White And Other Tales Of Ruin, by Tim Lebbon ***1/4

This was a surprisingly good collection of 5 novellas and a short story. I read about this someplace online - I can't remember where - and since the stories surround the general concept of "ruin," I thought I would give it a try. Though I didn't love the first story, the rest consistently intrigued me. I though this would be more of a horror collection, but it doesn't read that way to me. It's filed in Horror, and the introduction is by Jack Ketchum, and the guy's won the Bram stoker, but he's also won the British Fantasy Award, and I would say that combination seems appropriate. There is an element of dread permeating all of the stories, but to me they're much more about the fantastic ideas and places he takes the reader. In one sense it seems more like horror because Lebbon includes gore and sexuality intensely, which is more of a horror convention than a fantasy one, at least it seems that way to me. But these really aren't thrillers or fright-fests as much as they are thought-provoking pieces. Amazingly, one of the negative reviews I read about this collection complained that the stories seemed too similar - that the approach to the end of the world or ruin was too uniform. I couldn't possibly disagree about that statement any more strongly. Each world feels completely distinct to me (although Lebbon explains that for him two of the stories could exist in the same world, and I can understand that point of view, although in an extremely peripheral and unimportant way), and each story has a unique trajectory until the end. In a couple of cases, the endings seem a foregone conclusion, though the manners of arrival in these places more than carry each story - the material never becomes dry or obvious, and Lebbon consistently crafts inventive developments. Several of the other stories move entirely in their own ways, in particular my two favorite - "Mannequin Man and the Plastic Bitch" and "From Bad Flesh" - just great stories, both of them (and both are MUCH more speculative fiction than horror).

One thing I appreciate about Lebbon is how he captures the reader from the very first instant, with the opening sentences of each story. But these aren't throwaway sentences or tricks to gain interest. It's just that he thrusts the reader directly into the action, finding just the right note to generate interest and create momentum. More than simple page-turners. Lebbon's stories work as cautionary tales, celebrations of the human spirit, questions surrounding the meaning of life. These are meaty tales, both in their meaning and their gore. Very highly recommended, I'll quickly seek out more of his work.
(Fall 2005)

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