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The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories

Leon Stevens

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Jul 06, 2021 James Blakley rated it liked it · review of another edition

"The Knot at the End of the Rope" is mostly what used to be called "flash fiction": A few hundred words or so stories that thrive on a single character or two, but manages to provide a powerful, memorable, or surprise ending despite the paucity of imagery. When done right, you get such classics as Arthur C. Clarke's "Light of Darkness." When done here, by author Leon Stevens, the results are, well, not enlightening nor particularly entertaining.

The problem is its sci-fi flash fiction: It may be "The Knot at the End of the Rope" is mostly what used to be called "flash fiction": A few hundred words or so stories that thrive on a single character or two, but manages to provide a powerful, memorable, or surprise ending despite the paucity of imagery. When done right, you get such classics as Arthur C. Clarke's "Light of Darkness." When done here, by author Leon Stevens, the results are, well, not enlightening nor particularly entertaining.

The problem is its sci-fi flash fiction: It may be an attempt to return to more soft sci-fi or fantasy roots of the genre, but lacks memorable characters, tech, and satisfying endings. Many of the plots are about doomed or displaced astronauts, the incomprehensible "00:00:01", or an uninspired reboot of "Soylent Green." All fall flat.

Where "The Knot at the End of the Rope" pulls its weight to a respectable level is in its striking post-apocalyptic poetry and short stories. Located fittingly near the end of the book are poetic gems like "Found" and "Found Scrawled on a Cave Wall" stir the reader's imagination with how the world may have ended for each poet. In "Found," it could simply be an interpretation of dying. And in "Found in a Bottle," there appears to be a glimmer of hope for survivors of the end of the world. Even the short story "Jackpot," though derivative of the last man on earth trope, has the dark humor and twist ending seen in classic books of brevity. While the other end time short stories are also Cormac McCarthyesque accounts of a lone survivor's wasteland treks, they still sear fresh haunting imagery and original "what-if" thoughts into the readers memory.

So, if you like post-apocalyptic imagery and poetry aplenty, then there's a glimmer of hope to be found near the end of Leon Steven's book. But like an atomic flash, it fades, leaving mainstream sci-fi fans (soft and hard core) who are seeking more upbeat tales of future high tech with a fate similar to the astronaut in the titular entry "The Knot at the End of the Rope": Feeling detached. ...more

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Apr 03, 2021 Ellie Aiden rated it it was amazing

The highlight was the poetry for me. I could really tell the author has a passion for it, and since that isn't something I normally read, I was pleasantly surprised.

The short stories were also great. I loved a few that had a fun/funny theme, but then there were some that were kind of weird and left me thinking (not necessarily in a bad way.) Several of these stories had a really great storyline that i think if the author wanted to, he could definitely turn them into a full length. I would certai ...more

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Nov 03, 2020 SheLivesAmongBooks marked it as to-read

Apr 03, 2021 Abby Snodgrass rated it it was amazing

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Sep 24, 2020 Leon Stevens added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

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