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chrismacilzeg's review against another edition
4.0
Jeffrey Ford first came to my attention via the first story in this book. Along with Joyce Carol Oate's Fossil Figures, Polka Dots and Moonbeams was a real standout in Sarrantonio and Gaiman's anthology Stories. An unexpected slice of period piece, Polka Dots and Moonbeams mixes a swift cocktail of love, addiction and existential uncertainty within a backdrop that feels fresh. It's menacing, ambiguous yet strangely beautiful at times too.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this story appears to be very much in one of the two major veins which Ford writes. In this, he creates a fantasy setting borrowing from periods that aren't necessarily - most commonly doing his own very specific flavour of Dickensian steampunk. Like his earlier trilogy The Well-Built City, they are often concerned with ideas of uncanny science as can be seen in stories like Daltharee and The Dream of Reason. Both of these stories concern that of a mad scientist, and their strange and rather sinister approach to science they contain an eerily convincing quality. The Dream of Reason particularly is another stand-out from the collection.
Also in the darkly-Dickensian setting are Doctor Lash Remembers and Daddy Longlegs of the Evening. Both are excellent examples of Ford's ability to tread between the uncanny and outright horror - the latter notable for retaining its atmosphere whilst indulging in an enjoyably pulpy tone.
When taking on more conventional genres, Ford's stories are no less unique. Sit the Dead is an excellent vampire romance, and Coral Heart is a very strange take on heroic fantasy. The longest story in the collection is Wish Head, a murder mystery about a beautiful young woman's body that is washed up in a local river. It's melancholic and sinister, and surprisingly one of the fastest reads in the whole book despite being the longest. It's preoccupation with strange symbols is echoed somewhat by Relic, a story about lies and faith.
When he's not writing quasi-period pieces, Ford tends towards a high unique blend of the fantastical and the autobiographical. Down Atsion Road, The Double of My Double Is Not My Double and The War Between and Heaven and Hell Wallpaper are all examples of this. Another real standout from the collection is also in this: Every Richie There Is is almost not fiction at all, by the author's own admission, but it's a haunting snapshot of a life glimpsed out of the corner of your eye. 86 Deathdick Road, meanwhile, is disturbing in a way I've rarely encountered outside of the works of Richard Shearman.
It's not all darkness and melancholia: short stories like The Seventh Expression of the Robot General and After Moreau are playful and funny.
The final standout in the collection is Ganesha, a story about a young woman and a Hindi deity. The story of faith and self-actualisation exudes pathos, and expresses the core concepts in a highly creative and interesting manner.
Crackpot Palace is an excellent collection, full of great ideas and unique atmosphere. Not every single story lands, but most do. Worth a read, especially if you're a fan of the works of writers like Kelly Link and Michael Swanwick.
Originally posted on my blog: http://ty-real.blogspot.co.uk/
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this story appears to be very much in one of the two major veins which Ford writes. In this, he creates a fantasy setting borrowing from periods that aren't necessarily - most commonly doing his own very specific flavour of Dickensian steampunk. Like his earlier trilogy The Well-Built City, they are often concerned with ideas of uncanny science as can be seen in stories like Daltharee and The Dream of Reason. Both of these stories concern that of a mad scientist, and their strange and rather sinister approach to science they contain an eerily convincing quality. The Dream of Reason particularly is another stand-out from the collection.
Also in the darkly-Dickensian setting are Doctor Lash Remembers and Daddy Longlegs of the Evening. Both are excellent examples of Ford's ability to tread between the uncanny and outright horror - the latter notable for retaining its atmosphere whilst indulging in an enjoyably pulpy tone.
When taking on more conventional genres, Ford's stories are no less unique. Sit the Dead is an excellent vampire romance, and Coral Heart is a very strange take on heroic fantasy. The longest story in the collection is Wish Head, a murder mystery about a beautiful young woman's body that is washed up in a local river. It's melancholic and sinister, and surprisingly one of the fastest reads in the whole book despite being the longest. It's preoccupation with strange symbols is echoed somewhat by Relic, a story about lies and faith.
When he's not writing quasi-period pieces, Ford tends towards a high unique blend of the fantastical and the autobiographical. Down Atsion Road, The Double of My Double Is Not My Double and The War Between and Heaven and Hell Wallpaper are all examples of this. Another real standout from the collection is also in this: Every Richie There Is is almost not fiction at all, by the author's own admission, but it's a haunting snapshot of a life glimpsed out of the corner of your eye. 86 Deathdick Road, meanwhile, is disturbing in a way I've rarely encountered outside of the works of Richard Shearman.
It's not all darkness and melancholia: short stories like The Seventh Expression of the Robot General and After Moreau are playful and funny.
The final standout in the collection is Ganesha, a story about a young woman and a Hindi deity. The story of faith and self-actualisation exudes pathos, and expresses the core concepts in a highly creative and interesting manner.
Crackpot Palace is an excellent collection, full of great ideas and unique atmosphere. Not every single story lands, but most do. Worth a read, especially if you're a fan of the works of writers like Kelly Link and Michael Swanwick.
Originally posted on my blog: http://ty-real.blogspot.co.uk/
dfmjr's review against another edition
3.0
As Ford story collections go, I preferred [b:The Drowned Life|3373828|The Drowned Life|Jeffrey Ford|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348290605s/3373828.jpg|3413340] over this. This seemed to contain more of the "weird" or "strange" fiction. And I like stories like that but this collection felt disconnected.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
5.0
Jeffrey Ford, how I adore you. You have never let me down, you never disappoint. Sometimes I wonder where the hell you're going with a story, but wise from experience I lean back and enjoy the ride, and it always ends up somewhere unexpected and wonderful. You are unpredictable, but not whimsical. I trust you completely. This is more than I can say for most of your collegues, who lure me in with false pretences and then leave me dissatisfied. Not you. You always follow through. You sweep me up and guide me through your sad and terrifying and hilarious universe and then return me safely home, giddy and glowing (though the mummified saint's foot made me a little nauseous). Please don't ever leave me.
lazygal's review against another edition
2.0
This series of short stories that have (mostly) appeared elsewhere all have some element of odd twist (think "Twilight Zone" or Bradbury's Illustrated Man). The problem for me was that they felt forced, as though the author was given a task - say, a vampire tale (as in "Sit the Dead") - and wrote to fit that task rather than writing a story that just happened to have some twist. By twist, I mean something a little off: a sermon with heavier overtones, a trip to a magic show that goes awry, etc.. After a while, it was difficult to care about how the story would end or be changed from the norm for that genre; the author's notes at the end of each selection were very interesting, illuminating his thought process (see, his defense of "Dr. Lash Remembers" as being steampunk).
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
lamusadelils's review against another edition
4.0
Me gusta mucho lo variado que es el estilo de Ford, siempre sorprendiendo y, como decimos en mi rancho, sacando de onda.
Algunos de los cuentos parecen casi cuentos de hadas, con ese toque incompleto que es carácteristico de las historias que pasan de boca en boca.
Algunos de los cuentos parecen casi cuentos de hadas, con ese toque incompleto que es carácteristico de las historias que pasan de boca en boca.
ctgt's review against another edition
4.0
A wide variety of story types, legends, folklore, ghost stories, sci/fi and just plain bizarre(I'm still trying to figure out wth happened in 86 Deathdick Road. These are primarily reprints from other collections, with the exception of The Wish Head(which was one of my favorites), so if you've read Ford before these may not be new. But this was my first foray into Ford and it seemed like a pretty good introduction to his style.
The standouts for me:
The Wish Head
Sit the Dead
The Hag's Peak Affair
After Moreau
The Coral Heart
Another good book for those of you who don't like single theme collections.
The standouts for me:
The Wish Head
Sit the Dead
The Hag's Peak Affair
After Moreau
The Coral Heart
Another good book for those of you who don't like single theme collections.
daneekasghost's review
3.0
Inventive premises that don't always pay off completely. Loved the ideas in here though.
I liked the longest story in this book, "The Wish Head", the best.
I liked the longest story in this book, "The Wish Head", the best.
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