Review: Knee-Deep in Grit: Two Bloody Years of Grimdark Fiction

Knee-Deep in Grit: Two Bloody Years of Grimdark Fiction by Adrian Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a great taste of short grimdark stories, and though they're all classed in that "subgenre", there is a huge variety in this collection. The settings and styles are all different, but they share some common elements: blood and grit and darkness.

I was actually surprised at the amount of sci-fi in this group of stories. All this time I thought of "Grimdark" as something one would get from Joe Abercrombie or Mark Lawrence, full of anti-heroes that cut and bludgeon people to death. You get that here, but the subgenre covers more ground in setting than I'd expected. It makes sense though, people die in space too.

I received an eARC of this wonderful book from the amazingly cool editor, Adrian Collins. No strings, just a means to start early. I liked the first few stories enough that as soon as Adrian announced that pre-orders were available, I jumped on it and got a paperback copy to go on my shelf beside the equally brilliant Evil is a Matter of Perspective: An Anthology of Antagonists. I even set aside my e-copy for a time so I would be able to finish the experience with paperback in hand. And that cover!

So along the way, I made notes for each story, which I'll include here:

Knee Deep in Grit

Started this morning, and super excited! It starts off with 2 introductions, and yes I'm one of the people in the world that reads these things. First is by Mark Lawrence, which is cool because I'm on a big Lawrence kick right now, reading the Broken Empire trilogy.

Second introduction is by Mike Myers, a regular guy that has a job reading and editing grimdark fiction. How cool is that??

"The King Beneath the Waves" by Peter Fugazzotto - Great story! I really enjoyed these few pages I had to get to know this little band of Vikingesque pirate clansmen. I am definitely interested in seeing more of this gritty world in longer form.

“The Line" by T.R. Napper - grim little tale about a boxer in the future with some old school mafia connections.

"At the Walls of Sinnlos" by Michael R. Fletcher - Yes! It's always great crazy fun to get into some Manifest Delusions. Might be a bit confusing without prior experience, but is still a great teaser for the main series.

"The Right Hand of Decay" by David Annandale - Loved this short scene from a battle where not all is as it seems, and the ending is brutal.

"The Neutral" by Mike Gelprin (translated by by Anatoly Belilovsky ) - Wow. Such a short one yet packs a powerful punch to the gut. I would love to see more of this world/universe. Set in the near future, this is a unique look at the work of a hostage negotiator. It's scary enough to happen someday.

“Brazen Dreams” by Matthew Ward – Here’s another future tale, but it definitely captures the idea of grit. Our characters definitely show us shades of grey and you really don’t know who is on whose side.

“The Knife of Many Hands” by R. Scott Bakker - This was interesting. At first, I found myself struggling mightily with the names and wondering if I was at a big disadvantage by not having read any of Bakker’s work before. I still felt like that by the end, but came to appreciate his prose and imagination. It ended up being a good sample of his work, and a long enough story to decide that I’ll most likely avoid delving deeper into the large series. It would just be too much work to get through when I read for escape.

“Drone Strikes for Fun and Profit” by Aaron Fox-Lerner. Wow, now this was more like it. Here’s another near-future story that is frightening to contemplate. Just how “near”? I was impressed with how easy and light the tone was, and how that very lightness is what brought total horror to the whole idea. This shit could seriously happen, like tomorrow.

“All the Lovely Brides,” by Kelly Sandoval. This one started out pretty grim, though sweet. The resolution didn’t sneak up on me but I was still surprised. Here we get a taste of sensual beauty and grace with a dark undertone.

“Shadow Hunter” by Adrian Tchaikovsky – Wow. This was my second short story set in the Shadows of the Apt world. I remember having a thought when I read the first one, which was “why haven’t I read these?” I asked myself the same question yesterday. This is something I need to rectify.

“A Recipe for Corpse Oil” by Siobhan Gallagher – This was a fun one. Creepy and suspenseful, as we just waited for the other shoe to drop.

“Redemption Waits” by Mike Brooks – One of my favorites so far. This was Fireflyesque, with an interesting crew. I was intrigued enough here to add the first book of the main series to my TBR.

“A Fair Man” by Peter Orullian – Great stuff! Even more a favorite than the previous. I am interested in reading more set in this world. Grim, grit, and dark, with a twist.

“Boomer Hunter” by Sean Patrick Hazlett – This near-future action-packed story with a twist was just what I needed with a short reading window. There’s a lot going on in these few pages.

“The Nu-Thai Screwjob” by Gav Thorpe – Another future, but this one is farther out. Great pacing, but I felt that I needed more resolution. Still, sparks interest.

“Lessons of Necessity” by T.C. Powell – Wow! Just a few pages but it packs a hell of a punch. Of course I’d want to know the answer to the question at the end…Off I go to research this author…

“A Proper War” by James A. Moore – This author has been on my radar for a while, and I see why. He tells a great story of conflict and badassery. I could certainly see this story expanded into a longer work as the characters and world have lots of intrigue, and the pacing is there.

“The Red Wraith” by Nicholas Wisseman – Sweet, poetry that I can get! Fits our theme too.

“The Woman I Used to Be” by Gerri Leen – Another sci-fi-ish story that has a good buildup with a payoff that leaves the reader wanting just a little more.

“The Price of Honor” by Matthew Ward – I struggled a bit with all the names and references to groups and alliances. It would have worked a lot better if I was familiar with this universe, and his other works in it. I’m not even sure what works those would be.

“Red Sails, Red Seas” by Victor Milan – Dinosaur Knights and pirates? Sign me up. It’s set in the same world as The Dinosaur Lords, but a different area. Still pretty cool stuff.

“Ashes” by Tara Calaby – This was an odd, dark fairy tale retelling/sequel to a classic. It certainly put a dark spin on the original, which I suppose was the point.

“Viva Longevicus” by Brandon Daubs – A dysfunctional family of space marines conducting a rescue mission on a planet infested with bio-engineered pet rats? Oh yes, this was as fun as it sounded. Lots of gore.

“Against the Encroaching Darkness” by Aliette de Bodard – Great imagery, as I expected after reading her first novel of the Dominion of the Fallen. The power games in the novel translate well to the short story.

“Bad Seed” by Mark Lawrence – origin story of Red Kent, full of the awesome Lawrence prose and blood.

Great stuff, all in all. Some peaked my interest more than others, of course. Favorites include "Redemption Waits", "At the Walls of Sinnolos", "Bad Seed", "Boomer Hunter", "Drone Strikes..." and "A Fair Man".

What's really exciting is that these stories (and more) exist in the pages of the quarterly ezine, Grimdark Magazine, also published by Adrian Collins. This volume just covers stories from the first 8 issues (they're up to 16 now, so hoping for another anthology!) At any rate, during the course of this reading I became a Patreon, which is a fancy way of saying "subscriber". This isn't a plug as much as an affirmation that the quality of these stories is high enough that I'll be sinking money into future issues (and catching up on back issues).

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