Elitist Book Reviews

We know Lou Anders, and we know his style and what he is capable of. So when we picked up MASKED, a superhero story anthology, we already knew we were going to have to reevaluate our appreciation for the genre. Superheroes, to us, have only ever been as interesting as their villains. Villains, in actuality, are the driving force behind the superhero tale. The reasons for this can be boiled down to the fact that the Heroes are almost always reactionary, waiting around for something bad to happen, and the Villains are the ones who have the grand plan or scheme.

It's because of this that neither of us are big comic book gurus, or even fans. Did the two of us, a couple of hard-sells in the genre, enjoy the anthology? You bet your Bat-Mobile!

It's par for course for anthologies that not all the short stories will shine, and MASKED is no exception, there were a few of the 15 that just didn't strike home with us. The majority of them were fantastic though.

To start off, we would like to address the introduction written by Lou Anders. As we read it, we knew that he was taking this project very seriously. It wasn't a joke to him, or the authors involved. Through the intro, and knowing a bit about Lou in the first place, we could really tell he has a passion for the subject matter and wouldn't settle in the compilation of this anthology. He was looking for the best. It's safe to say he largely succeeded. To do so, many of the authors Lou grabbed are comic book writers. They know their stuff, and it shows in the stories they tell. And here are our thoughts on some of them:

The Non-Event - Mike Carey
This is easily one of our favorites. The focus on the "mundane" superheroes/supervillains, and their goals was refreshing. Not every Hero is out to save the world, and not every Villain is out to destroy or rule it, and not every plan goes smoothly. The short story is told as a confession from a villainous lock-pick after a job going awry...which was a neat touch. The part that really hit this story out of the ballpark for us is that in its climax it showcases what it is to be human and how those threads tie us--Villains and Heroes alike--together.

Downfall - Joseph Mallozzi
This entry is quite possibly the shining star in the anthology. In what might seem, at first, to be standard reformed Villain fare, we are given an amazing tale about identity. With plenty of twists and surprises, this story turns its seemingly vanilla-flavored premise into a deep and engaging tale. We were both surprised by the depth we found here and agreed this was easily a contender for the best entry in the anthology.

Cleansed and Set in Gold - Matthew Sturges
One of the darker stories, and (predictably) another of our favorites. It's more difficult to talk about why we liked this story so much without including spoilers. Let's suffice it to say that the theme explored here is sacrifice, and what it truly takes to be heroic. A bonus point to this story is that its exploration of morals asks the question of whether what happens in the story is actually heroic at all. It was a bit surprising that the anthology started off with this story, but it certainly kicked everything off with a bang.

Message from the Bubblegum Factory - Daryl Gregory
If you have been following EBR you know that Daryl is one of those authors that we have only recently discovered and really liked. Upon finding he had an entry in MASKED, excitement to read his take on superheroes is an understatement. In true Daryl Gregory style he takes the tale for a spin. The narrator is insane. Off to a good start here, and it only gets better!

Thug - Gail Simone
A comic book heavyweight delivers the story with the emotional impact of a freight train. At first the writing is distracting, as it is full of misspelled words, bad grammar, punctuation issues, etc. All of this is done on purpose of course, and after the first page or so becomes less of a distraction as the emotional weight of the story starts to get noticed.

Secret Identity - Paul Cornell
The reason we didn't like this story was that it just felt so rough. It was more like a brainstorm session, chalking up the important points in a vague semblance of order, to remember for later. It bounced back and forth, and in the end we were just left shrugging our shoulders with a "Meh!" as we turned the page to the next entry. We will give him credit for an extremely unique idea, and something that could have been very cool had it not been for the presentation. As it is the metaphor we think he was going for here about identities, and hiding yourself, is almost lost in translation.

Vacuum Lad - Stephen Baxter
Is this really a superhero story? By far this is the weakest entry in the anthology. There is a lot of discussion of science, and not much else going on here. While the rest of the authors are reveling in the opportunity to tell a superhero tale, Baxter seems to only have the vaguest sense of willingness to participate.

"Where Their Worm Dieth Not" by James Maxey, "Tonight We Fly" by Ian McDonald, and "By My Works Shall You Know Me" by Mark Chadbourn were all easily worth mentioning as fantastic entries, each bringing a different emotional vibe to it and dealing with various human experiences. They explored death and punishment, remembering the past, and friendship and betrayal respectively.

What you may have noticed from our comments was the common theme of the stories. Heroes or Villains were used to tell a story that goes underneath, or perhaps beyond, the "superhuman", and is strikingly--sometimes hauntingly--human.

This is the greatest strength of MASKED. All the authors brought their A-game to tell us stories that, in the end, strike home so forcefully in their theme and presentation it is impossible not to be impressed by their work, entertained by the stories, or enthusiastic about the genre. The "Redemption Arc" is one of the most typical superhero/supervillain story arcs in the business. For us, MASKED itself was a redemption for the entire genre.

Recommended Age: 18 and up.
Language: Yep, there is cursing.
Violence: Well of course. There is plenty of fighting and gore, but in such short prose there isn't a lot of time to dwell on it, so the descriptions of it come and go quickly.
Sex: It is included in a couple stories, alluded to in others. Nothing to be too terribly concerned about.

It's really not an exaggeration when we say SWORDS & DARK MAGIC was easily one of our most anticipated titles of the year. In fact, that doesn't even say enough. Edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, this collection, to us, was like the Holy Grail of short story anthologies. Why? The first three stories in the collection, in the order they appear: Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Gene Wolf. Yeah. That's just the first three stories.

Sheesh.

First we need to get something out of the way, and yeah it's a tad petty. The subtitle of the collection is "The New Sword & Sorcery". Honestly, this isn't a fair or accurate subtitle. Don't get us wrong, there are plenty of swords and plenty of sorcery to be found amidst these 500+ pages of awesomeness, but there isn't anything groundbreaking here. There isn't anything here that is re-inventing the genre. No, the subtitle should have been something more like "New Tales in Sword & Sorcery".

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about the anthology.

It is fantastic. Are there weak stories here? Yeah. The thing about short fiction anthologies, however, is that you have a collection that appeals to a variety. As we stated earlier, the anthology starts with stories by Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, and Gene Wolfe. Then you have James Enge, C.J. Cherryh, K. J. Parker, Garth Nix and a guy named Michael Moorcock. But see, we aren't done yet. Then you move on to Tim Lebbon, Robert Silverberg (maybe you've heard of him?), Greg Keyes, Michael Shea, Scott Lynch, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bill Willingham, and ending the collection with Joe Abercrombie. If you can't find something to LOVE here, you have issues. You see, for every story we felt weak and mediocre, there was another story (or two) that were just unbelievable. The good stories were SO GOOD, that any runts in the litter could be easily forgiven.

So, which stories did we like the best? The stories we mention below won't surprise you; you DO know our tastes quite well after all.

The Deification of Dal Bamore — Tim Lebbon
A grim tale of sorcery and revolution. Lebbon's descriptions are so clear. All the is happening here a criminal--a possible martyr to a cause--is being escorted to receive a token trial followed by execution. Things go deliciously out of control, of course. Makes us want to brush up on our Tim Lebbon. Such good stuff here.

Dark Times at the Midnight Market — Robert Silverberg
Really all we should have to say is, "It's a Silverberg story. Of course it is awesome." Even then, it was surprising how much we enjoyed this story. "The Midnight Market" is a Majipoor tale. To some, that will be enough to know whether you will like it or not. To the rest, the Midnight Market is a place where essentially anything can be acquired...though right now it is going through a bit of a recession. This story is all about the comedy. It is timed and executed with perfection.

The Singing Spear — James Enge
One of the best stories in the collection. Enge is so absurdly underrated. His character Morlock Ambrosius is a man of legend. A sorcerer of unparalleled power. And, uh, a complete drunk. "The Singing Spear" is a tale about what Morlock does when his bartender is killed. Enge is freaking terrific. This story will make you want to read more of his stuff. We suggest starting with BLOOD OF AMBROSE.

Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company — Glen Cook
An all new Black Company story? Featuring Croaker? This story begins with our beloved cast of characters realizing things have been far too good lately. In their experience, that is never a good thing. Balance and all that. Everything you like about Cook is in this story. He is one of our favorite writers. Ever.

Goats of Glory — Steven Erikson
You knew it was gonna be on here. It starts a tad slow, but when it gets going, it gets GOING. Five soldiers wander into the town Glory. The gravedigger sees them coming and begins digging five graves. In true Erikson fashion, we get great humor mixed with amazingly described action. We loved this story. The ending was absolutely PERFECT. Was this the best story in the collection? Almost. It pains Steve to admit it, but there was one story that topped even this treasure.

The Fool Jobs — Joe Abercrombie
If this is what we get to see in Joe's upcoming THE HEROES, we are going to be in heaven. The main character? Craw. You may or may not remember him from the First Law Trilogy. Craw, along with a...colorful...cast of characters are sent into a small town to get something. They don't know what though. They'll know it when they see it. Seriously. Humor and action. A seriously incredible story. Was this the best story in the collection? Almost. You know how much Nick loves Abercrombie. But even he had one story above it.

(Fanning yourselves in anticipation yet?)

In the Stacks — Scott Lynch
The. Best. Story. There was no debate. No arguing. Lynch's "In the Stacks" is just a freaking masterpiece. Not nearly as irreverent as his other works, yet just as imaginative. It takes place in a wizard's school. The students, as a final exam in their current year of schooling, must return a library book. Really. The library, of course, is violent and sentient. We feel that people forget just how good an author Lynch is. This story will remind you. And make you want to re-read LOCKE LAMORA and RED SEAS. And make you salivate in anticipation for his next book. Unreal.

So there you have it. Just because we didn't mention the story you were eying doesn't mean it wasn't good. Moorcock's was great. Parker's was actually good as well. As was Wolfe's. We just don't have time to talk about all of them.

This is a collection that should be on every shelf. The main problem with it? It makes us want the next novel by these authors now...no, make that YESTERDAY.

As a final note, we want to mention the introduction to the collection, "Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan. This is the history of Sword & Sorcery that everyone should know. Serious kudos to these guys for taking the time to show where the genre came from, and then for giving us this terrific collection.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Yup. Though not as prevalent as in the author's full length novels, there is still a significant amount.
Violence: Hello? Sword & Sorcery? Of course there is violence. It is almost always crazy awesome too.
Sex: Talked about, joked about, and alluded too. But never shown.


Jonathan Strahan's Site:
http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/

Lou Anders' Site:
http://www.louanders.com/Home.html


If you are like us, you will appreciate the value of a Limited Edition of this book that is numbered, and signed by EVERY AUTHOR IN THE COLLECTION. Check it out at Subterranean Press.

http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=strahan01&Category_Code=PRE&Product_Count=28