This is crazy. I read, and very much enjoyed, the story that comes before this one, titled "Agents of Dreamland." So I was pretty pumped for reading the next story, "Black Helicopters." Unfortunately, I couldn't stick with it. Like the first story, "Black Helicopters" is very nonlinear. Trying to keep timelines and locations straight is a bit challenging. But "Black Helicopters" drags. And the narration by one of the characters is virtually unintelligible. When I came to two or three pages that were in French, with no translation, I found this very off-putting. Did the author assume every reader could translate this French conversation? Or didn't it matter? And if it didn't matter, what was the point of including it? I can't think of a time when I've rated an author's story 5 stars, and its sequel 1 star. ( )

Moving an incursion of the old gods from Maine to Mars. I didn't understand all of it but I liked most of it. ( )

An interesting but elusive novella. The conception seems grand and there is much to be admired through the poetic, dream-like prose. However, the plot tinkers and dissolves as quickly as it starts and there does not seem to be a set focus-- or at least not one that I can understand. Nevertheless, it was an eventful and fruitful read. ( )

This was really, really good. A wonderful example of how you can write a sprawling story that spans time, space, distance, and even dimensions all in a single novella. The author unravels countless threads and even pulls some of them together in not that many pages so each word is important, each word is relevant and necessary. Sharp and hazy at the same time, this is an excellent story about twins, shoggoths, the end (or ends) of the world, super-secret intelligence agencies, human experimentation, assassins, and loss. Definitely recommend! ( )