Galactic Creatures

by Elektra Hammond (Editor), Scott Baker, Rosemary Edghill

Enter a Galaxy Full Of Wonder Take a voyage through a universe populated with eerie and complex starships and satellites, cunningly crafted to resemble creatures of fact and legend. Read about those who stare at the heavens and those who travel among the stars. Did you ever wonder why the chicken crossed the galaxy? Join Head Honcho Murphy and the Startenders of the Fool's Glory as they aid the cosmic chicken Manuk on a very unique rescue mission in "Crossing Roads" by Patrick Thomas. New York Times bestselling author Rosemary Edghill spins a tale of a dystopian future where the price of space travel and colonization is very high, indeed, and who can say what is true intelligence and whose side is the right side? Does war leave any victors? "Broken in the Place of Dragons" may give you some of the answers... These stories and others by C.J. Henderson, John L. French, Alex Shvartsman, Scott W. Baker, Don Sakes, James Daniel Ross, and Bernie Mojzes will keep you turning pages and looking for more.

174 pages, Paperback

First published July 27, 2012

About the author

Elektra Hammond emulates her multi-sided idol Buckaroo Banzai by going in several directions at once. She's been involved in the copyediting and proofreading end of publishing since the 1990s for presses small and large and nowadays concocts anthologies, is a fiction editor for buzzymag.com, reviews books for the TICA Trend, and is acquisitions editor for the Dark Quest Books imprint Sparkito Press. Her steampunk story “The Case of the Duchess’s Dog” appears in the anthology In An Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk.

Elektra lives in Delaware with her husband, Mike, and the cat herd of BlueBlaze/Benegesserit catteries. When not freelancing or appearing at science fiction conventions she travels world-wide judging cat shows. Find Elektra on Facebook (Elektra Hammond), Twitter (elektraUM), LiveJournal (elektra_h), and building her website at http://www.untilmidnight.com.

Reviews

[Phil Giunta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of eleven short stories with a common theme of spaceships or satellites constructed in the form of birds, dragons, fish, and other animals. My favorites included "Dragon Child" by Leona Wisoker, the late, great C.J. Henderson's "Lawn Care," and Patrick Thomas's novella,"Crossing Roads," which concludes the book.

There were only a few editing issues that caught my attention. On my copy of the trade paperback, both the title and the editor's name are misspelled on the spine and "Lawn Care" is interrupted three pages before the end by a brief excerpt from what appears to be a story outline that is completely unrelated to the theme of this anthology. Beyond those minor glitches, this is a fine collection of light and quick SF/Fantasy tales.

[Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Galactic Creatures’ is an interesting look at different worlds, galaxies, and species which have come to startling life, springing forth from the minds of the authors onto the page. There are some funny stories and some serious, but all mind-bending and -expanding captured in this anthology. The authors will have you looking up at the stars with new appreciation and longing to travel among them.