Forgetting Places, by S.P. Somtow

It seems that in recent years S.P. Somtow has devoted his time to his alternate career as a composer and slowed down or possibly even stopped writing fiction. Which is a damned shame. In the 80's and early 90's, Somtow was one of the most important and best writers in the genre. He was certainly one of the most unique. No one ever wrote like him and no one is ever likely to write like S.P. Somtow.

Somtow would sometimes combine elements of Thai mythology with kitschy American slang and outlandish cross-cultural situations. But he was always a wily devil. You never knew what angle he would come from next. Somtow often set his stories in Los Angeles and used the locale and its colorful denizens to great comic effect.

Somtow is best known in horror circles for his Vampire Junction books. This series of novels starring a child rock star vampire named Timmy Valentine was started before Anne Rice had her own bloodsucking rocker. Vampire Junction is considered by many to be one of the first Splatterpunk novels.

Perhaps the best book that S.P. Somtow wrote is the rollicking horror-western, Moon Dance. This historical thriller rivals the work of books by Robert McCammon and George R.R. Martin.

But Somtow wrote it all: Horror, SF, Fantasy, and Young Adult fiction. As well as works that defy easy categorization.

I read the YA novel, Forgetting Places, sometime back, I think, in the early 90's. I remember really enjoying it and certain sequences stood out in my mind. But much of it was lost in my memory. I decided it was time to go back and re-read it, so I could remember Forgetting Places.

Forgetting Places is like the best YA fiction in that the author never talks down to his audience. The first person narrative is by a normal teenage boy named J.J. J.J. likes video games, sports, and a band called Senseless Vultures. He also looks up to his older brother, even though he's a a little weird.

But the unthinkable happens. J.J.'s brother kills himself, and J.J. is the one who discovers the body. He doesn't remember it, because he's stashed the memory in a Forgetting Place. Then strange things begin happening. The innocuous local grocer knows things about J.J.'s brother that he shouldn't. And even more disquieting, J.J.'s brother begins to communicate with him through his computer.

So J.J. begins a journey to a far off, magical Kingdom. It's called Los Angeles. People talk weird, the food is weird, and coincidences abound. Is his brother trying to tell him something from beyond? Does he want J.J. to join him in his Forgetting Place? Or is something even more bizarre going on?

Forgetting Places is rich with unforgettable characters and abundant humor. Yet it can open doors to reveal things about ourselves that we may have stored in our own Forgetting Places.

Forgetting Places belongs on a shelf with the very finest YA fiction, and like the best fiction for young adults, it will be beneficial for readers of all ages. That is if they are willing to cast off their cloaks of respectable adulthood and remember that we are all surrounded by magic.