Author: Gertrude Barrows Bennett
Series: The Illustrated Original Masters of Modern Dark Fantasy #13
Narrator: Chirag Patel
Unabridged: 4 hr 47 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 06/24/2020
Gertrude Barrows Bennet is better known by her pen-name, Francis Stevens. With a career that only spanned three years between 1917 and 1920, when she stopped writing after her mother's death, she is credited as "the woman who invented dark fantasy". She was a direct influence on H.P. Lovecraft, and in the words of Sam Moskowitz was the "greatest woman writer of science fiction in the period between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore"
“Mysterious, beautifully written, at times hallucinatory, and with a creeping atmosphere of dread to spare, "Claimed" is most surely an impressive piece of imaginative work. The author does not shrink from the depiction of violence and bloodshed, either. As in "The Citadel of Fear," here, an ancient god appears in modern times to stir up trouble, but in "Claimed," that god is never named (although Poseidon/Neptune is strongly suggested) or even clearly seen.
[we see] the horrendous fate that befell the continent of Atlantis, and just how the coveted box wound up in the drink to begin with, and it really is some fascinating stuff. Vanaman, Leilah and especially old Robinson, I should add, are all well-drawn characters, with the good doctor being especially likable and sympathetic. Stevens peppers her novel with many memorable and haunting scenes, including an early exploration of the newly risen, barren island where the relic is initially found; a clairvoyant's unfortunate attempt to perform a little psychometry on the arcane object; and, indeed, the entire final 1/3 of the book, comprising as it does a tense chase at sea. The book has great sweep and drive, and is fairly relentless once it gets moving. Personally, I could not wait to get home after work to get back to it, and the evenings that I spent reading "Claimed" were very gripping ones, to be sure.” [Sandy Ferber, fantasyliterature.com]
Dragons make life complicated. Extremely complicated.After returning from Idaho, I was hoping to have time to figure things out with Zav—also known as Lord Zavryd, the dragon who claimed me as his mate without asking—but the da...
London, 1999. As New Years Eve approaches, some believe it will herald the end of the world, and when Dorian encounters renowned artist Natalie Isaacs in a bar, they embark on an intimate journey but one with terrible consequences. Once the clock st...
A missing eye.A broken wing.A stolen country.The last job didn't end well.Years go by, and scars fade, but memories only fester. For the animals of the Captain's company, survival has meant keeping a low profile, building a new life, and trying to f...
Florida, 2012. Summoned by the daughter of an old friend, Dorian finds himself confronted by the actions of his past and a familiar picture that holds a dreadful secret. But can he stop history from repeating itself, or is it already far too late? ...
Paris, 1900. One of Dorian Gray's oldest friends is on his deathbed, locked away in a room at the notorious Hotel D'Alsace, where he is fighting a duel to the death. And when Dorian comes to visit him one last time, both men realise they may never b...
Singapore, 1956. A simple game of mahjong exposes Dorian to a whole pantheon of ancient demons. But why is he actually visiting Pulau Ujong? And what is his connection to the mysterious Isadora Rigby? Note: The Confessions of Dorian Gray contains a...
Global war devastated the environment, a zombie-like plague wiped out much of humanity, and civilization as we once understood it came to a standstill. But that was a thousand years ago, and the world is now a very different place.Conflict between c...
People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic...
“A black tide of perversity, violence, and lush writing. I loved it.” —Joe HillDebut author Jennifer Giesbrecht paints a darkly compelling fantasy of revenge in The Monster of Elendhaven, a dark fantasy about murder, a monster, and...