Title: Songs for the Lost

Author: Alexander Zelenyj

Release date: Originally released September 1st, 2014, re-released April 3rd, 2016

I’m horrible with time/dates. What I mean is that – I’m 99% sure I’ve been solidly posting my reviews for about 7 years… maybe 8? But pretty sure 7? Or at least that many years of devoting myself to sharing my love of reading online versus just devouring books at home and not really telling people about it.

In that time – there’s a reviewer who I’ve connected with. We’ve become pals and DM buddies about books and he’s never steered me wrong. That guy is Tony Jones, who you may recognize from GNOH and Horror DNA. And even though I’m beyond burned out on reading short story collections and anthologies – when Tony asked if I’d read Alexander Zelenyj, I told him that not only had I not, I wasn’t aware of who he was. How shameful! Since that fateful DM, I’ve connected with Alexander – who happens to be a fellow Canuck! – and I’ve now devoured his collection, ‘Songs for the Lost.’

What I liked: I gotta be honest – one thing that always worries me is when a book/stories are described as ‘weird.’ I’m wishy-washy on Bizarro. Sometimes it works, most times, for me at least – it doesn’t. My reading brain seems to pocket weird and Bizarro into the same small circle and I worry I may not enjoy it. Zelenyj’s collection is described as “Horror, SCI-FI and Weird story collection, Speculative Fiction at its best.” Ok – so, I love horror, sci-fi and speculative. So, I can push past my hesitancy around the weird part.

This collection… er… uh… collects a cross-section of Alexander’s work over a number of years and lays them out in an order that flows really nicely. Usually, I point out a number of stories that I really enjoyed, but with this one I actually found myself engaged in every single piece and really wanted to see what happened to the characters involved.

As for the ‘weird’ aspect – I would say it’s more akin to the movie/magazine ‘Heavy Metal.’ Where a fairly straight-forward story occurs, with weirdness around it. It’s hard to really say a lot without specifically spoiling some stories, but if you’ve seen that movie and loved how each segment was phenomenal but also borderline bonkers – you’ll know what I mean.

When a collection is this solid from start to finish, a reader invariably will try and mentally relate it to other authors and their short story escapades. This one reminded me of a mix of what T.E. Grau has done, but also what would happen if Adam Nevill remixed Grau’s work. To a degree. It is really had to summarize vaguely enough to not ruin anything, but vaguely enough to get those eyes reading this excited for his work!

What I didn’t like: While I really enjoyed every story, I will say – a few were too brief, a few were too long and for each reader, as is always the case with collections – some you may just not like.

Why you should buy this: For those who devour short fiction as though it’s Lindt Chocolate at Christmas time, you’ll want to dive headfirst into this. I suspect for many, this collection would be a great gateway book to discovering a new favorite author and one that you’ll quickly look at snagging the rest of his work. Alexander is a painter whose paintings I’m glad to have discovered. A musician whose music I’m glad to have heard. And he does all of that with words, making him an author I feel so fortunate to have read. Thank you, Tony, for pointing me in his direction.

This is a collection for the ages.

5/5