The View from Hell

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Disappointing
Review: I suppose this book could be construed as some sort of commentary on human depravity but to me, the whole thing read like a bad Twilight Zone script. Thoroughly disappointing considering the wonderful stories in Heatseeker. Extradimensional being f**ks with some humans for kicks. The end. There. I just saved you the trouble of reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Disappointing
Review: I suppose this book could be construed as some sort of commentary on human depravity but to me, the whole thing read like a bad Twilight Zone script. Thoroughly disappointing considering the wonderful stories in Heatseeker. Extradimensional being f**ks with some humans for kicks. The end. There. I just saved you the trouble of reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: The View From Hell
Review: In this signed, numbered, limited (to 1,000) edition from Subterranean Press, John Shirley continues to entertainingly blend the genres of horror, fantasy, and metaphysical science fiction. Acknowledged by William Gibson as one of the progenitors of "cyberpunk", Shirley continues to expand the literary horizon as a leading writer of transgressive fiction. "The View From Hell" is a parable of hell-on-earth which balances Shirley's dark cynicism with humanistic sensibilities, appreciating humanity's complex range of emotions, motivations, and actions. The plot follows the lives and afterlives of several broadly-drawn characters who are involved in a series of darkly humorous violent experiences induced by the psychic influences of non-corporeal entities visiting Earth. These characters are subsequently confined together in a purgatory, from which their increasingly grotesque "deaths" at one another's hands offer but only a brief escape before they are re-constituted to live and die again and again. "The View From Hell" provides a provocative platform from which Shirley can pose philosophical questions regarding the nature and meaning of human existence.

Rating:
Summary: A Witty, Dark Comedy About An Earthly Hell
Review: John Shirley has never been funnier, or more profound, in his dark comedy "A View From Hell", which could be seen as a rock and roll version of Dante's "Inferno" with bits of cyberpunk prose added for some memorable passages. This is a terse tale about how those who commit evil deeds find time in an earthly Hell devised by two ethereal beings. Needless to say, it provides Shirley a unique podium for commenting on humanity's frailities. Shirley's latest is a limited edition book deserving of a wide readership.

Rating:
Summary: A Witty, Dark Comedy About An Earthly Hell
Review: John Shirley has never been funnier, or more profound, in his dark comedy "A View From Hell", which could be seen as a rock and roll version of Dante's "Inferno" with bits of cyberpunk prose added for some memorable passages. This is a terse tale about how those who commit evil deeds find time in an earthly Hell devised by two ethereal beings. Needless to say, it provides Shirley a unique podium for commenting on humanity's frailities. Shirley's latest is a limited edition book deserving of a wide readership.