by TT reviewer Anita Jo Stafford [full review on our website]

The Black Orchid from Aum is an anthology of stories by Gerard Houarner. "In the City of Aum anything can be bought. But you must always pay the price." All of the stories focus on the inhabitants and travelers through Aum, the reason they have journeyed to Aum and the price they pay for their desires.

All travelers must pay for Aum's tongue, a parasitic bug that works as a universal translator. Without the translator the travelers to Aum cannot communicate and are destined to become less than the human population. People can only travel to Aum when their planets are aligned. When the convergence occurs, travelers can leave Aum for the planet that is aligned with the gateway. The city is dark, violent, decadent and in many ways beautiful. It is a multifaceted world in which danger lurks on every corner.

The first story involving the debt collector draws the reader into the heart of Aum. It is an excellent way to introduce the reader to the realities of Aum. Cray's story shows the reader the first of several stories that provide the reader an excellent view of life in Aum. As collector, Cray settles unpaid debts. After suffering through an abusive marriage, she no longer desires love. While she collects debts for others she is accruing one of her own. As the debt collected from Cray is revealed, the reader is drawn deeper into the book just as travelers are drawn to Aum. Kings, Princesses, rulers of all shapes and form pay for their desires in Aum. The title story, Black Orchids from Aum is riveting. Like the rest of the stories the Princess gets what she desires most. However, the price that Aum takes as payment again has a profound impact.

The Black Orchid from Aum is an excellent anthology and an insightful look into the human condition. The stories are well written with excellent imagery and plotting. This book is a good one to start with as a sampling of the work of Gerard Houarner. It catches the reader's attention. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Aum is a place where anything within the imagination is possible for a price. The price that the inhabitants pay is often everything. This book is unique and ingenious. Depending on what the reader wants to take from the stories, they can be anything from dark fantasies to warnings of what could be in a world with too much excess. This book is highly recommended.

Gerard Houarner is not only a writer, but an artist. He paints a literary landscape with his words, in a way that will leave you begging for more. The stories in I Love You... attest to that. Try The Oddist, or The Answer Man for a true taste of what this fine writer is all about.

wo side effects from reading "Inside the Works" are blindness, resulting from the weird font, and nausea, resulting from horror so hardcore that you want to wash your hands after putting the book down. Edward Lee along with Tom Piccirilli and Gerard Daniel Houarner, are the writers featured in this "3-way collection of hard core horror". All three have a kind of genius for writing almost pornographic horror that is intense, gut-wrenching, and scary, yet strangely compelling. Although these stories are like skinny dipping in a pool of blood and other bodily fluids, I kept getting the sensation that I was reading something NEW and FRESH. Edward Lee's novella The Pig was drenched in torture and mutilation but amazingly enough these elements were used in service of a great story rather than the other way around! Also worthy of mention i! s that many of the situations in the story had me laughing out loud! Counterbalancing Lee is Tom Piccirilli, whose five short stories were grim little journeys into hellish back alleys of New York. At this time, I have yet to read all of Gerard Daniel Houarner's contribution but I will soon! If he's as good as the company he keeps than I am in for a ride!

The Pig was one of the most disgusting stories ever. Buy it. The "Plugger" scene in this story is unmatched to date.

Two side effects from reading "Inside the Works" are blindness, resulting from the weird font, and nausea, resulting from horror so hardcore that you want to wash your hands after putting the book down. Edward Lee along with Tom Piccirilli and Gerard Daniel Houarner, are the writers featured in this "3-way collection of hard core horror". All three have a kind of genius for writing almost pornographic horror that is intense, gut-wrenching, and scary, yet strangely compelling. Although these stories are like skinny dipping in a pool of blood and other bodily fluids, I kept getting the sensation that I was reading something NEW and FRESH. Edward Lee's novella The Pig was drenched in torture and mutilation but amazingly enough these elements were used in service of a great story rather than the other way around! Also worthy of mention is that ! many of the situations in the story had me laughing out loud! Counterbalancing Lee is Tom Piccirilli, whose five short stories were grim little journeys into hellish back alleys of New York. At this time, I have yet to read any all of Gerard Daniel Houarner's contributions but I will soon! If he's as good as the company he keeps than I am in for a ride!

Going Postal was a big letdown. It follows the trend
of most horror anthologies today -- it's chock full of
'huh?' stories. At the end of each story, the reaction
tends to be "Huh? What was *that* about?" The only
blessing is that the stories are mercifully short!

If you love short stories of the weird and scary sort, this book is for you. Highly recommended!

Ever feel as though the thin rubber band of your sanity is just about to snap? If so, GOING POSTAL is just what the doctor ordered. This powerful anthology features stories by Bentley Little, Tom Piccirilli, and Robin Lochlann Spriggs, and explores every aspect of the woefully warped human psyche. Reading it might just save you from living it. Then again, it might not. At any rate, GOING POSTAL is one wild ride. Pick up a copy today.

...

Following a disastrous docking at a space station, luxery liner Captain Henry Crystal is stripped of his command and relieved of duty. He retires in disgrace because the black box from his tug has never been recovered. He has no way to prove his innocence . . .

Many years later, his granddaughter, Captain Celeste Crystal, arrives at the space station to take up her new duties of guiding larger ships into docking bays, which wasn't available when her grandfather was still working. Determined to regain his honor for him before he dies, Celeste hopes to find the missing black box, which has been adrift in space for ages. She also hopes to win accolades for herself and her crew by winning a contest for space tugs, who compete against each other in shooting down asteroids and space debris that endanger the space stations.

While practicing for the contest, she manages to keep an eye out for the missing black box, but just as she spots it, she's forced to break off the chase and return to base to warn the authorities of an invading fleet.

Will she ever be able to exonerate her grandfather? While rich in dialogue and nicely peopled with interesting characters, this story is a little bit short on the action that would keep it moving ahead at the pace most readers would expect.

Crystal Treasure by Atk Butterfly
CD-ROM: 80 pages
Publisher: Silver Lake Publishing; (December 23, 2000)
ISBN: 1931095086

©2002 Reviewed by Brutal Dreamer
Crystal Treasure is indeed a treasure in itself. If you enjoy a good female lead and will let her take you aboard a spaceship meeting up with a lot of twists and turns... and ALIENS then you will not be disappointed.
The story is much deeper than all that and is laced with much darker sides of the Captain, Her Grandfather had been a Captain involved in a questionable disaster aboard his tug. He couldn't prove his innocence due to the missing box. Now it is up to his Granddaughter Celeste Crystal to redeem her Grandfather's honor by finding the black box while she is on other duties.
Captian Crystal is on her first command of Claudine and likened to Star Ship Enterprise the ship Claudine is the oldest ship yet is the one called in for action. Captain Celeste Crystal has other "treasure" motives but wages war upon the enemy using her very capable crew.
Science Fiction writer, Atk Butterfly has proven to be lead in his vision of a good space opera and this story CRYSTAL TREASURE is one of his many filled with lively characters, abounding in believable dialogue, and just enough action not to overtake the plot.
I highly recommend this book "Crystal Treasure" for any sci-fi buff or one that likes a great female lead.
~Brutal rating system:
Five out of five Grape Tootsie Pops!