Read and Appreciated in 2003
A Year’s Best List
The Dark, edited by Ellen Datlow
I know it’s not quite kosher to recommend an anthology I have a story in, but you can rip mine out if you like (story that is). There is some incredible work in this book. Lucius Shepard’s “Limbo” and Kelly Link’s “The Hortlak” are worth the price of admission. There are plenty of other gems in here too by Glen Hirshberg, Gahan Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Joyce Carol Oates, Kathe Koja, etc. As a few of the reviews have said about it, there is little doubt that this volume is sure to become a classic of the ghost story genre. Great cover on this one too.
Light, M. John Harrison
Space Adventure the way I always wished it would be—depth of character, complexity of plot, a sense of humor, and wonderful writing.
The Poison Master and Nine Layers of Sky, Liz Williams
I’d never read anything by Liz Williams before this year. She’s a terrific stylist and story teller, but I most admire the structures of her stories. They flow with the natural grace of life and then suddenly lock into focus at just the right moments with a kind of quantum clock work precision.
The Two Sams, Glen Hirshberg
There are no bummers in this collection. Hirshberg is a horror writer in the Old School style of Henry James or Rudyard Kipling. The pacing in the stories (the rate and technique used in doling out the plot) is masterful. Mix this with a wonderful facility with language and contemporary settings and it makes for a first-rate reading experience. Hirshberg just gets better and better.
Floater, Lucius Shepard
Shepard had a phenomenal year this year. I could have picked any number of works by him for this list. Floater is an intriguing mystery/horror story about Voodoo that is also an investigation of cultural blindness. The intriguing thing about Shepard’s writing for me is the complexity of sentence structure and economy of plot. The tale seems in no hurry to tell itself and yet nothing is wasted, so that when you come to the end of one of his short novels, you have the sense that he has accomplished all that most writers would in a book three times as long.
Japanese Ghosts and Demons, edited by Stephen Addis
I enjoyed this book primarily for its illustrations. Knock-out beautiful Japanese art work of monsters, ghouls, spirits and ghosts. The color reproduction in this book is awesome. There are attendant essay on the legends of these sublunary beings that are also quite good. This is a real feast for the eyes. It’s in paperback too, so pretty reasonable as far as the cost goes.
The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa
Whacked to the max. A book that does not exist, written by an author who is many and none. It’s hard to explain this book. You’re just going to have to read it. Behold the heteronyms.
