Talk us through it
Cat Sparks presents a collection of 21 original Australian short stories spanning the various categories of speculative fiction. So if after a little fantasy, some Sci-Fi, or indeed a scary tale or two then you are in the right place. Just to ensure we get full value for money there's a short introductory piece by Cat defining where the short story is at Down Under, short Author bios at the end, and of course high standard art work on both the front and back cover. About the only thing missing is a good cup of coffee, which I'm afraid the reader is going to have to provide. Heck make it a glass of red and I'm over helping you out with the book. Ready to see where the stories might take us?
ReviewAgog! Terrific Tales came my way courtesy of Chuck McKenzie who was conducting one of his semi regular clean outs of the bookcases; no doubt in order to stock them up again. So a big thanks to Chuck for taking the time out of his busy schedule of hiring super models for the bookshop in order to mail the collection up North here. Being an Agog! virgin I was intrigued as to what would be lurking under the covers and what gems Cat Sparks might have uncovered. We're talking Aussie small press time here folks so you are either going to get a collection of absolutely brilliant stories or a whole bunch of writing that seriously needs burning. Thankfully the collection falls into the former category with no weak story in the entire collection. Ms Sparks has kicked a major with an outstanding array of yarns that will have you mesmerised from the front cover to the final page.A quick check of the contents page had me well satisfied that there were Authors I was familiar with; Kyla Ward, Robert Hood, Kaaron Warren, Martin Livings, Leigh Blackmore, and surprisingly Dirk Flinthart. I'm adding a surprise in front of Dirk Flinthart's name as the last bit of writing I had read from the mythical Tasmanian was a series of wine reviewers, of casks! Of course like any good collection there are a number of writers the reader is going to be unfamiliar with or who he/she hasn't read a great deal of. My excuse is I've been out of the Down Under speculative scene for quite sometime, right up to the relaunch of ScaryMinds in fact, and there's been a whole bunch of excellent writers come onto the scene in my absence. Add in any number of Authors who have enhanced their reputations over the last few years and you could say that eight ball is right in front of me. I'm trying to make amends by reading every single book that might have a hint of horror about it and reviewing for the site. Eventually I might actually catch up somewhat, and hey who knows, actually know what I'm talking about. We live in hope folks, we live in hope. Suffice it to say Cat Sparks has put together an excellent collection of familiar and non familiar writers for about all readers, and that is what I'm after in an anthology kids. Regardless of where your reading preferences may tend toward Ms Cat will have you happy enough with Terrific Tales. There's a whole bunch of Sci-Fi in there, seems we can't get away from that genre here at ScaryMinds, a number of horror tales (reason for this review), though nothing bordering anywhere near the gorenography thankfully, and even some flights of fancy for your average member of the fantasy brigade. While there are some deadly serious tales, Kaaron Warren's shocker Bone-Dog immediately springs to mind, Cat Sparks has also included some humour. Check out Robert Hood's JAM Jars with it's most unlikely of heroes or Martin Livings' Sigmund Freud and the Feral Freeway to get that frown turned upside down. About the only thing I could have possibly wanted included that wasn't would be an out and out ghost story, but then that's a personal preference there folks. You can't always get what you want but if you find the time to read the collection you might just get what you need. Terrific Tales kicks off with an excellent and thought provoking story by Kyla Ward that moves from an examination of traditional versus modern society to outright horror without missing a step. Kijin Tea is simply a wonderful way to start a collection and sets the tone for the rest of the book. For some reason the story reminds me of something else, not in contents more in atmosphere, but I can't put my finger on exactly what that is. I would be really interested in what a Japanese horror fan might think of the tale considering the differences between Western and Eastern horror themes. Other highlights for mine included Lucy Sussex's Runaway in which we learn you can't judge a book by it's mutated cover, Moonflowers at the Ritz Marianne de Pierres story that examines the punishment finding the culprit, Robert Hood's JAM Jars that would make a damn fine basis for an Aussie young adult series, Kaaron Warren's excellent chiller Bone-Dog that sent a shiver down my spine with the final paragraph, Sigmund Freud and the Feral Freeway Martin Livings which surprises with general imagery throughout, Storm In a Chandelier by Tracey Rolfe with it's view of what constitutes art, and Scott Westerfeld's zombie orientated outing That Which Does Not Kill Us, a refreshingly new look at the sub genre. At no stage of the collection does the standard of story telling drop off, I've highlighted the stories that I personally thought were standouts, but no doubt other readers will nominate some of the stories above and mention others, or might in fact come up with a completely different list. Seems Australian speculative fiction publishers demand one hell of a high standard and one wonders how many reject slips Ms Sparks sent out before finalising her line-up for this collection. Terrific Tales is well worth picking up if you are new to Australian speculative fiction, an excellent introduction to the Down Under take on the art form, or are a seasoned reader in the local scene. The collection should be available via Agog! Press though you might be redirected to Amazon. If having problems locating the book then drop us a line and we'll see if we can't source a copy for you, no promises there.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Excellent collection that is going to repay your investment many times over.
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