Waiting For Midnight Review

Waiting for Midnight

-       Merrie Destefano

Kindle Book

E-Copy received courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review

From the author of Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles comes a collection of 16 short stories, full of the rich prose and plot twists that have become Destefano’s trademark. Written to keep you reading all night long, this combination of short stories and flash fiction contains a ghost story, a werewolf story, and a science fiction story, as well as two stories that feature characters from her novels, AFTERLIFE and FEAST.
Short stories included in this collection:
Set on an alien world, “Letters from Home” tells the tale of a mother’s love for her wayward son and the great lengths to which she’ll go to rescue him from another dimension.
“Learning to Hunt” features Ash, the Darkling dream-eater introduced in Feast: Harvest of Dreams, as he explores seventeenth-century Amsterdam, where his father teaches him how to harvest dreams.
“Waiting for Midnight” explores that dangerous territory between first love and obsession, all set in Primrose Wood, a forest where dark magic rules.

This is an intriguing collection of stories. There are some flash fictions which are very short but do tend to raise a question or two and leave you wondering. The longer stories though are more satisfying. My favourite is In The Garden which is a very different look at what happens in a garden and is a story I’ve been thinking about ever since. In fact I felt like that was a real strength of these stories – looking at something that was familiar but giving it a twist – like looking at the world in a mirror: everything is the same but reversed.

There are a couple of short stories set in the worlds Merrie has created in full length books which are interesting little insights into both world, but it’s not necessary to read the full length books to enjoy them. I was really intrigued by Letter For Home where in a short space of time Merrie has created an interesting science-fictional world in the vein of Blade Runner or the Culture novels and gave it some real emotional depth.

Merrie’s writing style is very lyrical and rich. It’s descriptive without labouring the point and full of detail. This anthology is a great sorbet between courses – refreshing, flavourful and palate cleaning!

Recommended for fans of Rachel Caine and Kelly Meding. 8 out of 10