Review: Atmospheric Dark Escape Fantasy ...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 18, 2011
Diary of the Displaced  by Glynn James is about a man who wakes up in a dark, unfamiliar place with no idea of when or how he arrived there. As the story progresses, he explores this new, dark world, discovering strange dog-like creatures; weird, Frankenstein-esque zombies; giant mushrooms; and other, stranger things. This story is equal parts stranded survivalist; memory mystery; ghost story; treasure hunt and horror adventure, set in an eerie semi-apocalyptic landscape and is told in diary-form.The author generates an excellent sense of atmosphere; at no point do you think the landscape he has created is safe or familiar. Even when a familiar item turns up, it only deepens the sense of unease because it isn't where it ought to be. Because the story is told using a single point of view, the reader is put in a state of sympathy in something like the same state of confusion as the narrator. His questions are largely ours, as is his frustration at the lack of answers. The antagonist* has the feel of a folk tale, and is largely effective because of the shadows and half-truths of the rhymes in which he is shrouded; nothing is as creepy as a child's rhyme.On the downside, I felt that the writing could be tighter and that minor issues - grammar and typos - could have been spotted by an editor. Recounted conversations also felt stilted a bit, and could be made smoother and less expository**, though I do recognise that making them flow in a more regular manner could be difficult or awkward. Naturally, you're only going to remember the highlights/ important parts of a conversation if you're writing it into a diary; I just felt that they could be a bit better. I felt initially that the language is at times too simple, though this does improve as the book progresses, so this could be taken as part of representing the narrator's state of mind.I'd recommend this to readers of dark or horror fantasy with a touch of mystery. It has a slow start to it, but builds well. I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.Overall: 3.5 or 4 starsReview copy supplied by the author as part of LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.*He reminded me of Jack of Irons (Brian Froud's illustration in Faeries with the heads hanging from his belt was called to mind) from folklore, as much as the landscape reminded me of the hollow hills of the Irish Sidhe or the interior of an enchanted barrow, perhaps.**They felt a bit like conversations one has when playing an adventure game and speaking with non-player characters in town. This book did have the feel of a game script when it started, so that may have biased me a bit.