Punktown Book

Within the confines of Punktown, a far-future multi-species colony on a faraway world, Jeffrey Thomas weaves gritty sci-fi, body horror and a constant sense of alienation (in more ways than one) to tell tales of artists, aliens and assassins coming face to face with poverty, violence, disease, heartbreak and more. The viewpoints are diverse and not always human, the stories are all different and yet there's a great unity to this collection, most obviously seen in how characters from different stories are alluded to in other tales, but also in the common themes and the despairing but somehow still romantic and humane worldview underlining everything. Like John Claude Smith, Thomas is a writer who will drag you through the grime and gore, but will never leave you feeling grimy for having partaken of his fictions. This work may have splatterpunk roots, but there is a generosity of spirit and broadness of vision that makes it a real classic of modern weird fiction. This is where your journey through Punktown begins. You won't like it here, but you'll want to come back.