Brimstone Press July 2009 ISBN 9780980567724
Perth-based speculative fiction writer, editor and reviewer Shane Jiraiya Cummings is the winner of multiple Ditmar awards, and has been nominated at least once for every other Australian speculative fiction award. Cummings is the Vice President of the Australian Horror Writers Association, and the director of the Australian Shadows award, with more than sixty short stories published in Australia and overseas. Cummings has long lauded flash fiction through his work in Shadow Box, Black Box and Shadowed Realms (amongst others), so it’s no surprise that his first solo collection, Shards is an exceptional demonstration of the art of the very short story.

Shards is truly a collaborative effort, with stunning images provided by Sydney-based illustrator Andrew J McKiernan accompanying each of Cummings’s dark flashes. A Ditmar award nominee and accomplished author himself, McKiernan is Art Director for Aurealis magazine and utilises his considerable creative talent as a graphic designer and web developer.

In addition to a foreword filled with glowing praise by Richard Harland (Worldshaker, Allen and Unwin), Shards features thirty-one dark and delightful short-short stories and companion artwork. The collection is broken down into themes, such as Sacrifices, Personal Demons, and the immensely creepy Dread Seasons series, with each segment containing several flashes.

The excellent presentation, coupled with clever organisation and uniformly skillful writing, makes Shards a swift, professional and pretty read. Standout pieces are Firewall, Postcard from Paris (a Reply), Congo Jenga, and all seven pieces in the Dread Seasons section, most notably Rainbow-Speckled Field, a shockingly perfect piece of horror. The gruesome and effective Itch actually made me wince and whisper “oh, no, don’t do that” aloud. Cummings’s writing is evocative, visual and confident, managing to capture a multitude of differing voices and images within the confines of a very minimalist medium. McKiernan’s artwork is of an astonishingly high standard, and always ideally matched with its companion story.

There is nothing less than good in Shards. A few minor typos jarred me when reading, but I could count them on one hand. Not all of the stories inspired the same sense of pleasing disquiet and satisfaction in me, but that’s down to my own personal tastes and inclinations rather than any failing in Cummings’s writing. Readers will always feel some pieces are less effective or strong than others in a collection, and Shards is typical in that regard, especially because when Cummings hits the mark, he really hits it, leaving only a smoking crater in its wake.

The overall experience of Shards is that of a dizzying, vivid, frightening rollercoaster ride, plunging the reader repeatedly into dark and horrible places, only to climb up toward the light for a gulp of air before dropping sharply into another nightmare. All lovers of dark fiction will find something to cherish here, and those who appreciate high quality artwork will enjoy McKiernan’s touches, too.

Shane Jiraiya Cummings can be found online at http://www.jiraiya.com.au/ and Andrew J McKiernan can be found at http://www.kephra.com.au/ .