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Tales of Pain and Wonder

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Tales of Pain and Wonder

By: Caitlín R. Kiernan
Narrated by: Xe Sands, Sophie Amoss, Amy Landon, Jayme Mattler, Neil Hellegers, Andrew Eiden, Chelsea Stephens, Paul Woodson, Kevin Kenerly, Lisa Flanagan
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About this listen

This collection of 22 short stories by the author of Daughter of Hounds and Alabaster firmly established Caitlín R. Kiernan as one of the preeminent voices in dark fantasy today. Through a cycle of interconnected narratives, Kiernan unflinchingly explores a surreal world where the fantastic and the mundane are never separated by more than the insubstantial thickness of a shadow.

From the murderous backstreets of New Orleans to an abandoned shipyard of the Hudson River, from sun-weary Los Angeles to a maze of dank and forgotten tunnels beneath Manhattan, these stories present a landscape at once alien and undeniably familiar.

©2020 Caitlín R. Kiernan (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing Anthologies & Short Stories Dark Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Scary
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Be advised, this book is heavy. However, Kiernan's mastery over style and atmosphere makes it a classic, and a must read for any fan of dark urban fantasy/stories with elements of supernatural horror, and each story helps paint a lurid, oppressive world that manages to encapsulate both pain and wonder perfectly.

A Haunting, Brilliant Tale

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Caitlin Kirnan writes in a peculiar adjective heavy style which I find very hard work. The reader needs to work very hard to uncover the meaning and I suspect these stories are popular with some readers as there is lots of scope for interpretation. I started reading this work when it was included with membership: then it was suddenly excluded and I wasn't sufficiently impressed to pay money to continue.

An acquired taste

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