Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors [Paperback]

Livia Llewellyn (Author), Laird Barron (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2011

Death and pleasure. Freud's Todestrieb, his statement that ''libido has the task of making the destroying instinct innocuous, and it fulfils the task by diverting that instinct to a great extent outwards....The instinct is then called the destructive instinct, the instinct for mastery, or the will to power.'' Few authors have spun stories of Thanatos and Eros as skillfully and powerfully as Livia Llewellyn. In his introduction to this volume, Laird Barron writes ''Scant difference exists between exquisite pleasure and pain.'' An orphan girl with a mind for anthracite falls into the hands of a cult worshipping an entombed god. In the Pacific Northwest, evergreens lull prepubescent girls into their trunks to serve as wombs. A suburban housewife troubled by her present encounters the sixteen year-old girl she ached to touch in her dreams. These ten stories promise to indulge a reader's sensibilities, their fears and desires.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These 10 powerful stories mark relative newcomer Llewellyn as a writer to watch in the genres of dark fantasy, horror, and erotica. Lush, discursive, elliptical writing weaves scenarios of women confronted with a horrible other, as in the title story, where a woman faces down a destructive childhood love, and in "At the Edge of Ellensburg," where sex-charged attraction destroys a woman obsessed with a serial killer. Deeply disturbing imagery marks several stories: in "Omphalos," original to the volume, a family vacation revolves around incest; infanticide underpins the dark fantasy story "Her Deepness"; and forced pregnancy and childbearing simmer into violence in "The Four Hundred Thousand." Plot sometimes gets lost in the wordplay, and the promised emotional climax doesn't always deliver, but readers ready for a challenge will gladly sink their teeth in. (Apr.)
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Review

''It is a fine book written with such personal and illustrative prose that you often feel as if you're viewing the action through the harried eyes of the narrator. It is dark, engaging, and stirring in all the right ways.'' --Alex Brown for Tor.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Lethe Press (March 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590213246
• ISBN-13: 978-1590213247
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #823,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very highly recommended strange fiction September 30, 2011

By M. Griffin

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If not for a recommendation on Laird Barron's blog, I might never have picked up this excellent collection (to which Barron provided a foreword). Prior to the release of this collection, all I'd seen from Livia Llewellyn was "Brimstone Orange," too short a piece to give much of a sense of this writer's capabilities. I'm very glad I didn't miss what turned out to be one of the best single author short story collections I've come across in recent years.

Llewellyn's prose style is strongly visual and evocative. Readers who prefer their prose simple and declarative may find this a too rich, but those enjoy a writer with a vibrant, poetic approach to putting words together will love it. Especially as a debut collection, Engines of Desire is noteworthy for the strength and richness of its language.

That's not to say these stories are for everyone. The mood is uniformly dark, at times bitterly so. These stories cover a wide ground from post-apocalyptic science fiction to erotica, from psychological horror to dark fantasy. At first I thought the book might be too scattered genre-wise, but further along I realized the stories here were held together not by genre conventions, but by thematic commonalities and a consistency to the personal concerns of the characters, apart from place, time or the existence of monsters or magic. Whatever the trappings of one story or another, all clearly arise out of a strong, unified creative impetus. In terms of cumulative effect, these stories hold together quite well, both individually and as a collection.

The collection opens with "Horses," a bleak and psychologically extreme piece of post-apocalyptic SF. It effectively lets the reader know what they're in for.... This is followed by a dramatic shift to what is effectively (despite the insertion of a few elements that feel vaguely "fantastic" but which are not really part of the story's core) a realistic story of a sexually obsessed and self-destructive college student. Llewellyn depicts the college girl obsessed with the wrong guy with the same raw desperation with which she draws characters beset by a disintegrating.

Among the rest of the collection, the best include "The Four-Hundred," the title story "The Engines of Desire," and "Her Deepness." This last, an ambitious novella, is a really impressive example of fantasy world building. Truly dark, deeply weird and at times surreal.

While a few of these stories were less effective on the level of compelling plot or characters than they were in terms of language and mood, I found none of them less than satisfying overall. If we can extrapolate from an author's debut collection to guess what they may be capable of, I really can't wait to see what Livia Llewellyn does next. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent horror and dark fantasy stories... June 21, 2011

By "Seregil of Rhiminee"

Format:Paperback

Livia Llewellyn's Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors is a unique and unforgettable collection of dark fantasy and horror stories, which will linger in the reader's mind long after reading them. The stories in this collection are both disturbing and thought-provoking and they demand quite a lot of attention from the reader for they aren't easy and light stories.

As a big fan of quality horror and dark fantasy, I must confess that I fell in love with this collection. I read these stories twice, because I wanted to enjoy Livia Llewellyn's fine prose and the strange atmosphere of the stories as much as I could. I think it was good to read these stories twice, because now I can fully appreciate the beauty and cruelty of them (I usually read good stories twice).

This collection contains an introduction by Laird Barron and ten stories:
- Horses
- At the Edge of Ellensburg
- Teslated Salihan Evergreen
- The Engine of Desire
- Jetsam
- The Four Hundred Thousand
- Brimstone Orange
- Take Your Daughter to Work
- Omphalos (original to this collection)
- Her Deepness

After reading this collection I can say that horror literature has reached a new golden age. It's amazing how many good new authors (Laird Barron, Barbara Roden etc.) have emerged during the recent years. Now it's time for Livia Llewellyn to step into the spotlight and gain praise from critics and readers, because she deserves to be praised.

I think it's good to say a few words about modern horror and how it differs from classic horror before I write anything else.... What separates modern horror from classic horror is the way things are handled and described: modern horror is often much more brutal and realistic than classic horror, but there's also plenty of psychological depth, which makes the stories complex (I think it's also necessary to mention that some modern horror stories are sexually explicit and contain hardcore sex). Some authors can't write this kind of stories, but Livia Llewellyn excels in creating complex and brutal stories with psychological depth. Some of her stories are very brutal and realistic, but they never fail to impress the reader with their complex structure (I think it's great that there are new authors like Livia Llewellyn who are capable of writing this kind of thought-provoking speculative fiction). What's really great is that Livia Llewellyn infuses horror with dark fantasy and science fiction elements, because these elements make her stories different.

As we all know, love, sex and desire are beautiful and wonderful things, but in this collection they get a whole new meaning. Livia Llewellyn shows us how destructive a force love can be and how it can lead to ruin and self-degradation. Her stories aren't pretty, but sharp and fearsome with lots of raw emotions. She writes skillfully about new kind of evergreen trees, sexual desires, postapocalyptic happenings and several other things in a shocking, but beautiful way (the images she creates with her words are brutal, explicit and disturbing, but they're also strangely beautiful, compelling and seductive). She doesn't flinch when she writes about death, sex and desire, but goes full speed ahead and reveals what horrors lie in wait in our subconscious mind. When dark fantasy, modern horror, sexual desire and psychological horror meet this way, the result is magical and electrifying.

Livia Llewellyn creates interesting characters which feel alive. Her characters are realistic and they have emotions, desires and sexual yearnings which make them behave in certain ways that may be self-destructive and/or liberating. The explicit nature of the stories allows the reader to see what happens to the characters and how things develop and blossom into full bloom.

Here's a few words about the introduction and the stories (I'll try not to reveal too much of the stories):

"Love, Sex, and the Heat Death of the Universe" by Laird Barron is a wonderful and insightful introduction to this collection.

"At the Edge of Ellensburg" is the most sexually explicit and shocking story in this collection. It's a story about a woman who has sex with a stranger. After their first meeting she almost desperately wants to get more sex from him. This story contains several hardcore sex scenes, which will probably shock most readers, but they're an important part of the story and allow the reader to see how the woman is blinded by her misplaced love/desire and how she degrades herself.

"Jetsam" is a story about a woman who can't remember what has happened. The ending of this story is simply fantastic, because everything is gradually revealed to the reader.

"Teslated Salihan Evergreen" is a fascinating story about a new kind of trees that lull prepubescent girls into their trunks to serve as wombs for new trees. Although this story is only a 2-page story, it's a brilliant story.

"Brimstone Orange" is another fine example of a mini story. It's a fascinating story about a girl and a fruit tree.

"Horses" and "The Four Hundred Thousand" are different kind of stories, because they're actually science fiction stories, which contain elements of horror and dark fantasy. Livia Llewellyn has written both stories extremely well, because she has managed to create the right kind of unpleasant and thrilling atmosphere.

"The Engine of Desire" is a powerful and unforgettable story about a housewife and her feelings.

"Take Your Daughters to Work" is a captivating short story for all readers who like H. P. Lovecraft's stories. This story impressed me by its strange atmosphere and beautiful prose.

"Omphalos" is a fantastic and different kind of a story about a vacation and a camping trip. I was very impressed by this story (it's definitely one of the best new stories I've read during the last couple of years).

"Her Deepness" is a marvellous and well written dark fantasy novella. (This novella can be read online at Subterranean Press' website. It's a good novella and it gives the reader a taste of Livia Llewellyn's fine prose and marvellous imagination, so do yourself a favour and read it.)

Laird Barron has already praised this collection by saying that it "will be one of the finest horror/dark fantasy collection debuts in a long, long time". I totally agree with him, because in my opinion Livia Llewellyn is a gifted new author, who can write disturbing and fascinating stories, which are difficult to forget. She isn't afraid to shock her readers with imaginative, but brutally realistic visions about death, sex and love - in her stories these three ingredients go hand in hand and wondrous and horrifying things happen. I think it's fair to say that this collection is pure ecstasy for all lovers of dark, disturbing and challenging speculative fiction.

If you like challenging dark fantasy and horror fiction, you must read Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors, because you'll be sorry if you don't. If you're familiar with dark fiction and know what kind of stories are out there, you'll be impressed by this collection, because Livia Llewellyn has her own writing style and she writes fluently about all kinds of things. If you're looking for "something different" and "something new", look no further because you've just found what you've been looking for. This collection is a stunning accomplishment, so make sure that you'll read it.

Highly recommended! Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Batten Down the Hatches December 7, 2011

By S. P. Miskowski

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

At least two of the stories in this collection will scare the hell out of you. A few will hurt your feelings. I was inconsolable after reading "Horses." Then I read the rest of the book, and my only question is: Why do I have to write the way I do, instead of the way Llewellyn does? Muscular, precise, violent, and agonizingly truthful, her fiction takes no prisoners and makes you wonder why you bothered reading all those other writers, the ones who ramble and whine about life while she delivers it, bloody and screaming, into your arms.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engines of Desire May 23, 2011

By Jesse Bullington

Format:Paperback

This is a deliciously nasty little book. On a purely aesthetic level, Lethe has crafted a beautiful artifact - from the evocative cover by photographer Katharina Fösel to the handsome design by Alex Jeffers, there isn't an off note. Fairly or not, a lovely mounting such as this raises expectations of the work's quality before one even begins to read, but, blessed is the fortunate reader, Llewellyn is up to the task of surpassing even the loftiest anticipation.

The ten pieces that compose Engines of Desire range from the tantalizingly brief to the gluttonously long, by turns teasing the reader with fleeting images and gorging them on lush, luscious prose, but never fully sating the appetite Llewellyn whets from the start of her very first story. This apocalyptic opening selection, "Horses", is bleak even by end-of-the-world standards, which makes its placement at the beginning all the more ominous. In this piece and throughout, she brings to life beautiful desolation and ugly desperation in such an easy, effortless manner as to make the reader freeze, an animal in the headlights, torn between recoiling from the page in revulsion and leaning in closer for a better look, a stronger whiff, of whatever it is smoldering down there at the bottom. Assuming, of course, there is even a bottom to be found in this gulf; the deeper into the collection one descends, the less likely that proposition seems.

Florid praise aside, this book is, if not the strongest debut collection in years, certainly the strongest this critic has been fortunate enough to stumble across. Laird Barron nails Llewellyn's work in his introduction, but since one needs to pick up the book to read said introduction, we'll see if we can't cobble something together here to entice the wary.... Images of blindingly bright strips of burning magnesium come to mind, as does the humble botfly - some stories, like the grim document of obsession "At the Edge of Ellensburg", flare up immediately with their intensity, whereas others, like the profoundly disquieting tale of abuse "Omphalos", lay a literary egg in readers, almost without their noticing, only to have a foul realization make it presence known as it worms its way through one's head. Metaphorically speaking - what we're shambling toward is that Llewellyn gets under one's skin in a variety of ways, none of them comfortable.

The constant here is that each of these stories is elegantly written and deeply disturbing - a winning combination, if ever there was one. The worlds Llwellyn exhumes here are so fully realized and nuanced that one wonders just how the hell she's able to do in ten or twenty pages what many authors fail to accomplish in five hundred. Then there are the characters that fill them, individuals who are every bit as contradictory and twisted as they are realistic and (often grotesquely) fascinating - mostly. There are admittedly a few stories where the characters are ciphers, but, for the most part, Llewellyn's protagonists and victims - and they are often the same - manage to be strong even as they are frail, loving even as they are cruel, and luminous even as they succumb to darkness.

Shades of Clive Barker are here, as in the hypersexual "The Engine of Desire", but also tinges of Kafka, such as in the urban nightmare "Jetsam". There are also healthy dollops of Lovecraft, as in "Take Your Daughters To Work". In barely four pages, it builds a world so exquisite the reader bitterly laments there isn't more to explore - until one reaches the collection's concluding story "Her Deepness", which returns the reader to the doomed (or is it blessed?) city of Obsidia for Llewellyn's crowning achievement, an essential read for fans of weird fiction. If we were to compartmentalize the stories by their `genre', we would have everything from fantasy to science fiction to horror (both supernatural and mundane), but no matter what a plot synopsis might imply, each and all of these tales belong to a single realm - the imagination of Livia Llewellyn, an artist of razor-sharp skill and scalding intensity.

(Originally published at Innsmouth Free Press: [...]) Read more ›