Calling Fire From Heaven – Gregg Voss
Phenomenal collection of stories with impact!
When Gregg Voss puts out something new to read I can’t get my hands on it fast enough-his writing is always top-drawer and the stories are profound, to say the least. Calling Fire From Heaven is a fantastic collection and I can’t wait to read more of his work.
In Calling Fire From Heaven, Prelude, the first story is novella length, The Sad Last Days of Max Gordon , and takes place in current times, putting a fascinating twist on “what if” with technology. It follows a young tabloid reporter, who’s entirely too bright for her job, and gets into a life-threatening situation revolving around social media, Hollywood rumors, and terrifying technological advances. I loved this story – it’s frighteningly realistic.
Then the first story in Part I, Virtue , takes place in Edmund, KS, and is a satisfying sequel to Patience, in The Valley of American Shadow.
Next, Now At The Hour of My Death , takes us to a courtroom drama where a murdered victim, a Priest, faces the man who murdered him. This one brings an interesting perspective!
Then to Angelus, NE, where Neill, a college student, gets quite an Object Lesson when he attempts to write a family history report for a genealogy project. He’s having trouble getting anyone in his family to give him any family information, and the only one who can help is his grandmother. On her deathbed, she gives him the key that inadvertently gives Neill what he needs as he’s thrust through time on a life-changing journey. This story made me cry and it’s one I’ll remember for the rest of my life-especially being able to relate it to a few of my own family members who’ve passed.
Next we go to Hattiesburg, MI for another sequel to The Valley of American Shadow where we meet Big Nick who is now in his adolescence. As it turns out, he still has the same abilities, and now he has to do something more. This one is also fantastic, but the mother in it reminds me of the mother in the Karate Kid movie, so rather annoying in my book – but the perfect mother for Nick.
Now, Henri , by Ric Valentine, a surprise addition to this collection which is every bit as amazing as the rest. I thoroughly enjoyed this haunting story which is set in Vietnam, 1967. In this story we follow several men whose courage and lives are in constant peril, and those who stand strong among them. Phenomenal story.
Part II begins with Rock The Bus , another sequel to The Valley of American Shadow, which takes place near Lufkin, TX. This is an eerie story that blends sci-fi with the supernatural where a bus driver, with a busload of elderly people, is faced with freaky hellfire out in the middle of nowhere on a highway at night. Scary amazing and wonderful story.
Then we get to my favorite story of the collection, Artifact . And I can’t quite say why this is my favorite story, but I think really it’s the main character who possesses an innocence and curiosity that I relate to. This story takes place in the distant future where Taag travels back in time on a mission to gather information. His mission is drastically altered when he finds information on something he couldn’t possibly have expected. Excellent story, and quite humorous in many ways. Another that I find myself thinking on long after reading and I will remember the rest of my life. I also cried in this one.
Next is Ru Ebo , which is written in first person from the perspective of a high school kid, that I found an entertaining demonstration of Voss’ writing. This story seems a bit silly, but as we find out at the end, it’s not. A well-written, and a fun addition to this collection.
We then find ourselves in NYC, Times Square with Eli in Sheol , another fantastic sequel to a story in The Valley of American Shadow. This sequel is much scarier and more suspenseful than the first part of the story, with Eli and Kristi trying to escape transcendental thugs. One of the funny things, which I fully understand after living on the border in Texas, is the very first line, “The salsa wasn’t authentic Mexican…”
Now we arrive in Luxembourg, 1944, where we’re faced with a though-provoking perspective on ethnic prejudice, war, and heritage in Skyline Drive . Being half German myself, this story really hit me. This story also gave me an eye-opening perspective on wars throughout history, and the difference between the wars of this past century. I’m not going to expound on that here, but I might at another time. I felt the snow and freezing air in this story.
Postlude, The Big Reveal . What a story!! This one takes place in Meadowcrest, CA, and is based in current times at a high school, where we get to see the ridiculous behaviors of both sides of a debate. This story brilliantly touches on the social viewpoints we’re experiencing these days with an absolutely hilarious, though mischievous, and paranormal twist at the end.
Gregg Voss’ writing is richly descriptive and realistic, which makes it deeply disturbing and thought-provoking. Reading Calling Fire From Heaven at once (because I couldn’t put it down) took me a few days to process because the story collection is so incredible. As I said, a few of the stories will always stay with me.
I highly recommend anything and everything written by Gregg Voss – well, if you enjoy writing that is both succinct and eloquent, paired with gripping and clever stories anyway.
