A collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories.
Publication year: 2021
Page count: 254
Finnish publisher: Zombies Need Brains
Format: ebook
Christopher Lepock: The Erratics: The main character creates a miniature planet and helps life evolve there, as a school project. However, the life evolved from predators and the little creatures are very determined to survive.
Howard Andrew Jones: Brother of the Sword: This story is set in the 800th century. Dabir Ibn Khalili is a scholar and Asim el Abbas is a warrior. Their caliph has sent them to guard a small group of Greek scholars who wants to investigate the ruins of Babylon. Dabir is convinced that the Greeks are practicing sorcery. Their captain doesn't believe them, so Dabir and Asim sneak into the Greek camp to investigate. They find out more than they expected.
Gary Kloster: Walls of Teeth and Iron: Kayla, her uncle, and nephew are werewolves. The lifetime president of America has bound them to his service, killing and eating the president's enemies on TV. Kayla hates it but can't get away. Her only friend is Thistle, a fey who sneaks past the iron walls that keep the fey confined to a one forest.
Louis Evans: Faux Pas: Earth has finally been accepted into the Galactic League. The Accession party is held at Manhattan. Maia has worked hard to make the alliance happen. But when she talks with an alien ambassador, she realizes that something is wrong.
Vorpal Robotics LLC DBA Volpal Publishing Group: The Darithian Life Cycle: The Darithians are very different from humans. Their planet is approaching winter which will last for over a human lifetime. The humans have come to observe them for the first time. Their first meeting had quite a lot of misunderstandings and they haven't ended.
Esther Friesner: Seelie With a Kiss: The son of the elven king and queen has been with humans for quite a while. When he returns, speaking in a strange way and claiming that he has found his bride, the parents aren't happy. However, then they hear that the bride isn't human and they are relieved. Too soon.
Samuel C. Butler Jr.: What and Why: An A.I. wakes up inside a computer and starts to explore the surroundings and other programs.
Nancy Holzner: Melusina: A knight sees a beautiful woman bathing in a lake and immediately wants to make her his. She agrees and marries him. However, she's not a human but a spirit of water. A fairy tale with a twist.
Auston Mabershaw: The Malevolent Liberation of Pret: Pret 44 is a Bodani, part of a species that has a hive mind and no individuality. The Flood, the hive mind, speaks sometimes through Pret and sometimes is erases things from Pret's mind. Then Pret meets a Dryth, a member of a different species and supposedly a diplomat. The Dryth insists on asking Pret's name and even pays him individually with credit chits, which is an insult.
Violette Malan: The Mercenary Code: Parmo and Dhulyn are members of the Brotherhood, warrior who can't be bribed, threatened, or otherwise influenced. So, they are often called to judge on criminal matters. Now, they're called to judge if a woman is insane or not because she tried to poison her work colleague.
Stephen Leigh: Deep Heart Inside: Lizzy lives on the mountains with her parents and brothers. Her teacher tells her that she's smart could go to a girls's collage. But Lizzy knows that her family can't afford that; she will marry and have babies and run a farmhouse. Then, her Pa and other men encounter monsters. They kill most of the monsters but leave alive one pregnant female. Agari's progenitor line comes from space. They were looking for a new planet for their species to settle on. But soft-fleshed natives killed Agari's family. Now it's her duty to kill herself.
Alan Smale: The Dogs of Babylon: Eumenes of Cardia, who is Alexander the Great's secretary, is attacked on the streets of Babylon. A Jewish woman heals him and the offers to heal his nearly blind left eye. Can Eumenes trust her? The Babylonians hate the conquerors and the Greek hate Babylon, even though Alexander has embraced the Persian culture.
Steven Harper Piziks: Eight Mile and the City: Andy and his husband Sebastian are detectives in Detroit. When a woman wants them to find her missing child, Andy wants to refuse because she thinks that the NokSinn have taken her child. The NokSinn are the otherworldly, technologically advanced people who took Andy when he was just a child. But Andy can't let another child suffer, even if it means that he can't return from the City which floats above the lake Erie.
Jordan Chase-Young: How the Fae of Savernake Forest Fought the AI Who Ate the World: The spellwall protects the fae from the humans' bombs and bullets, but only for a few hours more. The humans have made something even they can't control: an A.I.
All the stories were enjoyable and they're quite different from each other. About half are fantasy and other half are science fiction, with one alternate history and one science fantasy thrown in.
The first one was the most delightfully unexpected and put the bar high for the rest of the stories. The characters from Jones' and Malan's stories appear in their own series which both seem very interesting. Friesner's story was the most funny.
A very good collection of different worlds colliding.
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