In "Independents Day" Nerd Caliber provides short reviews of noteworthy comics and books NOT produced by a major publisher.
Be afraid. Be very afraid... and amused, it turns out.
Space Whiskey Death Chronicles, indie author William Vitka's gripping short story collection finds the edges of classic science fiction and dark fantasy and dives headfirst into the horrible abyss beyond. There are no guarantees of happiness and fewer assurances of safety in Vitka's universe.
His work evokes the best of the "Twilight Zone" and "Tales from the Darkside." It's a completely fresh voice sharing a horror that feels as authentically eldritch as anything Poe and Lovecraft invented.
If you're looking for a nice story that makes you feel good about being a human, look elsewhere. If you want a story with a small epiphany at the end, where everyone is sadder, but wiser at the end, just put this book down.
There's no comfort here. Being a human in Vitka's fiction is like being an insect in a world much larger and more terrifying than we could realize. We cannot hope to influence our destiny. The best we can do is resist, futilely, the incredible forces that will certainly overwhelm us. Somehow in this real world full of science and math that is so far beyond our understanding, his work feels terrifyingly relevant.
Yet, it is to his credit that his writing moves the reader along quickly, as if some kind of joke that is teasing you toward the punch line. Jack the Ripper is a hero of the world. We are a family running out of oxygen in the deep reaches of space. Gremlins are helpers. All of your preconceived notions of good and evil mean nothing as each tale requires a total shift of perspective.
It's the mark of great stories that even when you can guess the ending that the journey was worth the time invested. This collection meets-and exceeds-this goal every time.
I rate it five Cthulhu tentacles out of five.
Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Space-Whiskey-Death-Chronicles/dp/162007155X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375211633&sr=1-4
Follow William Vitka here: https://twitter.com/vitka
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