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Walking the Tree by Kaaron Warren
Walking the Tree is the second novel by Kaaron Warren. Previously, my only experience with Warren was her short story in Lavie Tidhar’s The Apex Book of World SF, which I thought one of the weaker pieces of the collection. The concept of Walking the Tree appealed to me a lot, though, so I decided to give it a try. It is an interesting book in many ways, but not without a few structural problems.
The novel is set on the island of Botanica. The island is huge, but almost all available space is taken up by one gigantic tree. Around the base of the tree, small scattered communities of people known as Orders live on whatev... Read More
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We thought that Halloween was the perfect occasion on which to combine Magazine Monday with Horrible Monday and bring you a review of a horror magazine. Black Static is a British horror magazine notable not only for the high quality of its fiction, but also for its great commentary and extensive reviews of horror films and books. This was my first experience reading the magazine, but my plan is now to subscribe, because this is great stuff.
Simon Bestwick’s story, “Dermot,” starts off calmly enough, with a man who seems mentally disabled boarding a bus. He’s wearing a suit that seems a bit big, but it’s clean and pressed, and he’s carrying an old-fashioned briefcase... Read More
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Nightmare is celebrating its first anniversary with Issue 13, and it starts off with a humdinger of a story by Norman Partridge called “10/31: Bloody Mary.” The use of the date is a deliberate reminder of 9/11, and connotes a catastrophe of equal or greater weight. On 10/31 — this year, next year, last year, we’re never told — all of the monsters became real. Somehow, on Halloween, “werewolves and witches, mummies and zombies, and other nameless things the boy would rather never see” become real. The boy (the protagonist of the story) hides during the day, never going out to forage for food and other necessities of life until night. He is utterly alone. Then one day a young woman appears, one who is very fast with her sawed-off shotgun when a Jack o’ Lantern attacks. She takes the boy under her wing and teaches him how to fight back instead of hide. The plot isn’t particularly new, ... Read More
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Paper Cities by Ekaterina Sedia
Bring up urban fantasy nowadays and most readers will probably assume that you’re talking about such authors as Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon and so on, but in this new anthology from Senses Five Press, which is edited by Ekaterina Sedia, Paper Ci... Read More
More speculative fiction from Kaaron Warren
The Grinding House — (2005) Publisher: A horror story set in a futuristic society where people face an epidemic that’s not only infecting its food supply, but every living being in it, too. And no matter how hard you try, you can’t get away from it. Of course. the Grinding House will be there to pick up the pieces, bones and all. A story with spooky flowers and almonds.
The Glass Woman — (2007) Publisher: Subtle depictions of future worlds, of stark contemporary settings and alternate realities are some of the wonders of Warren’s imagination. From science fiction to fantasy and eerie, soul-shaking horror. Warren’s words will reverberate in all of us. What is there to enjoy in this collection? A profound vision of a future, perhaps dismal without hope, horror that makes your spine feel pierced by hundreds of rings, a smattering of bodily fluids, a few feminist themes, a clear and penetrating vision, the clarity of which is unearthly. Clever, sometimes funny, morbid and at times racy. You’ll find all of this in Kaaron Warren’s work.
Slights — (2009) Publisher: Stevie is a killer. When she kills people she asks them: “WHAT DO YOU SEE?” She’s about to find out… After an accident in which her mother dies, Stevie has a near-death experience, and finds herself in a room full of people — everyone she’s ever pissed off. They clutch at her, scratch and tear at her. But she finds herself drawn back to this place, again and again, determined to unlock its secrets. Which means she has to die, again and again. And she starts to wonder whether other people see the same room! when they die. The most disturbing novel of 2009. Read it if you dare. FILE UNDER: Horror [Real-Life Terror / Damaged Lives / Family Secrets / Beyond Death]
Mistification — (2010) Publisher: An intriguing modern fantasy from the award-winning writer of “Slights”. Marvo is a stage magician. His magic is real. Marvo grows up without knowing his parents, without knowing his heritage, without knowing much about life. The magicians have always been with us, since the beginning of civilisation. They fill our heads with the mist, keeping us from witnessing the stark reality of existence. But are things so bad that Marvo will bring it down on all of us, forever? Marvo begins to understand those around him, and his place in the world; he discovers that his remarkable powers can be put to good, or to evil. He only has to choose.
CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE TITLES BY KAARON WARREN.
Kaaron Warren is an Australian author of horror, science fiction, and fantasy short stories and novels. She is the author of the short story collection The Grinding House, which won the 2006 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards. Her short stories have won both the Ditmar and Aurealis Award. Here’s 
