Tales of The Fallen: Book 1 – Awakenings
David G. Barnett

Necro Publications/Bedlam Press
Various editions, ranging from $25.00-$150.00
August 2008
Review by Nickolas Cook

When I read the promo material for Barnett’s newest book, Tales Of The Fallen: Book 1 – Awakenings, I was understandably dubious about the quality of the publication because the very first line contained a HUGE spelling misuse… “Following on the heals of his critically acclaimed …”

In the small press, that can spell disaster just waiting for the unwary reviewer. It usually means you’re about to fall into the crapola-pit of writing, publications so hurried, so abysmally bad, that only a madman would dare to venture any further. Seriously, there are times I can actually feel brain cells dying when I delve too deeply into some of the terrible offerings I am sent every month.

Does that sound harsh?

The truth usually isn’t very pleasant, is it?

So why did I reviewer decide to err on the side of adventure instead of mind numbing experience?

Simple.

Because this was a David G. Barnett book. And I know this guy can freakin’ write like a … well … like a demon.

Which is a good thing, cause he going to need all that writing ability to bring down this monster of a job he’s set for himself.

Awakenings is, as the full moniker describes, the first book of a series of novellas and short stories that deal with the battle for Heaven. Sounds ambitious as hell (and I should know; my own Baleful Eye weighs in at almost 400 pages, dealing with the same subject matter). But Barnett doesn’t weigh us down with a stodgy classical itinerary. It’s like Ed Lee describes in his superlative introduction pages: This is more Fowles by way of Tarantino, a maxed up, Red Bulled out take on demons and angels and some very nasty madmen.

The three stories, “Of Angels Fallen,” “Daddy Demon’s Day Out,” and “The Sleepers Awake,” are written to fit together into a tight bloody, raucous jigsaw puzzle. All the reader need do is turn the pages to feel like he’s on a ride straight to Hell – whatever that may look like to you, in any case.

It’s this reviewer’s opinion that, if Barnett can actually finish this monster project, then Tales Of The Fallen: Book 1 – Awakenings may be his crowning achievement. It’s obvious he’s a man with something to say about a lot of things in Heaven and Earth (and some other rather more unsavory locales, for that matter) and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

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