Louise Osorio
She is, in my humble opinion from reading this, one of the greatest writers in the horror genre. Her work has influenced writers such as Mark McCreadie, Richard Matheson, and Philip K. Dick, all of whom have contributed to the horror genre as genre writers and many others who aren’t just authors but thinkers and artists in their own right. This book is an excellent example of the kind of work that she can create: beautifully-paced, beautifully-produced, and beautifully-written horror prose.
“A world of men, women, and monsters” is a wonderful world to explore in “A World of Men, Women, and Monsters.” And not just for the sheer novelty of not seeing a person from a particular sex on a map.
Marlita Bialy has written four novels for various publishers, but we’re all fans of her recent books for Dark Orbit’s The Whispered World series, and I can remember being extremely surprised to learn of her work as a writer in the horror genre until I read this book. In “A World of Men, Women, and Monsters” (reviewed on io9 here), our young hero, Alex, joins a small group of misfits known as the Men of Mystery, led by the terrifying Baron Harkonnen, who is on a mission of extermination against a race of monsters known as the Voids, including a young and innocent woman he is searching for; the Baron himself.
After Alex and the others make it down to town, he meets a lovely girl named Louise whom he has been following for months, but who refuses to tell him about the Baron or his murderous intentions. Louise, apparently looking for revenge for being shunned by her family, seeks Alex from the shadows, and the two begin their adventures together. Louise soon learns that she is just as much a target as the Baron and his monsters, as she seeks revenge and learns a lot about herself along the way.
In her excellent story structure, Marcia, a wonderful young woman, has brilliantly woven through Louise’s emotional journey along with Alex’s own search for understanding, and it is this narrative structure that is perhaps most effective. It creates some beautiful scenes and, in this case, allows the author to build into the novel at different stages of the story in a way that adds to its mystery and mystery elements, but also to expand the narrative throughout the book in ways that ensure