Lovedeath

I love Simmon's work. However I prefer his historical fiction. But one thing is for sure. he sure knows how to tell a story. The first story in this collection is simply about a father grieving over the loss of a child. The second is a little more tightly wound. Dying in Bangkok is extremley graphic and sexual. An interesting story about revenge, self discovery and the ultimately personal gratification before we join the cosmos.

Five novellas from Dan Simmons on the themes of Love and Death. All five are interesting although some of the stories are stronger than the others.

"Entropy's Bed at Midnight" starts off well as a parent who has lost one child to an accident is consumed with ensuring his other child stays safe. The story builds on the dread of something to come, but then it just wanders off and ends, slightly disappointing.

"Dying in Bangkok", is a difficult tale to read, erotic and horror and vampires and HIV, combine to make a story you won't soon forget.

"Sleeping with Teeth Women", predates Simmons novel "Black Hills", but you can see his love of the Sioux already in this novella, and he is able to create a fascinating story about an Indian boy who show more somehow stumbles into seeing visions of the white man conquest of his people. Moving, interesting and powerful.

"Flashback" is the only S.F. story. Similar to the novel of the same name, Simmons creates an all too real story of what would happen to America if a drug was available that allowed someone to "flash" to that memory. Interesting premise, however, just like the novel, it would have been more interesting to keep the politics out and focus on the impact of the drug on America.

"The Great Lover" is a masterpiece of horror describing the WWI battle of the Somme's, where over a million men lost their lives for no apparent reason. Haunting, horrific, and grisly, Simmons describes a poet trapped in the trenches as his grasp on sanity slips and slowly fails amid the tragedy of war.

Worth reading, as Simmons, as always, writes powerful stories of love and death. show less

One two star story and three four star stories, but worth reading for the beautiful and harrowing five star The Great Lover