Over at http://davidversace.com/newsletter/, I got hold of a copy of Mnemo’s Memory by David Versace.
Versace is an engaging writer, never short of an idea or a humorous aside. The two outstanding pieces here are ‘The Lighthouse at Cape Defeat’, which I first encountered in Aurealis, and the title story, which was new to me and shows off his penchant for steampunk, complete with smoked glass lenses, chuffing dirigibles and clockwork men. Both make full use of his ability to turn a nice metaphor and to create a fantasy world of which the story seems a real inhabitant, rather than a world that seems to exist just so the story can work.
Lengthy stories alternate with flash fiction — it works well. It’s almost impossible not to read the short one after the long one.
He’s distributing the ebook for nada, nix, nuttin’ over at his website; do yourself a favour.
DSPACE 