SALES LINK: A WARNING ABOUT YOUR FUTURE ENSLAVEMENT
Kit Power did not write this book.
Sure, the stories and essays are his – 21 pieces culled from the very best of his fiction and nonfiction work of the last four years, including previously unpublished work – but as to the rest…
Kit Power has no idea who (or what) K-POX is. Or The Ministry of Information, come to that. He doesn’t know what The Information War is/was, or when it is supposed to have happened. He has no idea at all why a book that appears to have been sent from the future is so insistent that his stories hold the key to recovering the history of that time.
Kit suspects it may all just be an elaborate prank of some kind.
Still, it probably wouldn’t do any harm to read it. Just in case…
Dark bleetings, kids! It’s me, Kayleigh, and I’m back with a review of a Kit Power book. If you know me at all, then it should be no shock to you that I’m about to spend several hundred words raving on about this collection. It’s by Kit Power, and his default writing position is “awesome”. I can’t imagine that’s something he would ever say, and it’s not just because he’s very humble and modest but because he really doesn’t seem to know that he’s awesome. I swear, I’ll be honest about it when I hit a book of his that doesn’t live up to his usual standard, but sincerely you guys, it just hasn’t happened yet. This wasn’t his most recent release, but it is the last book of his that I read (and in doing so, I have now read all of his fiction). If, like me, you’re a Kit Power fan, I recommend leaving this one until last (stay tuned while I explain).
So, this is unlike every other collection I’ve read for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s a mixture of short fiction and non-fiction essays – and in the context of the framework, this is a slice of creative genius. Secondly, while you technically can flit around, the structure of this book does strongly encourage you to just read it in linear order, as intended. There is a framework in which all the other elements fit, but I wouldn’t call it a framing device, per se. It’s more like a current, or a thread, which is woven inbetween each piece. It reminded me of a cross between House of Leaves (by Mark Z. Danielewski) and Cujo or Dolores Claiborne (by Stephen King) in that it’s like one stream of consciousness but with other elements embedded into it.
The creativity with the formatting and how everything is pieced together is mind-blowing, and quite frankly, makes me jealous. I’ve spent the best part of a year attempting something similar structurally and I just can’t make it work, so hats off to Power. It’s truly a testament to his hard work and talent that he was able to pull this off, and it’s really unique and fun to read.
I was invested in the central thread (someone has come across buried and forbidden documents from the past that explain what humanity used to be like), and let me tell you, when you realise what’s happening, it’s laugh out loud funny (I’d imagine much more so for me, after already consuming everything the author has already written before reaching this book). I can’t explain why without spoiling it, but there’s a meta element that just had me giggling away as I progressed through the central narrative.
The essays are a wonderful read, as are the short stories (some of which I’d previously read and others that were new to me). In particular, I have to say my favourite was Wide Load – never in my life did I ever expect to be so invested in a story that’s about… er… that. Also, there’s one about chickens that surprised, horrified, and delighted me in equal measure.
For the life of me, I can’t fathom why people aren’t talking about it. Creatively, structurally, contextually, this is not your average collection, and if you’re looking for something different, you should definitely pick this one up.
If you’d like to get your own copy, or check out the author, the links you need are below:
Happy Goat Horror 
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