I'm terrible with short story collections and anthologies. I'm a novel lover foremost, though I do enjoy short stories. It's just that I prefer to jump from novel to novel. I work on it and I try to read more books of short fiction. When I do it seems like I rarely complete a collection or anthology without breaking for a novel. In rare cases I devour an entire one without wishing to stop. F. Paul Wilson's Aftershock is such a case.
But Aftershock & Others isn't merely a short story collection. It's an intimate, witty and fascinating look at the author's career from the year 1990 to the present, with extensive story notes and interludes between the stories. And apparently it's much to Wilson's chagrin that readers sometimes prefer these notes to the actual stories.
Me, I liked both the fiction and the supplementary materials. But then I've been a died-in-the-wool fan of the work of F. Paul Wilson since I discovered The Keep in the mid 1980's.
Being such a fan, I had previously read approximately half of the stories in Aftershock & Others, but I read this book from cover-to-cover anyway. As always with Wilson I liked everything in it. It's nice to see a writer not afraid to take chances and to attempt different styles and approaches to fiction. F. Paul Wilson refuses to be pigeonholed as any particular type of writer. He has excelled in horror, thrillers, science fiction and adventure fiction.
Every story is a delight, but highlights for me included:
Aryans and Absinthe. I had read this excellent story in Douglas Winter's Revelations anthology. I forgot how smart and disturbing this one is. Wilson effectively evokes the beginnings of Hitler's reign in pre-World War 2 Germany. This one is absolutely one of his finest short works.
Anna is a unique ghost story in which a haunting is manifested in pieces of wood.
Offshore is from F. Paul Wilson's own Diagnosis: Terminal anthology and it's a fast-paced story of a near-future where smugglers have to illegally transport drugs. It's as much of an adventure story as it is a cautionary tale.
Sex Slaves of The Dragon Tong and Part of the Game are perfectly executed Yellow Peril pulp stories.
Lysing Toward Bethlehem is perhaps the weirdest story in Aftershock. The POV is from a malignant virus invading a host/victim.
I could go on, but really, every story in Aftershock & Others is a winner. If you're an F. Paul Wilson fan, you know you can't miss this five-star collection. If you don't know his work, this is as good a place to start as any. Really, you won't go wrong with any book of his.
But Aftershock & Others isn't merely a short story collection. It's an intimate, witty and fascinating look at the author's career from the year 1990 to the present, with extensive story notes and interludes between the stories. And apparently it's much to Wilson's chagrin that readers sometimes prefer these notes to the actual stories.Me, I liked both the fiction and the supplementary materials. But then I've been a died-in-the-wool fan of the work of F. Paul Wilson since I discovered The Keep in the mid 1980's.
Being such a fan, I had previously read approximately half of the stories in Aftershock & Others, but I read this book from cover-to-cover anyway. As always with Wilson I liked everything in it. It's nice to see a writer not afraid to take chances and to attempt different styles and approaches to fiction. F. Paul Wilson refuses to be pigeonholed as any particular type of writer. He has excelled in horror, thrillers, science fiction and adventure fiction.
Every story is a delight, but highlights for me included:
Aryans and Absinthe. I had read this excellent story in Douglas Winter's Revelations anthology. I forgot how smart and disturbing this one is. Wilson effectively evokes the beginnings of Hitler's reign in pre-World War 2 Germany. This one is absolutely one of his finest short works.
Anna is a unique ghost story in which a haunting is manifested in pieces of wood.
Offshore is from F. Paul Wilson's own Diagnosis: Terminal anthology and it's a fast-paced story of a near-future where smugglers have to illegally transport drugs. It's as much of an adventure story as it is a cautionary tale.
Sex Slaves of The Dragon Tong and Part of the Game are perfectly executed Yellow Peril pulp stories.
Lysing Toward Bethlehem is perhaps the weirdest story in Aftershock. The POV is from a malignant virus invading a host/victim.
I could go on, but really, every story in Aftershock & Others is a winner. If you're an F. Paul Wilson fan, you know you can't miss this five-star collection. If you don't know his work, this is as good a place to start as any. Really, you won't go wrong with any book of his.
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