Review: The Phoenix Man

Title: The Phoenix Man
Author: Gary Kilworth
Nationality: British
Year: 2011
Publisher: Infinity Plus
Length: 100+pp
Rating: 4/10
Summary: Falls far short of the hype

The outline

Thirteen speculative fiction short stories from an author described by New Scientist as “the best short story writer in any genre”.

Sample

All would agree that history would have followed a different course if an unknown Galilean had not learned the art of walking on water. Not only did this remarkable man teach himself this now common skill, he was willing to pass it on to others. Just as the first firemaker handed the secret of the flame to his neighbour, thus did this early philosopher generously reveal the secret of his discovery to some fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. His name has been lost to us, but his talent is now universal. There are few of our children beyond the age of six or seven years who cannot now tread the waves. 

The verdict

I’m not sure what New Scientist was thinking when it described Gary Kilworth as “the best short story writer in any genre”. On the evidence of The Phoenix Man, that certainly isn’t the case.

Undoubtedly the ideas behind Kilworth’s stories are good – better than good in some cases – but they just don’t follow through. Countless times I began one of the stories in The Phoenix Man and was dazzled by the concept in the first few paragraphs only for the plot to peter out and the writing fail to live up to the initial idea.

12 Men Born of Woman bucked the trend and delivered a strong plot to match its idea and I also enjoyed On The Eyelids of a Wolf, but the rest simply left me frustrated with their unfulfilled promise. I certainly won’t be following fiction recommendations from New Scientist in future.