Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Devil Delivered and Other Tales-Steven Erickson

The Devil Delivered and Other Tales


Steven Erickson

Tor, Jun 19 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9780765330031



The Devil Delivered. The hole in the ozone layer has grown so immense that it is equivalent to a third of the once proud United States. Dead zones are everywhere and the oceans are a graveyard. The earth is dying with only the time for the wake and burial remaining. William the anthologist explores the land of the Lakota Nation. Jack Tree informs him that the Lakota has shut their borders to the outside. On the net, people around the globe watch the lone anthropologist as he roams these dead lands at a time when nature changes the rules against a species that has brought hell on earth.



Revolvo. In Canada, bureaucrats and technocrats control the arts by controlling the grant money or the award winners. They choose who will be funded, which means they tell who will eat, which in turn determines what is created as the money holders must be satisfied not the artist’s muse or the public. Thus patrons, bureaucrats and technocrats converge on artists who talk about fighting back, but know they won’t if they want funding.



Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie. His Grandma Matchie calls her nine year old grandson Tike while everyone knows him as Jock Junior. He is spending three weeks at a cabin in Canada where he learns his Grandma Matchie is feuding with the "One Armed Trapper", his mother "Lunker", and Satan. Grandma and grandson travel on and under the lakes as they go on a series of adventures.



These are three strange but well written novellas that satirize the real world. Not for everyone, fans who enjoy something different will appreciate these three whimsical cautionary tales.



Harriet Klausner



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