Volume 1 Brooklyn just posted a very nice review by Tobias Carroll of Armageddon House. Another other things, he says:
“Armageddon House may not be the book you’re expecting, but it never stops being gripping — or suggesting greater mysteries around the next corner.”
The link to the review is here:
https://vol1brooklyn.com/2020/10/22/memory-and-mysteries-in-an-ambiguous-space-a-review-of-armageddon-house/
My sincere thanks to Tobias Carroll and Volume 1 Brooklyn for the review!
Armageddon House just received a great review by Joe Scipione on HorrorBound.
To check out the rest, follow the link:“One of the top novellas of the year!”
https://www.horrorbound.net/blog/2020/7/15/armageddon-house-a-top-novella-of-the-year
Well-Read Beard is another reviewer who does YouTube reviews, similar to Jason White who also reviewed Armageddon House not long ago.
If you’d asked me a year ago, do I want to read book reviews or watch them on YouTube, I would’ve said I’d rather read them. Having said that, I now find that I enjoy watching and listening to a reviewer show and talk about a book in their own voice. I’m sold on this format for a review, and not just because Well-Read Beard and Jason White both said nice things about the book!
Because it’s a video review, you should probably just watch it rather than reading me talking about it. My thanks to Well-Read Beard!
Oh, and if you prefer to read reviews rather than watch them on YouTube, you can find what Well-Read Beard said on Goodreads here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3387840951?book_show_action=true
Jason White just reviewed Armageddon House on his YouTube book reviews channel, Jason’s Weird Reads.
I don’t want to spoil the review by quoting too much of it here, but I’ll just say that Jason used the phrase, “Bloody brilliant.”
Here’s a link, and I’ll embed the video below that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeOz12RGpHQ
It seems like a lot of people are talking about the new book in the week since it came out. Here’s a quick rundown, in no particular order:
S.C. Hickman wrote a quite detailed and analytical review — contains spoilers, so beware if you haven’t read Armageddon House yet:
Michael Griffin: Armageddon House
Jason White, YouTube reviewer, shows off his copy of Armageddon House and mentions enjoying the book, as far as he’s gotten.
Another YouTube book reviewer, Well Read Beard, mentions Armageddon House around the 3:30 mark. He says he’s excited to read it and it’s his first experience with Undertow or my writing.
The book has racked up some very nice Goodreads ratings and reviews already:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53287687-armageddon-house
Des Lewis is doing one of his always-enjoyable Real-Time Reviews of the book. If you haven’t seen these before, Des posts regularly as he reads through the book, often posting once per story or per chapter. He just started Armageddon House two days ago, so I look forward to seeing this unfold.
Armageddon House – Michael Griffin
The most in-depth review has come from Gordon B. White on The Outer Dark podcast — but you have to listen, rather than read it!
TOD 069 Quarantine Readings: Christina Sng and Mike Allen
Here are a few other bloggers whose reviews of Armageddon House I’ve already mentioned here, but I’ll include them again for the sake of having everything together.
Lou Pendergrast at More2Read blog
https://more2read.com/review/armageddon-house-by-michael-griffin/
Schizanthus Nerd
https://schizanthusnerd.com/2020/05/13/armageddon-house/
Micah Castle
https://micahcastle.com/2020/04/30/book-spotlight-armageddon-house-by-michael-griffin/
I’ve also seen lots of comments here and there around the internet, so lots of people reading it and commenting informally, which is fantastic. Further, I’ve heard from several people who are preparing to give the book some attention, one way or another, so my hope is that the momentum will continue to build!
If I’ve missed any reviews, let me know. My thanks to everyone who has given Armageddon House their attention, especially those who have taken the time to help spread the word.
Publishers Weekly just came out with their review of The Human Alchemy, and they seem to think you ought to buy it and read it.
Here’s a little snippet of the review:
Griffin (The Lure of Devouring Light) creates characters who have experienced deeply personal losses that make their quests to rise above circumstances seem a poignant effort to deny that “everything and everyone… might vanish before its time.” His stories are fantastical and horrific, and their outcomes are refreshingly unpredictable.
Full review link:
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781939905406
A nice, generous review, which features a couple of brief quotes from the text, and calls out “The Tidal Pull of Salt and Sand” and “Endure Within a Dying Frame” in particular.
Thanks, PW!
The Human Alchemy won’t be released until June 30, but the first two advance reviews have just appeared.
The review by Carson Winter at signalhorizon.com is a somewhat mixed appraisal, but includes plenty of praise, including the following:
Griffin’s prose shines, even when it’s written in a tersely poetic present-tense, giving his writing a metallic coolness that juxtaposes well with his warm-blooded characters.
Review link:
https://www.signalhorizon.com/single-post/2018/06/21/Book-Review-The-Human-Alchemy-by-Michael-Griffin
The review by Peter Dabbene in Foreword Reviews is quite enthusiastic, and can be previewed online HERE. It includes this assessment:
Griffin is a confident and imaginative writer with a unique voice. Fans of horror, or just fiction in general, would be well advised to give The Human Alchemy a try.
Review link:
http://www.pressreader.com/usa/foreword-reviews/20180618/282213716542996
My thanks to both reviewers, and both review venues, for devoting their resources and attention to my work!
Check out this nice, lengthy review of Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone, which gets into the weird, disorienting atmosphere of the book. There’s a print review on his blog and a video review as well, with some overlap between the two.
BLOG:
VIDEO:
Thanks, Jason!
I was recently very pleased to discover, in the latest Locus Magazine, and extensive review by John Langan of my novel Hieroglyphs of Blood & Bone. Here’s a little taste:
It’s a lengthy review that goes into some detail conveying what the book is like, and the full review is now available on the Locus web site.
My thanks to John Langan for giving the book his attention!
Shane Douglas Keene’s new review of Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone just appeared on Horrortalk.com. The review is a great one, and begins:
I had my first experience with Michael Griffin’s words last summer when I read his collection of novellas and short stories, The Lure of Devouring Light. It made an instant fan of me and I was something approaching ecstatic when I found out his newest work, Hieroglyphs of Blood & Bone, from Trepidatio Publishing, was headed to my mailbox. Griffin has a uniquely captivating style and a voice all his own, and every story he writes is different from the last. Even when taking on familiar themes, he approaches his subject in a singularly original way, making the familiar seem new and the new seem somehow familiar.
My thanks to Shane and to HorrorTalk.com for the boost.
BUY:
GriffinWords 