This fantastic book LOVEDEATH is a collection of short stories all with death as the theme. It was like shooting thru a tub of butter with a cannon the way I went thru this bo ok. Mostly Fiction.The first story was written like an H. Ellison story running back and forth between reminiscences of bizarre insurance claims (ha funny deaths and accidents ha), and a guy on a sled with his daughter with some impending doom by the end (death oriented book). To me it was the weakest of the stories but written really well enough to keep me going.The second story is about a horrific encounter with a blow job vampire whose feeding technique makes the stomach turn a blushing red (amidst colored lights and cheerleaders) in a really fascinating way. Vietnam vet goes in for a freak show with his buddy and gets the biggest eyeful of weird this side of C'thulhu mating rituals. I don't want to give away any of it. I'm dying to tell ya about it though!!! What a story!"Sleeping with Teeth Women" is a thorough short story based on Souix Indian legend. As a reaction to the ever boring Kevin Costner "Dances with Wolves" movie, this story puts the straight arrow back in the bow instead of the wet noodle. A spook story about Lame Badger who needs some teen sex immediately. Wanting to be a man, he goes out for a fasting with elders and has his dream vision. It's a disturbing dream of sexy women with grinding sex teeth he has to sleep with. Endless torture meets him on the way to fulfilling his quest of sleeping with teeth women where he will definitely loose his baby maker. Ha!"Flashback" is a drug that lets you relive precious moments of your life. Tune in and drop out. You're 18 again! Kids like to commit crime and flash on them later. Ladies love intimate moments of love. Men go for the sex. Grandpa thinks he's in the secret service with JFK. What? There's a conspiracy since Japan has made use of this drug punishable by death, America is slacked off on everything economically since the intro of the drug. Japan may be supplying the world with it and reaping the benefits of global bank supreme. Young Val is getting peer pressure to rape or kill and flash on it with his tough peers. Short and fucked this is a great read. The closest to sf in the whole book.The last story is a killer. "The Great Lover" has a poet in WWI (many poets died in that war apparently) stuck in the labrynthian trenches of the battlefield watching extreme scenes of horror every day. It's Dante's Inferno Cake with Night of the Living Dead frosting over the entrails. Endless horror (based on true accounts) plague Rook the writer as he puts in his journal the groups of men sent to blow to pieces and rot in puddles while useless arms paw at their over detailed evisceration. In the maze of horror generals show up now and then to show how proud they are or upset with the men in losing limbs or lives. Like aliens from another world commenting on the price of rice or something having very little to do with the incredibly dire, dire, dire, situations the fighters are in. Main writer Rook begins to hallucinate that a woman (death?) wants him to stay with her. Gangreen and blood/gut covered situations make this the endall of all horror stories. A slice of hell served on heads of hundreds of blown to bit bodies. I've never read anything more disturbing...Review was originally posted on sfbook.com
Not sure what I was expecting, but this collection of five novellas was ultimately a bit of a let down. Many people will disagree but I just did not like the stories as much as I should have. WARNING: These stories (besides 1st one) are all heavily reliant on sex and sexual themes, some over the top crazy scenes that made me almost skip them. I do not like stories that think sex, although normal part of life, are needed to make it great. To me, it is a cheap shot and a cliche way of keeping your audience interested in your writing. "Entropy's Bed at Midnight": was a touching story about a man having a great day out with his daughter and reminiscing of his work and how humans can be careless as well as fragile. It is a nice story but the ending trailed off so you're left with a "Huh? That's it?" kind of a face. "Dying in Bangkok": This one is probably my favorite one of the bunch. It follows a man who is looking for a world's greatest pleasure and ends up experiencing something that only the most privileged of us might find. Let's just say that this story goes way beyond normal male ejaculation. It has a man shooting something other than semen and/or urine out of his penis. Quite unnerving, especially for guys, unless you would be into that kind of thing, than more power to you. This story has some overly graphic sexual scenes I've ever read, borderline pornographic material/erotica. "Sleeping with Teeth Women": fed up with a misrepresentation of his people, an old Sioux man tells a story of a kid who goes on a vision, sees a time when his people will be hunted, and ends in batshit crazy way. Not sure what I was hoping to get out of this story, but it sure wasn't what I end up getting. "Flashback": One of my least favorites of the stories. This one focuses on few characters; some are living in the past and can't move on, some are looking for ways to commit crime and "flash back" to it to experience ultimate arousal, and they all ultimately end up being too political and quite predictable. The constant reference to Spanish (or Spanic as it is referred in the book) girl rape was very uncomfortable and only the sickest of fucks would find the reliving of such an event through "flashback" as something interesting and exciting. "The Great Lover": I did not get into this one much as it failed to be entertaining. It is the last one of the bunch, over 100 pages long, and loved by many people who reviewed this book, but not my type of story. Overall a solid set of novellas that dare to be different. These are all well written stories but my enjoyment level was not as high as some of the other reviewers'.
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This was my first exposure to Dan Simmons' work and all I can say is...instant fan. This brilliant collection has five novellas, each exploring the twin themes of love and death. Every one of these stories resonated with me, with "Dying in Bangkok" and "Sleeping with Teeth Women" particular favorites. The jewel in the crown, however, is "The Great Lover," which chronicles the experiences of a young soldier / poet in the trenches of World War 1. This is a period of history in which I have a particular interest and I've read a number of non-fiction books on the subject. None of them comes within a whisper of describing the terror, chaos, suffering and ultimately, the futility, of trench warfare as well as this story. It is meticulously researched, exceptionally well written and quite frankly terrifying. Five stars for Love Death and if I could an extra star for The Great Lover, I would.
—J.J. Zep
Five novellas from Dan Simmons on the themes of Love and Death. All five are interesting although some of the stories are stronger than the others."Entropy's Bed at Midnight" starts off well as a parent who has lost one child to an accident is consumed with ensuring his other child stays safe. The story builds on the dread of something to come, but then it just wanders off and ends, slightly disappointing."Dying in Bangkok", is a difficult tale to read, erotic and horror and vampires and HIV, combine to make a story you won't soon forget."Sleeping with Teeth Women", predates Simmons novel "Black Hills", but you can see his love of the Sioux already in this novella, and he is able to create a fascinating story about an Indian boy who somehow stumbles into seeing visions of the white man conquest of his people. Moving, interesting and powerful. "Flashback" is the only S.F. story. Similar to the novel of the same name, Simmons creates an all too real story of what would happen to America if a drug was available that allowed someone to "flash" to that memory. Interesting premise, however, just like the novel, it would have been more interesting to keep the politics out and focus on the impact of the drug on America. "The Great Lover" is a masterpiece of horror describing the WWI battle of the Somme's, where over a million men lost their lives for no apparent reason. Haunting, horrific, and grisly, Simmons describes a poet trapped in the trenches as his grasp on sanity slips and slowly fails amid the tragedy of war.Worth reading, as Simmons, as always, writes powerful stories of love and death.
—Brian
His story Dying in Bangkok, was raw and relentless. Flashbacks to Song of Kali. His depiction of Bangkok and Calcutta would put a halt to anyone wanting to visit. Sleeping with Teeth Women written beautifully, coming of age. Mystical Indian visions supernaturally horrifying. Enjoyed this story muchly.Entrophy Dan puts the fathers fear for his daughter the forefront in all fathers worries, does it well with references to the insurance cases intensifies the fathers imagination of what could befall his daughter.Flashback again his mastery of description has provided for a bleak future. For me I hear the song "In the Year 2525" . The Great Lover the horrors of WW1 and trench warfare. Its a wonder the survivors returned sane. Simmons writing puts all his readers into the soup.I have read most of his work and have never been disappointed. I enjoyed all the stories.
—Stephen
