Tyrant
With supernatural and horror elements, the short stories collected in Tyrant tantalize with hints of mystery concealed behind linguistic brevity.
A mysterious future universe is the setting for the dark, gripping tales in Michael Wilde’s short story collection Tyrant.
The book’s subjects include werewolves, yetis, life-extending technologies, telekinesis, and family dynamics. In “Propogation [sic],” a character ingests Norgesta, an “expedient and economical method of nutrient and caloric intake,” while working at a job where his duties include goading modified electric eels into producing a charge that is fed into the power grid. After the casual wonder of these imaginative story elements, the next innovation—a symbiotic link that produces pleasure through auditory transmission—feels not just convincing but inevitable. “Yetis” and “Propogation” both feature Sasquatches, but the stories keep their explanations brief, leaving some aspects of the beasts’ existence unexplained. Elsewhere, stories draw on First Nations cultures in Canada as they lean into the supernatural. Slow and sporadic revelations serve horror-infused tales well, raising tension as the narratives progress.
The stories have a short, clipped, poetic style: “It was / A spark from the Generator / Sound / Seed / Buried beneath” starts “Harness,” a taut, compelling, and claustrophobic tale that combines elements of science fiction and horror as its heroes conduct a mission deep inside the trachea of a massive dead creature. Throughout, the elimination of ancillary words is common, instilling a sense of intimacy, immediacy, and realism into conversations: “‘Hungover.’ ‘How?’ ‘Prison hooch.’ ‘From where?’ ‘Plead the fifth.’” The book’s descriptions follow similar patterns; they are pared down to their essentials, as with a passage detailing an exquisite technological siren’s call: “A rapturous release. Sustained into serenity. Weightless. Floating. The volume fades with a gentle goodbye.” This tendency toward brevity sometimes obscures meanings, though, as with extended dialogues that shun clarifying speaker tags. Still, the book’s intriguing style instills a sense that its universe is one of new possibilities, revealed in glimpses, one small piece at a time.
The characterizations are often gritty, with the book focusing on survivors whose blasé attitudes about the advances around them help to keep the focus on big ideas. For example, amid a backdrop of family deceit, “Temple” probes issues of practical immortality and genetic modification for entertainment, arriving at an unexpected but fitting ending for its central figure, Sam.
Tyrant is an ambitious short story collection. Connections between its stories emerge as the book progresses, echoing, clarifying, or expanding on key plot elements. Still, much remains obscured and tantalizing.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
