Have Pen Will Marvel
Ron Sanders
Reviewed by Abner Goodwin
Despite the cover art which is reminiscent of some sort of crude
Lovecraftian acid trip, I found the contents of this book to be well
worth reading. Ron Sanders has deftly crafted several short, dark
stories and presented them for our consumption in this small collection.
Common Denominator is the first and easily my favorite short story in
this book. Seemingly random people inexplicably lash out in extreme
fits of violence all over LA. People are fear stricken, caught up in
the media-hyped frenzy.A reclusive technophile discovers a pattern in
the static that may explain what is actually going on.
Vote For Me is written from the perspective of a politician who is
giving a victory speech. During his speech, the victor's true character
comes to light in an unexpected and farcical way.
Now! Is about a beaten homeless man who wonders aimlessly, in desperate
need of help. Bullied and abused, he eventually meets a man who just
may be able to save him.
Alphanumerica is told in the form of posts written by the main
character Ace Hunter who is so desperate to have someone reply to his
posts on his website that he threatens to bomb city hall. Suddenly, he
starts to get replies from an exotic, foreign sounding woman going by
the moniker hot69sex4u.
Home Planet is about the death of the planet and is recounted through
one man's entries in a solar powered word processor.
In Benidickedus, the impoverished, pathetic people of C'erebadicio live
in squalor while the villa's reclusive founder lives in the lap of
luxury. When he calls upon the town's priest to strike a deal:
absolution of his numerous and heinous sins in exchange for a beautiful
new chapel.
Boy is about a boy and his dog – with a twist.
If I were to describe this book in one word, the word that I would use
is cynical. When the character's in this book are not busy dooming
themselves, they're dooming each other. Frankly, Sanders could have
called this book, The Skinny Book of Doom – which would have allowed me
to accept that I should not expect the characters to have any redeeming
qualities.
Even though the prevailing theme in this book seems to be misanthropy,
the quality of writing and the occasional ironic comedy are more than
sufficient to keep the reader from being mired in the innate darkness
of each story. Sanders is able to keep a steady pace in his stories
without sacrificing the depth of the characters or their environment.
There is enough information about each character to make them
believable; which is impressive considering that there are seven
stories in this eighty-two page book.