For A Glimpse Beyond the Terminus
Jordan R. Anderson
jordanandersonfiction.com
January 3, 2018
Reviewed by Brian James Lewis
For many authors, the second book is a curse, a dragon to be slain, something to be endured instead of enjoyed. Critics can be merciless, claiming that the follow up is nowhere as good as the fantastic first effort. Well fear not, there’s no sophomore slump happening here. For A Glimpse Beyond the Terminus is Jordan R. Anderson’s most powerful effort to date! It is an amazing collection of Horror, Weird, and Science Fiction that is even better than his first book The Things That Grow With Us That’s saying a lot, because book number one blew me right out of the water with its vast array of unique tales.
Like a bodybuilder who has sculpted his muscles to reveal greater definition and striation of the fibers, Anderson has grown. His ability to manipulate the English language in magnificent! It is a palpable thing, especially if one dares to read a few paragraphs out loud. There is a poetic quality to his words in some stories, while other times he slices right to the bone. That poetic effect is felt strongly in the opening selection that gives the book its title. “As You Wade Into the River of Vermin” is a beautifully rendered descent into madness and impossible realms for those who dare depart from the ordinary world. You will never think of your city’s subterranean sewer system in quite same way again. This piece is so rich in detail that I read it twice to let everything sink in.
How do you follow such an electric opener? If you are Jordan R. Anderson, you do it with the novella-length Under And In And So It All Begins. The cheerful-sounding title might make you think of a game or children’s nursery rhyme, but no one is having fun at Michael Chamberlain’s house! Nope, we’re talking blood-chilling, heart-stopping, holy-shit-I-hope-this-isn’t-real, type stuff. A seemingly routine used car purchase opens the door to another world and it is not a good one. It’s a chilling story in which the end turns out to be a beginning. Annoyance turns into curiosity that morphs into fear, and ends in absolute terror. I used to be a mechanic in my former life and after reading this, I’m damn glad I don’t spend my days under cars anymore!
Speaking of stories involving vehicles, “The Lights on the Other Car” is a short piece that really packs a punch! At first everything is disjointed and kind of ethereal, but the further you read, the more you understand. The conclusion hits you like a freight train coupled with a Lovecraftian glimpse into the other worlds beyond our reality.
“Master” is an interesting and intense look at what’s going in those bizarre warrens of secret passages that all big indoor shopping malls have for fire safety and freight deliveries. If you’ve ever worked in a mall or even just snooped around, you know that it’s creepy as hell back there. Why wouldn’t weird things be happening? This story explains why employees are always zooming out the back door. They’re not going to check stock or even out for a smoke. It’s the powerful force of the “Master” that’s calling them!
The mind is a dangerous thing, especially when it’s been messed around with. If a person’s brain goes too far off the tracks, they need to get some help. But some problems are beyond the scope of even a professional, which is what we get in “Eyes Out.” Elizabeth is working as a receptionist in psychotherapist’s office. The day is an average one, until a male patient comes in a bit early for an appointment. He decides to tell Elizabeth about his problems and things go Twilight Zone real quick when he does. Disaster strikes, but instead of resolving things, you get the feeling that more tragedies are on way. Creepy!
“The Harem Within” is an incredulous tale that would not be out of place in a book by the legendary Clive Barker in collaboration with William Burroughs. You know, the kind of stuff that completely unhinges the mind? A unique power, coupled with the greedy drive of the narrator to collect more and more of what he wants, leads to a just punishment. Anderson’s ability to inhabit his characters really makes this one perfect.
There are even more stories I could praise in For A Glimpse Beyond the Terminus, but I am not a spoiler and I want you to be able to discover some of the stories on your own. Once you start reading Jordan Anderson’s writing, you’ll become a fan! It feels familiar, like good writing should, but this is all original stuff. The only exceptions are some well-chosen quotes from credited sources. I particularly like the George Orwell bit from 1984. The cover illustration “Lonely Sailor” by Sandeep Karunakaran is perfect. It is spectral, misty, with something rowing a boat in front of a huge monolith. That something could be a man or a shrouded skeleton crossing the river of dreams or the River Styx.
So what’s my rating? Do I recommend For A Glimpse Beyond the Terminus to all our readers out there? That would be a solid “YES!” In my opinion, Jordan R. Anderson is one of the best new writers of speculative fiction in the world today. Should you want a refresher on how much I enjoyed The Things That Grow With Us, all you have to do is flip your copy of For A Glimpse Beyond the Terminus to the back cover to see a recap of my write up for the Horror Review. Cool stuff! Give Jordan R. Anderson’s books a try, you’ll be glad you did!
