I Read Books: Seven Stars
Kim Newman’s novella Seven Stars, that makes up the second half of this volume, takes place in seven time periods from the 1890s to the early 21st century (the far future of 2020), using various characters from his fiction in their appropriate time. It is loosely based on the Bram Stoker novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars (also the inspiration for the film Blood from The Mummy's Tomb), though perhaps engaging more with the Egyptian and Biblical apocalypses that novel uses than the actual story.
As Newman wrote a series of novels and stories in various periods riffing off Stoker’s novel Dracula this seems to be a recurring theme in his work.
The first half of the volume is a collection of stories around the various characters that will go on to inhabit the final novella, though Newman did not know it at the time. He just likes setting stories in the weird twentieth century.
Stoker’s not exactly tame but he’s certainly no longer state of the art for scares and thrills; Newman’s stories move faster and leaner and tend to have more impact. Each section of the Seven Stars is pretty good, with the choices made by some characters in one time coming back to cause problems later. The final part, filled with blood magic and apocalyptic imagery starts well but can’t quite give a last push to make it first rate, in the end relying on our affection for the characters to keep us interested.
Read This: For some cool horror and fantasy stories using various periods of 19th, 20th and 21st century history
Don’t Read This: If you want an actual novel
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