Bottled Demon [Kindle Edition]

Matthew Rossi (Author)

Book Description

Like his first work, Things That Never Were (Monkeybrain Books, 2004) Matthew Rossi's Bottled Demon is a collection of speculative essays asking What If and answering Why Not, more at home playing with ideas than trying to convince itself or anyone else of any truths. Alternate history, weird fiction, and never was scenarios collide with each other and their only goal is to romp all over each other.

Product Details

• File Size: 440 KB
• Print Length: 268 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008C6N646
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Not Enabled
• Word Wise: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,504 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative Connect the Dots December 6, 2012

By C. Imbrogno

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Back in the day while stocking shelves in the middle of the night, I used to keep myself entertained by listening to Coast to Coast AM. The radio show presented a whole parallel world of scientific impossibilities and nonexistent connections that were all credulously accepted by the host. I knew none of it was real, but there was a bit of sadness listening to all the people who had trouble discerning reality from fantasy. Even more, there was a shallowness, a lack of depth of thought, that allowed for this wild credulity to exist.

In Bottled Demon, Matt Rossi has taken that feeling that everything is possible and everything is connected and run with it to unfathomable depths. The essays take the "almost real" events in human history, mix them freely with reality itself and creates a great big "what if" of connectedness. He is world building within our own world - a separate world that ties to our own through what we have mistakenly claimed to be real in the past. The gods exist, or they sort of exist, or they exist in a way that fits the metaphysics of the world created for that particular essay. Science becomes weird and wonderful as Clark's third law is subverted such that science and magic become one. Everything is well researched and full of references to where Matt is tying his little strings of connectedness. And best of all, he knows none of this is real so he is only limited by his imagination and doesn't have to try and convince anybody of anything. "We now know this guy was full of crap, but just roll with me on this one."

If you are into alternate histories, urban fantasy, speculative fiction or whatever genre that includes "our world but different" then this is the book for you. If you are into creating worlds, especially for role playing games, then this book is really for you. The ideas are thick and meaty. A single essay contains more original thought than most book series' you'll ever read.

Seriously, read this book. And if you haven't already go hunt down his previous book, Things That Never Were, and read about steam powered Napoleonic wars and how Doc Holiday bound the Old West in an ancient Masonic ritual. Awesome stuff. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised January 30, 2013

By CS

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I'm a bit of a voracious reader, and I came across this title while idly bumbling through Amazon. Seemed different enough, so I gave it a shot. It's not perfect (I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could), but it's a fresh, thought-provoking read. Not all of the entries are created equal, but they all start off with an interesting premise, or carry a more mundane one to some interesting, entertaining places you may not have expected. If you want something more straightforward that you can absentmindedly breeze through, look elsewhere. But if you want something a bit different but nonetheless engrossing, Bottle Demon will do the trick.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent thought invoking read June 4, 2013

By Amazon Customer

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Bottled Demon is an interesting, it's not a book that I sat down and read in one sitting but I did definitely look forward to reading the next essay. I read it essay by essay which gave me time to think over the different Ideas Matthew put into them. A great read for me to see different and challenging ideas.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great writer December 7, 2012

By Patricia L. Hale

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Although this is a very short review, I do want to give this book 5 stars and say that the writer is incredibly talented. I also am fortunate enough to listen to his podcast and read his contributions elsewhere such as WOW Insider. He always has entertaining and well thought out contributions. His humor has often been a high spot in my day. I look forward to reading more of his work.