I met Rob, far too briefly, at the British Fantasy Convention in Nottingham a few weeks ago.  A few people that weekend had already recommended his collection Tiny Deaths from Comma Press, and after meeting Rob and having a nice chat, I bought it.  And folks … it is brilliant.  Surreal, beautiful, heartfelt, funny, shattering, sad, thought-provoking, every story in this book will affect you in some way.  Sometimes the stories are so subtle that it might take a minute or two for you to realise what you’ve just read … and then the chill of discovery shivers down your spine.  Sometimes the humour masks something much deeper, and much darker.

Rob obviously knows a lot about life, and he’s not afraid to explore his knowledge in his fiction.  I suspect there’s plenty of his own experiences in this book – sometimes quite overt, but more often masked behind a surreal veneer that works just perfectly in conveying certain meanings, certain themes.

Tiny Deaths is up for a World Fantasy Award this weekend, and I’ll be cheering for it.  But whether it wins or not doesn’t matter.  This is a landmark collection from a stunning writer.  The fact that it’s also his first book promises, I’m sure, even more wonderful tales to come.