Frantic Planet: Volume I [Kindle Edition]

Frantic Planet is the literary bridge between reality and surreality.
The stories include three separate realities: the world we inhabit and know (complete with effectively apt cultural references); our world as it could be without social constraints; and a world where our laws of physics do not apply. The collection veers back and forth between these different worlds which, in the hands of a less-skilled writer might easily be clumsy and destroy suspension of disbelief. But here the juxtaposition creates an effective sense of uncertainty: by the time the reader deduces which rules apply to a particular piece, they will already be compelled by the story. And so that world becomes just as real as our own.

The collection also varies widely in length. Some are as brief as a couple of hundred words and, as might be expected, these can be hit and miss. It seems likely the author has produced the book over a lengthy period as there appears to be a notable disparity among the briefer stories in terms of the skill with which the pretext, the hook and the payoff are delivered.

It is the longer tales that highlight the anthology, and perhaps not coincidentally they all inhabit the middle of the three literary worlds: that which follows our conventions of time and space, but rejects our conventions of behaviour . 'Just a statistic' is a twisted literal interpretation taking to ever more grotesque extremes. 'Rooting for truffles' examines the consequences of a 'What if?' scenario where only fate will ever allow the reader to confirm their conviction that they would never behave that way.... And the centrepiece 'Simple Choices, clocking in at 55 pages (a quarter of the full book) treads a dangerous line between the revulsion provoked by the story's events and the contemplation provoked by its themes. The specifics are of a fantasy world but the message is firmly rooted in our own.

A full appreciation of the subtleties of Frantic Planet may be contingent on a culture and humour overlap between audience and author. But the powers and burdens of free will are all that is needed to appreciate the way physical events in the book's fictional reality relate to less tangible ideals and behaviour in our physical world. Read more ›

To add to the wealth of deserved rave positivity that will be amassed here:

Frantic Planet Volume 1 is a wonderful collection of short stories for the modern reader; full of references to contemporary celebrity and culture, they are abrasive, irreverent and fantastic fun.

Firstly, the cover belies the true quality of Millard's writing; it doesn't seem to hint at what's to come. Having said that, I'm not sure what would prepare any reader for the cornucopia of fresh, innovative plots largely set against the background of run-away imagined, small-town worlds, full of jaded souls prone to the most outlandish twists and turns. Packets of flash-fiction pepper your senses with kaleidoscopic fantasy, while longer, usually first-person, narratives scratch at, and draw out your nerves to sinewy shreds.

If this book is self-published because it failed to find a publisher then shame on the industry for such oversight. Being self-published, there are some forgivable, infrequent typos, that don't ruin the book's flow, nor detract at all from Milliard's laugh-out-loud mind-bombs he sprays with liberal gusto: "...would make the efforts of Moses look like an old man trumping into a bathtub" is one such smile-simile.

Buy it. Be warned, but buy it.

Now, I'm going straight on to Frantic Planet Volume 2, with alacrity.

[Please bear in mind that as a self-published book, the only way an author can be financially rewarded for their efforts, is if you buy it direct from Amazon / Lulu, rather than via one of the alternative Buying Choices].

I picked up this book not really knowing what to expect. What you get is a collection of short stories unlike any other. Some are creepy, some make you think, some are touching, its impossible to put this into a category really, aside from the category "downright awesome!". My favourite story featured a vigilante with a difference, but to be honest I liked them all. Well worth a read, and reread and so on! Excellent!