September was a little disappointing reading-wise. Struggled most of the month on one novel, and other activities (including having an unpublished novel for critique) have nibbled away my reading time lately. Not expecting this situation to improve much in October either, but c’est la vie.
The Phantoms Of Breslau by Majek Krajewski (Quercus). Picked this one up as a recommendation of Polish authors available in translation, and really wanted to enjoy the weird murder investigation set in early 20thC Germany, but I couldn’t. There was something about the story/prose/translation that physically sent me to sleep. Literally, one or two paragraphs and I was out like a light. Took me a month to read 100 pages, and I eventually ran out of time to spend on it. Might go back to it sometime, if I start suffering from insomnia.
Black Static #24 (TTA Press). Having just come back from FantasyCon, I’ve been thinking about horror fiction, and my relationship with it. I used to read a lot of horror, but in recent years it’s failed to grab me. I think this is because however well written (and the stories in Black Static are well written for sure) a horror story is, I’m always able to predict the ending, and I’ve read enough of them for that predictability to shift from anticipation to melodramatic cliche. Of the stories in this issue of BS, my favourites were Still Life by Simon McCaffrey and Recently Used by Ramsey Campbell.
ayeahmur 