Foursight
Edited by Peter Crowther
Gollancz hardback, 224 pages, £16.99
Published March 2000
ISBN 0575068701
Review by Mike Don (2000)
An anthology of sorts, consisting of four novellas/novelettes, all (nominally, at least) in the dark fantasy tradition. Originally published individually in small circulation editions by editor Peter Crowther’s PS Publishing, then in pairs in Gollancz’s Millennium paperback Binary series.
Leningrad Nights (Graham Joyce) is rooted in the very real, historical horrors of the siege of Leningrad, has little fantastical input and needs more to provide a story of raw intensity that will wring you out.
James Lovegrove’s How The Other Half Lives is a sophisticated contemporary adaptation of the old demonic pact idea, a combination of that seen in Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Lovegrove has a sharp eye for the eveils of big business . . . but the redemption of his villainous plutocrat is an original twist on the theme.
Andy Warhol’s Dracula sees us back on the familiar territory of Kim Newman’s vampire-infested alternate history, as previously visited in Anno Dracula (1992), The Bloody Red Baron (1995), and Dracula Cha Cha Cha aka Judgement of Tears (1998) and, to some extent, Genevieve Undead (1993), published under the name of Jack Yeovil. A blend of historical figures, fictional icons and Newman’s cinematic erudition, it’s as tasty as ever. It left this reader wondering how much he needed to stretch the Warhol’s Factory set for the story – not too far, maybe.
Finally, there’s The Vaccinator. What’s Michael Marshall Smith’s novella doing in this collection? A sardonic look at the whole nutter’s paradise of UFO abduction, the Bermuda Triangle and grey aliens, it reminded me of Robert Sheckley in his prime. A pure delight.
On this showing, Mr Crowther has excellent taste. I can’t wait for the promised companion volume of SF.