Book Review: William Ottoway's Utopia and Other Stories

By Elizabeth Suggs

William Ottoway's Utopia and Other Stories by Christopher Griffith is a short, abstract collection of stories written in a poetic style.

There were five stories in this collection, with a writing style that got progressively better the longer I read. In fact, it was the last two stories that brought my rating up to a 3, as I didn’t enjoy the first three. I felt the earlier stories to be jarring, and “Break out the Bubbly” was a roller coaster of emotions, leaving my head spinning at the end.

But the final two stories (especially “Young Shakespeare”) seem to have fixed these problems. The transitions are much better, the writing is creative, and it shows his potential as a writer. My favorite quotes are:

What acidic precept had the nation’s womenfolk been scorched by on that accord!

...with the fraudulent riding crest of a foul, gluttonous wave whilst the gentle were churned over in its grim, muddy wash beneath.

They were purged by the very selfless and noble actions wrought to aid society.

There were moments I enjoyed this book, but overall, it wasn’t for me.

Elizabeth Suggs is the owner and founder of Editing Mee and co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves to dive deep into books (the weirder, the better!), and she loves to take random long walks to unplanned destinations. Check out her recently released book Collective Darkness with eleven other authors. Buy your copy here: www.CollectiveDarkness.com