Godling and Other Paint Stories - Softcover

Bowles, Jeff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1537624636 ISBN 13: 9781537624631

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

Life's hard for a God Machine, especially when he's been imprisoned 5,000 years. A temperamental, quirky robot has no reason to trust anyone, particularly when two young lovers and a bald-headed fop of a warden convince him to retake his throne as ruler of humanity. Godling and Other Paint Stories contains six all new science fiction and horror tales, each one crazier than the last. Jeff Bowles--author of Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces--takes us on a wild ride through his imagination, and no one will ever be the same!

About this title

About the Author:

Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative short stories arecollected in Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in LasCruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Black Static, the Threepenny Review, andDark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams andspends far too much time under the stars.

Review:

From Writing to Be Read Godling and Other Paint Stories, by Jeff Bowles, is a collection of six short stories all thematically tied together by a very thin thread of paint, or more specifically, colors. In the ingenious mind behind these stories, it probably doesn't seem far-fetched that paints would be self-aware, or that dogs could evolve into thinking talking animals with human-looking lips, but your average reader will take a look at these stories and say, "Wow!" But one thing these stories will make readers do, is ponder possibilities, because frankly, as an author with a God-thing going on, Bowles conceives of some really heavy concepts, the kind that really make you think.

The collection starts out with Godling, a science fiction tale of a God machine, which gave up its humanity for love, and may, or may not, be able to reunite to become whole once more. (With short stories, you really can't have spoiler alerts, because they give away the whole thing, so you'll have to read the story to find out what happens.)
 
Next is Traffic Patterns, a tale of a sentient traffic light that is granted godhood, for a time. And, Making Paint as a Means of Impermanence is filled with some truly disturbing images of how an attempt to gain immortality turns into an ever renewing ritual to maintain an impermeable existence. Wild Dogs of Buffalo is a canine Godfather, excuse me, I meant Dog Father. Anyway, I love it. It's a truly entertaining read.

God, the Little Artist - An artist's heaven. This is not the first time that author Bowles has killed God off in his stories. The main character is Mr. Williams. As in Robin? That's what I kept picturing in my mind as I read this story. Robin Williams talking to the large baby God whose time is running out, as if perhaps God ages backward. When I'd finished, all I could think was Robin Williams as God. Now that's scary. But, maybe it's just me. (No spoiler alerts. Again read the story.)

Dr. Julianus Techt's 5 Easy Steps to Building a Better You is an instruction manual on how to sell your soul in order to improve on God's handiwork, which is you. Only Jeff Bowles would create such a story. As you read these stories, when you come to this last, do not... I repeat, DO NOT try this at home.

I highly recommend you grab a copy. Overall, this collection of short stories are all easy, enjoyable reads, which will give reader's brains lots of food for thought. They are strange and unusual, but Jeff's writing talent is such that it doesn't take much to suspend your disbelief.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1537624636
• ISBN 13: 9781537624631
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 158