Dark Steps reviewed at Sabotage (or, 'on being reviewed')

My collection of short fiction, Dark Steps, has been reviewed by Ian Chung for Sabotage. Like all the best reviews, it isn't a breathless love song to the book, neither is it a hatchet job. Ian has written a balanced, fair review in which he, knowingly or otherwise, adheres to the 'feedback sandwich' approach of couching constructive criticism within praise.

Of course all such critiques are subjective. I don't necessarily agree with everything Ian says, but equally he does raise some interesting and valid points. And no, I'm not just talking about the discussion of things in the book that he likes.

Now being the author (and, for Dark Steps, editor, cover artist, agent, promoter, manager, chief cook and bottle-washer), I am naturally going to cherry-pick the best bits out of the review, and use them whenever and wherever I can. Things like:

When the techniques [narrator-reader gap and ending with a twist] succeed, the outcome is masterful.

And:

...the surprise reveal ... forces the reader to rethink the significance of everything that has just been read.

And I'm going to ignore some bits too. You can cherry-pick those for yourself.

All in all though, Ian's review makes for very interesting reading, and I am grateful to him and Sabotage for its publication. Have you read Dark Steps yet? How does the review equate to your impression of the book? I'd love to know. You can comment below or after the review itself, which you can find here.

Unthology reviewed again - Waiting Room gets a mention

Unthology No.1 has been reviewed by Ian Chung at Sabotage Reviews. In a paragraph that begins "there are many other points at which Unthology 1 rises to a level that has earned my profound respect", my story, Waiting Room, gets a mention, as follows:

Martin Pond conjures up a near-futuristic world in which a boy is about to take a test, except no one will tell him what it is about, which has disastrous consequences for him.

Which is a neat summary without being explicit praise, but I take it to be an example of something that earned Ian's profound respect. Cheers Ian!

Read the full review at Sabotage, and see if you agree with my interpretation.