Voices From Punktown [Paperback]

Jeffrey Thomas (Author), Travis Anthony Soumis (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2008

In these eleven searing stories, Jeffrey Thomas (Blu War, Deadstock) takes us on another tour of the infamous far-future colony known as Punktown, it streets rife with viloence and danger, its alleys stalked by aliens and muntants, its citizens struggling to retain their humanity, dignity, and and sanity in the oppressive shadows of its soaring cold towers. Mixing mind-bending science fiction with bone-chlling horror, Thomas again demonstrates which his initial collection Punktown was met with wide acclaim. "Punktown is one of the best examples of SF horror currently out there." -- Ellen Datlow, Locus "Punktown is searing and alien and anxious and rich, and it is human, and it is moving. Jeffrey Thomas has done something wonderful." -- China Mieville "Thomas' stories...contain a world in themselves, stored in fragments and glances and details, and together they create a whole even greater than the sum of their parts-while remaining, individually, stories of great impact, a collection of which anyone would be proud to have written just one tale." -- Michael Marshall Smith

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The venue that Thomas has created is a strong one, uniquely his own, and amenable to hosting just about any kind of tale...Punktown is a place that undeniably and forcefully intrudes its existence into our bland reality, rendering our own world colorless by comparison." --Paul Di Filippo, Asimov's Science Fiction

About the Author

Jeffrey Thomas's other books set in his world of Punktown include the novels Blue War, Deadstock, Health Agent, Everybody Screams! and the Bram Stoker finalist Monstrocity, the collections Punktown and Punktown: Shades of Grey (Co-authored by brother Scott Thomas), and (as editor) the shared world anthology Punktown: Third Eye. Several of these books have appeared in translated editions in Germany, Greece and Russia, and a number of his Punktown stories have been adapted as audio dramas for CD by the German outfit Lausch. Apart from his Punktown work, Thomas is the author of such books as Voices From Hades and Doomsdays, both published by Dark Regions Press. He lives in Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Dark Regions Press; First edition (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888993634
• ISBN-13: 978-1888993639
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,008,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am the author of such science fiction/horror novels as DEADSTOCK (finalist for the John W. Campbell Award), BLUE WAR, HEALTH AGENT, MONSTROCITY (finalist for the Bram Stoker Award), THE FALL OF HADES, LETTERS FROM HADES, UGLY HEAVEN/BEAUTIFUL HELL (coauthored with Carlton Mellick III), THOUGHT FORMS, and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: THE DREAM DEALERS. My short story collections include PUNKTOWN, VOICES FROM PUNKTOWN, PUNKTOWN: SHADES OF GREY (coauthored with Scott Thomas), NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, UNHOLY DIMENSIONS, VOICES FROM HADES, THIRTEEN SPECIMENS, DOOMSDAYS, and AAAIIIEEE!!!. Stories of mine have been reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR and THE YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES. Though I consider Vietnam (my wife's place of origin) my second home, I am a resident of ye olde Massachusetts. Visit my blog at www.JeffreyEThomas.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Punktown: You Are Here, September 7, 2011

By 

Michael J. Tresca "Talien" (Fairfield, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voices From Punktown (Paperback)

Ah Punktown. I just love Jeffrey Thomas' world of Paxton (née Punktown), a jaded cesspool of avarice and violence wrapped up in a technologically corrupt world with a gooey Lovecraftian center. Voices from Punktown does not disappoint.

JOHNNY PHAROAH: Thomas' considerable noir chops are on full display in a story about an accidental clone, a beautiful dame, and a hard knock life that might have been reconsidered under different circumstances. 4 out of 5.

DO YOU KNOW THIS GIRL? This particularly sadistic blend of lust and a fear of the alien is mixed together to produce a delicious tale about how humanity has forgotten that we were all once prey for something bigger. My favorite of the whole collection. 5 out of 5.

MONSTERS: Thomas digs into his marvelously deranged imagination to come up with the most reprehensible alien species imaginable...and then manages to both humanize and demonize the race. Dr. Fleck, a plastic surgeon for all forms of life, must face the ugly side of a civilization where beauty is literally skin deep. 5 out of 5.

MOURNING CLOAK: A somber tale of a prostitute with bioengineered wings at the end of her rope. 3 out of 5.

THE REFLECTIONS OF GHOSTS: This was meant for a graphic novel and it's a crying shame that it was never realized in that format. The narrator's predilection for cloning himself as bizarre art would have considerably more impact in pictures. 4 out of 5.

THE COLOR SHRAIN: What if you could steal anything you wanted by folding it into your soul? Fritz Specola can, but he's never tried to steal a living thing...and when he does, he discovers life - and memories - cannot simply be tucked away. It's like an Inner Space version of a Sound of Thunder. 5 out of 5.

TRASH: Short fiction that can be summarized best as: robots have feelings too. 3 out of 5.

BEHIND THE MASQUE: A first-person narrative about cloning celebrities. The story itself is a tribute to a literary figure whose legacy looms large over the entire collection. 3 out of 5.

FORGE PARK: I do so love a King in Yellow tale, and Thomas blends elements of the play with art decadence, the bonhomie of fringe culture, and aliens with mask-like faces. Fans of Chambers' work will appreciate the homage. 5 out of 5.

THE DANCE OF UGGHIUTU: Being familiar with Ugghiutu from Thomas' previous work, I knew where this was headed. That shouldn't spoil the story for newcomers though. 3 out of 5.

THE BONES OF THE OLD ONES: A repeat of a story published in Unholy Dimensions, John Bell is what got me hooked on Thomas' writing in the first place. Good-old fashioned pulp action with flesh-dissolving gel capsules, Tindalosian hounds, and Yog-Sothoth. 5 out of 5.

This series of short stories is an excellent introduction to Punktown and captures all of its voices, from the soft coos of a seducer to the shrieks of a jilted lover, from the snarl of a man who fixes problems with his fists to the rasping wheeze of an alien that has no face. If you're just learning about Punktown, this is a great place to start.