Elitist Book Reviews

Aaaaand here's another round of Crimson Pact stories for the reading masses. I know most of you by now have probably read over my full disclosure of each of the previous volumes (I, II, III) of this series. So you already know that our boss here at EBR, Steve Diamond, figures prominently in them. And you know that I've promised to stay impartial, like I always try to do, with my reviews. And you know also know that in light of these two facts, I have no qualms whatsoever about reviewing these anthologies. So, I guess I won't have to give you my normal spiel about the ethics of posting a book review that is so closely connected to our own blog, or anything like that, and-- Dang. I guess I did just that, didn't I? Oh well. So much for being succinct this time around...

THE CRIMSON PACT:VOLUME 4 is, quite obviously, the fourth antholgy in the short story anthology-series of the same name, and (perhaps not so obviously) edited by Paul Genesse. Each of the stories contained in these anthologies revolves around the idea that multitudes of demons have been spun out into the multi-verse through some kind of interdimensional portal and the Crimson Pact (a group of powerful knights) have gone chasing after them.

The anthologies thus far have contained a wide array of stories, varying considerably in genre, perspective, and length. Overall, I've been fairly impressed with the offerings found in these anthologies and have to tip my hat to Mr. Genesse for the genesis of the original story and the work that he's put into this project thus far. Granted, not every story has tickled my fancy, but when has that ever happened in this kind of setting?

Not often I will tell you. Not often.

This fourth volume was one that worked well for me. My ratings were spread on the high range of the scale (vs. number of stories):

Loved: 5
Liked: 3
Mediocre: 6
Didn't Like: 3

I was happy to see this be the case, especially with my impression of Volume 3, and this time I have five stories to highlight:

“Family Reunion” by Kelly Swails – Girl takes her boyfriend home to meet the family as her great-grandmother is approaching death.  Obviously, demon-induced mayhem ensues.  This story is a perfect example of what I think continuing stories in anthologies like this should be (well, it is still lacking the element-connections that I'd love to see between unrelated stories, but...). All the stories are connected (in this case, through family ties), but each of them are separate, distinct, and most of all complete.

“Wild Card” by Sarah Kanning – Lady that's been chosen by an "angel" to do certain things learns more about her curse and starts to rebel.  Moved me from one idea to the next.  Kept me guessing.  Surprised me.  Made me laugh.  Loved it.  Although, people that use the f-word typically don't use the word "crap".  At least not in my universe. Her bio says that she's working on a YA urban fantasy novel.  She can count on my buying that one when it's done.

“Tendril” by Patrick Tracy – Demon in retirement is finally caught by the "good guys".  Introspective and humorous. Good fun.

“The Best Lies” by Steven Diamond – This time around Tombs finds out more about himself.  Silent and brooding and riding the edge of keeping his humanity, we see lots of just what else is coming down the pipes.  If I have to say I missed something in this one, it was more Diego Santos, but seriously great stuff here.

“Dogtribe” by Suzzanne Myers – Guy at a listening station in space reviews the 50-year-delayed video feeds originating from two people's lives on a far-away planet.  Very well-told with good writing.  Great way to end the anthology: with a message. "There are more demons coming."

As if we didn't already know that though. :)

Another good entry into this series, imnsho (don't forget the “not-so” in the imho!) Just as excited, if not more so this time around, to read the next round in Volume 5. From what I've heard, it should be out later this year.

Age Recommendation: 18+  
Language: Across the board: some are profanity heavy, others not so much  
Violence: A few of the stories get kinda gory, and one of the stories includes violence against children (honestly, a tough one for me to finish reading)  
Sex: Not much that I remember


Want em? Get em:  Volume 1 -- Volume 2 -- Volume 3 -- Volume 4

I have an awesome boss.  Well, all of us are pretty cool here at EBR, but Mr. Steve is a class act.  He's smart, he's debonaire, he's...what's that? Why all the sycophantic flattery?  It doesn't even sound like I'm talking to you? Dang. Well, here's the thing.  You might have noticed the title of this book review already, and maybe even more than that you might remember the fact that Mr. Steve was going to have another short story in this anthology. Yeah. Well, his story rocked, but...um...wow, I better just get into it.

THE CRIMSON PACT, VOL. 3, edited by Paul Genesse, is the third anthology of short stories that are all based off of the ideas developed by the Crimson Pact mythos introduced in his own story from the first anthology.  Generally speaking, a horde of demons has broken through some kind of inter-dimensional portal and been scattered across the veritable multi-verse and a brotherhood of knights and volunteers, the Crimson Pact, pursues them out into the eternities through a plethora of fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, horror, urban fantasy, and just about any other story genre that is possible (well, I don't know if I've seen a romance yet...).  In general, it's been a fairly fun ride so far, with a bit of everything thrown into the mix.

I had several favorites this time around.

"That Which We Fear" by Larry Correia and Steve Diamond: More Diego Santos and Lazarus Tombs. Nothing could have made me happier than to see this one as the first in the group. We get some great progression of the storyline surrounding not only Tombs and his missing kid but on Santos and his deadline on life as well. I loved this one. If anything, it was too short and might have felt a bit rushed, but it was just packed with goodness. This series totally deserves to be followed.

"The Ronin's Mark" by Donald Darling: This one totally surprised me and made me really excited to get into the anthology. The kicker? A connection to another story in the anthology, which is exactly what I asked for in my review of Volume 2. Ha! The fairly unsympathetic main character, whom I don't believe is ever named, is the demon-equivalent of a contract killer that fights with the inner struggle of becoming complacent in the human world while wading through combat and contracted operations that are just fun to read. The ending, I thought, was especially good.

"Monsters on the Trail" by Patrick Tomlinson: This is the third entry in Tomlinson's continuing story and was a definite step up from Volume 2. Izzy and her pet demon, Melicarius, play into the main plot a bit more this time, and help her de facto Aunt and boyfriend Jaws (both cops) find the killer of a priest, who turns out to be...you guessed it. A demon. Really enjoyable.

"A Contract Between Thieves" by Stephanie Lorée: This was easily my second favorite of the anthology. Feni agrees to help Raf, a long-time acquaintance, complete a contract after a game of cards. The result is a romp through an alchemist's laboratory that neither of them will forget and one of them may not survive. Though it started a bit slow, there was a great sense of character and place and adventure in this one that was missing from so many of the other stories in the anthology. This story, placed near the end of the anthology, totally saved the day for me. Stephanie: You rock. I want more.

On the whole, I was less impressed with this volume than prior entries for two reasons. The first is that it's so much shorter than the others.  This happened, from what I understand, because the volume was getting too big from the sheer number of stories that had to be contained within it, and instead of making the thing just massive, Genesse decided to split volume three into two volumes.  He pulled a Martin, so to speak--keeping some stories (characters) in this volume and saving other stories (characters) for the next volume. The second reason was the shift of the stories toward, in my opinion, the unfortunate. There's always going to be a split in the stories that readers like in anthologies. Just the way it is. I just wish there had been more fun, more substance, and more interconnectivity. But I am being kind of picky.

I am totally looking forward to the fourth anthology, if for no other reasons than that I might be getting another Santos/Tombs story from the story-titans Correia and Diamond, and I am also expecting another Evil Library story from Sarah Kanning (woo-hoo!).

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Not a lot, but pretty much the entire gamut
Violence: A decent variety of bloody and
Sex: A few references, but not too much detail

Want em? Get em:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

I had massive reservations about trying to review this one. Yes, I reviewed the first volume, and so it only makes sense that I should review the second...and yet... How does one go about reviewing a short-story anthology that includes the first authorial offering of one’s near-perfect boss? Or even how does one have the audacity to review such an anthology that is so closely connected to the review site itself? I mean it. How do you even start to tackle something like that? To tell you the truth, I have absolutely no idea. So, I’m just going to tell you what I thought about it--straight up--and hope that it comes across well.

THE CRIMSON PACT, VOL 2 is a continuation of the demon-themed anthology offered in VOL 1, both edited by Paul Genesse. For those that haven’t read VOL 1, the premise of the over-arching story is that a certain number of knights have pledged themselves to fighting against a horde of demons that has decimated their world and then fled into the multi-verse. These knights are The Crimson Pact.

The stories in both volumes give you a range of offerings--from fantasy to science fiction, from epic to flash--and usually stay with that theme of demons. One of the new facets of this volume is that several of the stories were continuations from the first volume. I was interested in seeing where a number of these stories would go, but mostly seeing where the anthology would go as a whole. Would it develop that theme of the Crimson Pact more, or would it just be another bundle of demon stories?

For me, a majority of this anthology was a pretty big let down, with an even showing in the Didn’t Like, Mediocre, and Liked categories. This kind of variation is partially to be expected, as this is a collection of stories from not only lots of different authors but also from a lot of new authors. The main focus of my disappointment came from the fact that I had liked a much larger portion of the stories in VOL 1.

There were four stories in VOL 2 that I really liked, and one that completely blew all of the others away in a wispy cloud of chaff. I’ll mention those here.

“Still Life” by Steve Diamond is about an FBI detective that is dealing with the trauma of having his seven-year old son taken from him, the connection of that abduction to a criminal named The Photographer, and the ultimate resolution to the long-standing case. This story was killer. I loved it unabashedly. And yes, Steve is my boss here at EBR. Have I been obvious enough about that?

“Dark Archive” by Sarah Kanning is a continuation of a story that I enjoyed in VOL 1 and deals with the fallout of what happened to the main character, Danielle, and her connection to the magical book being held in the library where she works. Not to mention the demon that is now caged within her. This one started great, and even though it ended a bit abruptly, I really liked where this story went.

“Trail of Blood” by Alex Haig is one of the few flash stories that I enjoyed. It’s a western-themed, trailing-the-bad-guy epic that really caught me up in its grip. It had a feel similar to King’s The Gunslinger, which I really enjoyed. It also introduced the wider story behind this one in very few words, making a quick believer out of me. More of this in future Crimson Pact anthologies would be welcome.

“Seven Dogs” by Suzanne Myers is a continuation of a story from VOL 1 that I didn’t remember at all. In my defense, it was one of the shorter pieces. Anyhow, this one had some great atmosphere that painted the picture of a post-apocalyptic world in which seven demon-dogs are trying to destroy the remaining vestige of humanity on a far-flung planet. It had this science-fiction flair and sense of foreboding that was just great. Not to mention the plight of the hunted, which I loved.

And then there’s the last. Yeah. My opinion of this story was the kicker when I first sat down to write this review, because not only was my boss’s story really good, but his co-authored story absolutely knocked it out of the park. Yup, that’s right. The best one of the bunch is:

“Son of Fire, Son of Thunder” by Steve Diamond and Larry Correia. I mean, just wow. This story comes from a combination of the character that Steve gave us in “Still Life” and Larry Correia’s Diego Santos, a United States Marine that has been shown exactly how and when he will die. In typical Correia fashion, this offering to the reading masses was a glorious feast of hot lead and biting humor that brought these two characters into the same demon-killing shooting range. So much fun to be had with this one. I seriously need some more of this. Like now.

So can you see now where I was coming from at the beginning of the review? Just frustrating! The really tough part is that without the one-two punch of "Still Life" and "Son of Fire, Son of Thunder", this anthology would have landed solidly in the Mediocre range for me. On the whole, VOL 2 is just another demon anthology. I’d love to see something more pointed in the direction of the Crimson Pact. I can totally understand wanting to keep the anthology general enough that a wide array of author-hopefuls could contribute, but in order for it to stand out, for me, I think it needs a bit more direction.

Still, for five bucks? The two best stories in the anthology make it worth every one of those pennies. I just hope you can take all this for what it is: my honest opinion.

Okay, Steve, you can put that lightning bolt away now.

Recommended Age: 18+
Language: Some of the stories are fairly profane, but in general there's not much
Violence: Some of the stories are pretty violent and gory/graphic
Sex: One story has a 13-year old in a sexual situation, a couple scenes

The Crimson Pact Website

Grab the collections here:
THE CRIMSON PACT: VOLUME ONE

THE CRIMSON PACT: VOLUME TWO

Short stories. Seems I’ve been getting through my fair share of them lately, between the Nebula nominees, Hugo nominees, the most recent Writers of the Future anthology, and more. The hard part with anthologies of short stories is that it’s usually such a mixed bag. There will be some that’ll knock your socks off and others that make you feel like someone’s licking the butter between your toes. It isn’t often we get an anthology that stands really high overall, though sometimes you can find em. Most end up just left or right of middle.

THE CRIMSON PACT, VOL 1, was edited by Paul Genesse and based on a framework short story written by Patrick Tracy--it is the lead story of the anthology, "The Failed Crusade". The basic premise revolves around a set of knights pledged to fight against a horde of demons that has decimated their world. They are The Crimson Pact. The tone of the piece is grim, and though the story itself felt more like the portrayal of several journal entries than a complete story, it sets the stage really well for the short stories collected in this anthology.

Each of the pieces purportedly addresses these demons after they’ve entered some kind of interdimensional portal and been sprayed across the multiverse to wreak their havoc. Some of the stories deal with the knights directly, others only with unconnected persons and their interactions with the demons. With twenty-five stories in all (twenty six, if you count the premise), the anthology hosts a wide range of pieces. There's fantasy and science fiction. There's urban. There's flash fiction. There's epic. There’s a lot of great writing, and a few where it's pretty poor. Mobsters and private investigators and fairies and machine guns and yeah. Just a bundle of stuff to enjoy.

There were four stories in particular that I really liked.

“Solitary Life” by Donald J. Bingle was about a king's new head jailer who finds documentation of a prisoner that has been neglected for so long that he expects the man is dead and those servicing his cell to be hoarding the supplies for themselves. When he commands that the cell be broken open, however, he finds much more than he anticipated. This was the perfect opener for the anthology.

“Hidden Collection” by Sarah Kanning is about the exploits of a new library intern and some of the trouble that she gets into by sticking her nose into closets and sealed crates that she shouldn’t be. This one was fun and terrifying at turns. When the demon makes his entrance (and no that’s not a spoiler. Demon anthology, people) it seriously creeped me out.

“Bull King” by Larry Correia is essentially a chapter ripped out of his new book HARD MAGIC. There are gangster types and dames up against a group of baddies that just happen to be able to summon a big mother-killin' demon to fight for them. Although the story took a bit to get into because of all the characters thrown at me, this one was loads of fun. Fast-paced, funny, intense. Weapons out the yang, both magical and mundane. Getting a taste of Larry’s stuff in this way should totally make readers want to go out and buy some of his books. Especially the one that this came from.

“Of the Breaking of Stars” by Chris Pierson deals with a scientist living in a world where the stars are exploding when some fascinating technology falls into his hands and the Eater of Worlds is rapidly approaching. Smart and engaging, this one was a great ending for the anthology.

Of course, there were some that just didn’t agree with me, and one or two more that were really tough to get through. For the most part though, I really enjoyed them. There were two things in particular that I think would have helped the anthology immensely.

The first was an understanding that some of the stories are only partials. Although the editor points this fact out in a note at the end of the anthology, I had no clue that there were several stories that would have continuations in Volume 2. There were more than a handful of times where I got to the end of a story and said to myself, “So where’s the rest of it?” I was a bit annoyed, honestly, but it’s good to know now that some of those stories do continue. Also, some kind of notification at the end of the stories that will continue in a subsequent volume would have been nice.

The second issue I had was that there were another handful of stories that really didn’t seem to have any kind of direct connection to The Crimson Pact at all. I can see how including stories with a wide range of demons would open up the pool of possible entries, but I would have liked to see something that wasn’t just another collection of demon stories. Even if the connection is really faint, like the way a particular demon looks or what a given demon is trying to accomplish, would have made me more interested in the anthology as a whole. In that way, the stories would be populating a universe, instead of just being one-offs.

On the whole, I liked THE CRIMSON PACT, VOL 1 quite a bit, and I think you readers will too. Not only am I interested to read some more demon stories THE CRIMSON PACT, VOL 2 when it is released shortly, but I'm also a tad excited for one of our illustrious overlords who has actually written two short stories that will be in VOL 2.

The collection is huge at more more than twenty stories and more than 140,000 words in length. For $5, this is a great deal. Go grab it.

Recommended age: 16+
Language: For the most part, no, though there are a few stories that get kind of vulgar
Violence: Demon-killing, but nothing very graphic is focused upon
Sex: Some talk, but no scenes

The Crimson Pact Website