A Creative Edge: Tales of Speculation
by Steve Lazarowitz

Reviewed by Megan Powell

Let me begin by saying that Steve Lazarowitz is an evil, evil man.

I say this because my first exposure to him occurred when I foolishly read the first several parts of one of his serials. I then had to wait to find out what happened next. I'm really impatient, so it was quite painful, and reminded me why I had resolved in the first place never to read a serial until I had access to all of its parts. (And yes, I do realize this does somewhat defeat the purpose, since a serial story is not necessarily simply a big story hacked into little pieces, but structured very deliberately.) But I eventually found out what happened next, and from what I can tell Steve Lazarowitz seems to be a pretty nice guy, so I guess I'll have to forgive him.

This was supposed to be a book review, wasn't it? So, on to A Creative Edge: Tales of Speculation, which is another reason to forgive him.

As the title indicates, this is an anthology, mainly consisting of short stories that originally appeared in various online zines (some still extant, some dearly departed); some were originally presented in serial form. The production values of the e-book are fairly high. I caught a few typos, but not significantly more than I'd expect with a standard paperback, and I liked the various format options offered by the publisher.

The anthology as a whole was quite enjoyable. I read it in three or four sittings, and enjoyed the tales as much as when I've read a single Lazarowitz story at a time. (I can't say that about all authors.) There's some additional information about the genesis and publication history of the stories in the bibliography, and in the afterword Lazarowitz cites works and authors that have influenced him over the years. I always find snippets of information like that interesting. I get a kick out of sharing, say, a John Varley habit with a favorite author; and, if enough people praise Amber to the stars, I suppose I'll get around to reading some Zelazny one of these days.

On to some of my reactions to specific stories. "As Luck Would Have It" is very well-crafted, the narrator's voice never wavers and, while the ending isn't inevitable in the boring-predictability sense, it does grow naturally from the story. "Music to My Ears" (and "A Creative Edge," which I also liked quite a bit, albeit not as much) is a cautionary tale to those who think they know what they want, and think they are willing to pay any price for their heart's desire. "Flame Angel," narrated in turn by a former mercenary's daughter and his friend, is a nice family-secret piece. The events of "So Many Differences" are not surprising (what do you expect to happen when you land on a planet populated by shapeshifters?), but Lazarowitz plants the elements of the mystery's resolution throughout the story. "Born of Darkness" successfully utilizes the amnesiac narrator: think Philip K. Dick doing sword and sorcery. I enjoyed "The Adventures of Alaric Swifthand" right up until the end, where there's a bit of deus ex machina out of left field. I suspect that the whiplash will be lessened a fair bit when the Alaric Anthology mentioned in the bibliography emerges, and the events of the final installment become the middle of a longer work, rather than the resolution. I kept thinking that the human characters in "The Tree" were somewhat flat and uninteresting. Then I started thinking that their actions were more like tropisms, perhaps perfectly appropriate in a story with a vegetable protagonist, and started wondering where authorial intent and thematic concerns left off and pure plot began. So now I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the story, but it's got me thinking. There's some "Before I kill you, Mr. Bond" in "Sea Trap," to an extent that would be unforgivable in a longer work, but it's more allowable in a short story where, to some degree, everything has to serve as exposition.

To grossly generalize, I tended to enjoy the fantasy more than the science fiction. Even the stories that left me a little cold were well worth the read (and will also rate a second read sometime down the line, if only to see if I react the same way). His first-person narration does what first-person narration is supposed to do: it draws the reader into the head (and world) of the narrator, steers clear of the infodump, and provides texture without spelling out minute details. Steve "I think I do dark well" Lazarowitz does indeed do dark well. But he never does pitch black: there's always enough light to let us get a peek at the spectrum, so we can appreciate just how dark it is. And for that matter, he does light pretty well, too.

Published by Dark Star Publications
Available as a download ($3.95) or CD ($9.95)
ISBN

About the Author.

Back to the top of this page.