Book Review - The Russian Sleep Experiment by Holly Ice

This was a story that I've been aware of for some time, but never actually gotten round to reading it. When I saw that a novel based on the story had been released I snapped it up. It's a decent read, but didn't quite live up to what I'd heard about it.

There were two reasons for this. The first is that overall it was too short. There was plenty of scope for more development - especially for the first half of the book. The second major issue was that it was very much a book of two halves. In fact it reminded me of Full Metal Jacket in that the first half is so good that the second part struggles to shine in comparison. It's not bad by any means, but the experiment itself captured my imagination more than the aftermath - interesting as it was.

The story is written in a simple, almost brutal style that really carries the story well. I also appreciated the fact that it let you get to know the characters as a process rather than dumping in all of the back story.

Despite my issues with it the story is well worth a read, it's a nice idea that is well written and it's a quick read, so can slip into your TBR easily.

Four political prisoners living in a 1940s Siberian POW camp volunteer to be Subjects in a Soviet Military experiment. They are promised freedom in exchange for completing the exercise. In return they must endure 30 days without sleep, fuelled by Gas 76-IA.

The longer the experimentees endure insomnia, the more they deteriorate. Words and pleasantries break down until they turn on each other. Researchers look on, neutral, and take notes for the super soldier applications possible with this new, wonder drug. One researcher, Luka, stands alone in believing the experiment needs to be stopped before irreversible damage is done but is he too late?

The Subjects no longer want the Gas switched off...

Illustrations by award-winning graphic artist Daniel Tyka.


Click here to buy Russian Sleep Experiment from Amazon (and it's a solid horror read)

Started Reading - The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates

Just started re-reading this - I have to say it's one of my favourite reads so looking forward to it! It's also the inspiration for the very fine album 'Dreamweaver' by Sabbat.

Click on image to buy from Amazon

Sent on a mission deep into the forests of pagan Anglo-Saxon England, Wat Brand, a Christian scribe, suddenly finds his vision of the world turned upside down. The familiar English countryside is not what it seems: threatening spirits, birds of omen and plants of power lurk in this landscape of fallen terrors and mysterious forces. With Wulf, a sorcerer and mystic, as his guide, Brand is instructed in the magical lore of plants, runes, fate and the life force until finally he journeys to the spirit world on a quest to encounter the true nature of his own soul.

Click here to buy The Way of Wyrd from Amazon (and it's a fantastic read)

Book Review - No Way Home by Various Authors

This anthology brings together a handful of authors and their stories under a common theme of being unable to return home. Each story brings something different to the theme and that, along with the quality of the writing that I enjoyed about reading this collection.

A common issue with collections like this is the variance in quality between the stories. The anthology starts out strong with a couple of authors that I was already familiar with and after that point I half expected some filler, but that certainly wasn't the case!

They were all a good read, but three in particular stood out for me. The first was the opening story by Lucas Bale. This concerned a soldier fighting a seemingly endless war against an alien foe. While I found the plot a little predictable the tale is exquisitely told.

The second was from another author I'm familiar with and that's J S Collyer. The story is a dark tale of an underground existence. It also expands on her novels for fans of her series.

The biggest surprise was the concluding story, in part because the author came as a surprise. This is is a change in genre for him and is a fantastic debut into science fiction. Beyond that it's an intricate story involving time travel (of a sort) and an interesting experiment.

If you're a fan of sci-fi then is a collection well worth checking out. Each story is a decent read and the variety makes this an interesting read. Well worth checking out.

Click on image to buy from Amazon

Stories From Which There is No Escape.

Nothing terrifies us more than being stranded. Helpless, forsaken, cut-off. Locked in a place from which there is no escape, no way to get home.

A soldier trapped in an endless war dies over and over, only to be awakened each time to fight again – one of the last remaining few seeking to save mankind from extinction.

In rural 70s England, an RAF radio engineer returns to an abandoned military installation, but begins to suffer hallucinations, shifts in time and memories that are not his own.

A widower, one of ten thousand civilian space explorers, is sent alone to determine his assigned planet's suitability for human colonisation, but stumbles across a woman who is part of the same programme and shouldn’t be there at all.

A suicidal woman in a poverty-stricken near-future America, where political apathy has allowed special interests to gain control of the country, takes part in a particularly unpleasant crowd-funding platform, established by the nation’s moneyed elite to engage the masses.

An assassin from the future, sent back in time to murder an insurgent, is left stranded when he fails in his mission and knows he will soon cease to exist.

These sometimes dark, sometimes heart-warming, but always insightful stories and more are to be found in No Way Home, where eight of the most exciting new voices in speculative fiction explore the mental, physical and even meta-physical boundaries that imprison us when we are lost.

Click here to buy No Way Home from Amazon (and it's a cracking read)

Just Started Reading - Russian Sleep Experiment by Holly Ice

Click on image to buy from Amazon

Four political prisoners living in a 1940s Siberian POW camp volunteer to be Subjects in a Soviet Military experiment. They are promised freedom in exchange for completing the exercise. In return they must endure 30 days without sleep, fuelled by Gas 76-IA.

The longer the experimentees endure insomnia, the more they deteriorate. Words and pleasantries break down until they turn on each other. Researchers look on, neutral, and take notes for the super soldier applications possible with this new, wonder drug. One researcher, Luka, stands alone in believing the experiment needs to be stopped before irreversible damage is done but is he too late?

The Subjects no longer want the Gas switched off...

Illustrations by award-winning graphic artist Daniel Tyka.

Click here to buy Russian Sleep Experiment by Holly Ice

Have You Entered Septembers Short Fiction Contest?

Painting by Luciana Nedelea - https://www.facebook.com/LucianaNedeleaArt

Have you entered September's Short Fiction Contest yet?

We're now two weeks into the competition Luciana Nedelea's spooky image has already inspired some excellent stories. What do you think the figure in the painting is doing? Tell me your answer in a story of no more than 500 words and submit it through the form on the competition page here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/september-short-fiction-contest.html

There's no entry fee and there are the following prizes to be won

• First prize is a £50 Amazon gift card or PayPal prize
• Second prize is a £20 Amazon gift card or PayPal prize
• Third prize is a £10 Amazon gift card or PayPal prize

If you haven't read the winning stories from August's contest then you'll find them here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/august-short-fiction-contest-winners.html