, glaring plot issues, and a paradox the size of a mountain.

    Every book, every new part in them, every other chapter introduces a throwaway manner to approach the story. For the most part it's just plain old exposition city. Whenever we rejoin our characters they'll barrage us with the specifics of their journey since the last time we saw them.
This isn't done in the manner of a competent writer, and rather in a cliff-notes fashion. The pacing is all over the place, and none of it is any good. The books themselves are not self-contained.
And on top of all of that there is the ending, the dull and very, very unsatisfying ending.


Final Thoughts

     When I had read them I thought both The Last Wish and the Sword of Destiny short story collections were phenomenal, and I am still of that opinion. But the Ciri saga, those 5 books that follow the collections, are garbage. And I thought I would be outnumbered in this opinion but the verdict on the final books of the Ciri saga seems to be largely unanimous: A let-down. A disappointing ending. Crap.
      This series is only as well-read and well-known as it is because of the CD project Red's video games. And I see a lot of readers deriving satisfaction from Lady of the Lake's ending as the Wild Hunt allegedly continues the story in a grand manner... except of course for the fact that this is impossible.

     There can be no continuation because there's a pretty damn definitive ending for two specific characters. Sure, it isn't explicitly stated, but it's heavily implied. I'd explain it in detail, but that would constitute spoilers, and because it's not as if this reading of that ending could not be handwaved away in an instant in any possible future novel, because it can. But the Ciri saga was originally obviously also meant to end the Geralt part of the series as well.

Atrociously written and atrociously plotted, this series does not merit its popularity. Avoid reading these books.

I am curious to see if Netflix's The Witcher can, just like the videogames, adapt Sapkowski's mess into something more pleasing.

July Book Haul

Alright, I'm late again with the monthly Book Haul post, a few days too much, into the next month even but I guess it doesn't really matter.

As you might've noticed I've been out of sorts lately, at least blogging-wise. There's not been much new going on here. This is down to a few things, some of those are private and won't be talked about.

 But, some of the writing itself has been slow-going too. Mostly it is the Grendel Fantasy Masterworks post which is proving very hard to figure out. But it's nonetheless slowly progressing, despite there not being any real information around to back up my write-up of the novel.

Something else that has stopped me from blogging is the reading itself: I've been reading quite alot. I've been making my way through the Witcher's Ciri saga, and I am finding it really quite abyssmal. More on that in a next post. Because I do need to talk about it, if only to pin-point why I dislike it so much. I think it warrants that, at the very least, because I liked the 2 short story collections so much.

Anyway, on to what you're all here for; the Books!

Ghost dog picture. Saffy is doing extremely well, thank you for asking.

Ahem. Let's try this again.

Now then, on to the books!

First up: Vastarien's first issue of the second year.

I am still enjoying the Vastarien magazine. The stories, though usually pretty short, tend to be memorably dark and horrific. This one had a few pretty disturbing tales, and special mention goes out to The Curse of the Three Biblical Magi, which was a lovely mix of historical fiction, mythology building, Body Horror and philosophizing. Which one of those last two sounds more horrible to you?

 It also had a truly bewildering ending. This might be a plus depending on your preferences.

I was also hugely into the Horror Religiosus essay by David Peak. Religion and horror is my bag so I'll be keeping this one's references in mind for future reads.

The essays in the magazine are always worth the time so don't just skip them.

By the way, here's my current 'read Ligottian fiction collection'.

I haven't read much Ligotti, actually, which is always a little disconcerting when I realize it.

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Here are two special ones that I've had my eye on for a while.

2 books by one of my favourite authors; Mathew Woodring Stover.

Iron dawn is book 1, Jericho Moon, its sequel.

Heart of Bronze is actually the Hardback omnibus collecting these two novels into one handsome package.

I had to get these second hand because the books themselves are out of print. It's bizarre but Stover is not that well know. Despite actually being one of the best and most engaging writers out there. When I've read these two I'll have read practically everything by him, barring his Star Wars, which I don't touch on principle, because fuck Star Wars. I've never liked that series by the way, this isn't a recent development. Imagine watching the Phantom Menace, being absolutely smitten by it, then watching the originals and finding them really quite old, and then being ridiculed and mocked for actually liking the prequels. I swiftly got turned off on the whole thing. Fandoms are always toxic. Entitlement and Expectation work hand in hand to destroy the appreciation of any work of art.

Anyway, I got off on a little tangent there. I actually just wanted to say that I might end up hunting down Stover's Star Wars books anyway. He really is that good. But I'm just waiting until I've read absolutely EVERYTHING ELSE the man has to offer.

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Orbit's Trade Paperback of the latest Witcher novel.

I'm really hoping this'll be better than the Ciri Saga. More The Last Wish and less Lady of the Lake please. I'm also wondering whether this one will be taking place before the Ciri saga. People don't talk much about this, but didn't the ending to the Lady of the Lake kind of preclude maybe any more Witcher sequels. The possibility for the interpretation is there, but you could just as well pretend otherwise.

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Mythos Books' publication of Matt Cardin's Dark Awakenings short story collection.

Matt Cardin is a writer who's very much into religious horror so this one's very much my bag. I've only read the 'Gods and Monsters, Worms and Fire: A horrific reading of Isaiah' essay, so far, which was fascinating, though a little dense, and I confess to feeling slightly (very slightly) out of my depth.

It's clear Cardin has done extensive research into the material, and any interpretation of God as an absolute fucking monster gets a big thumbs up from me.

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Because I was so disappointed by my Witcher read, I had the realization that I really SHOULD just be buying the books that I know will be up my alley, rather than go chasing popular opinion.

To whit: some novels by K.J. Parker.

I've heard he's and exacting writer, and I've really wanted to read more of him ever I finished reading his The Devil You Know novella. It was a tad disappointing but I nonetheless had a lot of fun during the write-up, which can be found somewhere on my blog.

This trilogy seemed to focus a little on mythological elements, and there was some mention of 'Gods' so even though I forgot all the reasons why I wanted to pick these up I nonetheless went ahead and bought them. I did have to find Memory second hand though, and as a result its condition is less than perfect, though you can't really see it on the picture.

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The ones I'm reading right now, as the post goes out.

My favourite Newman novel and the Silver Nails short stories, on which I'm already doing some extensive writing.

There'll be a seperate post on the reading order for those interested.

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The chiltern edition of Sun Tzu's Art of War, which pictures really can't do justice.

On the outside it's an incredibly beautiful gold-foil covered edition, with embossing and refflective finish (which you can just barely make out in the red parts).

However, the inside is gauche to the extreme, and as such I can not recommend you to actually buy this edition. There's seven books in the Chilltern Classics, and though they look gorgeous, as they are each just a small part of a distinguished writer's oeuvre, I would just be annoyed at the incompleteness of it all.

Take a look at these beauties though. I'm tempted every time I look at them.

Chilltern Classics

I would also dread there to be illustrations like this throughout the book. It's unlikely, I'll concede, as the Art of War merits some padding, as it really is quite a short little treatise, which I blew through in just a little while.

I found it mostly to be just a collection of observations, that'll make you say 'well duh' a lot. Though I admit I would struggle to think even a few up like this.

The two last chapters I did find genuinely fascinating and revealing though.

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Lastly, the Limited Edition of the Lost and the Damned novel, published by the Black Library.

Last time I gave this one its own post, but I would just be rehashing my comments I think.

It's a beautiful edition, blah blah blah.

Though, the World Eater icon here is simply Gorgeous. And, as I'm a World Eater myself (my psn-name is still Worldeater_5) this one cuts to the very heart of me. I would love some actual merch like this.

So much work went into this, blah blah blah.

And the Sanguinius artwork is practically perfect. The Angel embodies his namesake.

Who the hell even drew such a magnificent thing, blah blah blah.

Seriously though: Damn. Awesome.

And another seriously though: holy shit, they're really pulling out all the stops for this series, huh?

And that's it. A little (very) late, but there you have it.

Enjoy. I know I will.

The Grimbscribe's Puppets: Top 5

The Grimscribe's Puppets is a short story anthology collecting a variety of tales that homage the work of horror writer Thomas Ligotti. There's 22 of them, all written by different authors, and they run the gamut from garbage to excellent, and as I'm feeling both lazy, generous and rather uncertain concerning my understanding of some of the tales that I labeled as tripe, and allowing for the possibility that I'm just too dim to understand what those were really about, I'll just be writing about those I think are the best in here. The really bad ones I can count on one hand, as there really are more good than bad, but I'll only be talking about my favourite 5 anyway.

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First off, I haven't read much Ligotti. Specifically I've only read Teatro Grottesco, the Vastarien short story, and as of now am only about three quarters into the Conspiracy against the Human Race, but I do have a firm grasp on the ideas and themes present in the man's work.
Said themes can be rather confronting to read about. As someone who's suffered from depression and the darkness that comes with that, to this day, reading these tales has sometimes been too much, and at other times it's been almost therapeutic.
I have an affinity with this type of stuff and when I saw the lovely cover art on this one I immediately bought it, together with the Seasons in Carcosa anthology, despite me never having read all the King in Yellow short stories... I really should remedy that somewhere this year.

Now, apart from The Grimscribe's Puppets I've also read all 4 issues of the Vastarien magazine that are out right now, and I've found that, occasionally, writers who take their influence from Ligotti don't exactly tread lightly when telling their own stories, and that the themes that Ligotti subtly (but clearly) weaves throughout his fiction, will by them be splashed on the page in an explicit and sometimes even quite shocking manner. Whether this a good idea or whether this devalues the thing in the way of common shlock-sensationalism, is for each individual reader to say. Needless to say, whether this is for you or not, there are always times one just simply should stay clear of this type of fiction.That's just a little warning: If you're depressed, Ligottian fiction will find a fertile soil in you.
For some this can be a help, for others it won't be.

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That's just a bit of an aside. Without any more prattling from me; here are the top 5 short stories from The Grimscribe's Puppets.

5. Gailestis - Allyson Bird

     At number 5 Gailestis, by Allyson Bird, is the story of Gerda and her twin Kay, who, bereft of their parents, try to survive in relative isolation. It's a story that's got more going for it in terms of imagery  than in any competency of style or skill at storytelling. There's barely any story to speak of even. We follow around Gerda for a while, listen to her thoughts, learn of her being different from the people around her, but I'll admit, as it continued I found among its elements intriguing oddities that implied more than that they stated outright, hints of strangeness, dangers that might've been supernatural, or not, it's hard to say because the story just ends, kind of.
     I can't really say why this one's in my top 5. It was this one or Diamond Dust, which was also very good, and for some reason I chose this one. Diamond Dust was more sensational, way more active, whereas this one had something more placid going on.
     I didn't think I would like it as, at its beginning, it seemed to me to be one of those pretentious stories where the author just foregoes telling a straightforward narrative, in favour of something more experimental, with sentence structure delivered in a complicated manner, jagged and disconnected, in a way that hampers the read itself, rather than something with a coherent vision or idea in mind.
     But after a while, lo and behold, it actually clicked. Maybe it was the titillation stuff, not outright erotica mind you, but still: to imply is sometimes better than to make explicit, and there also seemed to be something definitely nefarious going on with this particular element. Anyway, whatever the reason, though there might be better stories in here, this one managed to stick in my head and so gets my fifth spot.

4. Where We Will All Be - Paul Tremblay

This one struck a chord with me.
     A young man is different from everyone around him. It's been known all his life; troubles at school required him to have consultations that eventually pin-pointed the problem; that his brain just seems to work differently. And maybe this might turn out to be a good thing. Because when Zane wakes up one day to find his father storming out the front door to join what seems to be a mass exodus of humanity, in response to a kind of summons Zane himself can not hear, he can not help but tag along on the journey, of his own accord and in curiosity, unbeholden to the terrible signal that seems to compel the rest of the teeming masses.

     It's implied that main character Zane is autistic, and that this is the reason why his brain doesn't receive the same 'signal' everyone else seems to pick up and this, of course, is quite interesting to me, as someone with Aspergers.
     But I also liked this tale because of the sheer shock and gore factor, and some very nice and nasty apocalyptic imagery at its ending.
     It also reminded me of some of Clive Barker's tales. Frequently labeled and dismissed as Splatterpunk, Barker's work often uses supernatural elements not just to horrify but also to evoke a sense of awe when finally a higher power stands revealed. Think of The Midnight Meat Train, or Cabal. Although maybe Tremblay's story has more akin to In the Hills, the Cities, where the level of gore on display is of such scale that it simply becomes awesome, and mind-numbing.
Either way, the gist of the thing is that something bigger than mankind has touched it, and in Where We Will All Be the consequences of that touch are undeniably malign, or at least inimical to humanity's well-being, and their presence can not be denied. And their demand can not be stopped.

3. Furnace - Livia Llewellyn

     Furnace is the very first story in this collection and it's a great opener, immediately hooking you with a variety of horrors.
     I've done a separate post on this one already as I didn't really expect to be giving the book its own post too, but the short story bears an extra little bit of attention nonetheless.
     There's enough stuff in here to constantly keep the reader engaged. Under the guise of the familiar 'Dying Town' theme Llewellyn introduces us to a young girl's experiences with growing up in this kind of setting. And though it might seem familiar and even a little comfortable (quite reminiscent of childhood nostalgia) at its beginning, soon we're introduced to some really horrific stuff, courtesy of the girl's grandfather, who's been keeping an eye on some of the town's stranger goings-on.
     As the townspeople move away (or disappear) from their residences, violent and shocking things begin to happen, but what might be stranger still is how that this is simply expected, as if it's not all as fucked up as it really quite obviously is. And you do get the feeling that the longer this goes on, the more reality itself will begin to unravel.
     The story's ending is quite something, though there are multiple possible explanations for what exactly might be happening. There is added value in such an ending, inviting re-reads and analysis.
And usually I can come down easily on my preferred possibility, but here I found that the two possible explanations of what was happening were both rather plausible, and genuinely interesting.
But these things operate according to their own rules in any case, so I'm not going to try to explain and instead I'll just recommend you read this one for yourself.

2. Into The Darkness, Fearlessly - John Langan

     I am absolutely going to read more of John Langan's work. There's a quality to Into The Darkness, Fearlessly that I absolutely loved, and it might be my favourite short story in here.

     "The morning after the police found the final piece of Linus Price, Wrighton Smythe, his frequent editor and occasional friend, opened the front door of his apartment and saw a manila folder lying on his doormat." Within is Linus' last work; A grammar of Dread, A Catechism of Terror, a previously not even hinted at volume, that swiftly reveals itself to be an autobiographical work, primarily focusing on the 6 last months of Linus' life. The novel is undoubtedly by Linus' hand, and following up on the mystery of who left it at his front door leads Wrightson into something more dreadful than even Linus' darkest imaginings.

     It has a great opening line, the focus on the literary world is delicious, and I absolutely adore the story conceit of a writer whose darkest work is uncovered after his death. However, I found that the finale was a bit off. Not a dud, exactly, but less than what could have been, certainly. Still, the writing is hugely enticing, and of a higher level than the bulk of contemporary authors writing today.

1. By Invisible Hands - Simon Strantzas

     By Invisible Hands sticks undoubtedly the closest to the Ligottian themes of all the stories in the anthology. The story elements of the puppet and the puppeteer rears its head once more, and though the plot might seem very straightforward, its execution is masterful nonetheless.
    A once-great puppet maker sits alone in his basement, tormented by the decline of hands once capable of crafting true masterworks. When he is requested for another project he can not help but have his reservations. But a forced visit to his would-be client makes him decide otherwise, even though he can't actually remember much from the visit itself.
     As his newest masterwork begins to take shape his old pains fade away and the joy of the craft becomes paramount. But he's losing more and more moments of his day, and whole hours pass without notice or remembrance. He seems to space out, or forget. And worst of all, there's an acute sense of dread for what comes when the puppet will be completed. And slowly the craftsman begins to understand that a dreadful revelation might be waiting for him up ahead.
     It's a great story, with uncomplicated prose, an eerie, alien atmosphere and capped off with a perfect ending, what more can I say?

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There's definitely more stories I could talk about, but this month's been an impossible slog for me in the writing department so I'll leave it at just giving honorable mentions to Diamond Dust, The Human Moth, The Lord Came at Twilight, Basement Angels, The Holiness of Desolation, The Prosthesis and Oubliette.

Review: Genevieve Undead, Kim Newman

     The second release in the Vampire Genevieve series under the new Warhammer Horror Imprint, Genevieve Undead, is a collection of three linked novellas. This novel was originally released in 1993 and has now been newly re-released to drum up some interest into the Warhammer Horror imprint. After all, Newman is a recognized and popular horror novelist, so it is a good idea to release the novels that he (practically) cut his teeth on even though those same novels are not indicative of either the direction that the Old World fiction ultimately continued in, or even that the Black Library strives towards right now. This means that both quality and mood are markedly different from what you'd normally find in the Black Library's stable.

The whole Genevieve series uses numerous horror tropes, and is very comfortable with giving homage to various classics of both horror literature and other types of horror fiction, and in Drachenfels and Stage Blood in particular; the blood-drenched boards of the Grand Guignol serve as the main springboard for the action.

    The first novella here; Genevieve Undead, takes place after Beasts in Velvet, the second complete novel to actually feature the vampire heroine, but in which she's delegated to a mere cameo. Nevertheless Beasts is actually my favourite of the four novels. I'll talk more about that one when I review it.
     You could read Beasts in Velvet first and catch a few references though it isn't really necessary to do so, as the first novella; Stage Blood, is still the first story to chronologically follow Genevieve and Detlef five years after the events of Drachenfels proper.

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Already a genius before the events at Castle Drachenfels 5 years earlier, the experiences in its dark halls have given Detlef Sierck a new insight and an unstoppable urge to drive his plays into darker territories, and now, together with his Vargr Breughel company he is staging a new production based on an older morality play.

As Detlef seeks to perfect both his new take on The Strange History of Dr Ziekhill and Mr Chaida, and his own dual performance in the title roles, the vampire Genevieve begins to grow aware of the toll it is taking on her lover, how inhabiting the evil character of the transformed doctor is threatening to drive out the good in Detlef. And soon she may have to acknowledge that her relationship with him might also be responsible. 

But the darkness is a generous muse, and soon the halls of the Vargr Breughel theatre will resound with rapturous applause.

But behind the walls, behind the one-way mirrors, in the passageways and in the haunted recesses of box seven, the theatre's Trap-door Daemon looks on everything that happens, and has designs of his own.

And then there's still the old evils... And the dangers within will be joined by those from without.

Because in the destroyed fortress of Drachenfels a vestige of the Great Enchanter has been unearthed, and soon his last vengeance will begin to make his way to the unsuspecting artist, and his undying lady.

I spent quite some time on the blurb here as Stage Blood really is a damn fine story and I felt it deserved something extra. (The other two don't have blurb as that would constitute spoilers and in the case of The Cold Stark House I would have to explain the story for it to even begin to make sense.)

     As it follows the previous book's principal protagonists, Genevieve and Detlef, and in some measure also that one's main antagonist, it pretty much serves as the direct continuation for the Drachenfels story line.
     I'm not exaggerating when I say that Stage Blood is magnificently done, its cores theme revolving around the idea of duality and man's struggle with his darker side. The longer the story goes on the more you realize at how many points this is explored and how well it all actually fits together.
The story is funny, horrific and ultimately heartbreaking, ending on a real note of poignancy, the inevitability of certain developments no longer able to be put off. Though it easily evokes a response from the reader, I can't help but feel as if there should have been slightly more build-up for Genevieve's decision at the end of the novella. It's a small niggle though, as the decision itself feels logical and inevitable even as it breaks your heart.

Stage Blood's quality has the unfortunate side-effect of making the other two novellas in this collection feel like disembodied little side-jaunts, removed in both tone and style from the rest of the Genevieve stories.

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     The Cold Stark House picks up Genevieve's story some time after the ending of Stage Blood but at its start you can be forgiven for being confused about where it belongs, as the novella is a bit of a mess. This is mostly down to our point of anchorage, Genevieve herself, suddenly having become a stranger to us, with a lot her backstory massively, glaringly, altered.
Or at least that's how it appears.
     The conceit of the story can be figured out quickly after a certain point, but until that time the reader will be floundering, unable to connect, irritated by the seemingly endless stream of contradictions that come with a cast that is straining the seams of the novella with their inconstant backstories, altering characteristics, and of course their frequent dying and resurrecting.

But of course, it is this last development that reveals the story for what it is, or at least its nature, and it is at this point, a few resurrections in, that the plot becomes clearer and less aggravating.
Nonetheless, it is comfortably the worst of Newman's tales that I've read, if not worst then it is the least fun to read.

It's also in this story that I realized how little agency Genevieve actually has, and has had, throughout the series. Maybe this is due to the Immortal-Vampire aspect of her character, being pretty removed from the affairs of the world, disinterested due to her extreme lifespan, but it frequently ends up with her acting only as an observer in the affairs of others.

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The last story here, Unicorn Ivory, is a step up from the previous outing, but it still has the odd conceit of introducing our heroine as someone other than whom we have come to know. This time we're wise to the act though and we'll be able to happily go along with what Newman has in store for us, leading to a pretty intricate and satisfying tale that nonetheless feels a little bit off, a little bit hurried, in its ending. It's a good thing that Chronologically in the Genevieve series there's still a short story after this one, else it'd be a bit of a lackluster ending.