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Title: Robert E. Howard: The Power of the Writing Mind by Thomas Ligotti, Rusty Burke, Leo Grin, Robert E. Howard, Glenn Lord, Patrice Louinet, Joe Marek, Tom Munnerlyn, Scott Sheaffer, Ben Szumskyj ISBN: 0-9728545-0-9 Publisher: Mythos Books Pub. Date: December, 2003 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Ligotti's work not done
Comment: After reading Thomas Ligotti's latest opus, "My Work Is Not Yet Done", the author, once again, reinvents himself to show that he is a force to be reckoned with. This is exemplified in the first piece...the novella, "My Work Is Not Yet Done". This is basically the ultimate tale of revenge, and is Ligotti at his nihilistic best. The writing in this novella I had never seen before. The transitions and how it all flows together is amazing. Truly one of his best.
"I Have A Special Plan for this World" is alright...it kind of leaves the reader wanting more. I think it's kind of like an extension of the first piece (you can only do so much with the theme of "corporate horror"). The whole concept of the yellow haze and such is interesting.
"The Nightmare Network" I enjoyed. This had the most interesting concept of the three (and it's kind of hard to describe...people being used for nightmares?) Once again, Ligotti flexes his artistic muscles and some pieces are morbid and the others make you say to yourself, "What the hell?" I really liked this last piece.
All in all, yet another amazing work by Thomas Ligotti. This book is extremely hard to find. I checked it out from the Los Angeles Central Library and they had it. Ligotti needs to find a bigger publisher (he doesn't win those Bram Stoker awards for nothing). I would like to find his screenplay-er whatever it may be- entitled "Crampton" but that's even harder to come by.
Thomas Ligotti's work is not yet done.
Rating: 4
Summary: Title story is awe-inspiring.
Comment: Thomas Ligotti, My Work Is Not Yet Done (Mythos Books, 2002)
Thomas Ligotti stamped himself as a force to be reckoned with in horror fiction from the release of his very first collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, almost fifteen years ago as I write this. He has remained, unfortunately, obscure ever since, despite putting out some of the highest-quality horror to be found anywhere in recent years. Now, along comes My Work Is Not Yet Done, and it's released by the smallest of presses, virtually ensuring it will not find the audience it deserves and catapult Ligotti to the top of the bestseller lists, where he has belonged all this time.
My Work Is Not Yet Done is a short novel (the title piece) and two previously collected stories. Of the three, "My Work Is Not Yet Done" is the collection's best piece. While Ligotti has always been a writer of unimpeachable quality, the critics who likened his early work "derivative of Lovecraft" were not all that far off the mark. "My Work Is Not Yet Done" is a whole new Ligotti; it's as if his own voice suddenly broke through and he left behind the shed skin of Lovecraft. And Ligotti's own voice is just as compelling, if not even more so. His protagonist in this story has a lot to say, and says it well. Traces of the ridiculously erudite still remain, but the guy sounds more like someone sitting next to you in a restaurant than someone delivering a lecture to PhD candidates.
The other two stories in the book are minor works, but still indicative of the brilliance of Ligotti. "I Have a Special Plan for This World" puts a completely alien spin on the urban landscape, giving us just enough details to get queasy without actually giving us the goods a la the splatterpunks and their spinoffs. "The Nightmare Network," the collection's weakest piece, takes an impressionist dada look at the world of the corporate merger. It seems as if Ligotti were going for the same "give them just enough" vibe from the previous story, but fell short by a few yards. Still, what's there is capable of evoking a vague sense of dread, rather than simply falling flat on its face, as so many unsuccessful horror stories do.
Absolutely wonderful. Probably very hard to find. Absolutely worth it. If you haven't yet discovered the wonder that is Thomas Ligotti, you owe it to yourself to find this and read it. As soon as possible. ****
Rating: 3
Summary: Get the book to follow Ligotti's course
Comment: Thomas Ligotti in this work has excellent ideas, ones very workable and horrifying and well developed; and a world very absorbing because of its familiarity. But he is a bit clumsy in his imposition of the supernatural in the first tale. And in the second, when he's really got it going, he subverts the plot to a degree that it dissipates the relished mystery. There is fantastic stuff here, but it could be better (maybe I've come to expect a lot from him). He tries to wrap things up too much, or give typical horror-story send-offs to the reader, just as he's done in a few of the stories in THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY. And here, in "I Have a Special Plan for This World," instead of really going for it and facing us with a truly universal evil, we are forced to come back to some character's personal situation, and his responsibility for the evil goings-on, which is ironic considering how the author has stated his basic distaste for naturalism. Ligotti needn't think that he needs to step into overly individualized cut-outs (Blaine) for his purposes. And he wasn't, at first. I often wish I could cut off or rewrite the last two pages of his texts. Sometimes just lopping off a last line would do. But the book is worth it for all its basic content and creep.
These are mere recollections of impressions after finshing the book yesterday. They aren't very specific, and may be somewhat misguided.
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