Book Review: The New Death and Others

I don’t often review books although I’ve mentioned some that I like, mostly to point out inspirational sources for gaming. But I don’t consider it a strong suit of mine, what with lacking any formal training in the subject and no talent of my own. So a book review by me isn’t really worth all that much.

So it was quite the bit of surprised to be asked to review The New Death and Others by its author James Hutchings. But having written articles and the like, I can understand the desire for reviews and comments. It doesn’t even matter if the reviewer likes it, the feedback is worthwhile and both drive interest to the author.  It’s not easy to write a book, and doing so- no matter how badly, is to my mind something to respect.

Besided, maybe I'd get a idea or two for my games.

So it was in that mindset that I agreed, and promptly received (free I might add) the book formatted for the Kindle. I love my Kindle.

The New Death and Others is available for the Kindle or from Smashwords. It consists of a series of fantasy related short stories with some poems scattered through the book.  The Kindle version didn’t come with a page count, but it isn’t long- I was able to read it through in about four hours containing some significant breaks.

And now to the review, let’s start off with something positive… well… there’s… I sort of like the stories with cats.

Sigh, I want and can do better than that (if only by a bit). So let’s give it a go and I’ll put what I’ll hope is some constructive suggestions at the bottom.

First off, I don’t think I’m the type of reader this book is aimed at.  A number of the stories are left-wing politics at their worst, with a number of shots at Afghanistan, free enterprise, religion, etc. These are done with all the subtlety of an internet flame war due to the short length of the stories and the writing style.  For someone like me, things like that make it hard to judge the rest of the work. For a reader on the Left, it may be more enjoyable.

Stepping back from that, I think the collection suffers from a number of other problems.

The first is that there is no unifying theme to the works. There are the outright political comments, some fable like myths, some are intended to be pure parody, and others are just a pun fest.  The strongest repeating thread (besides the politics) is a common fantasy city used as a backdrop in the fable style stories. And Death, the author likes Death.

There are only two reasons to read a collection of short stories: because their common subject, theme, or setting appeals to you; or because you know and like the author’s writings. The New Death and Others doesn’t provide the former, and James Hutchings doesn’t have a body of work to provide the latter.


As to the individual stories…

The short story format is demanding as it gives little room for development of character and that in turn means that you have pull the reader in quickly in order to invest him in what you’re trying to say.  Not easy, and so IMO the short story can be short- but it can’t be too short.

Most of these are too short.  Some are little more than the plot idea with basically nothing else. This is most felt in the fable like stories, some of which I almost liked. But the shifts were too sudden, the pace too quick, the ending too pat.

Many of the stories indicate to me that the author is trying to mirror one of two styles. The HP Lovecraft descriptive near verse or the Twilight Zone style twist ending. I love both, but the former should be kept to an occasional appearance instead of battering the reader every sentence. And the latter needs to be built up to. It’s ok to twist the ending, even if it’s a predictable twist- IF we care about the characters being twisted. Here, we don’t.

He may also be going for Grimm Fairy tales style, a bunch of short ‘fables’ lumped together. But that can’t really work because the author isn’t the Brothers Grimm. He hasn’t had generations of parents making his tales live for children- he has to make do on his own and he’s not aiming this at children (I hope). That takes more work.

A good example is How the Isle of Cats Got Its Name.  I like cats; I like mystical cats even more. I should have loved this story. But we didn’t get to know any of the cats. And we didn’t get to know the villain Abi-simti.
We know she wants to learn all the magic there is, and after a bit we find out that she’s willing to do anything to do so. But we never find out why. Magic is a tool (especially to gamers, but it’s also the case in the genre), and what we’re being asked to take as the primary mover of a story is a lady who in practical terms wants the complete set of Craftsman Wrenches. Somehow that’s supposed to result in evil interesting enough to make a fable of.

A longer version of this story with a better goal for the villain (even the classic ‘quest for immortality through magic’), together with cats with real personalities that one would root for, would have worked much better.

Lastly, this book was a downer.  Except for the cats, the world of these stories is a dark place with only tears for company. Some people like that, so I won’t fault it other than to say it’s not my taste and thus may have colored some of my comments above.

Suggestions for the author:

Characters- make them more alive. I can’t write as well as you do, so I can’t make suggestions as to how to do this. But do it.

Patience- you have good ideas. Take time to build up to them. The trip is always worth more than the destination.

Subtlety- you can get away with being political, if the reader doesn’t notice. The best works are often those that both sides end up thinking reflects their views.

Theme or Setting- pick one or both, and use it for all the stories in your next attempt.

Oh, almost forgot. Did get any ideas for my games?  Not really, I already knew I wanted to do something with cats and this did reinforce that.

I also picked up a good Sherlock Holmes pun for the next time I want my players to throw dice at me.

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Note: I was hoping I'd find more that I'd like. I'm quite straight forward on game theory and other subjects and normally not shy about tearing into something. But tastes in fiction are very subjective.

I was inclined as a result to not post this review and offered to let James off the hook for it. But his word was to go ahead. Rather impressive. Here's hoping he keeps at it and that his writing skills grow. It's a field that one can only learn by doing, taking the lumps along the way. I couldn't do it.