As the Sun Goes Down

Rating:
Summary: A ridiculous Publishers Weekly review. Superb collection
Review: Don't bother with the utterly ridiculous,shallow and biased PW review. ATSGD is a superb collection written in a a clear yet literary style by brit author Tim Lebbon.Lebbon's moving,poignant and scary short stories sounds like a mix of Stephen King,Ray Bradbury and a dash of Clive Barker;he is a very skilled writer with a special talent for caracterization.
Simply one of the best collections of the last ten years. If you like well crafted dark stories with a mainstream sensibility you can't go wrong with this.

1 * Introduction
5 * The Empty Room ================= *****
17 * Life Within =================== ****1/2
31 * The Butterfly ================= ***1/2
45 * Endangered Species in C Minor = ****1/2
59 * Dust ========================== ****
71 * Fell Swoop ==================== ****
87 * Recent Wounds ================= *****
101 * The Repulsion ================ *****
113 * Unto Us ====================== **1/2
127 * The Last Good Times ========== ****
141 * King of the Dead ============= ****
159 * Recipe for Disaster ========== ***1/2
167 * The Beach ==================== ****1/2
170 * Reconstructing Amy =========== ****1/2
183 * The Unfortunate ============== ***1/2
239 * Bomber's Moon ================


Rating:
Summary: As The Sun Goes Down - Assailing Assumptions
Review: Having read most of Tim Lebbon's work to date, I have had the pleasure of witnessing his writing develop both in confidence and maturity. With this collection Lebbon clearly demonstrates how he has completely conquered the short story as a medium.

As The Sun Goes Down presents a tableau of stories each very distinct in content and form, yet inextricably linked in disturbing the reader and challenging their accepted values. Not one tale is wasted in Lebbon's determination to subvert our perceptions of love, life, nature, beauty and the innocence of childhood. His use of language and narrative form is unrelenting, each vying to create images from words that incessantly chip away at our confidence in the so-called `truths' of existence.

Lebbon is a horror writer we are told, but to consider the genre before the work would be to deny that which is most effective in these tales. The genre is used to explore wholly universal themes, a methodology that makes his stories impossible to pigeon-hole and an important reading experience for a much wider audience.

You will miss out if you think this collection is only for the horror reader. If you want to understand the narrative strength of the short story whatever its content, it is clearly exhibited here. Trust me, I rarely read horror myself.

Rating:
Summary: As The Sun Goes Down - Assailing Assumptions
Review: Having read most of Tim Lebbon's work to date, I have had the pleasure of witnessing his writing develop both in confidence and maturity. With this collection Lebbon clearly demonstrates how he has completely conquered the short story as a medium.

As The Sun Goes Down presents a tableau of stories each very distinct in content and form, yet inextricably linked in disturbing the reader and challenging their accepted values. Not one tale is wasted in Lebbon's determination to subvert our perceptions of love, life, nature, beauty and the innocence of childhood. His use of language and narrative form is unrelenting, each vying to create images from words that incessantly chip away at our confidence in the so-called 'truths' of existence.

Lebbon is a horror writer we are told, but to consider the genre before the work would be to deny that which is most effective in these tales. The genre is used to explore wholly universal themes, a methodology that makes his stories impossible to pigeon-hole and an important reading experience for a much wider audience.

You will miss out if you think this collection is only for the horror reader. If you want to understand the narrative strength of the short story whatever its content, it is clearly exhibited here. Trust me, I rarely read horror myself.

Rating:
Summary: Short stories that will long be on your mind
Review: Tim Lebbon brings a refreshing new dimension to the horror short story genre. Having read over 700 horror tomes I'm very hard to impress but I was bowled over by this collection. Each story will pluck a string in your heart and mind and start a vibration that will either chill, amaze or simply give you cause to wonder. Tim's writing style can't be compared to other horror authors due to the uniqueness of his phrasing, subject matter and superb characterizations. I'm truly immersed in reading while absorbing the terrible wonderfulness of this treasure trove of tales. If you're a true fan of the horoor genre don't cheat yourself out of reading an author who was born to write horror. I've LOVED all his books.