The Darkly Splendid Realm
After Charnel Wine (2004) and the excellent Omens (2007), Canadian author Richard Gavin returns with a new collection featuring thirteen short stories, most of whom previously unpublished. Although somehow still awaiting the recognition he deserves as an accomplished horror writer, Gavin has the narrative strength and the imaginative power of a veteran. The Dark Splendid Realm is an uneven medley of superb fiction and of mediocre tales, but, fortunately, the former greatly exceeds the latter. So, in spite of a few disappointing pieces, there s a whole lot to enjoy in Gavin s latest collection. If you want to get an idea of how good he can be as a writer, I suggest to read, first of all, the exceptional Dreaming While Adrift on the River of Despair, a beautiful tale exploring the substance of death, a door which can be opened or closed but which is the only way to explain the truth of our own existence. And if you want to be pleasantly shocked read carefully Getting the Stray, an offbeat tale of sadomasochism tainting the peculiar relationship between grandmother and grandson or The Astral Mask, a perfect mix between private fears and cosmic horrors, imbued with a dark sense of dread. If you want something more traditional you will certainly enjoy in the extreme the dark and powerful Phantom Passages, an excellent story about an old manuscript offered to a greedy antiquarian. The fascinating Primeval Wood is a sort of pantheistic nightmare featuring a man plagued by the unpleasant effects of hawthorn which gradually affect both his body and his mind. The bitter, compelling Waterburns depicts the life of a woman whose sad life is doomed since her childhood, after the appearance of a monster from the waters of a lake. At a time when horror often sounds as a dubious label and authors seem to be worth mentioning only if they produce novels, Richard Gavin, contrary to many of his peers, is not ashamed to be called a horror writer and to devote himself to short fiction. And he succeeds in both things. --HellnotesI suspect, though, that this is inevitable when one writes stories that are this cutting edge. Mr. Gavin's work pushes particular boundaries of weird fiction in a way that feels unique. While most weird fiction by definition involves some aspect of the weird impinging on everyday reality, Mr. Gavin's stories go further and portray the working of vastly powerful forces that could do far more than merely impinge and at whose mercy we all exist. Whether it's the power of nature, disembodied alien souls, or something else, by the time many of these stories conclude, it is these forces and the spheres they inhabit that seem to constitute the main locus of reality and everyday reality that has been relegated to the tangential backwater. This has the effect of casting human affairs in an even more pitiful and precious light than they already are, which is both terrifying and humbling. While not a perfect collection, The Darkly Splendid Realm does contain a number of perfect stories. I agree wholeheartedly with those who have said that Mr. Gavin's writing is unique. This is the only work of Mr. Gavin's I've read, but it was enough to make me incapable of picturing weird fiction without him. Rating: 9/10 The True First The Darkly Splendid Realm was first published by Dark Regions Press in 2009. Three editions were published simultaneously: a lettered edition, a signed limited edition, and a trade paperback edition. --Speculative Fiction Junkie