Take No Prisoners is a collection of short stories from the pen (keyboard?) of John Grant. Usually, when I have read a short story collection all of the offerings have been of a particular genre. However, with Prisoners, this is definitely not the case. The stories cover a wide variety of themes: horror, science fiction, fantasy and there are even some that defy categorisation. In all cases they are skilfully written and paint a vivid technicolour picture that is guaranteed to entertain. You often find an author who is skilled in one area of fiction but John Grant is one of those rare talented people who is at home writing all genres. I was particularly impressed by his ability to write short Fantasy when the genre usually lends its self to more extensive works.

Not all of the stories are set in a comfortable safe world. Some are truly disturbing and leave you feeling strangely conflicted - you know that you have enjoyed the story and the writing style but the actual content is very dark. The story that best illustrates this is "The Dead Monkey Puzzle" - a tale of rape and degradation with supernatural elements. Grant manages to get into the mind of not only the rapists (exploring their thoughts that their victim had practically asked for it) but also the innocence of the victim herself and the way that she separated herself from the brutality of her experiences.

Still this collection does have its lighter moments. The character of Inspector Romford of the police force in "Cadaver-in-the-Offing (A Case of Four Fingers)" brought a smile to my face. This has to be one of the most bizarre and surreal places to ever grace the pages of a book. Imagine a sleepy English village that could be the set of Miss Marple or Midsommer Murders and you get the idea.

Usually, when reviewing a collection of short stories I will give a synopsis of each story in turn. I have deliberately tried to avoid this with Take No Prisoners as I do not want to spoil the enjoyment of reading them for the first time.

I have often found, when reading short stories, that the condensed nature of the writing can make the ending predictable. John Grant has avoided falling into this trap. In pretty much all cases I was surprised by the ending. If I had started to gain a feeling for the way the tale might pan out there was always something unexpected waiting.

One thing that is sure - every reader should find something to tempt them within this collection.

Cover Quotes
Do not open this book until you are prepared to dive in and forget the day. The worlds of John Grant are harsh, interconnected, florid, fluent, fun; and, more than all of that, they are generous. His tales are long and full. And his characters -- whether they occupy gothic niches in the World world, or our world, or the subtly interwoven Qinmeartha/Qinefer multiverse -- they live at full stretch, because John Grant gives each of them his own contentious, passionate, loving heart. Read and weep, read and laugh; but don't begin to read until you're ready for a long joy.
-- John Clute

John Grant is a master of transcendent literary fantasy, and one of my idols. His work is baroque, rich, often blurring the fine borders between symbol and reality, science and faith, philosophy and dogma, imagination and probability. With effortless skill he pours it all into a spicy cauldron of story, stirs it up with a biting-hot ladle of words, and the delicious result is Take No Prisoners.
-- Vera Nazarian

John Grant's stories are sharper than a serpent's tooth, and the bite is twice as deep. -- Bob Eggleton

John Grant delivers big time! A spectacular, dazzling spectrum of imaginings, from the gentlest of inner colourful visions to the most robust of ingenious hilarities, his stories flow within the soul: the touch of a master, weaving powerful, delightful mind-tapestries. I particularly loved "The Glad Who Sang a Mermaid in from the Probability Sea", "Wooden Horse", "Coma", "How I Slept With the Queen of China" -- but it's silly to start singling out stories because, the more I think about it, the longer the list gets.
-- Jael

John Grant writes stories with a wonderfully dream-like quality that skirt the edge of nightmares, misty fairy tales messily devoured by fireside ghost stories, perfect for curling up with for a foggy winter's night of reading pleasure. Just be sure to leave your preconceptions outside with your empty milk bottles.
-- N. Lee Wood

Great stuff! I'm embarrassed by how memorably well John Grant writes when he's working solo, because it makes me think uneasy thoughts about just where the best passages in our collaborations came from...
-- David Langford