Review by emmygis -- Tales from the Gray Area
Posted: 02 Jan 2021, 13:22
[Following is a volunteer review of "Tales from the Gray Area" by Curtis Stephen Burdick.]
Tales from the Gray Area, by Curtis Stephen Burdick, hopes to pay homage to the classic „The Twilight zone“, which it incredibly does. And even introducing this mix of genres to a wider audience, perhaps some new audience who hasn't read the old classic. It is really a nice thing for the author to say what is the inspiration for his book, especially to hear that somebody's work had affected him in such a way that he would like to pay homage to the classic.
There are 7 novellas. Every one of them has a different theme and a set of characters. The themes vary from archeology, marine biology, hell, sorcerers, aliens and this book has something for everybody. But you have to have a knick for the mysterious. And who doesn't, really?
The descriptions are very good and you get a feeling that the author is an expert in some fields to be able to write so in-depth about the said fields. You learn some new words, lingo, get sucked into a story, and just go with it. The strong literate capabilities really help to create the scene. It has a lot of strong women characters as well. They are not displayed as somebody who needs rescuing, but more of an equal.
I don't particularly like that the stories weren't finished. But, it gives them a life of their own. And the audience the chance to continue them in their own minds. But my curiosity wants to know what happens with these characters, in which I invested my time? How they end up? Even a glimpse into their future...
4 out of 4 stars must be a given because this is a superb book that I intend to recommend everybody to read. I would recommend this book primarily to a sci-fi reader, but also to everybody who enjoys a good mystery and loves a bit of magic and fantasy in their books. This book contains a novella about hell, so it may not be for just about anybody. It goes to say this book is professionally edited. My favorite novella is „Sorceress“. I am a sucker for a bit of magic as anybody else. But I love the mix of the past and future in this story, well for further information you will just have to read it. There is this moment in every novella where the main character experiences - I'm in a Twilight zone look. That is the ultimate admiration letter to the author's inspiration and dare I say favorite book "The Twilight zone“. And I admire this so much.
******
Tales from the Gray Area
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tales from the Gray Area, by Curtis Stephen Burdick, hopes to pay homage to the classic „The Twilight zone“, which it incredibly does. And even introducing this mix of genres to a wider audience, perhaps some new audience who hasn't read the old classic. It is really a nice thing for the author to say what is the inspiration for his book, especially to hear that somebody's work had affected him in such a way that he would like to pay homage to the classic.
There are 7 novellas. Every one of them has a different theme and a set of characters. The themes vary from archeology, marine biology, hell, sorcerers, aliens and this book has something for everybody. But you have to have a knick for the mysterious. And who doesn't, really?
The descriptions are very good and you get a feeling that the author is an expert in some fields to be able to write so in-depth about the said fields. You learn some new words, lingo, get sucked into a story, and just go with it. The strong literate capabilities really help to create the scene. It has a lot of strong women characters as well. They are not displayed as somebody who needs rescuing, but more of an equal.
I don't particularly like that the stories weren't finished. But, it gives them a life of their own. And the audience the chance to continue them in their own minds. But my curiosity wants to know what happens with these characters, in which I invested my time? How they end up? Even a glimpse into their future...
4 out of 4 stars must be a given because this is a superb book that I intend to recommend everybody to read. I would recommend this book primarily to a sci-fi reader, but also to everybody who enjoys a good mystery and loves a bit of magic and fantasy in their books. This book contains a novella about hell, so it may not be for just about anybody. It goes to say this book is professionally edited. My favorite novella is „Sorceress“. I am a sucker for a bit of magic as anybody else. But I love the mix of the past and future in this story, well for further information you will just have to read it. There is this moment in every novella where the main character experiences - I'm in a Twilight zone look. That is the ultimate admiration letter to the author's inspiration and dare I say favorite book "The Twilight zone“. And I admire this so much.
******
Tales from the Gray Area
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon