Review: Tim Lebbon: ‘The Everlasting’

I don’t get to read professional horror authors’ completed works as often as I’d like.  That changed – temporarily at least – when I took Tim Lebbon’s ‘The Everlasting’ with me on holiday last week.

Lebbon is a British author with a growing reputation in the horror genre.  Immediately on starting the book it was clear why – the style is very easy to read.  The main characters – Scott and his grandfather (‘Papa’) are expertly drawn and I felt I knew them from the opening pages.  Of all the other writers I’ve come across, I think only the late Richard Laymon does (did, sadly) characterisation better.  Papa appeared only through Scott’s memories, which made his characterisation particularly skilled.

The plot wasn’t unusual, with Scott finding himself on a quest in ‘The Wide’ (an equivalent of the Celtic Otherworld and the like) – I used something broadly similar myself in ‘The Wood’.  The plot was logical, and flowed well.

So, why didn’t ‘The Everlasting’ quite ‘do it’ for me?

Well, I’ve read a couple of other reviews that seem to agree with my assessment, that the book isn’t really horror.  There are some very unsettling elements, but I thought what made the story what it was was unexpected fantastical elements, not horror.  In fact, some of the darker elements were perhaps too surreal to ever be truly scary, no matter how well Lebbon wrote about them.

So, I won’t give ‘The Everlasting’ a mark out of ten.  It will likely satisfy readers of dark, urban fantasies, but I found the cover and the library’s ‘horror’ tag misleading. 

So, it’s still been too long since I read a professional horror novel!

Free Fiction! – ‘Boy Racer’

The rights to most of the short stories I've had published reverted to me long ago. Instead of trying to find new homes for them I thought I'd republish some of them here on my blog. So, here's a (hopefully!) humorous piece about an ogre with a passion for racing.  Find it either here, or at the link on the right.

‘The Shoot’ and ‘The Wood’

Publishers Eternal Press have taken ‘The Shoot’ and ‘The Wood’ down from their listings.  That’s not a surprise, and is fine, as I suspect the contracts for both has expired.

Both are still available from Amazon, though, and I’ve updated the links on the right-hand side of this page.

Andraste’s Blade: Print Version

Dark Realm Press have told me that print versions of Andraste’s Blade will be discontinued from 15 June.  That isn’t really a surprise as it’s been around a while – published in 1995.

Andraste’s Blade will still be available electronically.

Here’s the Amazon link for the print version for the next couple of weeks.

Savor All The Flavors of Romance

Fellow Eternal Press author Gianna Bruno has invited me to join her on her Coffee Time Romance Forum between 12 and 19 May.  Award winning author Alice Gaines will also be there.

We’ll all be talking about our latest projects and releases, and answering questions.  There’ll be excerpts and previews, and between us we’ll be giving away a prize a day!

Forum registration is required, but it’s easy and secure.

Art Class Cover

It’s always good to see cover art because it makes publication seem nearer.  I’ve had the final cover for ‘Art Class’ sent through, and I think it’s great.  I don’t know yet who the artist is, but he or she is due a big thank you!

‘Art Class’ is coming soon from Keith Publications.

Andraste’s Blade

I’ve been sent royalties for the last period by my various publishers.  To my surprise, my best selling book was Andraste’s Blade – which is the first book I had published, and also the one I’ve not particularly ‘pushed’ recently.

I hope those who bought Blade enjoyed it!  For those who don’t know what it’s about, it’s a historical fantasy/horror set against the background of Boudicca’s revolt against the Romans.

Andraste’s Blade is available from Dark Realm Press.