“I beheld the wretch — the miserable monster whom I had created.’
29 October 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, Monsters, Tough Travelling
Every Thursday I go a travelling with the Fantasy Review Barn and various other wanderlusting and most excellent bloggers around the tropes of fantasy as part of Tough Travelling. This week is all about monsters – rather appropriately timed given Halloween!:
‘MONSTERS are likely to lie in waste areas, caves, and old ruined cities. You can usually detect their presence by smell.’
Firstly – honorary mentions. LoTR – so many to choose from Uruk Hai, Balrog, Cave Trolls, Shelob! And, Harry Potter – Basilisk, Aragog – not to mention Fluffy – the huge ass three headed dog!
Moving on:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – the Sleer. This is a very creepy monster, it lives under a grassy hill in the graveyard. It was abandoned there a very long time ago and awaits the return of it’s master. 
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer – the Crawler that lives in the Tower (which actually isn’t a tower at all but a staircase that winds down into the earth.
City of Stairs by Robert Bennett – the multi tentacled monster that goes on a killing spree round Bulikov. Also, American Elsewhere by Robert J Bennett – there are plenty of strange and monster like characters in this book. Particularly one that lives in a cave surrounded by tiny rabbit skulls – be afraid.
The Copper Promise by Jen Williams – Dragons! Well, this dragon/divinity escapes from the caverns beneath the Citadel and takes an army of strange lizard like females on a march of terror across the land.
The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore – I loved this book. The clue to the monster is in the title – a huge serpent in the canals of Venice!
That’s it for me this week. Tell me all about your little monsters!
Shelob from Lord of the Rings is the monster that first came to mind. And without giving too much away there is a spider like monster in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series too.
One day I will definitely get round to the Dark Tower! Shelob is a really good addition I think and Aragog too.
Lynn 😀
Reminds me to request Serpent of Venice, have not read a Moore book for a while. And I am starting Annihilation today!
Seems everyone added City of Stairs this week, I was left out of the planning meeting again.
Haha – you mean you missed the ‘memo’!
The Serpent of Venice was so good – I’ve just been checking out his other books which I will definitely go back and read – do you recommend the Fool?
Lynn 😀
Harry Potter is the only mention here I have read. But City of Stairs and American Elsewhere and Copper Promise are all my list!!
I think you would love Copper Promise – well, I pretty much think you’d love the others too. But, Copper Promise is sort of really good fun as well as good fantasy. They’re all such huge books though – I think I’m going to narrow my chunksters down to one or two a month – otherwise I get behind with everything. American Elsewhere is massive – almost like reading two or three books in one go!
Lynn 😀
The Graveyard Book by Gaiman looks interesting. Sounds like a creepy monster there.
I love the Graveyard book. It’s absolutely amazing. I held off reading it for ages, mainly because it’s really a childrens book but then I just loved it. The Sleer is definitely creepy – well, the whole book is set in a graveyard after all with a young boy being looked after by ghosts!
Lynn 😀
Yes to Shelob. Can’t believe I forgot the giant friggin spider! Seeing a lot of City of Stairs, looks like an interesting book.
City of Stairs really is an excellent book. I’ve read all of Bennett’s books and I keep thinking each one is excellent – and yet with each successive novel they get better and better – which, how is that possible when the earlier books are so damned good! I don’t know how he does it!
Lynn 😀
Oh, the Sleer. That thing was pretty cool. Great list!
Ta.
The Sleer was such a strange monster – I still couldn’t exactly tell you what it is!
Lynn 😀
Oh I loved the dragon in Copper Promise! Definitely a monster because it wasn’t just a dragon but also a very angry and very vengeful god of sorts.
I know – and the army of lizard-like women! I loved Copper Promise.
Lynn 😀
Xenomorph from Alien and Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2:
Stuff of nightmares!
yes, thanks for that clip – I’ll be sleeping with the lights on! No, only kidding – not that big a wimp – but OMG what is that thing!
Lynn 😀
Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2. He’s a boss character and to talk about him further is to give away one of the most sophisticated video game plots and narratives and I cannot do that. Suffice it to say that every time he appears is shocking and frightening!
Yep – I got that part! ‘run away’
Lynn 😀
Sometimes that’s all you can do. It’s made harder because you’re in a confined space and he has a huge butcher’s knife, like WHAT? 0_o
Silent Hill 2 is one scary game and it works on both a visceral and psychological level. It has multiple endings including a “dog ending” which you might love.
I can’t play or watch scary games. I don’t think of myself as being particularly squeamish or wimpy but there’s something more real feeling when it’s a game – probably because you’re playing using a character so it seems as though you’re being chased of killed!
Lynn 😀
You reminded me that I need to read American Elsewhere. Also I’m reading Annihilation next month for sure….ahhhh! Can’t wait, so glad they both have monsters in them!
Annihilation is really creepy – and American Elsewhere has PLENTY of monsters!
Lynn 😀
Once again, top notch title! I love Frankenstein, it’s one of my favourite books. Good call with The Graveyard Book, too. Neil Gaiman knows all about monsters, that’s for sure.
I love The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman has a wonderful, and on occasion dark and twisted, imagination. I love his books.
Lynn 😀