My short story “Beauty” is reviewed by Richard E. D. Jones of Tangent Online:

A nice story, one that takes us along a familiar path, but takes the time to point out some new features along the way. I loved the conversational style Kirtley used to tell the story. The more modern sensibility in both presentation and setting really work to carry the reader along on the journey of discovery. Fables are time-tested stories of the impossible. “Beauty” is a nice continuation of that tradition, one that’s well worth your time.

Tangent Online also just posted a pair of reviews of Under the Moons of Mars, which includes my story “Three Deaths.” Both are pretty positive. Chuck Rothman writes:

Ghar Han is a memorable character as he tries to redeem himself in battle. David Barr Kirtley takes the situation and avoids a pulp story with a resolution that is both satisfying and has something to say.

And Robert E. Waters adds:

Kirtley works it out very nicely and shows us how someone classified as a “freak” might be treated in a very rigid place like Barsoom (and through Ghar Han’s eyes, we get a glimpse of how John Carter himself must have felt when he first appeared on Barsoom).

Got my contributor’s copies of Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams. This book includes my story “Three Deaths.”

Here’s a review from Bookhound. Reviewer Mel Odom writes:

I hadn’t heard of David Barr Kirtley before, but he’s hit my radar now with “Three Deaths.” His story of one of the Tharks first defeated by John Carter shortly after his advent on the Red Planet touched my heart in ways that I just hadn’t expected. Truly awesome stuff, and instantly more vulnerable than anything Burroughs had ever written.

Here’s the first review I’ve seen of John’s new Barsoom anthology Under the Moons of Mars. My story “Three Deaths” is mentioned here:

The book is absolutely beautiful and well laid out. I sat down and devoured the first three stories, trudging once more through the sands of Mars with a sword in my fist … David Barr Kirtley (whom I’ve never before heard of) has written a truly elegant and emotional story full of wonder and honor in “Three Deaths.”

Here are two new reviews I came across of my story “The Disciple”:

From Doug Bolden’s review of Dead But Dreaming:

One of my favorites. While it seems to be setting up for one style, a delightfully dark twist pulls it all together. Its Mythos creation feels both appropriately cosmic, dangerous, and weird, with what horror there is being more in having perspective realigned. In this way, it is possibly one of the more authentic Lovecraftian tales.

From Michael Tresca’s review of Dead But Dreaming for RPG Examiner:

David Barr Kirtley manages to do what so many have failed: He creates a story about an arcane professor that is horrific without being cheesy. Too many Mythos authors cast Miskatonic University as a college seething with kooks casting spells, but Kirtley cleverly turns the usual crazy professor plot on its ear. 4 out of 5 stars.

Swedish Zombie reviews The Living Dead 2, and identifies my story “The Skull-Faced City” as one of “eight examples of really good contributions.”

Here we return to the characters and setting from ‘The Skull-Faced Boy,’ which appeared in the previous volume. It’s a very twisted little story with a lot of action, and it makes the reader grin.

The first Amazon.com review for The Way of the Wizard gives the book 5 stars and comments on my story “Family Tree”:

I love this book. I have read George Martin’s “In the Lost Lands,” Susanna Clarke, John R. Fultz, and David Barr Kirtley stories so far. All are excellent. David Barr Kirtley’s “Family Tree” feels more like an excerpt from a novel. The ending left me somewhat disappointed. Overall the book managed to completely avoid Harry Potter knockoffs and concentrated instead on sense of wonder, magic lands, and fairy tale atmosphere, at least in the stories I read so far. Would have been nice to have Patrick Rothfuss, Michael Shea, and James P. Blaylock in this one, but this is just IMHO. Thanks for the great book!!!

Just noticed this review from back in June of my story “Cats in Victory.” I like the last line.

“Cats in Victory” by David Barr Kirtley takes place in a future time in which catmen are engaged in killing off dogmen. They have already killed off monkeymen and birdmen and frogmen. Now, they have what might be the last of the dogmen in their sights. They hope that Cat will descend back to Earth and restore them to their true forms. Lynx is a young catman who is showing soldiers where he saw dogmen when they find a strange object with what they think is a monkeyman inside. But he has Cat with him. And Cat does not talk. We, of course, have a better idea of what is going on and all becomes clear eventually. This was a nicely imaginative story about the problems of dogma, or would that be catma?

Here’s a review on PopMatters of The Living Dead 2:

Almost without exception, the stories here are quite good. The assembled writers know where zombie fiction has been, and either mine existing conventions for more substance, or take the genre in new directions entirely. David Barr Kirtley returns to the intriguing world he built in the first volume’s “The Skull-Faced Boy,” in which zombies form organized armies to fight the living, in the expansive “The Skull-Faced City.”

My story “The Skull-Faced City” is singled out as “the biggest disappointment” in this commentary (contains major spoilers) on The Living Dead 2.

There’s a review of The Living Dead over at Turkish Sci-Fi and Fantasy. My Turkish is a little rusty, so I had Google translate the page for me. The result is a bit opaque, but it looks like they thought my story “The Skull-Faced Boy” was at least okay:

David Barr Kirtley have chosen to tell a story through the eyes of zombie. Also have a good, if you want to read the story of a successful work can be considered a zombie. The others a bit dull, but still a nice addition.

Google also translates the site’s subtitle as “Turkish Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Bashing.” If that’s actually the site’s mandate, I guess I got off easy.

Hmm. Just noticed this from August. Bob Blough of Tangent Online not such a big fan of “Cats in Victory”:

The final story deals with cats that have been turned into “men” — much like Cordwainer Smith’s cat people — but less subtly written and not so disarmingly fascinating. “Cats in Victory” by David Barr Kirtley tells the story of the catmen who have killed off most of the other talking species — birdmen, dogmen, frogmen and monkeymen. It does not take much thought to realize who these “monkeymen” are. We are proven right when a human being who had been buried in his wrecked spaceship survives into this future world.

This is a tired retread of themes that could have been a fascinating exercise in creative Science Fiction. This story, however, has catmen who think and speak just like humans (except for their obvious curiosity as in ”curiosity kills the…”). The religion they have developed is overly predictable as well. David Barr Kirtley does have a very clear writing style. In the future, if he allows his imagination to really take off, he could bring us stories with wonder attached.

Oh well. I guess he who lives by the retro fun dies by the retro fun.

John DeNardo of SF Signal reviews The Living Dead 2, calling it a “must-have anthology for the zombie fan.” Here’s what he says about my contribution, “The Skull-Faced City”:

4.5 out of 5. There’s a war between the living and the organized undead in “The Skull-Faced City” by David Barr Kirtley. A man named Park tries to join up with the undead army led by the ruthless Commander, but he may have ulterior motives for doing so. I must say that I enjoyed this sequel story significantly more than “The Skull-Faced Boy” (reviewed here). Kirtley’s story here is a gripping one, wisely bypassing the traditional zombie scenarios for a living-vs.-dead setting that’s even more unsettling. Park is a likable character and one worth rooting for despite his circumstances, even though he seems a little slow in realizing the Commander’s Grand Plan.

The first review I’ve seen of The Way of the Wizard, on Not If You Were the Last Short Story on Earth, concludes, “There were some seriously outstanding stories in this collection,” and singles out six stories, including my “Family Tree.” (“Again, this is not a story that lauds magic and its users. Rather, it asks the rather pointed question: what happens when most in the family are magical? How do you deal with conflict, and jealousy, and the conflagrations that inevitably occur — especially when you’re living on top of each other?”)

SF Signal tweets: “Reading through @JohnJosephAdams’ THE LIVING DEAD 2. Just read a standout story: ‘The Skull-Faced City’ by David Barr Kirtley.”

Read the story free online.

Since the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast went on hiatus, we’ve received a fair number of messages from people who like the show. Here’s a sample:

Antihippy: “I’m really sad to hear that it doesn’t sound like you’re doing this podcast any more. I really enjoyed it. You guys put me onto all kinds of cool stuff — I’ve been punting that trailer for Pumzi round all my mates. And I bought The Windup Girl and Hack the Planet almost exclusively because of the chats with the authors. I thought there was a ton of potential in the show as well. So I am giving you the sad face. :(“

Farris wheel: “I’ve bought and read The Anubis Gates, Wild Seed, The Windup Girl, and Boneshaker because of the podcast. So thank you.”

Sandikal: “I got hooked on Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series. I also pulled the Wastelands anthology off my to-read shelf and devoured it in a couple of days after the episode about apocalypses. The terrific reading list in that book led me to other good post-apocalyptic fiction, like Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt.”

Mike: “I’m a huge fan of the show, and am sad to hear there may be no more. I’m one of those guys who actually knew about every single video game reference you guys made! Wish there were a mention of Deus Ex, though — was close in theme to a number of the books discussed in the podcast. ;) Good luck on all future endeavors.”

Michael321: “I just discovered the Geek’s Guide podcast last week, and it has quickly become one of my favorites. You guys conduct great interviews, and you’ve turned me on to a whole ton of cool stuff I didn’t know existed. The banter between David and John is also very engaging; if you have trouble booking guests, I would be happy to listen to a podcast with just the two of you shooting the breeze. Count me as another one who is hoping the Geek’s Guide makes a comeback.”

Ed: “I am a guy who has listened to every episode of your podcast since the beginning. I have enjoyed every single episode (except number 16, that one just didn’t do it for me). I have noticed the story podcast hosted by Ms. Lafferty has been canceled, and my precious Geek’s Guide has not been released on its usual schedule. I am filled with disquiet as a result of these circumstances and wonder if it is my fault somehow. Please pass on the following sentence to your corporate overlords. It may help. Ahem, ‘I have been in the unusual position that every time I hear a new episode of Geek’s Guide to The Galaxy, I am inclined, nay compelled, to purchase thousands of dollars of merchandise from Tor. My psychiatrist says this condition is incurable.’ There, hope that helps.”

Pete S: “I note that the Geek’s Guide is ‘missing’. I hope it will return soon. I appreciate all of Tor’s efforts in podcasting stories as well as the Geek’s Guide, but when my time is limited, as it so often is, I find I look first for the Geek’s Guide each week. I’m 60+ and a reader of science fiction since I was 9 or 10, and a (continuing) purchaser soon after (if that is of any benefit to your marketing department). I do hope to hear from Dave and John again.”

Siznax: “I’ve really enjoyed GGG episodes so far, and I hope you’re able to continue producing more. I find your interviews fascinating and entertaining. I’ve been amazed by your thoughtful observations and random knowledge, and you guys just really crack me up. Also, you’ve expanded my reading list, gotten me excited about new books and authors, and led me to read a lot of awesome stories. I find myself replaying your post-interview talks while waiting for the next episode, and it just never gets old. I was wondering how in the world you guys can be readers, authors, editors, anthologists, and produce a podcast, so I’m not surprised to hear how difficult it is. I was really hoping for GGG#999, but in the meantime I’ll continue enjoying everything else you guys produce, and all the great fiction you lead us to.”

Fortunately for fans of the show, things are currently looking pretty promising for a Geek’s Guide relaunch in the near future. More news to come.

“The Disciple” is a story I wrote right out of college. It was my very first anthology appearance, and it’s still picking up reviews, the latest of which just appeared on Horror World. Here’s an excerpt:

Some years ago a very small press did a very small print run (less than 100 initial copies, from what I heard) of a new anthology of Lovecraftian-flavored horror called Dead But Dreaming. That publisher, Dark Tales Publications, then promptly went out of business, thereby ensuring no more copies of DBD would be printed. If that book wasn’t any good then no one would have cared, and the little tome would have faded away into the horror history books without so much as a whimper. However, by all accounts Dead But Dreaming was amazing! That meant that very soon copies were being hocked on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Not bad for a small press anthology that was only a few years old. However, it was very bad news for any Cthulhuhead like me that didn’t already have a copy of what everyone “in the know” was calling the breakout book of new Cthulhu Mythos fiction.

Instead of going over all fifteen stories, I’ll just shine a light on the tales that really floored me, or the ones I had the most fun reading … David Barr Kirtley’s “The Disciple” is one of the more traditional Lovecraftian tales to be found here. However, in no way does that lessen its effectiveness or the enjoyment I had while reading it. The story takes place at the heart of higher horrific learning, Miskatonic University, and centers around a select group of students, a very special professor, and the unusual extra-credit, after-hours study group they all belong to.

Some folks over at Torque Control are not a fan of my short story “Cats in Victory.”

Here’s a nice, in-depth review of the June issue of Lightspeed by Eliza Victoria for the Philippine Online Chronicles. Of my story “Cats in Victory” she says:

I tend to approach stories featuring talking animals with wariness, and, at times, lowered expectations. Stories like this tend to fall into one of two extremes–either they’re genius, or a complete waste of time. Thank goodness this story was spun by the able hands of David Barr Kirtley. Whimsical, tragic, and endearing are the words I’d use to describe it.