Release Date: March 2012
Adquired: Ecopy provided by publisher
Goodreads: ADD
Purchase: Amazon/Indigo/Book Depository
"There's more to this world than flesh and bone." Set in the mysterious space between the everyday world and an existence just beyond reach, Oddities & Entities traces a path through the supernatural, the paranormal, and the speculative. With moments of horror, dark humor, and philosophical transcendence, these tales explore a definition of life beyond the fragile vessel of the human body. An anthology of six stories, "Oddities & Entities" is the recipient of four national book awards from the 2012 Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards and 2012 USA Book News Best Book Awards.
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Honestly though, the sheer amount of TALENT that exists within the world of indie publishing is ASTOUNDING. I can't, for the life of me, understand why so many great titles, and authors, aren't being picked up by larger publishing houses. Right now, at this moment, I feel the need to stand atop my roof, in this 5 degree weather, and shout to the world about the words that I just consumed. About the absolute certainty, and exactness of Roland Allnach's narrative. What a damn great book to read in the month of October, I do not regret being given the pleasure. WELL DONE SIR. WELL..DONE.I've never been drawn to short stories, have never found solace in their..well, shortness. I feel cheated with it's tendency toward ambiguity, hate that substance is sacrificed for 'skimmed over'. I could read Oddities and Entities a hundred times, and not think one of those things. Not one. I absorbed this book into my being. I'm so deliriously happy that Roland started the book with the story Boneview. I was hooked. Hooked like you wouldn't believe. I would have read that story if it was only 2 paragraphs, though all the while I was wishing it would go on for 800. It was the flow. It was every single word placed exactly where it was, to create a flow that was impossibly addictive, captivating, and downright creepy as hell. I knew, going into Oddities & Entities, that it's genre was Horror, but it was also so much more than that. Roland handed out paranormal, dark humour, and psychological mind play like he was handing out Halloween candy-and I ate it ALL.
Some of these stories won't be everyone's cup of tea, namely one like My Other Me. Each story has it's share of graphic content, but I may be biased in my tolerance for gore (which is weird, since I'm usually a HUGE wuss). I say, take it with a grain of salt, and accept it for what it is-a work of literary art.
Oddities & Entities is most DEFINITELY one to check out if you're looking for a spooky read this October!
Recommended for Fans of: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Horror, Paranormal, Gore, Thriller...Halloween!!
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I've been writing since my early teens, first as a hobby, but as the years passed, more as a serious creative pursuit. I'm an avid reader, with my main interests residing in history, mythology, and literary classics, along with some fantasy and science fiction in my earlier years.
By nature I have a do-it-yourself type of personality, and my creative inclinations started with art and evolved to the written word.
Since making the decision to pursue a career as an author, I've secured publication for a number of short stories, received a nomination for inclusion in the Pushcart Anthology, built my own website, and in November 2010 realized publication for an anthology of three novellas, titled Remnant, from All Things That Matter Press, followed in 2012 by my second anthology, Oddities & Entities, also from All Things That Matter Press. Both books have gone on to receive a number of national awards, including National Indie Excellence Awards, Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards, and USA Book News Best Book Awards.
My writing can best be described as depicting strange people involved in perhaps stranger situations. I prefer to let my stories follow their own path. My writing is sometimes speculative, other times supernatural, at times horror, with journeys into mainstream fiction, and even some humor- or perhaps the bizarre. Despite the category, I aim to depict characters as real on the page as they are in my head, with prose of literary quality. My literary inspirations are as eclectic as my written works- from Poe to Kate Chopin, from Homer to Tolkien, from Flaubert to William Gibson, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy, as long as a piece is true to itself, I'm willing to go along for the ride. I hope to bring the same to his own fiction.
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Thank-you to Trish from TLC Book Tours for hosting this tour, and to All Things That Matter Press for sending me a print ARC to review!
Love the comments on the review. Sounds great! Love the picture on your website.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, for such glowing praise for my book! Wow, what can I say about this review, except that I'm happy I was sitting when I visited the post. It's the sharing of such joy in the creative product of writing fiction that makes the lonely pursuit of an author's life all worthwhile. For those who want to read some of my creative process for the stories of 'Oddities & Entities', drop by my blog at http://www.rafictionzone.blogspot.com/. In the meantime, please do shout from your roof - just remember to put on a coat. I'd hate for you to catch a chill, other than the ones lurking in my book...
ReplyDeleteHappy reading,
Roland Allnach
fiction@rolandallnach.com
Your are so right about the amount of talent that is overlooked by large publishing houses. I'm glad Allnach is getting recognized by bloggers for his great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being on the tour.
"Roland handed out paranormal, dark humour, and psychological mind play like he was handing out Halloween candy." It's authors like this that make me want to read and read and read. I'm so glad you loved it!
ReplyDelete