James Stark, Sandman Slim, the monster who kills monsters, is a testosterone fueled, angry, white, cis, het male anti-hero that a feminist can feel good about loving. Stark is a nephilim, half human, half angel, hated by almost everybody. He has been a punk kid magician, a gladiator in Hell, an assassin, Lucifer, and a PI. He hates bullies and the entitled rich. He is fighting an endless battle against human and angelic forces that use up and abuse human lives and souls. But he’s […]
It’s like you don’t even take the apocalypse seriously.
I am a big fan of Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series. It is a crazy, operatic, dark, violent wild ride that regularly goes off the rails, spins out of control and then sticks the landing. If you like urban fantasy, noir-ish mystery and aren’t offended by god’s name being taken in vain, you should read it. I was giddy with excitement when I read that Kadrey has released a new book and that it’s the first book in a new series. The Everything Box is […]
Grow Wings Little Angel.
Killing Pretty by Richard Kadrey
Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday tooo meeeee. I got me some Richard Kadrey! As I demonstrated back in March and April, I love Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series. Killing Pretty was released a few weeks ago, but at a higher price point than my budget will tolerate, so I decided to save it for my birthday. And yes, I woke up this morning at 6:30, bought it and began listening to the audio narration. Now I’ve written an off the […]
Baby, I’ll bake you a neutron bomb
The Getaway God by Richard Kadrey
This is a hard book to review without tons of spoilers. Things that have been building since the first book come to a head and are (mostly) resolved. I’m going to be coy and talk around things because I want you people (yes, I said “you people” and you know who you are) to have the joy of discovery. And People, you should be discovering Sandman Slim. If you are thinking about investing in a series of audiobooks this year, I highly recommend the Sandman […]
Donuts are a metaphor for free will.
Here are the most important things you need to know about Kill City Blues: there are 8 chapters, in the 7th chapter I was devastated, at the end of the 8th chapter I felt like I had read one of the best chapters in the entire series. Kill City Blues opens on a meeting of former Lucifers over coffee and doughnuts. Samael eyed his glazed old-fashioned suspiciously, like maybe it’s haunted. “Charming. Did I invent these? They taste like something designed to destroy mortals from […]
The Brady Bunch is very popular in Hell
Devil Said Bang by Richard Kadrey
What is the worst thing you can do to an authority hating anti-hero? Put him in charge. Lucifer is in Heaven, all hail Lucifer. Stark’s reward for finishing off the Kissi, averting a war between Heaven and Hell, and killing Mason Faim is being stuck in Hell again, but this time he is The Devil. Look, if this is a spoiler for you, that’s just too bad. You should already be reading the Sandman Slim series. Also, I don’t think it’s really that much of […]