Sunday, November 12, 2017

Gluttony Bay, by Matt Wallace

[Tor Novella]
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Modern Fantasy Horror; Sin du Jour) Now that Sin du Jour is in open conflict with Allenby, something terrible is bound to happen. Allenby has something suitably sadistic in mind, tailored to the unique nature of Sin du Jour. (30,936 words; Time: 1h:43m)

This story is so tightly tied to the previous ones that it would be hopeless to start reading the series here. Readers should start with "Envy of Angels." See related articles on Tor.com.

"," by (edited by Lee Harris), published on by .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: Stephen King has said that greatest goal of a horror story is to horrify, with terrorizing and “going for the gross-out” as second-best. Whatever else, “Gluttony Bay” manages to horrify. This exchange in particular continues to horrify me every time I think of it:
“You really think I’ll kill this boy for you?”
“No, Byron, I think Miss Tarr will, and you’ll help her prepare him for tonight’s guests at Gluttony Bay.”
If nothing else, it does a fine job of setting up the final novella to be a showdown between the forces of (mostly) Good and the forces of Absolute Evil.

Con: The biggest problem with the story is that it doesn’t even try to be stand-alone. It picks up the conflict from the last story and escalates it, but it offers no resolution.

As with the earlier stories, it suffers from having too many characters. Even with all the previous novellas on my Kindle, I had to spend a lot of time reminding myself who they all were.

Allenby’s behavior is hard to believe. He puts himself far too much at risk, considering the things he’s demanding of people.

Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Matt Wallace Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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