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Worlds Without End Blog

NEW RELEASES: The Night Clock by Paul Meloy Posted at 7:33 AM by Charles Dee Mitchell

charlesdee

I had this as an advanced reader’s copy through Net Galley, and I went into it knowing nothing of the author or the plot. I don’t know, however, that much prior information would have helped me with the first couple of chapters. Meloy dumps us into a netherworld where the planet Mars takes the place of the moon, and characters I sensed were the good guys kept to their side of the street while a pub across the way served as a passageway for very bad things to enter their world. The next chapter involved a farm house bothered by a zombiefied relative who ate hot stew with his bare hands, had to be led away on the tines of a pitchfork, and set on fire in a field.

It took me several pages into the next sequence to realize that Meloy was settling down to his plot. A housing estate somewhere in the UK, with its boarded up shops, council flats, graffiti-covered walls, and threats of violence suggested a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting, but no, this is just a miserable place to live. Meloy can really pack in the information. With the background of a mass shooting at a day care center, he introduces us to a feckless estate patrolman, an alcoholic hanging onto some sense of dignity, and a social worker whose cases have begun to either kill themselves or others. And there are monsters, hideous creatures that can possess the weak and pursue those who might be a threat to them.

paul_meloy

Paul Meloy

Meloy has worked as a psychiatric nurse, and this section grounded in the world of the housing estate, with his hero Phil Travena dealing with suicidal and homicidal clients, a weaselly new boss brought in to “tighten the ship,” drunks and a growing sense that these monsters may not be hallucinations sets the action in both a very real and very creepy world. Once we are part of the pitched battle between good and evil, things take on the more predictable cast that such battles usually entail. But Meloy continues to create inventive situations, engaging characters, and grand set pieces. His monsters are spectacular creations that wear their debt to Lovecraft lightly. The talking animals are a problem, but that could be my inherent resistance to talking animals.

Much of the plot involves the impending birth of Chloe, a child whose existence is crucial to victory over the dark forces. In one of Meloy’s most successful narrative devices, we get to know Chloe as an adult character, stranded in a dangerous world as she waits to be born. There are also a man and his son who start as characters in a children’s book who become major players in the battle.

At times I felt that Meloy’s story needed a larger canvas than he provides, but when I weighed that against his ability to wrap things up as quickly as he did, I decided he made the right choice. He ties things up well. That illogical zombie scene from the first pages even makes sense by the time the story is over. And although he doesn’t end with cliffhangers, Meloy could easily return to this world for further novels.

2015 British Fantasy Awards Winners Posted at 1:03 AM by Dave Post

Dave Post

The winners for the 2015 August Derleth and Robert Holdstock awards have been announced at FantasyCon.

No One Gets Out Alive August Derleth Award

August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel:

WINNER:

SHORTLIST:

 


Cuckoo Song Robert Holdstock Award

Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel:

WINNER:

  • Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s)

SHORTLIST:

 

D&Diesel with Vin Diesel Posted at 3:37 PM by Dave Post

Dave Post

Join Vin Diesel as he sits down with Geek and Sundry and Nerdist for a game of Dungeons and Dragons!

This made me like Vin Diesel even more! He seems a little unsure to start but by the end he’s into it. I wonder if he’s played much before? The DM is amazing and reminds me of my old DM from years gone by and the rest of the party are great too. Makes me want to play again!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer Posted at 8:34 AM by Dave Post

Dave Post

We’d be remiss if we didn’t post this trailer. I can’t say I’m too excited to see this newest installment. One thing Lucas taught me well with the last 3 movies is fear. Fear is the mind killer… wait, that’s Dune. “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Anger, hate, and suffering… pretty much sums up my experience with the prequels. But Lucas is out of the picture so maybe…. It does look pretty cool.

Vampire Manga 101: Shiki Posted at 1:58 PM by Glenn Hough

gallyangel

Shiki21What is it with writers in general and Horror writers in particular and their obsessiveness concerning small towns? They make them seem like places where every other house is full of mystery, monsters, the deranged, or weirdness run amok. Whether it’s King in Maine, Lynch in the Northwest, or Ono in Japan, on either side of the Pacific, writers love to make stuff happen in small towns. Shiki (Shi Ki), which can be translated as “Corpse Demon”, is no exception.

Shiki can be described like this:

The story takes place during a particularly hot summer in the nineties, in a small quiet village called Sotoba. A series of mysterious deaths begin to spread in the village. At the same time, a strange family has moved into the long abandoned Kanemasa mansion. Dr. Toshio Ozaki, head of the only rural hospital in Sotoba, initially suspects an epidemic. But as the investigations continue with the help of his old friend Muroi Seishin, who is the village priest, the deaths begin to pile up; they becomes convinced that the undead are plaguing the village. A young man named Natsuno Yuuki, who hates living in the village and only wants to leave, begins to suspect he is still being pursued by a girl who has already died.

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