It’s been a busy year again here at STORGY and I’ve been reading everything and everything yet again – from the big hitting publishers to the brave publishing of Independent Presses (which are putting out some astonishing works of late) to some self published works. Not to mention the hundreds of short stories I’ve read
It’s a neat little ritual, thinking about the best books I’ve read over the last year. It’s also hard to whittle it down to a manageable list. It’s also hard to remember what I’ve read half the time. With that in mind, perhaps the list then writes itself – if I can remember it, then
An unsettling novel which taps into a range of human emotions, The Complex is a surprisingly thrilling book. Analysing the darker side of technology is a popular novel theme, however The Complex doesn’t ever feel tired or repetitive; instead, it manages to hand over a great deal of trust to the reader, finishing with an
‘Melting Point’ is an odd collection, to say the least. Though here, ‘odd’ isn’t to be taken as a negative, rather, what makes ‘Melting Point’ so strangely enjoyable is its oddities – it’s whispered moments of surrealism and shouted moments of the humorous absurd. Magarian is a lyrical author, who fuses and blends his prose
Fraser’s debut, ‘The South Westerlies’, a collection of 18 short stories set mostly in and around Gower, South Wales, is rife and woven with careful detail and design. I could ramble and try to find a multitude of words to describe it, but ultimately, the collection is a joy to read for all those who
A piece of experimental fiction which thankfully doesn’t lose sight of itself, Good Day? is an accomplished novel that explores obsession, desire, and human interaction. Our nameless narrators, a female Writer and her opinionated reader husband, expose themselves and the cracks in their relationship while they analyse a work of fiction and lose themselves in
When you think of the high-level pitch of Trevor Mark Thomas’s The Bothy – having to seek refuge in a rural Yorkshire pub frequented by odd people with dark secrets – you could be forgiven for conjuring up an image of the Slaughtered Lamb in An American Werewolf in London. A deeply hostile welcome, Brian
‘I walked in on my first shift and was met by the manager, Hakan. He was a little prick. I could see it from the start.’ So begins Zero Hours, the second in a proposed ‘Manchester Trilogy’ by realist writer Neil Campbell. We are back with our troubadour narrator, bouncing from menial job to menial
It was a last minute booking: Mr George Smithson. Reception claimed he had called on several occasions but failed to finalise the arrangements. That was shorthand for time-wasters who rang for kicks, with no intention of proceeding. ‘The old bugger kept giving a different name,’ Myra said, ‘but I recognised the voice and checked the
It is hard to say what makes a good short story collection, assessing the quality of one story is hard enough, let alone many. A short story collection can manage to delight and disappoint at the same time; it can push the boundaries and simultaneously stay safely within them. There are no rules on how
