Book 24: A Clash of Kings, by George RR Martin
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I remember really enjoying this one first time around but wow did it take me a while to get through. There are some good expansions of the world, especially in the five kings warring for the throne and some extra magic getting sprinkled in. It’s wild that there are only 4 Daenerys chapters across the book; pretty few Jon Snows as well. I love the Renly plot (I forgot how they made the deep subtext of his sexuality in the book more explicit in the show), as well as the Winterfell plot. Weird to think of the show and how far it got from the second season to the final one.
Book 25: The Auctioneer, by Joan Samson
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And thus Scary Book season begins. I’m now on the other end of it (got burnt out by books 27 and 28), but this was a great start. This book apparently was a hit in the 70s when it came out but fell out of print, only coming back recently as part of the Paperbacks from Hell imprint.
The story concerns rural life in the 70s, focusing on a young couple and their daughter who move in with the husband’s aging mother on his childhood farm. A charismatic auctioneer comes to town, moves into a recently-vacated (under mysterious and violent circumstances) home, and starts regular auctions to help fund the police force. At first he accepts donations of unwanted items, but soon he starts requesting more than the townsfolk can give…
An interesting story for sure, and subtly chilling for how not-supernatural it insists on remaining. This is definitely a tale concerned with how far normal people can be pushed, mixed with some classic mob mentality. I will say it drags in the middle, as the protagonists waffle back and forth on whether to stand up for themselves or leave; for the most part they argue themselves into doing neither.
Book 26: Peace, by Gene Wolfe
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There’s an inescapable Neil Gaiman (sigh) quote which follows this book around, that it comes across as nostalgic on first read, but reveals itself as a horror story on subsequent readings.
The story concerns the memories of an older man who (and I knew this going into the story and even Wolfe has acknowledged this, which he rarely does with his twists/mysteries, but I will spoiler-tag it inline) is
a long-dead ghost. As he sifts through his life events the reader is invited to question the nature of his relationships, as well as the nature of certain partings. I’m listening to a podcast discussion/analysis right now, so I’m still unraveling some of the aspects of the story I didn’t pick up on.
I will say I had a rare experience with this one: I was reading it before bed and in a section where, in typical Gene Wolfe fashion, someone in-story has started to tell a story of their own (this particular one was in quite an interesting voice, as the teller is not very imaginative and will describe details as being “indescribable”), about taking up lodging in a new town. Before I knew it, creepy things were taking place, I was reading a ghost story, and found myself actually having to read ahead to get to a not-creepy place so I could sleep. It’s been a while since that’s happened.
Book 27: Beloved, by Toni Morrison
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A literary ghost story! My second Morrison, after last year’s Summer of Solomon. I hate to say it but I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did Song of Solomon; the way the story is told is some combination of suggestion and repetition, so you find yourself trying to recall whether events/scenes/quotes are appearing the first time in full, or if this is actually your first hint of them. That certainly makes for an effective look at history and trauma, but I had trouble getting my arms around this one.
Book 28: Perfect Union, by Cody Goodfellow
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A dip into the world of New Weird fiction, I’ve been hearing about Goodfellow in general, and this story sounded nutty: tasked with helping his twin brothers in-law move their mother (his mother in-law), a man finds himself swept up in a war between opposing cults which model themselves off bee colonies. The natures of the cults are a bit difficult to parse, especially as their political standpoints are data-dumped on us in a break between action sequences.
Speaking of, this book really taps into an issue I have with a lot of horror literature, which is that while the setup is a bit creepy, the story eventually shifts into action mode as our protagonist faces whatever evil is at play.
Overall I felt like I was too old for this book; the weird/taboo stuff is more edgy and gross for its own sake (lots o pants shittin), the characters are pretty unpleasant, and any political subtext is plain old text.
