Reviews

A Message from the Slave State by Chris Kelso

thomaswjoyce's review against another edition

5.0

There are so many different types of story held within Kelso's Message From The Slave State. There is a strand of science fiction, a strand of horror, a strand of noir, of surrealism. When you intertwine all of these strands you get a narrative that isn't always straightforward but is always thoroughly entertaining. There is a raw quality to Kelso's prose that won't be to everyone's taste. He has admitted as much and he is to be commended for his bravery. He did not set out to write a money-spinning, number one bestseller that the critics would fawn over. He wrote the story HE wanted to write, the story that only he could write. But he populated it with colourful and three-dimensional characters, not all of them instantly likeable but each with very human flaws that we can recognise from real life, maybe even in ourselves. And Kelso clearly takes some pot shots at himself throughout the story. But to have written something so compelling and so unique at such a young age (rumours are he was only 19) is incredibly impressive. If you are looking for a story that travels the mundane highway from point A to point B with cardboard cut-out characters then leave this book alone. If, however, you enjoy some honest and well-written prose with compelling characters and amazing scenes, you should give Kelso's work a try.

thomaswjoyce's review

5.0

There are so many different types of story held within Kelso's Message From The Slave State. There is a strand of science fiction, a strand of horror, a strand of noir, of surrealism. When you intertwine all of these strands you get a narrative that isn't always straightforward but is always thoroughly entertaining. There is a raw quality to Kelso's prose that won't be to everyone's taste. He has admitted as much and he is to be commended for his bravery. He did not set out to write a money-spinning, number one bestseller that the critics would fawn over. He wrote the story HE wanted to write, the story that only he could write. But he populated it with colourful and three-dimensional characters, not all of them instantly likeable but each with very human flaws that we can recognise from real life, maybe even in ourselves. And Kelso clearly takes some pot shots at himself throughout the story. But to have written something so compelling and so unique at such a young age (rumours are he was only 19) is incredibly impressive. If you are looking for a story that travels the mundane highway from point A to point B with cardboard cut-out characters then leave this book alone. If, however, you enjoy some honest and well-written prose with compelling characters and amazing scenes, you should give Kelso's work a try.