Review: Depth and Class Beyond Most Genre Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 25, 2014
This collection of four stories from David Brian was deceptively deep, yet dark and disturbing. Alliteration aside, these stories ranged from good to perfect.The Cthulhu Child was the first story. If I had to guess, it came earlier in the author's career than the others. The other three are all technically infallible, but this one had a few minor typos, nothing that detracted from the story. My only real issue was that I'm not overly in love with Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and certainly am no expert, so grasping the Lovecraftian deities was impossible without research. Still, for fans of Lovecraft, this tale pays homage in a way that surely does not disappoint. For horror fans in general, a solid and unique read. Cthulhu mythos meets Invasion... 4 starsNext up was Losing Him. This story was masterfully written. Like the first tale, it is done from a strong female perspective. The only complaint I would have with this story is that its primary theme was a small element of the first story. The author's sinful delight? David Brian has serious talent, so in the anthology, I would have loved to have seen more diversity. Still, the point of view assumed in this piece was an excellent choice from which to craft the story that unfolds... 4 starsSweet Sugar is the third story. It is perfect. No word in it is wasted. It is beautiful, horrifying, and tear-jerking, all at the same time. I wouldn't necessary classify it as horror, though I do not fault the author for doing so. This moving piece is not only as good as some of the work of those fancy-schmancy elitist types who shun genre fiction as second-rate, but it outshines them. Literary fiction with power and class from a genre fiction specialist... 5+ starsThe last story is flash fiction. I generally hate flash fiction because usually the stuff I read does not qualify as a story in any sense of the word and its far too short to become invested in the plot or characters. Thankfully, Brian's story is longer than what I usually see and does tell and interesting tale that I rather enjoyed. I do not know how to rate flash fiction so I will leave the rating here blank.So... 4.333333333333333333333 (and so on) stars, by my calculation. This definitely wets my appetite for Brian's work. I look forward to reading more in the near future.