Literarium review

Production company – Nightscape Media

Rating –

RELEASE DAY REVIEW

You’ll no doubt know by now that I get a real kick from people messaging me to say they like my reviews. People I know will often say that, but the paranoid part of me thinks they’d say that anyway, because that’s what friends do, right? Having someone I don’t know reach out though is special indeed. It’s even better if it’s a creator who likes my review of their show.

A case in point happened a week or so back. My Facebook inbox pinged with a message from Vincent Kocznur, or rather it would have had my notifications been turned on! He was the writer of the excellent Lakes Of The Moon, and he got in touch to say he appreciated the review. He was launching a new podcast called Literarium, and wanted to know if I wanted some preview episodes. Of course I said yes. Getting early episodes of a show is like being offered a cup of coffee at someone’s house. You never turn it down. Unless they can’t make coffee.

So, after a brief chat, I said I’d do a release day review for the show. I haven’t done one for a while, and he sent me the first three episodes. Here’s a spoiler free review of what I’ve heard so far.

So what’s it about?

On a stylistic shift from his other work, Literarium is an anthology of short stories with a single narrator. In the interest of not spoiling anything (and not knowing which episode is released today) I won’t go into spoiler territory. I think this is only fair, despite it making my job harder!

The story themes are diverse, from alternative history, to fantasy, to oddly spiritual sci-fi (and that’s the three stories I’ve heard). They are all refreshingly different from pretty much anything currently out there. They also have a strange emotional depth that seems to be lacking from similar fiction. One story in particular tugged at my heart-strings, and although I can’t tell you which one it was, you’ll know it when you hear it.

Is it any good?

I’m quickly becoming a huge fan of Vincent’s work. He has a style of writing that reminds me almost of Robert Aickman or Robert W Chambers. Mundane situations morph into strange new realities, and the fantastic is just lurking behind the curtain, ready to ruin your day!

As I said earlier, these stories are told by a single narrator. Whilst Vincent’s skill not only as a writer, but a story teller is very high, these tales seem almost like small vignettes or ideas to be expanded upon. That’s not to detract from the series at all, but I can’t help but wonder if this is like his version of “Stories I Tried To Write” by M. R. James.

Final thoughts

After Lakes Of The Moon finished, I’m so happy that there is more to enjoy from Vincent. He’s shaping up to be a truly formidable force in weird fiction, and I can’t wait to hear what other stories he’s got up his sleeve for this podcast. I’m so grateful that he reached out to me for this opportunity, and I hope the other stories in this show are as good as the three I got to hear.

You can get Literarium here:

https://www.greatpods.co/podcasts/literarium-7981232

For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods

Aegri Somni Vana