Tim Lebbon's 'White' saw the very welcome launch of the MOT Press, the publishing arm of Masters of Terror. It's an impressive book, with glossy, splendid production values, and a moody cover from Lisa Busby. A book, however, would be ill judged by the cover alone. Enter Lebbon.
'White' ... Read review
Advantages: Tense, terrifying horror in a fantasist vein... Disadvantages: Bleak, to say the least. No uplifting ending here...
...see movement against the snow, white shapes flitting past in the corner of the eye. After creating a new landscape, Lebbon slowly introduces these eager alien hunters, as they close in on the house with vicious intent. Against a blank, claustrophobic background, the stakes rise, and the firm strokes of the author suck you into nightmare.
One of Lebbon's great gifts is his subtle mastery of language, clearly in evidence here. Never ... ...wants to paint, and never an exercise in exaggerated word play. Nor is he a stranger to characterisation, as his deft portraits of Ellie, Brand and the rest demonstrate. Most successful, crucially, is the first person narrator - an everyman both complex and recognisable.
In all, 'White' proves a haunting, visceral experience, and a memorable launch title for what should be an intriguing publishing line. With only three hundred copies ... more
Tim Lebbon's 'White' saw the very welcome launch of the MOT Press, the publishing arm of Masters of Terror. It's an impressive book, with glossy, splendid production values, and a moody cover from Lisa Busby. A book, however, would be ill judged by the cover alone. Enter Lebbon.
'White' is set in an apocalyptic world, and this is a location the author has guided as through before. The time of 'The Ruin' served as a suitable setting for 'From Bad Flesh', and there is a strong feeling that it will be revisited again in future. This vast disaster, kept deliberately vague, will be the setting off a much longer work in future, one suspects.
For now, we know simply that it has happened. Over Cornwall, freak weather conditions have led to heavy snowfalls, creating a strange and hostile landscape. A small group of people take refuge in an old country manor house, effectively isolating themselves from the crumbling manor house. Isolation, in this case, is no form of protection at all.
From the word go, Lebbon assaults the reader's senses with the brutal death of one of the party. As things progress, more victims are found, until it is clear they are being hunted. Some see movement against the snow, white shapes flitting past in the corner of the eye. After creating a new landscape, Lebbon slowly introduces these eager alien hunters, as they close in on the house with vicious intent. Against a blank, claustrophobic background, the stakes rise, and the firm strokes of the author suck you into nightmare.
One of Lebbon's great gifts is his subtle mastery of language, clearly in evidence here. Never showy, always inventive, his focus is ever the picture he wants to paint, and never an exercise in exaggerated word play. Nor is he a stranger to characterisation, as his deft portraits of Ellie, Brand and the rest demonstrate. Most successful, crucially, is the first person narrator - an everyman both complex and recognisable.
In all, 'White' proves a haunting, visceral experience, and a memorable launch title for what should be an intriguing publishing line. With only three hundred copies in print, it's also an extremely collectible piece, and one to be snapped up while you can. Fear not if you miss it though - after multiple award nominations, it will be featured in forthcoming 'best of the year' collections on both sides of the Atlantic.
