Review: Lilies

Lilies by Iain Rowan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Horror Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I picked up a free copy of this eBook after winning another of this author’s books the LibraryThing Members Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. I decided to read and review this one, too, in the interest of completeness.

Synopsis: Alex thought of his grandfather, of the way that the river at home curved between the fields and shone secret and silver in the light of the moon, of the trains full of soldiers that rattled off up into the hills towards the mud and the fear, and of the dead that walked the city.

Lilies is a short story of the dead and the living, in a city at war where it is hard to tell one from the other, and where the men who carry the lilies commit the strangest of murders and kill the already dead.

Lilies was chosen for Stephen Jones' Best New Horror anthology and recommended for the British Fantasy Society's Best Short Story. Iain's short fiction has been reprinted in anthologies, won awards, and been the basis for a novel shortlisted for the UK Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger award.

My Thoughts: This is a very short story (15 pages) that I read whilst taking a break from editing this week. This story can also be found in the short-story collection Ice Age, which I’ll be reading soon.

This is a beautifully written short story; the writing is poetical, evocative, gorgeous. The world Rowan creates in this story is outlined imaginatively, and I would love to learn more about it. That is the beauty of a short story, and the frustration – so many wonderful worlds, but so little time spent there. Rowan’s writing is sublime, and I look forward to reading more of his work. Highly recommended.



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