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A review by larrydavid
Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan
1.0
Most of the included stories are bloated, far longer than they need to be to achieve their effect. The writing is mixed: some striking and precise but almost every story contains at least one sloppy phrase that needed another draft. Most demonstrate the clear amount of research Langan puts into his work, but often to the detriment of a story; too often it feels like he has included everything he has learned, like a diligent but not gifted student, who throws down everything on the page without any attempt to analyse or synthesise.
My chief objection is that many of these stories were written for themed anthologies, etc. and these stories for me do not move enough beyond their inspiration. To take the title story as an example, in my opinion it is less inspired by Lovecraft than rewriting Lovecraft. It was a story that never once surprised me or gave me the frisson that comes from a new idea. You could argue that this is a good quality of course.
My chief objection is that many of these stories were written for themed anthologies, etc. and these stories for me do not move enough beyond their inspiration. To take the title story as an example, in my opinion it is less inspired by Lovecraft than rewriting Lovecraft. It was a story that never once surprised me or gave me the frisson that comes from a new idea. You could argue that this is a good quality of course.