Review by Samisah -- Illustrated Short Fiction of Willia...
Posted: 12 Jul 2020, 08:57
[Following is a volunteer review of "Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016" by William H. Coles.]
Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 by William H. Coles is a collection of thirty short stories, two graphic novels, and a novella. Each story, irrespective of its length carried a unique and important message relevant to our society today. I decided to review this book despite the huge volume because of Mr Coles' writing acumen which I had enjoyed in a previous review. And I was not disappointed.
I like how the author weaved many beautiful stories with so many themes in one collection. Stories of love, crime and punishment, life’s dilemma, cruelty, family bonding and the pursuit of happiness were all included in this work. Whatever your taste or preferred genre, there is something here for you. The character development of each story is also unique. As a result, I was able to relate with them, understand them and at times, I hated them.
From the title, I was expecting a lot of illustrations to go along with the story, but I didn’t see as many as I would have liked to see. Most of the stories had just two illustrations which tried to depict the central message of the story. However, the two graphic works, Homunculus and Reddog were excellently illustrated. Homunculus is one of my favourite story in the collection. It is a lovely piece about how we go out searching for things that are probably right in front of us. All we needed to do, was just notice them. Unfortunately for our protagonist, Didi the dwarf, by the time she realized this, the opportunity was gone; Rudy had left. Sadly the majority of people go through this pain every time.
Mr Coles has developed a set of intriguing stories that permeate our very essence causing us to challenge our human nature, to be more compassionate, while at the same time allowing us to shape our own opinion of things. For example, in The Gift, the beautiful story of this very young teenage girl touched me. Her desire and tenacity to ensure her deformed child lives a life free of pity and human judgement, in spite of her mother's evil designs, moved me. This kind of story helps us as humans to want to be better, be more compassionate, and understand others a little more.
As stated in the beginning, the sheer size of this book nearly put me off. However, it turned out to be a great read. As was the case with Mr Coles' other book, McDowell, the editors of this work did a fantastic job because I didn't notice any spelling or grammatical error. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned a thing or two as well. I, therefore, rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Due to its mature content, I wouldn't approve it for teenagers. I would, however, recommend it to story lovers and adventure seekers.
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Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 by William H. Coles is a collection of thirty short stories, two graphic novels, and a novella. Each story, irrespective of its length carried a unique and important message relevant to our society today. I decided to review this book despite the huge volume because of Mr Coles' writing acumen which I had enjoyed in a previous review. And I was not disappointed.
I like how the author weaved many beautiful stories with so many themes in one collection. Stories of love, crime and punishment, life’s dilemma, cruelty, family bonding and the pursuit of happiness were all included in this work. Whatever your taste or preferred genre, there is something here for you. The character development of each story is also unique. As a result, I was able to relate with them, understand them and at times, I hated them.
From the title, I was expecting a lot of illustrations to go along with the story, but I didn’t see as many as I would have liked to see. Most of the stories had just two illustrations which tried to depict the central message of the story. However, the two graphic works, Homunculus and Reddog were excellently illustrated. Homunculus is one of my favourite story in the collection. It is a lovely piece about how we go out searching for things that are probably right in front of us. All we needed to do, was just notice them. Unfortunately for our protagonist, Didi the dwarf, by the time she realized this, the opportunity was gone; Rudy had left. Sadly the majority of people go through this pain every time.
Mr Coles has developed a set of intriguing stories that permeate our very essence causing us to challenge our human nature, to be more compassionate, while at the same time allowing us to shape our own opinion of things. For example, in The Gift, the beautiful story of this very young teenage girl touched me. Her desire and tenacity to ensure her deformed child lives a life free of pity and human judgement, in spite of her mother's evil designs, moved me. This kind of story helps us as humans to want to be better, be more compassionate, and understand others a little more.
As stated in the beginning, the sheer size of this book nearly put me off. However, it turned out to be a great read. As was the case with Mr Coles' other book, McDowell, the editors of this work did a fantastic job because I didn't notice any spelling or grammatical error. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned a thing or two as well. I, therefore, rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Due to its mature content, I wouldn't approve it for teenagers. I would, however, recommend it to story lovers and adventure seekers.
******
Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
by the author and he has a unique and deep knowledge of human nature, so I'm sure these stories are fascinating. Thank you!