Steve Rasnic Tem

Ubo is difficult to talk about without sounding insane. There are so many thought provoking questions here, all locked up with roaches holding the keys. I know, I know...insane.

I have to touch on the basic outline here to make any sense at all of this review. Daniel goes from sitting in an airport contemplating walking away from it all, (including his wife and their sickly son), to living out scenarios of the most violent events in the history of the world, with only a vague, surreal, show more memory of wings and a moon separating the two.

When I say living out violent scenarios, I mean from inside the very heads of those doling out said violence. Jack the Ripper. Jim Jones. Charles Whitman. Here you are, witnessing these crimes as if it were you perpetrating them, while at the same time finding your conscience and your stomach recoiling. What possible good could come out of that? If there IS something good, can it be discovered and/or implemented before humanity destroys itself? You'll have to read this to find out.

I requested this ARC from NetGalley and Solaris because I have been a huge fan of Mr. Tem's short stories over the years. I remember his name always showing up in horror anthologies and knew I could depend on him to give me a good thrill. This book, however, is more of a science fiction novel with horrific elements-but all of his intense, strong writing? It's still here.

There's so much more I want to say, but...spoilers. Many things are going on in the background that beg for your attention, important things. Commentary about humanity really, where it is going and where it has been. Much of it is unpleasant. Somehow though, I found hope at the end. Is that because I couldn't face the stark reality, (not that far off from our current reality, by the way), or because I truly do think there's hope? I'm not sure. This is one of those times where I wish the author was my friend and I could just call him up and ask him. Since that's not happening, I'll settle for hearing what YOU think.

Highly recommended for those readers that enjoy turning over the reigns to a trusted author and believing that they will bring it all home. Go ahead and discover if there's even any home left. Read Ubo.

Ubo is available February 9th. You can pre-order your copy here: Ubo

*Thanks to NetGalley and Solaris for the e-Arc of Ubo in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.* show less

I listened to the Audible version of this and immediately after ordered it in print because I feel like I need to re-read it, giving each story the time and attention it really deserves. This is a beautiful hybrid of short-story collection and novel; a single, albeit disjointed narrative, told in richly varied stylistically tales. The prose is fluid and elegant, and there is a rich, mature, and deeply emotional thread to this work that a lot of other works just can't deliver. My first show more exposure to this writer, though I can guarantee it will not be my last. show less

I have to be honest here: I'm biased. Not in the obvious way though. Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem were the writers-in-residence during the dreaded Week 5 of Odyssey 2005. Well, them and Melanie's guide dog, Dominic, who I think kept us all sane. The Tems were a sharp couple, and they thoroughly interacted and engaged with every single one of us students, and they always gave each us of their full attention. I have to admit, I didn't always agree with their crits (of my own work, of show more course. ;)) but they were open, honest, and willing to TALK about the work and get to know us better, and that left a far more lasting impression in my mind than anything else.

The only writing of theirs I've read were two short stories (one from each writer) right before they showed up at Odyssey. I didn't pay much attention then, because I didn't know them and the stories didn't grab me at the time, and I've never sought out their work. Until now.

I saw this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program, and I didn't hesitate to sign up for an ARC. Why not? This was a book they'd written TOGETHER, and it had a gorgeous cover. I couldn't pass it up.

And it turns out, I didn't have to. I won my copy of the ARC, and decided to hell with whatever I thought of the book, I was getting the REAL copy anyway, so I passed my ARC on to and snuggled up with the REAL, pretty-cover copy.

This is one of those reviews that doesn't need a cut. Hell, it doesn't even need a blurb about the premise, because the book is beautiful, surreal, and haunting in such a subtle way you're not even sure it's happening until it suddenly grips you. The Man on the Ceiling is in many ways, creative non-fiction, but it's practically an interstitial work, a book that blurs the lines between fact, fiction, memory, and imagination, but grounds it all in truth. I rarely had trouble discerning when Melanie wrote versus Steve, and the times I did, it didn't matter. Their writing flows together, entwines in such a way that having a book with two different first person POVs feels like it's come from one body, one mind, one soul. But it isn't.

I'm not entirely sure how my reaction to this book is based on the fact I got to spend a week with this amazing couple. I suspect quite a bit, to be honest, but yet, you can't argue the beauty of the whole book put together. I was reminded of Valente's work. I was reminded of Winterson's. And that's high praise. There's such a simple, deceptive beauty to this prose that you don't even realize that at the book's heart, it's horror, but horror in the most realistic ways imaginable. Key word: imagine.

My Rating

Must Have: close to "the keeper shelf," but suspect it might take a second reading to bump it up a notch. Like I said, it's very possible I'm simply biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed this read, this autobiography of the Tem's imagination, of their lives, of their children. It's a surreal piece, and one not easily forgotten. show less

THE NIGHT DOCTOR AND OTHER TALES is a collection of the dark and the weird from one of my all time favorite authors. It's terrific!

Grief and loss play a big part in these stories, as big a part as they play in real life. Sometimes there's also an eerie side to the tales here, but there are few outright scares. The predominant feeling I came away with can be stated in one word: Unsettling.

I can't review each story because there are a lot of them, but the ones that really stuck with me show more are:

BREATHING: The word unsettling describes this perfectly. Breathing is something you don't notice until it's gone. I could feel this man's grief in my very bones.

RED RABBIT is one of my favorite Tem stories of all time and I relish every re-read. It's just so damn disturbing.

DOMESTIC MAGIC: And I thought my mom was a witch!

THE MAN IN THE ROSE BUSHES: For whatever reason, this one reminded me of Robert Aickman-it was weird.

STICK MEN: I thought about this story all day. It creeped me out.

BETWEEN THE PILINGS made me think of a conversation I recently had with my husband about a vacation we took years ago. We talked about what it would be like at that place now. This is a story about just that-going back. Or maybe it's about moving on and letting go? You make the call. There was a palpable almost suffocating atmosphere here-between that and the name of the town, I felt a faint Lovecraftian vibe.

THE WEIGHT LOST: No, that's not a typo, but it IS a weird, weird tale that left me feeling...off balance.

I could go on and on about this book, the nature of all the stories and how much a fan I am of Steve Rasnic Tem's work. In fact, I briefly will! Back in my early teens, Tem's name in an anthology meant I was checking that sucker out of the library as fast as any superhero could move. To me, his name meant that I would be guaranteed relief from the boredom of a long summer day. In that way, his name has been in the background for almost my entire life. He's like the soundtrack to my life, but in written form.

His tales have always featured variety, unease and sometimes outright horror. They're entertaining and they make you think. You can take away from them all kinds of things to ponder, and sometimes they just haunt your mind for years. (CITY FISHING, I'm looking at you.) What they have never done is bore me, and for that I am grateful.

This is yet another excellent collection from the outstanding, literary mind of Steve Rasnic Tem. Let him invite you- entice you, even-but don't expect to get too comfortable settling in, because the specialty here is exactly the opposite: UNSETTLING!

My highest recommendation-especially to fans of the weird tales!

Available in October from Centipede Press!

*I was offered a paperback ARC of this collection by the author himself, in exchange for my honest review. This is it. (And, I was honored to.) show less