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A review by eyed
Knee-Deep in Grit: Two Bloody Years of Grimdark Fiction by Mike Myers, Adrian Collins
3.0
I ended up having mixed feelings about this book, which is the outcome for a lot of anthologies for me. Not every story is for everyone, so you just have to enjoy the stories that are for you. There were definitely stories for me in here but I expected to be really into more of them than I was.
What it came down to was while all the stories fell in the grimdark genre some were just bloody violent fight scenes. I love fight scenes but for me they were lacking the story that makes me care about the outcome of the action. This is something I did not know I needed from a short story before I read this book. Due to this I had some clear favorites that were more emotionally grimdark than the others. Here they are in order they appeared not the order of my enjoyment.
The Right Hand of Decay by David Annandale
This story was about the ongoing war between Harrod and the Grey Queen and just how far they were willing to go to achieve complete victory over the others.
Brazen Dreams by Matthew Ward
This one was sci-fi which I am not really into but The twists this story that started out as a simple heist took came as quite a surprise. Enough so to add it to my favorites.
Drone Strikes For Fun and Profit by Aaron Fox-Lerner
I am not sure what sub-genre this falls into exactly but it was extremely wild, all the more scary because I could definitely see something like this happening in our not so far future.
All the Lovely Brides by Kelly Sandoval
This one was pretty intense. It is about a Lord/God and his string of brides and the sacrifices they must make to keep him and his people healthy and prosperous.
A Recipe For Corpse Oil by Siobahn Gallagher
About a pick pocket who is asked to help get the ingredients for corpse oils. It involves him acquiring twelve chins and it is quite an interesting story.
The Woman I Used to Be by Gerri Leen
A dope story about a woman with amnesia after a space shuttle crash. This story was pretty fucking crazy and went places I definitely did not expect.
Ashes by Tara Calaby
This one was extremely dark and fantastically well written. Not action grimdark but grimdark for your soul and I loved it. It is a new spin on Cinderella as she feels just as trapped by being a princess as she did by her evil step family.
Against the Encroaching Darkness by Aliette De Bodard
A story about the sometimes impossible decisions one must make as a leader. This one was pretty intense.
Bad Seed by Mark Lawrence
I had read this one before in Road Brothers but I enjoyed it again this time through.
The rest of the stories for me ranged from just ok to pretty good. My opinion on some stories contained within are skewed because with the exception of Robin Hobb's The Liveship Traders I do not enjoy stories on boats. Hopefully I will find some that can change my mind on this.
Overall it was a good read. I got to read some stories by authors I enjoy and learned about some I had been previously unfamiliar with. Regardless of how I felt about the stories in this book I will be looking into their other work. I am aware that short stories are the time for them to experiment and play so I will be interested to see how their full length tales are.
If you are a fan of any of the authors listed on this book or a fan of grimdark in general then this is something you should definitely check out.
What it came down to was while all the stories fell in the grimdark genre some were just bloody violent fight scenes. I love fight scenes but for me they were lacking the story that makes me care about the outcome of the action. This is something I did not know I needed from a short story before I read this book. Due to this I had some clear favorites that were more emotionally grimdark than the others. Here they are in order they appeared not the order of my enjoyment.
The Right Hand of Decay by David Annandale
This story was about the ongoing war between Harrod and the Grey Queen and just how far they were willing to go to achieve complete victory over the others.
Brazen Dreams by Matthew Ward
This one was sci-fi which I am not really into but The twists this story that started out as a simple heist took came as quite a surprise. Enough so to add it to my favorites.
Drone Strikes For Fun and Profit by Aaron Fox-Lerner
I am not sure what sub-genre this falls into exactly but it was extremely wild, all the more scary because I could definitely see something like this happening in our not so far future.
All the Lovely Brides by Kelly Sandoval
This one was pretty intense. It is about a Lord/God and his string of brides and the sacrifices they must make to keep him and his people healthy and prosperous.
A Recipe For Corpse Oil by Siobahn Gallagher
About a pick pocket who is asked to help get the ingredients for corpse oils. It involves him acquiring twelve chins and it is quite an interesting story.
The Woman I Used to Be by Gerri Leen
A dope story about a woman with amnesia after a space shuttle crash. This story was pretty fucking crazy and went places I definitely did not expect.
Ashes by Tara Calaby
This one was extremely dark and fantastically well written. Not action grimdark but grimdark for your soul and I loved it. It is a new spin on Cinderella as she feels just as trapped by being a princess as she did by her evil step family.
Against the Encroaching Darkness by Aliette De Bodard
A story about the sometimes impossible decisions one must make as a leader. This one was pretty intense.
Bad Seed by Mark Lawrence
I had read this one before in Road Brothers but I enjoyed it again this time through.
The rest of the stories for me ranged from just ok to pretty good. My opinion on some stories contained within are skewed because with the exception of Robin Hobb's The Liveship Traders I do not enjoy stories on boats. Hopefully I will find some that can change my mind on this.
Overall it was a good read. I got to read some stories by authors I enjoy and learned about some I had been previously unfamiliar with. Regardless of how I felt about the stories in this book I will be looking into their other work. I am aware that short stories are the time for them to experiment and play so I will be interested to see how their full length tales are.
If you are a fan of any of the authors listed on this book or a fan of grimdark in general then this is something you should definitely check out.