eBook Review - Apocrypha Sequence: Insanity by Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Apocrypha Sequence: Insanity by Shane Jiraiya Cummings is the second book that I have read in Shane’s Apocrypha Sequence series.  As Shane mentions in the foreword to each, some of these stories are found in other works. 

The idea of producing the Apocrypha series was to collect works thematically.  The works in Insanity are an ‘exploration of the human mind as it is pushed to breaking point.’

 

The Tales

1. Ian - The tale of a young women, brought up in an isolated and strict home in the wilds of Tasmania, every man she meets is named Ian.
2. Stop – A story that blends horror with being stuck in traffic
3. Itch- Ever had the urge to scratch just a little bit harder, or to enjoy that fine line between pleasure and pain. Itch takes the idea further
4. Song of the Infernal Machine – The relentless hum of the machine drives some to madness
5. The Black Door – A Hitchcock-esque tale of persuasion.

Favourite

I’d read three of the stories in this collection before, in Shards. It was, however,  Ian that messed with my head the most and thereby takes the title as my favourite.  It’s so maddening crafted that by the time that I got to the end of the story I began to feel sympathy with main character and dread the name Ian.  Shane displays very good use of repetition to develop a sense of unease in this piece. Itch was interesting, and maddening, as I read it while suffering from an a particularly persistent itch myself.  The power of suggestion?

Summary

In terms of the series I prefer Insanity over Divinity, it’s more psychological and suggestive horror, easier to suspend my disbelief and get drawn into the story. The collection has a distinct twilight zone or weird tales feel to it.

eBook Review - Apocrypha Sequence: Divinity by Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Apocrypha Sequence: Divinity is another packaging of Shane Jiraiya Cummings short fiction and is included in his ‘Grand Experiment’ which you can check out here.

This book was provided by the author free of charge.

In Apocrypha Sequence: Divinity, the reader is treated to 5 short pieces of fiction (some of which can be found in his collection Shards) that are thematically linked with the concept of Divinity.  Indeed all the Apocrypha Sequence titles are constructed in this way i.e. they are themed.

The Tales

As the title indicates the stories all centre on the divine.  Cummings offers a diverse selection for the reader up first is a tale of Ancient Egypt.

In Sobek’s Tears the story centres around an Egyptian general pursuing the Hebrew slaves.  Its a tale of revenge and the extent to which one man can be prepared to go to carry it out.

The Virgin in the Mist(which appeared in Shards) was an interesting take on holy visitations.  It might make the religious think twice about hoping for an appearance from the Virgin Mary in their bathroom mirror.

Memoirs of a Teenage Antichrist was another tale that I had read previously.  A funny piece in the tradition of Adrian Mole with a dash of Good Omens. The diary of the teenage Antichrist as he comes into his powers.

Blasphemy on Eight Wheels  is fast paced military action, terrorists and transportation of dangerous cargo.

Genesis 6 was another story I had read in shards and presents us with the concept of another biblical catastrophe/genocide at the hands of Yahweh and the idea that all is not well in Heaven.

What I liked

It was hard to pick a standout story in this offering.  I’d previously read 3 of the stories so their impact was possibly lessened.  The humour present in Memoirs… probably puts it in front as the best of the bunch.

What I Didn’t

Nothing to dislike here. 

In Summary

A good buy if you are interested in reading  religiously themed horror writing - though there’s not much that is too horrific in this collection.  Cummings plays around with common tropes associated with divinity giving the reader some interesting twists.   Good concepts and a good value read  – currently available at 99c from Smashwords.

 

Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

ebook review–Shards by Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Shards by Shane Jiraiya Cummings is as its subheading spells out; a collection of short, sharp, tales.  


A collection of polished Flash fiction,  it leaves the reader with poignant imagery and as horror, a lingering sense of unease.


Bad flash can be like a half rendered idea, an unfinished thought -thankfully Shards is a collection of carefully crafted work that leaves you with a sense of foreboding, or wishing you hadn't just eaten.


Like any collection there are things the reader will prefer dependent on their own tastes and experience.  While there were pieces that didn't grab me as a reader, there was nothing in the collection that felt to me as if it were padding.  


There is a sense here that Shards is a bit of a showcase of what Cummings is capable of as a horror writer. While all tinged with the macabre there is breadth and depth in its offerings.  We have the delicious and darkly humorous Smoldering Eyes at only 5 lines long, the witty Revision is Murder and the rather grotesque Itch.


My three top picks though were:

1. R U OK - terrifying in its depiction of a very realistic and plausible situation
2. Post Card from Paris (a reply) - again because the story skirts the edge of plausibility - this horrifying situation could happen.
3. Congo Jenga - almost for its title alone, as an excellent metaphor for the tale it names.  This tale riffs nicely of the dangers of traveling the dark continent and the punishment that awaits those with dark desires.

A reader might be forgiven for thinking that writing flash is easy because it's short, I think like poetry though, writing good flash, polished flash is a skill that requires practice. And Shards is the collection of a well practiced horror writer.


Shards is available through Amazon Kindle, Smashwords or in print form from Brimstone Press.  It contains 33 macabre and monstrous tales of varying length.

Note: this book was provided by the author at no cost to myself.






Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a reader or Follow me on twitter.

eBook Review: The Smoke Dragon

The Smoke Dragon by Shane Jiraiya Cummings was an Aurealis and Ditmar awards finalist.  As part of Shane's Grand Experiment he's released this novelette on Smashwords for Free and on Amazon for 99 cents.


The Tale
It tells the story of  Yamabushi(a wild mountain fighting monk) Kaidan and his sidekicks Aiko and Yumi as they battle against bandits and their Smoke Dragon and an opportunistic Samurai clan.


It's classic mystical Japan with Kaidan casting spells that augment his martial prowess and dispensing wisdom left, right and centre.  The tone is somewhat reserved, perfect for the genre.


What I liked
This piece of fiction took me back to days spent wasted playing  in the pseudo-historical world of Tenchu - Stealth Assassin. 

I'd like to read more of these Characters and from the extra chapter included at the end of this download its seems Cummings will be doing that in the not too distant future. 


What I didn't like
Not too much to dislike really.  


It does feel like the opening to a longer tale and while perfectly self contained as a story in its own right I would have liked more so that the characters and their motivation could be filled out.


Final Thoughts
If your a fan of pseudo-historical oriental tales, anime or games, download it. Hell even if you're not into any of the above enjoy a good free read.  

Shane Jiraiya Cummings -The Grand Experiment

Ever since I discovered JA Konrath and signed up to his blog I have been hanging out for some Australian authors to emulate/replicate his self published success.  I know that we have great authors here in Australia who aren't receiving the same sort of acclaim as Konrath and some of the lesser known success stories that he promotes.


So it was almost serendipitous when I stumbled across Shane Jiraiya Cummings' plans to do just that.  He's titled it The Grand Experiment.  On his blog he writes:

At the end of this month, I’ll be self-publishing seven (7!) e-books directly ontoAmazon (via their Digital Text Platform, an excellent tool for self-publishing authors) and Smashwords. The titles will be available on all the major e-readers: Kindle, Kobo, Apple, PDF, etc. – although Amazon’s Kindle is my focus.

These new titles, along with my existing novella Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves, mean that I have a decent sample of eight titles with which to build my reputation and sales.  I have another few titles in the works, but Mum’s the word on those for now. I’m saving them for later …

At the end of every month, I will post sales figures on this blog/website.

The goals of the Grand Experiment are:

• My primary goal (to determine whether the experiment is a success) is to sell 1,000 e-books in total (across all of these titles) by December 31, 2011
• My secondary goal is to sell 1,000 copies of each title (i.e. 7,000 copies) by December 31, 2011.
• I’m also hoping to demonstrate that word length is far less important when it comes to selling e-books. Novels are the dominant form in bookstores, but I propose that novellas are a better length for e-book readers and that short story collections, when marketed and published the right way, will sell just as well.

Here we have a Australian Speculative Fiction author, traditionally published, and who has the skill set to really take advantage of the self publishing phenomenon.  I will be following his progress over the coming months and blogging about it here.  I have also been invited to guest post on his blog next month. 


If you want to check out his work Shane has made The Smoke Dragon (an Aurealis Finalist) free at Smashwords.




Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a Reader or Follow me on twitter.