Book Review

Title: Stargazer Lilies or Nothing at all

Author: Stephen Lomer

Genre: Anthology

Rating: ****

Review: Stargazer Lilies or Nothing at all is a short story collection which isn’t something I read a lot of but after some recommendations I spotted a blog tour for this particular book and decided to give it a go. Due to this being a collection of short stories it is going to be slightly shorter than my normal reviews.

The first thing I noticed about this collection in reading the first two stories was that this Anthology doesn’t focus on one genre but encompassing a lot of different ones. The first story Stargazer Lilies or nothing at all is a contemporary story about a very extravagant baby shower being ruined and subsequently cancelled due to the wrong type of flowers arriving whereas Wallflower and Casanova is a dystopian story about a robotic takeover where a nurse and a pilot work together to save a group of injured children.

The next couple of stories are Johnny on the spot and Running on Empty which both have a contemporary feel but both deal with theme of determination. Johnny on the stop deals with closure with close links to the past whereas Running on Empty deals with letting go of the past in order to move on. I really liked both of these stories and I would like to see Running on Empty develop further in maybe a novella or a full length novel.

The haunting of Flattop Harris was an amazing story about four friends, 3 of which sign up to fight in the war and one doesn’t he goes to college to get an education while working at a toll booth. One night his solider friends drive past but all is not what it seems here and would make a great novella. Lemon drop was a contemporary story but a lot of dark and dry humour that I found extremely funny despite overall not ending on a happy note but the underlying themes here would make a great contemporary novel and would do something different in a very overworked genre.

The final three stories So ten minutes ago, Trouble bruin and Royally screwed consists of a contemporary and strange retelling and hilarious comedy story all of which were amazing and extraordinarily well written.

Overall this was a quick and light read. My favourite stories were Wallflower and Casanova and I can just imagine it as a full length novel which I would completely devour and I have a huge love for all things dystopian. Another story I really enjoyed was royally screwed as it was just a great way of ending the collection in stitches of laughter. It was a light and fun finally note in this collection and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more work from this author.

This book was sent to me for review consideration by the author

Buy it here:

Paperback: amazon.co.uk    amazon.com

Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk    amazon.com