Strange Weather

Earlier this year I challenged my partner to give me 5 books they really enjoyed to add to my reading pile and this is the 3rd of those books. Joe Hill is one of her favourite authors and I have read a couple of his novels but this is my first look at his shorter fiction. Strange Weather collects 4 short novels/novellas into one book. As always with collections there is some variability - I found 3 of the stories more enjoyable than the other - but overall these are an impressive collection.

Snapshot was a sad and poignant look at dementia and the importance of memories with a twisted dark fantasy element with some kind of magical camera that steals your memories. Having had family members with Dementia and knowing just how hopeless it feels to watch someone fade away that way, this one hit home with the feels.

Rain was an intriguing dystopia where someone has caused the rain to fall as deadly needles. Definitely a twisted look on what technology could do to nature.

The highlight for me was probably Loaded - it was horrifyingly believable and ultimately a fierce critique on gun culture in America. With the amount of gun crime and police incompetence in the news this one hits home hard.

The weak point for me Aloft. It had a certain whimsy, but its weirdness just didn't quite gel with me.

All in all a very impressive collection!