Mark Swain - friend of Leeds Book Club and writer of short fiction here - is a huge fan of the horror genera, and will be providing us with some reviews!
Feel free to drop him a line on twitter - you'll find him @DemonHeadClash
* * * * *HERE BE SPOILERS* * * * *
Sparks Fly Upwards is a story about Sarah. Following the
zombie apocalypse, she now lives in a fortified community. When she becomes
pregnant she is informed that the community can't afford another mouth to feed
and she must have the pregnancy aborted at an outside clinic. Unfortunately the
undead corpses of those who - when alive - protested the clinic await her there.
As you can no doubt tell from the description this tale
revolves around the question of abortion which is by definition a social hot
topic and has been for quite a long time. Having read this story I am in no
doubt that the author has a very heavy political and moral bias towards pro
choice and unfortunately that message quite regularly interferes with the story
telling. The author’s decision regarding the severity of how hard she pushes
her point of view makes the tale more of a personal political statement than
the thought provoking horror tale it might have been.
This is a great shame as the picture the author paints of a
fortified community one year on from 'the end of the world' is interesting and
delving into the issue faced by such a community is the best part of the story.
Another criticism I would have with the story is that it is
written in a diary format and told strictly from the protagonists’ point of
view. Any conversations she has with other characters are only seen from her
perspective and of course, given this is a diary, these conversations are being
remembered rather than taking place in front of the reader, so to speak. I am
not a huge fan of this format for short story telling as the reader does not
get much information regarding the main characters background and how other
people view her which can lead to the reader failing to connect with the
character. Also the lead being a bit of an 'every women' with no defining
characteristics doesn't help with this lack of connection either.
As previously stated this story does quite often read like a
propaganda piece for pro choice, which I haven't an issue with in of itself.
After all I believe horror and science fiction, when used correctly, are excellent at taking what is going on around us and extenuating these problems - which in turn can make us view the world around us differently.
However such subtext
should always be both subtle and open to the reader's interpretation. This author
has an agenda towards the abortion question and she sets her stall out fairly
early on in the piece but never lets go of it.
Subtlety is not this story’s
strong suit especially in the final third where the point is rammed home to such
extent that the description of the main character leaving the clinic, which
could have been a fantastically tense and nervy affair, is instead constrained
to 3 short paragraphs. This totally destroys any atmosphere which might have
been building up in that sequence and seems to have been heavily shortened to
articulate more pro choice rhetoric.
I have no personal strong feelings regarding abortion and can
understand the author wanting to make a point with the story but occasionally this is pushed far too hard.
I would like to read more of the author's work
which is out and out story telling but if this piece is an indication of her
overall style that I can't say I was that impressed.
* * * * *
Read more of Mark Swain's writings here!
Review 06 - The People of Sand and Slag
Review 05 - Under St Peter's
Review 04 - Death and Suffrage - Dale Bailey
Review 05 - Under St Peter's
Review 04 - Death and Suffrage - Dale Bailey
Review 03 - Some Zombie Contingency Plans - Kelly Link
Review 02 - Sparks Fly Upwards - Lisa Morton
Review 01 - Dead Like Me - Adam Troy Castro
* * * * *
Table of Contents - Guest Stars
0 comments :
Post a Comment