Official Review: Memes of Loss and Devotion by Darren White
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- Latest Review: "Memes of Loss and Devotion" by Darren White
Official Review: Memes of Loss and Devotion by Darren White
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Memes of Loss and Devotion" by Darren White.]
Memes of Loss and Devotion by Darren White is a collection of science fiction short stories, all of which explore various issues and themes. The tone of the short stories vary greatly, some resembling horror stories, others being very similar to a Noire-style mystery, and still others being more traditional science fiction. White's interest in Noire-style and mystery works are apparent in several of the short stories, many of which feature a protagonist trying to uncover the truth behind a crisis.
It would be long and pointless to discuss the plot of each short story. For the sake of brevity, I will simply say that I found most of the stories to hold my interest in the plot. There were some certain stories that I couldn't help but wish had been longer, as they seemed like they needed either more background or a more conclusive ending. One aspect that I noticed and thought was a little neat was that most of the stories seem to be happening in the same universe, just at different locations and times.
On the whole, I enjoyed each of the short stories in the book. White attempts to deal with some heavy issues in his short stories, and for the most part, he does so admirably. For example, stories examine loneliness, radical feminism, and discrimination. The lessons may be just a bit obvious, but there is still a lesson to be learned and it does not subtract from any of the short stories. In fact, White deals with radical feminism in an original idea involving cloning.
While most of the stories could be enjoyed easily, I do wish that White had kept the surrealism in check in one story in particular. Aside from that, my only real complaint was, as I mentioned earlier, that I wish there had been more to some of the stories. The lack of background and conclusiveness in certain stories left me desperately wanting more, and I believe that White could have definitely done a bit better to include more content on these.
The only other negative thing to note is that White doesn't do much that is new to the genre. It's an understandable problem, but still something of a problem. White holds on to many traditional science fiction tropes and structures, even seeming to parody them in one story. The stories are still enjoyable, but a bit more originality would have been appreciated.
I would definitely recommend Memes of Loss and Devotion to any science fiction or short story reader. The writing is solid and enjoyable, and while White doesn't do anything extremely new with the stories, they are by no means bad. Overall, I would rate the collection three out of four stars.
***
Buy "Memes of Loss and Devotion" on Amazon
Memes of Loss and Devotion by Darren White is a collection of science fiction short stories, all of which explore various issues and themes. The tone of the short stories vary greatly, some resembling horror stories, others being very similar to a Noire-style mystery, and still others being more traditional science fiction. White's interest in Noire-style and mystery works are apparent in several of the short stories, many of which feature a protagonist trying to uncover the truth behind a crisis.
It would be long and pointless to discuss the plot of each short story. For the sake of brevity, I will simply say that I found most of the stories to hold my interest in the plot. There were some certain stories that I couldn't help but wish had been longer, as they seemed like they needed either more background or a more conclusive ending. One aspect that I noticed and thought was a little neat was that most of the stories seem to be happening in the same universe, just at different locations and times.
On the whole, I enjoyed each of the short stories in the book. White attempts to deal with some heavy issues in his short stories, and for the most part, he does so admirably. For example, stories examine loneliness, radical feminism, and discrimination. The lessons may be just a bit obvious, but there is still a lesson to be learned and it does not subtract from any of the short stories. In fact, White deals with radical feminism in an original idea involving cloning.
While most of the stories could be enjoyed easily, I do wish that White had kept the surrealism in check in one story in particular. Aside from that, my only real complaint was, as I mentioned earlier, that I wish there had been more to some of the stories. The lack of background and conclusiveness in certain stories left me desperately wanting more, and I believe that White could have definitely done a bit better to include more content on these.
The only other negative thing to note is that White doesn't do much that is new to the genre. It's an understandable problem, but still something of a problem. White holds on to many traditional science fiction tropes and structures, even seeming to parody them in one story. The stories are still enjoyable, but a bit more originality would have been appreciated.
I would definitely recommend Memes of Loss and Devotion to any science fiction or short story reader. The writing is solid and enjoyable, and while White doesn't do anything extremely new with the stories, they are by no means bad. Overall, I would rate the collection three out of four stars.
***
Buy "Memes of Loss and Devotion" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Memes of Loss and Devotion" by Darren White
