Book Review: The Serpent's Shadow by Daniel Braum

I've been away from this blog for a long time, especially when it comes to reviews, which I've had little to no time for unfortunately. However, when the (hopefully one day) legendary Daniel Braum sends you his new book to review, and it's released by Cemetery Dance, you make exceptions. Because you know you're in for a treat.

Before The Serpent's Shadow, Braum has proven himself to be a master of dark magical realism in the short story form. I'm always disappointed when certain writers are only masters of this particular form, and the novels they release end up being a tad lackluster. Though this tale is more of a novella than a novel, it's longer than Braum's other work, and the point I'm trying to make is that he is still able to pull of the vibe he's become known for, yet he manages to concoct a few surprises along the way. 

Set in Cancun in the mid-80s (those familiar with Braum's work will certainly not be surprised by the setting), a young, naive, inexperienced American named David is on vacation with his family. He meets a young woman named Anne Marie at a club, and as their relationship grows, so does the mythology of the story, which relies heavily on Mayan culture (whether the impetus for this story is based on actual mythology or is a creation of Braum's, I am unsure and too lazy to look up). Pyramids are explored, visions are had, and a dreaded killer known as the White Lady stalks the land. You know me...I don't discuss plot much in these reviews, and that's really all you need to know before diving in. Whether you're diving into the clearest water at one of Cancun's beaches or something far murkier, Braum is reticent to share. Which is a good thing. I always appreciate a little ambiguity in fiction.

One of the major pluses of Braum being allowed to spread his literary wings a little more in these 100+ pages is that the character development is much deeper than could be managed in a shorter story. Braum has always managed this better than most lesser writers in his shorts, but the characters in The Serpent's Shadow are given plenty of breathing room, and with David telling the story in first person, we are really able to get inside his head.

The greatest surprise of this book is that, at times, it is a smidge more violent than what I'm used to from Braum (especially the climax of the story). It never goes overboard, as that would be a major tonal shift from the rest of the book, but it still shocks when it occurs. Though much of Braum's work walks a fine line between magical realism and horror, it is in these moments that the latter prevails.

There's a lot to love about this book thematically, and I've got plenty of thoughts about that element of the book, but this isn't a literature class, so I'm going to let you read this and make up your own mind as to what those themes are (I believe there are more than a few). Your assignment is to write a paper exploring these themes and turn it in to me later.

If you think magical realism begins and ends with South American authors such as Márqez and Borges, think again. Try a little taste of Braum's interpretation of this genre, and you won't be disappointed.

Book Review: King Space Void by Anthony Trevino

A bizarre (or, more accurately, bizarro) and horrific science fiction tale of this giant planet-eating thingamajigger that uses people as sort of willing slaves to keep it cruising around the galaxy, doin’ its thang.

That’s all you’re going to get from me about plot on this one. Otherwise I’ll just do it a disservice (if I haven’t already). But you can read about the plot on Amazon or Goodreads if you want to know more. Let’s talk about other things related to this book instead. I want to talk about Trevino’s warped mind and how he applies it to his debut novella. He has a few obvious strengths and likes to play to them (as any writer should). One of those strengths is the ability to describe various grotesqueries with wicked style. And, yes, thankfully there are a lot of those moments here. If you appreciate body horror, there is much to relish in King Space Void. When Trevino goes full-blown carnal is when the book really shines and gets extra wild. Maybe I’m just a pervert, though. Stylistically, I think his prose works best when he’s doing these short, sharp, almost rhythmic sentences. It happens pretty frequently, so I have to believe it’s intentional. Overall, the prose is tight with only the rare stray bit of vocabulary going to waste.

My only real complaint about King Space Void (at least on a storytelling level) is its length. I know many would say it’s better to “leave ‘em wanting more,” but I think this book is an exception to that rule. Trevino has created a potentially rich world here, but I think a lot of it remained in his mind when it really deserved to be on the page. The vision was obviously vast. I think this could have easily been a 300 or 400-page novel instead, giving the characters and the overall strangeness of this book some more breathing room. Is it a bad book at just under 100 pages? No. However, I think it could have been even better with some extra girth, possibly fantastic.

Now I must move on to something that has nothing to do with the story itself. A rant if you will. Maybe you’ll say this is nitpicking, but I believe in my last post I already warned that could happen. Anyway…the copyediting in this book is pretty much nonexistent. As someone who edits and proofreads for a living, I can’t let this go unsaid. It irks me. Now, I’m not perfect. I make editing mistakes (knowing my luck, there’s probably an error or three in this post). It happens. Hell, I’ve caught a typo in a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel before. But King Space Void has grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors on nearly every page. It’s a real bummer because it takes me out of a story I’m enjoying because I have to figure out what went wrong, what was trying to be conveyed, etc. I hate to call Eraserhead Press out on this, but I’ve seen this happen in other books they’ve published. Guys and gals at Eraserhead: you put out some cool, otherwise high-quality products…why is the copyediting getting left behind? If you need a freelancer or something, hit me up! Who needs sleep? Not this guy.

Leave it to me to cry for almost half the review about errors. That’s how I roll. Trevino and his book don’t deserve that, though (but that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make, you dig?). Don’t sweat the small stuff…this book is worth picking up even if you don’t normally read bizarro fiction. In many ways it’s more grounded than some of the other titles in the genre (not TOO grounded, mind you). But it still has that sick, humorous edge you might expect. It’s a satirically surreal trip down the mind of someone who certainly has some more sickening tricks up his sleeve, and I’m looking forward to seeing those.

Anthony Trevino also recently released the first issue of his comic book, Fruition, which was illustrated by Kai Martin (who also did the cover to King Space Void). Seek that sucker out. It’s an odd one and it’s really, really cool.