Ogromny
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/13/2019
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/13/2019 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this softcover, signed to "GoryDetails" by the author, at the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival in Haverhill MA. The title means "huge" in Russian, and the cover image of the immense golem-like being stomping over a suspension bridge really caught my eye!
Later: The cover is a fine example of "artist didn't read the book" - turns out the huge striding being isn't humanoid at all and doesn't even "stride". It's a massive stone monolith, some 75 feet high, which seems to move by simply sliding along, its immense weight causing it to carve channels in the ocean bed where it's first noticed and, eventually, in the land it crosses. This inexorable and enigmatic journey reminded me of Luke Smitherd's The Stone Man, though this story goes in quite a different direction.
There are multiple viewpoint characters here, giving some tantalizing glimpses of the thing and a number of theories as to where it came from and where it's going, but as it moves so very slowly and its path is quite predictable there isn't as much drama as one might expect.
The object can fight back: if anyone attempts to damage it, fast-moving and deadly creatures will spring forth from it and rove outwards, destroying anyone they can find. It's this rather than the moving-mountain aspect that causes most of the drama; the military doesn't dare attack it directly, and they fear that terrorists who learn of this may attempt to attack the creature purely to activate its defense mechanisms.
I found the story atmospheric and creepy in the beginning, but I think the execution could have been better - some characters come and go with little notice, some subplots fade away, and even the conclusion of the story (which hints at the nature and purpose of the thing) doesn't have the impact I'd hoped for. But it's an unusual spin on the mysterious-monster-from-the-deep idea.
Later: The cover is a fine example of "artist didn't read the book" - turns out the huge striding being isn't humanoid at all and doesn't even "stride". It's a massive stone monolith, some 75 feet high, which seems to move by simply sliding along, its immense weight causing it to carve channels in the ocean bed where it's first noticed and, eventually, in the land it crosses. This inexorable and enigmatic journey reminded me of Luke Smitherd's The Stone Man, though this story goes in quite a different direction.
There are multiple viewpoint characters here, giving some tantalizing glimpses of the thing and a number of theories as to where it came from and where it's going, but as it moves so very slowly and its path is quite predictable there isn't as much drama as one might expect.
The object can fight back: if anyone attempts to damage it, fast-moving and deadly creatures will spring forth from it and rove outwards, destroying anyone they can find. It's this rather than the moving-mountain aspect that causes most of the drama; the military doesn't dare attack it directly, and they fear that terrorists who learn of this may attempt to attack the creature purely to activate its defense mechanisms.
I found the story atmospheric and creepy in the beginning, but I think the execution could have been better - some characters come and go with little notice, some subplots fade away, and even the conclusion of the story (which hints at the nature and purpose of the thing) doesn't have the impact I'd hoped for. But it's an unusual spin on the mysterious-monster-from-the-deep idea.
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Pleasant Valley Gardens, Merrimack St. in Methuen, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, November 17, 2019
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Pleasant Valley Gardens, Merrimack St. in Methuen, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, November 17, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (11/17/2019 UTC) at Little Free Library, Pleasant Valley Gardens, Merrimack St. in Methuen, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library on this chilly night, on my way to dinner at Yalla just down the street. Hope someone enjoys the book![See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2019 e-less release challenge. ***
