Fiction River #15 Recycled Pulp

As I write this it is January 1, 2016 but I will post it in 2015.  My challenge to read 100 short stories in 2015 was ignored for much of the year but it was in the last two months that I made an effort to accomplish it.

I've been reading a few collections in those months and have been reviewing the stories individually, in draft form, with the plan to publish them once I completed the collections.  So, in the effort to track my reading in 2015, below is a review of the stories read from the collections I have not completed.  As I finish the collections I will count the remaining storeis towards my 2016 goal.

Cool?

Thanks.

* * *

I've been a long-time fan of Kristine Kathryn Rush's work, while on her website I found that she's been busy starting up her own publishing business.  From that I discovered the anthology magazine Fiction River where each issue focuses on on particular genre.  Being a fan of pulp I thought I'd buy this issue and give it a spin.

From the introduction I learned that this may not be exactly what I thought I was getting into.  There were some very special and interesting rules the editors put on the authors.  This I found intriguing and thought it would be a nice way to get some exposure to genres I would not usually buy.

That's the real reason to read anthologies; to be introduced to the new.

The Revolt of the Philosophers of Fomalhaut - by Phaedra Weldon.

91/100 - Angles are sent to Earth to kill.  Yup to kill.  This rubs our angelic narrator the wrong way and we discover with him what is going on and how to deal with it.

You know what?  This was quite a compelling story.  I enjoyed it and could see it on an episode of the Twilight Zone.  Not the old one but a new 21st century version of the show.  Putting this story to a visual medium would be interesting.

 http://www.phaedraweldon.com/

Marvelous Contrivances of the Heart - by Cat Rambo.

92/100 - Another quiet, elegant story about two people who have their own problems. An obsessive husband and a deeply sad, frustrated wife.

An then something strange happens and the entire story takes on a sinister feeling. 

http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/

The Flower of the Tabernacle  - by Annie Reed 

93/100 - This collection is turning into something unexpected.  I was sure it would be a collection of genre stories but it's looking like something much more compelling and heavy.

This on js a straight up police detective story.  I was reminded of Lawrence Block in the telling of the discovery of a dead woman in a church.  Murder? Suicide? Something else?  This was a story very well told.

https://anniereed.wordpress.com/

Lost in the Tarnished Cube - by Thomas K. Carpenter

94/100 - A wizard buys a tower.  His mortgage is backed by a magical bank.  It comes due unexpectedly.  He must handle the penalty in his own way.

Sadly, this story did not work for me.

http://thomaskcarpenter.com/

The 2015 Short Story Advent Calendar editied by Michael Hingston

As I write this it is January 1, 2016 but I will post it in 2015.  My challenge to read 100 short stories in 2015 was ignored for much of the year but it was in the last two months that I made an effort to accomplish it.

I've been reading a few collections in those months and have been reviewing the stories individually, in draft form, with the plan to publish them once I completed the collections.  So, in the effort to track my reading in 2015, below is a review of the stories read from the collections I have not completed.  As I finish the collections I will count them towards my 2016 goal.

Cool?

Thanks.

* * *

I read about this project a couple of months ago. I found it appealing because of it's limited print run, only 1,000 made, the project was created locally and it simply looked lovely.

1 Flamingo by Jessica Westhead - 

67/100 - This was a sad, touching, dreary story that left me wondering what I just read. 

Stories where nothing truly happens and characters are no different at the end then how they started make me feel like I've wasted my time. 

2 The Princess Doctrine by Chris Bachelder - 

68/100 - Part Princess Bride and partly a comical look at political decision making. 

In the world of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale the king and his lords must decide on a plan of action to protect the newly born princess. 

Very entertaining. 

3 Bison Burgers by Lee Henderson - 

69/100 - Two adult siblings are invited to their father's newly purchased bison ranch.  They miss the turn to the ranch house so they park and decide to walk across the pastures in an attempt to find the house.  

It's during that walk where we learn about the brother and sister, father and mother.  Conversation, speculation and realization come together on the brisk Alberta foothills afternoon.

Lovely.

4 Flex by Naomi K. Lewis - 

70/100 - This was a weird little time travel story about an out a college under-achiever working for his girlfriend's brother.

The brother is working a strange angle with flex-time on a contract job.  What I liked about it was how the author managed to tell the second half of the story backwards.

5 Americas by Jason Lee Norman

71/100 - This was a touching collection of "facts" from Central American countries.  I use quotes because I am not sure of any if these fascinating points, some sound like legends, some like hearsay, are true.  I suspect they are, which I would make me happy, because the world is a strange and beautiful place and it is good to hear about it. 

6 No One Else Really Wants to Listen by Heather Birrell

72/100 - I had to force my way through this one.  Firstly, it was written as a series of posts to a chat room, a venue I cannot tolerate. Then the subject did not capture me, simply because I am male.  Yup, it was a chat room full of pregnant women. In my own defense, I am a father of two girls so I have some experience with the subject but it never happened to ME, you know?

7 Laplanders by Zsuzsi Gartner

73/100 - Here is another literary story where nothing really happens, except kind of.  Two young people meet on a trip to China.  They are very different from each other and her personality deeply affects him. They part after the trip but it is the boy who is changed by the encounter and from it others are also affected.

It was a rather dull story and yet somehow interesting.  Makes me think that even brief interactions can alter perceptions and that every person you meet can be important in your life.

8 When Orphans Glowed in the Dark by Heather O'Neil

74/100 - A heart-wrenching story about orphans returning from the war.  It is filled with tales about how these kids coped with their circumstances.

9 Wrestling by Rosemary Nixon

75/100 - Man I did not like this story.  Crazy, religious fanatics occupy the same room as serial killers in fiction for me.  Crazy people are crazy! There is no understanding them, just run away.  Thank goodness it was a short story; if it was a novel I would have thrown it across the room.

10 Two-Part Invention by Doretta Lau

76/100 - This was a cute story about a single woman who decides she would like to only date dead men.  In it she meets Glenn Gould.  Charming.

11 There Is Good in the World

77/100 - Man, there really is terrible stuff published everywhere.  I hated this one; it made no sense and was just stupid.

12 Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus by Eliza Robertson

78/100 Again, another bullshit story where a man has a nothing life and does nothing with a future that looks like he'll continue to do nothing.  What is the point of this thing?

13 Jobbers by Spencer Gordon

79/100 Finally a decent story.  A sad story of two kids coping with a dysfunctional family situation by pretending to be WWF professional wrestlers.  Touching.

14 Valerie's Bush by Nancy Jo Cullen

80/100 - An interesting story about how a "hair cut" can lead to a life change and a letting go of the past.  I liked it.

15 God Loves Hair by Vivek Shraya

81/100 - A touching story of a young Indian boy growing up in the neighbourhood of Millwoods, Edmonton, struggling to fit in and to understand and accept his own sexuality.  Coming of age is confusing and difficult.

16 The Story of Patricia

82/100 - A shepherd boy tells stories to his oxen.  They don't understand what he is saying but they ate very interested.  Seems strange but somehow it works.

17 The Prize Jury by C. P. Boyko

83/100 - What fun.  It really spoke to the world of literary fiction, novelists and literary prizes.  It was, funny, sad, enlightening and infuriating all at once. Very well done.

18 Statistical Abstract for My Hometown, Spokane, Washington/Addendum by Jess Walter

84/100 - A fabulous story. Written in bullet points I could not help but relate to everything the author said.  Spokane is much like Edmonton in so many ways.  The Addendum was the best part of it.

19 Robin by David Whitton

85/100 - A heart-thumping read.  We hear what is going through a young woman's mind as she plunges to her death from a seventh story balcony.

20 A Luckless Santa Claus by F. Scott Fitzgerald

86/100 - First published in 1912 it is still fresh and funny and relevant to today.  It's also the first Christmas story in the collection.

21 Raccoons by Russell Smith

87/100 - Yikes! Men can be so stupid.  Here is a man trying to end an affair while trying to cover it up from his family.  It as very well done. You just know the whole thing will blow up in his face.

22 What Tells by Jacqueline Baker

88/100 -  Yet another navel-gazing, nothing-happens and nothing-changes story about a normal, dysfunctional-feeling family going out for a picnic.   God another waste of my time.

23 The Pigeon Cove Festival of Lights by Kevin Wilson

89/100 - I really liked this one.  It had the feeling of being a fable.  All the families of a cul-de-sac decorate their homes with increasing amounts of lights, turning the little street into a tourist attraction.

24- How I Saved Christmas by Richard Van Camp

90/100 - This one was a bit off kilter until I found the voice of the narrator.  A young high-schooler trying to cope with the realities of living in a small community in NWT.  Here we learn how he himself has learned to cope and how he convinces a local to continue being Santa Clause for the yearly festivities.

This is where I ended in the collection.  Christmas was upon me and I had no time to complete it.  I will soon read and review the last story in the box.

25 Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter

Xx/100 -  

Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens: High Noon on Jakku by Landry Q. Walker - A short story review.

66/100

What fun!

This was an old-fashioned wild-west stage coach bank heist story.

This time it involves a rogue droid named CZ-1G5 as the primary suspect.  There are chases, shoot-outs and even a stand-off between the good guy and the bad guy.

I loved it.

Even though it was set in the Star Wars universe it could have been played out in any genre.

I don't know if it helped me understand the new movie in any way.  The previous short did that very well by using a setting from the movie in it's narrative.  This one was so generic that it did not matter that it was a Star Wars story.

So, if it's purpose was to fill out the movie, it did not accomplish that.  But as pure entertainment it sure was a fun read.

Recommended.

Landry Q. Walker

Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens: The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku by Landry Q Waker - A short story review

65/100

Now this is what I'm talking about.

It's a tough, gritty and funny story set in a strange, dangerous world.

As the title suggests it's an adventure tale of hidden treasure. What makes this so much fun is that it expands things from the new Star Wars VII movie; in the trailer we see a crashed star destroyer on a desert planet.  In this quick read we learn which ship it is, why it crashed and what is supposedly on board.

The author found entertaining ways to introduce characters and ending them in quick succession.

It is not written to be taken too seriously, after all Star Wars does have a sense of humour and the author took the opportunity to tell a fun story without venturing into farce.  By the end you've had a small taste of a very large universe and you've been able to fill in a bit of the story.

Now when you see that crashed ship you won't just think that's a cool background but you'll know how it came to be.  That is the ultimate value of reading it.

Well done.

The author's website is here:  http://landrywalker.blogspot.ca/

Landry Q Walker

AB Negative, An Anthology Of Alberta Crime - Book Report #148

I first heard about this book from The Edmonton Journal.  I am a sucker for local stuff; too much media is set in New York or LA.  It's always refreshing to read something set in places I know.  Plus, I enjoy supporting local efforts whenever I can.

I can say the anthologist, Axel Howerton, who has a gritty entry here, does a terrific job of including a wide verity of genres to this collection.  That said the collection just kept getting better with each story.  I am so happy I bought it.

The book opens with Murder On The Mall by Randy McCharles.  52/100 - A straight up PI story, one of my favourites, our hero, Galloway, is on a case, trying to help a western wear retailer who is being shaken down for protection money.

It was a fine story, I liked that Galloway still has ties to the police department and there was a clever use of taxi cabs that could become a thing.

The only thing that took me out of the story was one bit of slang.  I have never heard a $20 bill referred to in much the same way Americans refer to their money.  That was a minor complaint, otherwise the story was very entertaining, quickly paced and believable.

Freezer Breakdown by Susan Calder - 52/100 - Vincent's mother has just died.  He's in his mid-forties and has spent much of it living with her. Now that she's gone how will he get by?

This was a quick read, a-day-in-the-life type of story.  It lacked a certain menace that I think the author was trying to convey. 

It felt more like a slice of literary fiction rather than crime fiction. 

Devil's Due by Axel Howerton - 53/100 - This was a fascinating story about a drug distributor, Devil, taking the time to give one of his underling-dealers a lesson about following rules. 

What comes is an epiphany of sorts for Devil. It's interesting how paradigm shifts occur. 

The story started out gritty and scary then took an unexpected turn. Well worth reading for anybody who is a fan of straight up crime fiction. 

Movable Type by S. G. Wong - 54/100 - There sure was a lot packed into this one. Nothing quite so satisfying than reading a story about corruption and it's uncovering. 

Plus it's set in a newspaper in the 1930's so it had some nostalgic charm. But the twist was the best. 

A Dead Reckoning  by Robert Bose - 55/100 - My goodness this was a fun story. It has very strong similarities to The Dresden Files and thankfully also had a good dose of humour. 

Tagged Boon is a fixer, of sorts, who is helping a woman to release a spirit from an artefact.  So there is a bit of occult here which is usually not my thing. But when it's done well, like this story, it can be a breath of fresh air. 

It was fun and I hope there is more from Bose out there. 

The Workman's Friend by Janice MacDonald - 56/100 - MacDonald's domestic flair is back in this quick cozy. 

Although the cozy is not my preferred genre of crime fiction, the author can create scenes that are vibrant in the imagination. 

A good addition to this volume. 

The Coelacanth Samba by Al Onia - 57/100 - Corporate shenanigans with an unusual murder. 

Darren McLean is an ex-RCMP officer gone private.  He is hired to find a missing executive from a small oil company. 

I found it very well written. Onia has a real grasp of who this character is and his confidence comes through in his writing. 

Cappy's Smart Monkey by Sharon Wildwind - 58/100 - What a cool, Calgary based Western this was.  I'm certain the recent flooding inspired this story of a planned heist upset by a storm. 

The characters were fully formed, believable and interesting. I felt like I was reading a classic pulp magazine story. I mean that in the best possible way.  Often short stories feel like they come from a larger work or stilted and rushed due to a short word count. This tale worked extremely well in it's space. 

Well done, indeed.

Silicone Hearts by Brent Nichols - 59/100 - A human PI is hired by a robot to find a missing robot. What follows is a violent and often funny exploration of the world of artificial humans.  Some are victims while others are heroes.

It reminds me of The Plutonium Blonde series of books (by John Zakour) blended with a bit of the Blade Runner movie. 

Very well done.

A Little Bit Easy by Therese Greenwood - 60/100 - A retired southern Alberta dairy farmer rents out a house on his property to a young woman from New Orleans.

She is very private and is doing some interesting improvements to the old house.  People being people it's hard not to get to know each other.

The story was vivid and well paced.

Butch's Last Lesson by R. Overwater - 61/100 - Oh my god. This one made my heart race. Not for fans of the "cozy."  This is hard neo-noir.

Fantastic.

Hell Hath No Fury by Dwayne E. Clayden - 62/100 - This was probably my favourite of the bunch.  It starts off with our narrator getting a beating from three brothers of a woman he is involved with.  We find out later that he is a PI with a half brother on the police force.  Our guy takes a "domestic" case that quickly spirals from one suspect to another. 

Throughout the case he is stalked by the brothers and he is having difficulties getting a grip on the circumstances. 

The whole story delivered all the satisfaction of a novel and even left a plot points unresolved setting up a possible follow up.

Sudden Death by Jayne Barnard - 63/100 - Nope.  I think this one is my favourite.  It is pretty much a crime comedy of errors, written much like an Elmore Leonard novel.  There are lots of not very smart characters, all trying their hands a different crimes during a storm and the NHL playoffs.

Classic.

The Mystery of the Missing Heir by Kevin P. Thorton - 64/100 - What fun, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in 19th century Ft. McMurray.  It also had a fun nod to the TV show Due South.

The real treat was in the merging of Holmes and northern Alberta.

This province has a lot of talent.

-

Brisk Money by Adam Christopher - A Short Story Review

51/100

I love detective stories.  Science fiction detective stories are a special treat.

This one was quite clever; it's 1962 and our hero is a robot with a limited amount of data storage.  He must return to his office every night to have his memories downloaded to the mainframe.  Her name is Ada by the way.

Things start to get interesting when our robot PI's tapes are not wiped perfectly.  He has fragments of memories still on the tapes.  This is enough for him to become suspicious about the work he does so he investigates what he can.

I thought the premise and the story itself were just terrific.

There is a novel out with these very characters that I'm dying to read.

Recommended.

You can read the story here:   http://www.tor.com/2014/07/23/brisk-money-adam-christopher/

The author's website is here:  http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/

Adam Christopher

Analog Magazine The 1,000th Issue!

You may have noticed that my previous post included the first story of this issue.  I was toying with the idea of writing a separate post for each individual story.  This was simply because I've been randomly reading from the magazine, a collection of Alberta based mysteries and a non-fiction book about the food industry.  With three things on the go I haven't been posting here at all and I was beginning to feel that I should upload something.

Part of me wants to give proper credit to each author without making a post too long with pictures and website links.  Then, if I post for each short story like I do for novels, it seems I'm just trying too hard to add content.  It's a first-world problem to be sure.

It seems likely that my goal of reading 100 short stories in 2015 will not be met but I will come close, enough to be happy that I've challenged myself to it.  I tend to follow my nose when it comes to reading and that can lead to neglecting challenges that I've set for myslef.

But what about the June 2015 issue?

I read every page and found it to be wonderful.  This is the kind of SF I love and I feel lucky to have a copy in my sweaty hands.

I've subscribed to the magazine for years and only manage to read one or two issues a year.  Part of the reason I resubscribe every year is simply to support the magazine.  The other is that I love the cover art.  The stories become a bonus whenever I decide to read an issue.  Besides, paper lasts a long time, if taken care of.

One of the things I do not like about the physical issues is how fragile the covers are; they smudge, tear and fade while I read them.  Starting with issue 1000 I've doubled my subscription to include a digital copy that I read on my iPad.

Below are my thoughts about the offering of this installment to Analog's long history.

The Wormhole Wars -  by Richard A. Lovett - 42/100 - my god the science went right over my head. Thank goodness there was a scene at a bar with coins to explain things. It was a very good first contact story with crisp believable dialog and a good dose of wit.

 http://richardalovett.com/drupe/

The Very Long Conversation - by Gwendolyn Clare - 43/100 - Language.  What an interesting twist on our understanding of it.  This was a warm, gentle piece that takes its time to reveal itself. 

It reminded me how unprepared we are to encounter something truly alien.

 http://www.gwendolynclare.com/

The Kroc War by Ted Reynolds and William F Wu - 44/100 - If you liked World War Z, the book, not the movie, then you'll be happy to read a space opera done in thensame style.  

Like WWZ I liked how this story was able to capture so many stories in so few pages. 

Well crafted and left me thinking that this world they created could be just as big as Star Wars.

Reynolds -  http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?232
Wu -  http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1183

Strategies for Optimizing Your Mobile Advertising by Brenta Blevins - 45/100 Taking wearable technology and advertising to the next logical level.

Well thought out and seemingly inevitable.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?120346

The Odds  by Ron Collins - 46/100 - Ooh.  What a wondeful couple of pages!  This opens the door to en enormous epic. This could be the very beggining of a new novel. I don't know. I must look the author up on the internet. 

Hugely cinematic. 

http://typosphere.com/

The Empathy Vaccine by C C Finlay - 47/100 - Genetic modification through an IV treatment. What if you could change your personality traits with a visit to the doctor?  Would you try to become more assertive or compassionate?

It's an interesting question in a story that has an interesting answer.

http://www.ccfinlay.com/

Three Bodies at Mitanni  by Seth Dickinson - 48/100 - Picture humanity sending out seedships to colonize the galaxy.  Now imagine a trio of people sent out to check on and judge the results.  Their mission is to decide which colonies are a threat to the very society that sent them out.

A heavy subject, to be sure, and the author worked the story with the gravitas it deserves.  It had all the elements of a good science fiction story without it being about that.  No, it was an exploration of what it meas to be human and how we adapt to survive.

The story takes place late in the mission, having already visited and pasing judgment on two other worlds, we see how deeply the crew has been affected by their previous decisions. I came away from this story wishing I could have witnessed those previous decisions. 

"Always leave them wanting more," is the saying; I think seeking out the author's other works is recommended.

http://www.sethdickinson.com/

Ships In The Night by Jay Werkheiser - 49/100 - A spacer walks into a bar and begins to tell the patrons a story about one of his trips. 

I just love stories where people are people and space travel is as common as driving a car.  This makes way for human centric adventures.  I belive an author gets it right when the story can take place in the past, present or future because people are people, you know?

http://jaywerkheiser.blogspot.ca/

The Audience by Sean McMullen - 50/100 - A fasinating take on a first contact senario.  It takes the classic question of "how much information do we share with an alien race?" and boils it down to one person's decision.

http://seanmcmullen.net.au/

The Wormhole War by Richard Lovett - Short Story Review

42/100

My god the science went right over my head. Thank goodness there was a scene at a bar with coins to explain things. It was a very good first contact story with crisp believable dialog and a good dose of wit.

Richard A Lovett's website is here:

http://richardalovett.com/drupe/

Richard A Lovett

The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt by W P Kinsella - A Short Story Collection - BookReport #142

Before I get into the stories let me just say that if you love baseball, the history of it, the pace, the slow understanding of it; you will love this book.  The collection is about people, legends, history, summer heat, scams and troublemakers.

It is a wonderful collection.  Kinsella can tell a story.

Distances - 32/100. A stranger comes to town and befriends two young men.  Together they arrange a challenge game made up of the local high school team and a Division One team.

The stranger treats the boys well but he's certainly up to something. 

This was a wonderful story, perfect for a sunny day with a cold beer.  Good thing that's how I read it.

Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross Are Somewhat Exaggerated - 33/100.  Wow.  This story took me by surprise but I liked it.  Just sit back and enjoy a story of an extraterrestrial who just happens to look exactly like sports mascot.

The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt  - 34/100- A touching story of an awkward boy who befriends the jocks of his school through his cartooning abilities.  It is a universal coming of age story that is directed to those of us who struggled with athletics. 

Frank Pierce, Iowa - 35/100- This story read like poetry, a lazy remembrance of a hot, midsummer day on the prairies. It's about the legend of how a small Iowa town just - disappeared. 

Of course it's more than that; what truly stuck with me was the heat of a blazing hot afternoon. 

K Mart - 36/100 - This was an emotionally complicated story about a high-schooler growing up in a remote town, his friends, a young girl and a suicide. 

Regret and release. Memories and diverging paths. 

Sad and lovely. 

The Valley of the Schmoon - 37/100 - A one sided conversation in the dead of night driving to Seattle. The driver, an old player turned catcher's coach, is telling stories to his passenger, a rookie about to play his first games in the big league. 

The world is passing our narrator by as he reminisces on how life used to be and how the game has changed. 

It seems to be a truism of aging that the world can somehow leave you behind without your realizing it. 

Punchlines -38/100 - There's one on every team - a trouble maker, somebody who always winds up in some kind of trouble either with the law, a husband or in a hospital.  The kind of person who has never grown up can be fun in small doses but can wear a team down if he can't be controlled.

There tends to be a reason these types of guys keep acting out and in this story it still kind of works but it won't be long before in makes a reader groan.  Still it's a good read.


The Eddie Scissons Syndrome. - 39/100 - I'm not quite sure how I feel about this story. It ends too soon and too abruptly.

A college student and former designated hitter prospect is injured and takes a job as a teacher's aid with a professor studying pathological sports liars: people who brag about playing in the big leagues but haven't.

They track down an old man in a VA hospital to uncover his story.

The professor's motivation is never made quite clear and the reaction of the student made little sense to me either.

Sadly, this is the first story that did not work for me.

Come to think of it, the opening paragraph was wonderful. I must have read it four or five times just for the joy of it.

I could have been another Greg Luzinski.  A sportswriter wrote
about me that I run forward with the same speed a mixer full of
concrete moves backward.  I'm built close to the ground; my
teammates used to call me Dumpster.  Just like the "Bull" I was big
and slow, but I could hit the ball a mile with great regularity.

Diehard - 40/100 - An old friend has died.  What to do with the ashes.

Beautiful, hopeful and heartwarming. A lovely story.

Searching For Freddie - 41/100 - A sports reporter chases a base stealing legend across time and across America.

Yet another hart-warming story about a baseball legend who spent very little time in the Bigs but made an impression on people.   There is an understated magic to this story that made me sigh and sit back in my chair with a smile.

Conclusion - 

Let me say this book was a joy from start to finish. Highly recommended.

You can find Kinsella's website here:

http://www.wpkinsella.com/

W. P. Kinsella

The Human Division/Episode 2 - Walk The Plank by John Scalzi

31/100

Yikes! What a gritty story.

Unlike Episode 1 we are presented here with an audio transcript of an interview from a dying man who survived an attack by pirates. (yes! space pirates! cool.)

The poor survivor thinks he made it to safety but he, quite literately, dropped from one dangerous situation into another.

I was hoping we'd pick the story up with the same cast of characters from Episode 1 but instead I found the universe Scalzi has created expanded before me.  I loved the grittiness of it.  Space is hard and it takes tough people to occupy it.

I am now a giant fan of Scalzi.  This guy can write in any style he wants and make the story a pleasure to read.

John Scalzi's website is here:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/

John Scalzi

The Human Division/Episode 1 - The B-Team by John Scalzi

30/100

Scalzi is a fantastic writer.  In no time at all he can build a believable world filled with likable characters.  The disadvantage I had with this story is that it is deep into the Old Man's War series.  But even by dropping into the middle of the story The B-Team was a small enough that I could grab on to the plot points of this particular mission and enjoy it thoroughly.

I really enjoyed this one; the dialog was crisp and fun and I particularly liked that these people were not considered the best-of-the-best which made the whole thing sing for me.  But there is a lot of information to gather to fully understand what is going on in this little adventure.  There are enormous political divisions that gives the whole thing more meaning.  Space opera is like that and space opera is good, it's just a bit intimidating knowing there are many books that I missed.

The trick is to whet a reader's appetite to dive into the world that was created.  Scalzi did a fantastic job in getting me interested in the story as a whole without taking anything away from the short story I was reading at the time.  It did it's job; it entertained me and got me hooked on the back list as well.  I will read one more from the Human Division then put it down to read the first books of the Old Man's War series.

John Scalzi's website is here:

 http://whatever.scalzi.com/

John Scalzi

Sentience Signified by J. L. Forrest from Analog Magazine, May 2015

29/100

Another first professional sale!  At least according to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

This was a well-realized First Contact scenario.

What I loved best was the ease the author wrote this story.  It felt like Forrest has been writing, and publishing for years; there was nary an info dump or needless exposition anywhere.  The story was paramount and details were revealed as needed an in the context of the story.  This is an author to keep an eye on.

I loved the interaction of the main character with the AI of the orbiting ship.  There was structure and protocols in every aspect of the mission that I found reassuring.  I found that I just slipped into the story without having to spend much effort getting my head around the rules and ways of the world the author created.

Lovely.

J.L. Forrest's website is here:

http://jlforrest.com/

J. L. Forrest

No Gain by Aubry Kae Andersen from Analog Magazine, May 2015

28/100

Another sports related story, this one made more intense in that it is at the Olympic level.

With all the testing that goes on to discover cheating how does a coach find an edge? 

An intriguing story, well written and well worth reading.   

According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database this is Andersen's first professional published work.  Congratulations!

Aubry Kae Andersen's website is here:

http://www.akarchy.com/

Arnheim's World by Therese Arkenberg from Analog Magazine, May 2015

27/100

FTL and terraforming are the principal SF elements in this quite story of personal desire, professional expertise and responsibility to the greater good .

Josua Arnheim has terraformed a world for his own personal use.  He is intensely proud of his accomplishment an shares it with a close friend.  Outside circumstances put the friendship and the notion of personal freedoms to the test.  To quote Star Trek; what do you do when "the needs of the many" imposes itself on your plans?

It was a lovely story of human desire, compassion, responsibility and loyalty.  That's a lot to pack in to a short story but this one works very well.  This was a very satisfying read.

Therese Arkenberg's blog can be found here:

http://www.theresearkenberg.com/

Therese Arkenberg

Cetacean Dreams by Robert R. Chase from Analog Magazine, May 2015

26/100

Sense of wonder abounds in this story of undersea exploration on Europa.

We join a scientist and his team of dolphins who were sent to the Jovian moon to track down an elusive life form.  The story is set in and around an operational science station under the ice.  The setting feels plausible with the outside cold and pressure threatening everything.

To me, the best qualities of hard science fiction is how it takes known science and technology to the next logical step.  There is nothing in this story that you can't already see right now; best of all the author took exoskeleton technology in a new and exciting direction. 

It was a well realized story that I enjoyed very much.

For more on his other writings go here:

 http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?371

Slider by Bud Sparhawk from Analog Magazine, May 2015

26/100

It seems some situations are universal and may never change.

A man, now in midlife, transfers his desires to his son and pushes him in directions he may not want.

I slowly realized this story was bigger than its word count.  There were some profound questions raised by it that I found myself wondering; how much have I tried to transfer to my own daughters?

Does the urge to reproduce not end with the birth of a child?  Or is the impulse a bit more sinister than that, even if it's unintentional?  Are we, as individuals, compelled to create surrogates for ourselves?  Do we implant our underachieved goals and desires into our offspring in the hopes that we can see them realized in our lifetime, even if by someone else?  Is that even fair?

A wonderful story.

Bus Sparhawk's website is here:  http://www.budsparhawk.com/

His personal blog is here:   http://budsparhawk.blogspot.ca/

Bud Sparhawk

Zen Angel by Rajnar Vajra from Analog Magazine May 2015

25/100

I recently read a book about the Voyager missions, specifically about the messages that are attached to the space crafts.

In this story a similar device is found, this one is from another universe.  The outer message has been decoded and states that there are artifacts inside from the previous universe.  These items can be retrieved but only by species deemed worthy.

Big topic, one that would need the space only a novel can provide.

I liked the story, even though it is not my cup of tea, too many aliens, too many "magical" technologies and the premise of a competition to determine who gets to look inside the probe, well it was a bit much to swallow.  What I enjoyed most from this novella was the narrator, he was refreshingly irreverent and likable.

Even though I did not like the story itself I did enjoy how Vajra wrote.  I would like to find more of his stuff, I think he could be an author to look for.

Rajnar Vajra's website is here although it is not dedicated to his writings:   http://www.rajlessons.com/

To find out a bit more about his bibliography try going here:  http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?15728

Rajnar Vajra

The Wilderness by Ray Bradbury

24/100

A charming story about two women spending their last evening on Earth before they board a rocket destined for Mars.

This story is the first entry in the Fourth Planet From The Sun collection of Mars stories from the lovely people at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine.

Ray Bradbury