Hecatontagonal Stew - Kyle A. Massa - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Kyle A. Massa

GENRE: Micro-fiction Collection

PUBLICATION DATE: August 21, 2024

RATING: 3.6 stars.

In a Nutshell: A collection of a hundred hundred-word stories from various genres. A quick and entertaining indie read.

A hecatontagon (I dare you to pronounce it five times in a row without faltering!), also known as a hectogon, is a hundred-sided polygon. A stew is, as you probably know, a dish of multiple veggies and meat slow-cooked. A “Hecatontagonal Stew” is a collection of a hundred stories from multiple genres and themes.

This isn’t my first Kyle Massa work. I have read his novel ‘Eggs for the Ageless’ and two other story collections, ‘Monsters at Dusk’ and ‘Past, Present, Future’. Each of these has been a delightful experience, showcasing the author’s creativity and humour excellently. So I had (unfairly) high expectations from this new collection, and to a great extent, they were met.

The specialty of this latest work is that each story (excluding the title) is exactly a hundred words long. (I cross-checked some of the stories at random and found this claim to be true. 😉) His introductory note is apt, offering readers a sample of his humour and writing skills. But one thing he is mistaken about in his note is that he calls this the only collection of its kind. Not really, and I wouldn’t blame him for not knowing this because indie works rarely pop up on Google. As far as I know, there is at least one more drabble (hundred-word story) collection, ‘One Hundred: Words / Days / Stories’ by another brilliant indie author Ria Rees.

As I’ve had the pleasure of reading both, I can confidently say that the books, while having a distinct style, have some features in common: both are indie works, both have hundred stories with each tale being exactly one hundred words long, both contain stories from various genres and convey multiple emotions. Content-wise, this book leans a bit more on humour while Ria Rees’ work is more sombre. If you like micro fiction, both books are satisfying, so why pick? Read them both!

Okay! Back to Hecatontagonal Stew!

The collection has been divided into ten topic/genre-based sections, with ten stories in each set. Thus we get narratives from diverse themes such as fantasy, horror, surrealism, sports, identity issues, time loops and more. A few of the tales come from non-human narrators: these were fun.

The stories are quite creative, but as is common in short fiction, some hit the mark and some don’t. Depending on my reading preference, some themes worked better for me and some (Looking at you, Sports!) didn’t click at all. Most of the stories are standalone, but a couple of them feature a fun Easter Egg from another tale.

While the author’s forte lies in humour, I love his deeper stories even more. Even in the earlier story collections, some of the most impactful ones for me were the thought-provoking tales, though I enjoyed the light-hearted ones as well. The same applies to this book. Some of the stories were so poignant and powerful that they left me stunned for even longer than I took to read the story. I wish there had been more of the deeper ones herein.

I usually rate stories individually but doing so for a hundred micro-fiction stories was a daunting task. So I decided to evaluate this book based on my satisfaction level with each section.

I. Tales and Tails – Liked 9 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Werewhat – Loved the reversal of typical tropes. Hilarious!

II. Who Are You? – Liked 8 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 The Beginning – Such a beautiful and emotional short that is sad and joyful at once.

Honorable Mention: 🌷 Thirteen – Love how the story itself works with the title.

III. Consumption – My second-least favourite section. Liked 5 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Rejected Book Cover Blurbs – The title itself should tell you why I loved it. I might even steal some ideas from this little work. 😉

IV. How Creepy – Liked 7 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Inner Thoughts of Sprinkles – Sounds innocuous, until you realise who/what ‘Sprinkles’ is.

Honorable Mention: 🌷 Friend of the Pod – The dark side of fandom. Love how creepy this is without being overt about it.

V. Selective Memory – Liked 8 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Voracious Reader – Yet another brilliant book-based tale, taking the titular adjective literally.

VI. Please Be Professional, Please – My favourite section. Quite a few fabulous tales here. Liked 9 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 The Many Fingers of Tytus Dymond – Probably among the top three stories of the book. Excellent hook, build-up and ending, which is amazing for the length! Tytus felt like a creepier version of Johnny Hundredfingers from ‘Past, Present, Future.’

Honorable Mentions:

🌷 Mass Panic – Especially hilarious after the pandemic anxieties.

🌷 Efficiency Within One’s Pants – Didn’t expect the titular pants to be literally efficient.

VII. Surreality – Liked 6 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Family Un-Union – How a cocky [this adjective used deliberately] person gets a reality check.

VIII. Sporting – This might be a good section for sports lovers. I just *went* through it. Liked 4 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 Billieve – A simple but good tale. The last line makes it a winner.

IX. Circles – One of the most creative sections. Liked 8 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 A Gallery of Ghosts – Loved the concept and the implementation. Great job for such a tiny story.

Honorable Mention: 🌷 Poultry Rising – Appreciated the unusual “poultry” and the ending.

X. Crime and Reward – Liked 7 stories out of 10.

Best Story: 🌹 The Funeral – The perfect ending to the collection.

All in all, this is a good collection for those who enjoy short fiction, and want to try something quicker and quirkier. It will work better for SFF lovers as that’s the primary flavour of this stew.

3.6 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each section.

My thanks to the author for providing a complimentary copy of “Hecatontagonal Stew” to the Massa Mob. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.