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Rating: 
Summary: Masterful and Brilliant
Review: Dale Bailey has been publishing short fiction for quite some time. Last year saw the publication of his first novel, the greatly atmospheric and horrific Fallen. Now, Golden Gryphon Press has published Bailey's first collection, which reunites most of the work he has published in the Fiction & Science Fiction magazine. And what a collection it is! You probably won't read a better amalgation of sci-fi/horror stories this year (or in the next couple of years for that matter). The collection opens with the title story, a very touching and imaginative tale about a boy who's dead father is resurrected into a robot-like man. I dare anyone to read this story and not feel completely emotionally torn in the end. Death and Sufferage is another great zombie story (a theme that Bailey often touches upon) that will remain in your mind for quite some time. Touched and Quinn's Way are stories about childhood, the kind of coming-of-age tales only an expert writer is able to write. These are stories that are effective in all the right places, pushing all the right buttons. And The Census Taker is a story that feels like vintage Stephen King but that is even more emotionally gripping. It's impossible to pick a favourite out of this collection. Bailey's writing is reminiscent of the early Ray Bradbury, only with more feeling, more nuance. Bradbury's writing could often feel cold; Bailey's is very warm, rich and demanding. The author has a way with words that is worthy of poetry. Beautiful prose graces every story, a thing that isn't easy to find in genre fiction. If there is such a thing as literary sci-fi/horror, I guess this is it! I urge anyone who hasn't tried Dale Bailey to do so, and fast. That is one name that will, soon enough, become a major player in genre fiction. The fact that his stories are accessible to all and not just a small core audience only broadens his horizon. A major and important collection by a man who hasn't finished impressing us.
Rating:
Summary: The tone of these short stories is historical in style
Review: The Resurrection Man's Legacy represents Dale Bailey's first collection, though his fantasies have been published for a decade: as such, it showcases the title story, slated for development as a motion picture, and combines this growing classic with tales of grief and family ties. The tone of these short stories is historical in style: Bailey's stories provide believable near-futures, science which could be real, and a literary, poetic bent to the language which is unusual and compelling. Highly recommended.
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