Bleed Away The Sky – Brian Fatah Steele

Reviewed by Steve Stred

Bleed Away the Sky is my second go around with work from Brian, the first being his collection of tales Your Arms Around Entropy.

In that collection I found myself pulled back and forth between whether I liked all the cosmic tales together or whether there were too many similar tales in a small space.  Ultimately I did enjoy it and you can read my review here.

The thing I found with Bleed Away the Sky is Fatah Steele really knows how to work a cosmic horror tale when he has the room to fully flush it out.  The first 75% of this book hums along with loads of otherworldly horrors, psychological strife and plenty of well done gore.  I would describe this section as something born of Lovecraft if Guillermo Del Toro was allowed to adapt it.

Oh but what could have been.

I was so invested in this work that the first of what I considered three endings just fell flat for me.  It all rose up, came to a head and then the balloon burst and the air deflated.  But then the story didn’t end.

What I can only assume was a way of developing further books in the series we get an unexpected creature feature for a chapter that really didn’t need to be included, which I considered ending number 2, before… an epilogue.

I was so heartbroken at this turn.  It should have finished but then it didn’t end and by the epilogue I just wanted it over.

This started out easily as a 5/5.  I cruised through it, growing more intrigued about the Crimsonata, the Promethean Wall and Mr. Inaisis.  But the first ending knocked it down to a 4/5 and then it just felt forced.

If you are looking for some really well done, creepy cosmic horror, you can’t go wrong here, but you may want to call it a day at the 80% mark to not be so saddened by the forced ending.

Star Rating (out of 5): 3.5*

EVERY BLOODLINE HAS SECRETS
Audrey Darrow lost her mother when she was a child. Now, her absent father has passed away and Elliot, the half-brother she never knew, wants to connect with the only family he has left on an impromptu cross-country road trip.

BUT SOME SECRETS ARE BEST LEFT HIDDEN
Soon after the journey begins, she learns that her mother belonged to an ancient line of women — women who held powers they used to seal and protect our realm from an onslaught of nightmarish entities — and Audrey is the last of them. 

AND YOU CAN’T FLEE THE PAST FOREVER
Now a mystic cabal is determined to force her into her role, while a parade of otherworldly creatures attempt to kill her in order to end her line forever. Audrey must decide how to deal with the strange blood in her lineage, and about whether the world is worth saving or not… before it’s too late

You can buy Bleed Away The Sky from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve has a new book out will ALL PROCEEDs going to charity!

You can buy Dim The Sun from Amazon US & Amazon UK

Steve Stred is an up-an-coming Dark Horror author. Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick.

Steve also has a number of works on the go and enjoys all this horror, occult, supernatural and paranormal.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog Oj.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s Official Website here