Recent (partial) reads

Astra and Flondrix, by Seamus Cullen

I heard about this book when the author's recent (apparent) death was reported on a fiction listserv and in the June Ansible.

Despite the old adage against speaking ill of the dead, I have to say that I found it totally unreadable. I struggled through about fifty pages before giving up. It seems like a misbegotten attempt to blend Dunsanian fantasy with hardcore pornography. The author appears to be obsessed with providing non-stop detailed descriptions of scatology, bestiality, and improbable nonhuman sexual acts. All this is to the exclusion of anything resembling an interesting character or plot.

"Bizarrely erotic", says Dave Langford of Ansible. He's half right. It's bizarre, all right.

Not recommended.