Martin Livings

It seems the gods are consiring to keep my spirits up on the first day of NaNo... firstly, Antipodean SF has released its latest issue, including my story, "Zero Point", one of my increasingly-rare forays into SF stories. So, yay me!

And secondly, The Specusphere has released a new issue, and in it is a plethora of reviewy goodness, including:

Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Volume 3 - "Other particularly strong and disturbing pieces included... There was Darkness by Martin Livings..."

And:

Midnight Echoes Issues 1 and 2 - ...the final piece, “Piggies” by Martin Livings, would have been earmarked as my personal favourite despite its short length, had I not just eaten when I read it. It quite literally left my toes curling and helped maintain the lingering feeling of uneasiness I had developed in reading this anthology.

It's great to see Specusphere start to really take on Australian horror, it's been a little lax in doing so, but with felicitydowker there carrying the flag for us, I'm sure we'll get even more reviews in the future!

Dear Steven,

I might have once berated you for your miniseries Jekyll. In fact, I definitely did. I might have intimated that anyone, literally anyone, could have made a better adaptation of the source material. Certainly, no-one could make a worse one. Surely.

I was wrong.

Last night we watched Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, starring the usually-reliable Dougray Scott (who we once bumped into in a hotel in Mauritius, but that's not important right now...). We thought it might be cool. At the very least, it would be better than Jekyll.

( Again, I was wrong.... under a cut for spoilers... )

The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan, on the other hand, was a lot better than I was expected. Fun, light, sometimes clever, often cliched, but always entertaining.

Wow, reviews are like buses... you wait and wait, then suddenly three come at once!

"Piggies" in Midnight Echo:

Special mention of "Piggies" by Martin Livings for a gruesome final story on our reading list. Livings doesn’t explain anything, it simply happens and we are there at the dinner table during proceedings. That one will stick with you long after you have put "Midnight Echo" aside. Stephen King covered similar ground, but King is a pussy in comparison to the dark notions of Livings story.

"Skinsongs" in 2012:

'Skinsongs' is really interesting and quite unique. In this 2012, people's skins can be read like music, and one star doesn't want to be a one hit wonder. While the rest of the anthology is tied up with the utter condemnation of humanity's excessive greed over resources, that this story is not focused on water or oil is a comfortable and interesting relief from the more serious nature's of the other stories.

"The Dead Priest's Tale" in Canterbury 2100:

Martin Livings’ “The Dead Priest’s Tale” is one of my favourites in the whole anthology; maybe I’m just a sucker for historical stuff (when it’s done well). Thomas is born to die, the first line informs the reader (‘spoiler!’, I say). He grows up clever, and devoted to God; becomes a priest. Life goes on, until he is summoned to Canterbury, which is when things get weird for him, and interesting for the reader. This story worked for me because it is very clearly situated in 2109 (or the years just prior); it reveals a bit more about the world and how people interact in it; and, except for one moment near the end (for me), the characters and actions rang true. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Now all I'm waiting for is the first review of Voices. :)

Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo Del Toro

Gorgeous. Traumatic. Breathtaking. Violent. Masterful.

Thanks to benpayne for this link... Rich Horton, editor of many a "Year's Best" anthology, listed his favourite stories of 2006 here:

http://www.blackgate.com/articles/years_best_06.htm

And no, I don't make the list, but I do snag a mention...

That's 50 stories, four more than the past two years, but I read rather more. That's just over 3% of the short stories I read this year. Stories by Brian Attebery, Ken Scholes, D. J. Cockburn, Will McIntosh, Samantha Henderson, Julian West, Theodora Goss, Charles Saplak, Kiel Stuart, Ian Watson, Kit Reed, Michael Swanwick, Susanna Clarke, Steven Popkes, Ken Altabef, Robert Reed, Tony Richards, Richard Parks, William Alexander, Cat Sparks, Carrie Vaughn, Amanda Downum, Cat Rambo, Michael Humfrey, Anna Tambour, and Martin Livings were also close to the list.

So that's kinda cool. No, wait, what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah. Awesome. :) Congrats to the other Aussies getting a mention as well, including margolanagan, whose story "A Fine Magic" from Eidolon 1 was actually listed, plus of course Anna and catsparx in the near-misses above.

I do wonder, though, which story of mine caught Rich's eye. I really only had one original story out last year ("Dwar7es", on Ticonderoga Online). Was it that one? Or did he catch one in another "Best Of", like "Running" or "Hooked"? And what is my obsession with one-word story titles? I need to write something with a longer title. :)