tbr_the_unconquered's review
3.0
The first volume in this anthology of military horror was something I absolutely relished reading and it was plainly obvious that I would pick up the second one too. While this is shorter in terms of the number of stories and the scope, the content still makes for good reading.
The stories :
The Hungry Dark : A Templar Chronicles Mission : A group of crack soldiers facing an army of monsters in a remote town in Germany. The town is isolated from the external world by a snowstorm and the soldiers only have their own wits to rely on. Pretty much fare for a standard Hollywood thriller and does a pretty decent job. It is also the longest novella in the collection. Except for the abrupt ending, I quite liked this one. 3 stars.
Tarzan Doesn’t Live Here Anymore : This story had the most melodramatic and clichéd plot of them all. A protagonist who is a weakling in a macho world of soldiers, an enemy who is unbelievably sinister, a woman to protect, a bad guy and so on and on. There is nothing fresh about this tale and the monsters resembled Xenomorphs a little too closely. Not many redeeming factors. 1.5 stars.
War Stories : This story worked on two levels for me. The first is from the character perspective where a grandfather-grandson duo try to exorcise the demons of their battles by talking to each other. The grandpa from his WWII times and the grandson from the Vietnam war. This catharsis leads them to trade stories from the warfront where one of them faced things that are best left to imagination. This premise is good and works effectively and in the words of the grandson, it helped him pull his act together. The second level why this story worked for me was because the author brought back the character of Jonathan Crowley from the story Blank White Page in SNAFU. Enigmatic and utterly unpredictable, you never know which way Crowley would swing and that made this story all the more interesting. 4 stars.
Changeling : American intelligence, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy woman, mad scientists, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy woman, firefights, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy…ummm ! I guess that sums this up. 2 stars.
Pretty good as a companion volume to SNAFU but not great as a standalone one.
The stories :
The Hungry Dark : A Templar Chronicles Mission : A group of crack soldiers facing an army of monsters in a remote town in Germany. The town is isolated from the external world by a snowstorm and the soldiers only have their own wits to rely on. Pretty much fare for a standard Hollywood thriller and does a pretty decent job. It is also the longest novella in the collection. Except for the abrupt ending, I quite liked this one. 3 stars.
Tarzan Doesn’t Live Here Anymore : This story had the most melodramatic and clichéd plot of them all. A protagonist who is a weakling in a macho world of soldiers, an enemy who is unbelievably sinister, a woman to protect, a bad guy and so on and on. There is nothing fresh about this tale and the monsters resembled Xenomorphs a little too closely. Not many redeeming factors. 1.5 stars.
War Stories : This story worked on two levels for me. The first is from the character perspective where a grandfather-grandson duo try to exorcise the demons of their battles by talking to each other. The grandpa from his WWII times and the grandson from the Vietnam war. This catharsis leads them to trade stories from the warfront where one of them faced things that are best left to imagination. This premise is good and works effectively and in the words of the grandson, it helped him pull his act together. The second level why this story worked for me was because the author brought back the character of Jonathan Crowley from the story Blank White Page in SNAFU. Enigmatic and utterly unpredictable, you never know which way Crowley would swing and that made this story all the more interesting. 4 stars.
Changeling : American intelligence, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy woman, mad scientists, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy woman, firefights, monsters, Joe Ledger, sexy…ummm ! I guess that sums this up. 2 stars.
Pretty good as a companion volume to SNAFU but not great as a standalone one.
daveversace's review
4.0
Four excellent novellas featuring badarse soldiers against weird supernatural horrors. All four are good but I especially like James A Moore's "War Stories".
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