Customer Reviews

Tales of Pain & Wonder

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Caitlin R. Kiernan's magnificent first short fiction collection, TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER, is a dazzling triumph for dark fantasy. The author blends elements of horror and terror (the Gothic), noir, and hints of Lovecraftian sci-fi, for stories that are utterly unique in their scope and tone. Kiernan has established herself as the premiere stylist of dark fiction and nowhere does her talent and skill with words shine more brightly than in this accomplished collection. An informed and conscientious reader doesn't need the introduction by Douglas Winter or the afterword by Peter Straub to tell him that this book is something special. each page - indeed, each sentence - declares that fact. Many of the stories are linked by recurring characters and related events, and even the unconnected stories are related to the others in theme, so that TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER becomes almost a sort of pseudo-novel. With these stories, Kiernan explores the disintegration of society, faith, humanity, and, indeed, the fabric of the world itself, offering a lonely and disturbing view of the survivors. These stories frighten, strike awe, sadden, inspire wonder, and even offer slim bits of hope, but they never merely entertain. Scholars of fantastic fiction should take note: Caitlin R. Kiernan is one of the few important voices in genre today.

That said, the Meisha Merlin edition is a disappointment, a shoddy, unprofessional effort with one of the most garish and inappropriate covers I've seen in ages. The interior layout is slipshod, Richard Kirk's gorgeous interior illustrations are reproduced a bit to darkly, and the book is marred by errors that would have been eliminated from a more skillful printing. I encourage readers who can't afford the pricey Gauntlet hardback to pick up this edition - it's far better than nothing - but I regret that Kiernan's masterwork has been done such a disservice.

Caitlin R. Kiernan's TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER is easily one of the most important collection of dark fiction in years. These stories rank with the best of Ligotti, Campbell, Lovecraft, and Bradbury, and it's great to see them finally available in an inexpensive trade paperback. Hopefully Kiernan's exquisitely-penned stories of Salmagundi Desvernine and Jimmy DeSade will find a wider readership now. However, buyers should be warned that this edition is inferior to the Gauntlet hardback in several respects. To start with, the awful cover, which is as misrepresentative of Kiernan's work as possible. Also there are many more typos in the edition, including some that make reading the book difficult at times. If you can afford it, buy the hardback. If not, at least this edition does include all of Richard Kirk's beautiful artwork. I'm giving this book five stars, because the writing and artwork are deserving of high praise, despite the publisher's shoddy packaging of the collection.

Caitlin R. Kiernan's Tales of Pain and Wonder is a superb volume, and is requisite reading for all afficianados of dark fiction. However, I was very disappointed in the quality of this edition and prefer the hardback. From the garish cover to a text fraught with printer's errors, the paperback does a disservice to Kiernan's exquisite prose.

'Tales of Pain & Wonder' is a collection of Caitlin Kiernan's earlier work (if one is allowed to speak of the late 1990's as 'late'). As such, it presents many of Kiernan's important themes as they appear for the first time. Characters surface for the first time as well, in particular Deacon Silvey who will show up again in two novels, 'Threshold' and 'Low Red Moon.' This makes the collection 'important' if you are a Kiernan aficionado, but all that aside, what really makes this collection important is that it is very, very good.

I have lately come to refer to Kiernan as the 'last of the great horror writers.' Partially as a lament for a genre that currently spends far too much time specializing in hot, romantic vampire novels, but also because she really is good enough that writers of her caliber are far and few between. Hers is a horror that leaks out of the spaces between things and pervades the atmosphere surrounding her characters, clinging to them like a faint scent of doubt and rot. Yet when its time finally comes, it is sure and brutal, sparing no unkindness.

Kiernan's characters exist on the fine edge of self-destructiveness, whether they come from wealth like the sisters Salammbo and Salmagundi, hypnotized by the beauty of death like Lark and Crispin, or, like Jimmy de Sade, have both feet firmly planted in terror so real it is an aesthetic experience. The confront things they cannot understand, or know far too well, living the kind of homeless or disconnected lives that make them lightning rods for real horror, not the candy-coated-sip-your-blood kind.

Kiernan admits in her forward that the book has two narratives, one is the accident of the order of writing, and the other is a natural order where the interconnections among the tales is more obvious. I chose to read in the latter order, which reveals the most about how the story arcs develop, rather than the former, which says more about Kiernan than her tales. Both, though, are legitimate approaches, and produce equally valid if different experiences.

The writer has a knack for creating symbols and only half filling them in. Eerie twins, cold presences, wounds that never heal, and barren landscapes come and go, but the reader is expected to do part of the work - to construct a narrative at least partially his own. Part of the horror is that it is my terror that lurks about, as well as Caitlin Kiernan's. Each of these stories is a opportunity to look in a place you desperately don't want to go, and to succumb to a nightmarish glamour. And above everything stands Jimmy de Sade, judge and jury in a gothic world.

This is top grade stuff. Kiernan's writing style is excellent - each word is carefully selected for its purpose, nothing is extra. Characters quickly step out of the shadows and assume an unexpected reality. This is what contemporary horror should be.

Even at $50, this book is a bargain. It's easily the best collection of horror fiction since Thomas Ligotti's magnum opus The Nightmare Factory. Kiernan is surely the most vital voice in this genre in a long, long time and is a genuine master (or is that mistress?) of the short story.

This fantastic signed limited book (signed by Keirnan, Peter Straub, Douglas Winter and Artist Richard KirK) takes you into this world that you didn't know existed. In some cases, you don't want to have existed but in your heart these people you meet are real, enough to touch, smell and get smeared by the blood they produce. They live their own existence outside ours and you take their lives in this book and read about them in one sitting, drawn in as characters re-occur after knowing the night of Pain they experienced and the drugs and alcohol they need to continue. Except they don't know that, this is their life and we are granted an instant with them. Ms. Keirnan even gives an alternate table of contents which allows you to read the stories as they were written if that interests you. The formation of one of the strongest new prose writers to come our way. This Gauntlet Limited is a fantastic blend of Keirnans stories and one you should not miss.

If you've read this book, there's not much i can tell you that you don't already know. If you haven't then you damn well better be ordering everyone of her books. Caitlin Kiernan is an amazing author, with a large body of work that includes many editions of 'The Dreaming', three novels, two published, and a growing number of short stories. In this book, you'll be introduced to a Lovecraftian beast that also takes part in her second novel. As does Deacon, the troubled alchoholic psychic. You will also see Salmagundi and Salammbo, sisters born of a strange estate. Jimmy DeSade, who peddals dark wares to Kiernan's motley collection of amazing characters. You will witness Voodoo magic. You will be beaten bloody, and raised to the absolute heights of ecstasy. You will feel grief, reexperience childhood, and break free of all that's been binding you. Yes, it's that good. And after you read this one you can read Threshhold, and Silk, and In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers, and so much more. Then, of course you'll want to reread all of them. So you'd better get busy. Artistry of this caliber is rarely seen and needs to be coveted as a precious thing.

There have always been authors who, with their plot, their characters, and above all, their prose, had made us feel simultaneously giddy and lethargic. And now (which means for more than a decade) there is Caitlin R. Kiernan. The world of pain and wonder that she has created in this book might be repulsive to many, since it deals with (mostly) lost-wasted characters surviving or perishing in a world of gaudy pleasures and visceral pain, both of which we shun at any cost (while both attracts us when we are given the choice to act as voyeurs). This book harps on that particular attraction as it hypnotises us with its uniquely haunting and burning imagery, with its overlapping of wine-red and blood-red, and as a portal to such beings who carry darkness of numerous shades in their veins, arteries, eyes and heart. Normally I tend to avoid such stories. This time also, when I started reading this beautiful book (Subterranean Press books are a pleasure to read, in all aspects), I almost felt like feeling sleepy, but then.....!

I wouldn't like to offer you a story-wise review, since that would do great injustice to Kiernan's writing. Although these 22 stories are somewhat loosely related, as we find some of the characters coming back to their own unique hells (and occasionally heavens), you may read them in whatever order you wish. Readers of "Threshold" would especially appreciate the "Into the Water Works", a prequel to that novel, and other stories leading to the introduction of the character of Deacon. But most importantly, this book should be read and treasured by all lovers of fiction, irrespective of the genre preferred: dark fantasy, horror, urban angst, surrealism, poetry.... Wholeheartedly recommended.

I had no idea what I was getting myself in to when I first picked up this book. Like some of Kiernan's other books, this is a rare find. So if you happen upon it please buy it. To this very day I am haunted by the characters that make appearances in this collection. If you can't find the elusive 'Trilobite', then at least pick up this one. Both contain the story "In the Water Works". It's a beautifully written story but it also sheds a little light (allbeit a dark and grimy light) on the events in her book 'Threshold'. In fact, once you read this you will never be able to forget these characters...suddenly they are a part of you. I hate to admit it, but I still have nightmares about "Rats Live On No Evil Star"...anyhow, just read the book! Kiernan is simply brillant!!!

Truly, Caitlin Kiernan's hypnotic writing is at it's best in this collection of short stories. I have to say, I have enjoyed everything she's written, but this particular book is perhaps the best of the bunch. Her unusual take on plots works best in the short story format, at least in my opinion. And her prose is so tasty you'll practically want to eat it. She creates stunning, stark imagery, and Richard Kirk's illustrations are a wonderful complement. (More books should be illustrated!) The paperback sadly fell apart though, the cover peeled apart almost immediately.