Customer Reviews

Through Shattered Glass

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a good book, I recomend it. If you like thrillers and mysteries this is a good book.

One of the best short story collections out there. Think King meets Bradbury with a dash of Charles Grant. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

David B. Silva's THROUGH SHATTERED GLASS is a collection of subtle, heart-wrenching horror stories. The author elects to creep under the reader's skin, rather than carve it off, and it works. He blends real-life horror scenarios, like loneliness, terminal illness, and childhood trauma with a twist of the supernatural to craft tales that are apt to stay with the reader long after experiencing them. Stylistically, Silva is comparable to Ray Bradbury in that he uses simple, but passionate language. He differs from Bradbury in the sense that his stories tread much farther into the dark side, carrying with them an ever-present sense of tragedy. As a writer, Silva certainly has his own, unique voice. Each story in here is quite good, but there are standouts. For me "Ice Songs," where a boy believes he is receiving messages from a piece of ice that fell from the sky, was really cool. It's very dark and explores the mania that can often come with blind faith. Another goodie is "The Calling," the melancholy, opening tale of a man taking care of his terminal mother. That one is oppressively sad most of the way through, but has quite a shocker of an ending that readers won't soon forget. "The Night in Fog," "Ice Sculptures," and "Dry Whiskey" are also strong standouts and do a great job at blending the melancholy with the horrific. THROUGH SHATTERED GLASS is definitely a collection worth owning and contains many great stories that are well-told.
[...]

Often the best way to be introduced to a writer is through their short stories. I can't count how many authors--some of them all-time favorites--that I've discovered through their shorter work in anthologies, magazines, websites, etc.

I'd heard the name David B. Silva many times, and always in a positive light. When I read comparisons to Ray Bradbury, I knew that I'd have to seek out Silva's shorter work. THROUGH SHATTERED GLASS, an anthology now available on Kindle, turned out to be more than worthy of the Bradbury comparison. But don't think that the collection is all rocket ships and dandelion wine; it's some of the darkest stuff in print.

Silva provokes responses on a deep level. He explores the personal, the intimate, the interior. Themes of illness, failed family relationships, madness, unreality, and loss pervade the work, almost to the point of overload. All this darkness is oppressive, especially if the stories are read back-to-back. But this isn't a weakness--it's just the nature of the beast, and a testament to the skill with which Silva manipulates his subject matter.

To be honest, I was on the lookout for the weak stories, the filler pieces that pop up in every anthology. I was alarmed to find that there weren't any. This is an amazing achievement, and should thrill everyone who cares about contemporary horror.

Silva is a brilliant craftsman. Every story features a striking central idea, and is written in prose which manages to be both plainspoken and lyrical. The best in the anthology were "Dwindling," which reads like Bradbury at his darkest; "Ice Sculptures," a literally chilling tale of art and nature which reminded me of Algernon Blackwood; and "The Feeders," a tale dense with emotion and symbolism which I read twice and want to read again. The only (slight) misstep occurs in "Nothing is as it Seems," which detours into the pulp-SF territory of parallel worlds, yet remains an effective on its own terms.

THROUGH SHATTERED GLASS is lyrical, psychological, disturbing, emotional, and amazingly well-written. Silva is so obviously a master of the form that it's kind of ridiculous. Recommended without reservation.