Rating: 
Summary: strong start, weak finish
Review: THE NATURE OF BALANCE starts out strong-- very strong. Lebbon's writing vividly conveys a world turned upside-down by deadly apocalyptic dreams and nature gone berserk. Unfortunately, the explanation for all these mysterious events is rather weak and mundane, and I was able to guess a good part of the ending 150 pages before it was explained. It was like seeing the movie 2001, with the original ending replaced by the ending to 2010. Still, I would recommend this novel for the vivid writing.
Rating:
Summary: Good, for what it is.
Review: Tim Lebbon, The Nature of Balance (Leisure Books, 2001)It's interesting that horror has made a comeback in the American bookselling business these days, the same way it did in the eighties. (And the same way it will again twenty years from now.) Often, cycles of something being popular and unpopular are blamed on a fickle public. Those of us in the business of media manipulation through the creation of art know better. Without going into the details, let's just say that the more popular something guess, the more the quality is likely to decline. The business itself brings about the downfall of the genre, whatever that genre may be. (Look at the long, painful death of industrial music in the mid-nineties.) It's pretty easy to see that the new horror revival will soon be headed that way, as well. The stalwarts who weather the last death of horror as popular art form are still around, of course. King, Koontz, Ed Lee, etc. will never go anywhere while they live. And, as always, the newer crop of horror writers contains some brilliant writers who are destined to topple and replace the stalwarts (Kiernan, Brite, etc.), some who have been around for years and just never got the recognition they deserved (Koja, Laymon, et al.), and, well, the rest. To call Tim Lebbon one of the rest is not to imply that Lebbon's work lacks quality. It doesn't. The Nature of Balance is a good, solidly-written novel that keeps the pages turning and is likely to appeal to any horror fan (it may be a bit laid back for fans of extreme horror novelists like Laymon and Lee). But it's not more than that. When you pick up something by Cait Kiernan or Kathe Koja (when Koja's writing horror, anyway), you're not only getting horror, you're getting your socks knocked off. They transcend simple horror novels and become something else. The Nature of Balance never achieves that transcendence. Anyone remember Rick Hautala? Ken Eulo? John R. Holt? William Valtos? Doug Hawk? Leslie Whitten? I could keep going for a very long time here, and at a guess, you'll get maybe ten percent of the names unless you were an obsessive horror fan like was an obsessive horror fan back during its last popular heyday. If it hit the Atlantic Books shelves in the horror section, I was there waiting with $3.99. (Depressing, isn't it?) And all of the above authors were writers of good, solid horror novels (okay, we'll make an exception for Whitten). I can (and have) go back and pick up John Holt's When We Dead Awaken or Edward Levy's The Beast Within and come up with a fantastic read. It's not a new Kathe Koja novel, but it's a great way to kill a few hours on a rainy day. And, ultimately, that's what The Nature of Balance is; good for what it is, but at a guess, not destined for immortality. ***
Rating: 
Summary: Read this Book
Review: Tim's first novel for the wonderful Leisure line of horror paperbacks - some of which have only previously been available in expensive, although admittedly attractive hardback editions - is an excellent addition to a range of top quality fiction. Although the basic premise of the novel is not wholly original, Tim's prose is excellent throughout the whole book. I was totally caught up with the characters struggle within the bleak world that is brought to ever increasing (mutant) life as the narrative progresses. Although the book has its gory moments, the horror of this tale is psychological; its protagonists are faced with a future filled with little hope. I can easily recommend that you buy this and other titles by Tim Lebbon. Big things are predicted for this writer's future.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book
Review: Tim's first novel for the wonderful Leisure line of horror paperbacks - some of which have only previously been available in expensive, although admittedly attractive hardback editions - is an excellent addition to a range of top quality fiction. Although the basic premise of the novel is not wholly original, Tim's prose is excellent throughout the whole book. I was totally caught up with the characters struggle within the bleak world that is brought to ever increasing (mutant) life as the narrative progresses. Although the book has its gory moments, the horror of this tale is psychological; its protagonists are faced with a future filled with little hope. I can easily recommend that you buy this and other titles by Tim Lebbon. Big things are predicted for this writer's future.
Rating:
Summary: Literate and chilling!
Review: Tim. Lebbon. Can. Write.
This is a literate and chilling piece of work, the kind of Lovecraftian book that wears you down and leaves you exhausted.
I bought it after noticing Mr. Lebbon "blurbed" Harry Shannon's rocking pulp-fest 'Night of the Beast,' and decided to give his work a try, too. I am very impressed. Mr. Lebbon makes you think. That is a good thing, especially these days.
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