Stellar Cloud

by Charity Bradford

A soldier struggles with the emptiness left behind by amnesia until he learns he is more than the world would have him remember. The earth is desolate, and only one ship of humans remains. An assassin plays god, dealing out justice and mercy as he sees fit.

Explore the outer reaches of the imagination through these and other short stories. From brainwashed clones to winged aliens of destruction, the stories in Stellar Cloud will pull in any lover of science fiction and fantasy.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

60 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2013

About the author

Charity Bradford has been a voracious reader ever since her 5th grade teacher introduced her to the world of books with Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys. She’s the mother of four kids that keep her on her toes, constantly reminding her that imagination still makes the world go round.

Her preferred writing genre consists of a mix of science fiction, fantasy, adventure and romance. She also enjoys reading detective novels, YA in all styles, paranormal, and whatever a friend recommends.

She also writes romance under the pen name River Ford.

Reviews

[Tom Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I mention the book, 'Stellar Cloud', I think it would be pertinent to put something in perspective. My reason for reading Science Fiction was no accident. I believe in broadening my horizons as a writer, by reading widely.

During the recent A to Z challenge, I enjoyed following Charity Bradford's blog. The posts she used throughout the challenge were based on Dr Who, the classic British time-travel series.

In itself the topic could be given a light-hearted or devil-may-care treatment, but irrespective of anyone else's opinion, the alphabet was followed and good posts appeared each day.

The relevance of those challenge posts is simply that Charity's passion for the genre shines through in them. That same passion allows her to write not only entertaining, but convincing stories in a genre that I do not normally read.

Okay, the average person might think, Science Fiction is not for me, but consider something for a moment. If a story is well told, does it really matter if it's set in Arkansas, Frankfurt, Rome, or on the planet Zorg?

In 'Stellar Cloud' I found a variety of stories that produced the same empathy I would expect for characters in a traditional tale. The imagery was well drawn, the dialogue was natural, and the stories were well told. I found myself believing in each story, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

I was delighted to find that each story was different. Irrespective of genre, many writers tend to write repetitive tales and they only differ in location and character names. The situations and conflicts in the 'Stellar Cloud' collection are sufficiently different.

Charity brings her book to a close with a Prologue and Chapter 1, for her novel, 'The Magic Wakes'.

I would suggest if you haven't tried Science Fiction, then Charity's offerings are a good place to start.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A freebie from author Charity Bradford through Goodreads, with the only requirement being an honest review. So here goes, Ms. Bradford, with my thanks for your putting yourself “out there.”

This is a collection of science fiction short stories of varying length. The longest is “The Sleeper,” in four short chapters; tells of a space ship containing cloned males, which makes a loop of the solar system and visits Earth every 75 years (it has been some time since earth has been evacuated, but it has been ruled habitable again for 200 years); one male is chosen to go down to Earth and find “Princess Amelia.” So far none has returned. Over the years of training about what Earth once was, the protagonist, Gareth, has developed ideas about what he would like to do when he goes to Earth that are somewhat different than those of his colleagues. So I’m not going to spoil the ending, or what the Princess’s riddle means, but I liked it, made for an enjoyable little twist.

“The Rising” is concerned with how humans mistreat those they don’t know much about (aliens), with predictably and deservedly disastrous results for them. “Continuation” has to do with becoming one with the computer, but with a sort of totalitarian twist, and a couple other surprises. “Earth 4” tells a sweet but predictable story of love and the pursuit of eternal youth,’nuff said.

“Exiled” is a longer story and tells of an assassin who has outlived his usefulness; his occupation allows him to either kill his “hit” victims or arrange for them to be exiled to one of a number of random planets, if they merit it. Well, our hero himself becomes so exiled, with somewhat of a twist. Good story.

“Instinct” is a space-age version of a woman escaping an abusive, alcoholic husband, but to a situation that may well be more dangerous. Not Ms. Bradford’s best, but intriguing. I must point out a couple of typos; “dessert” for “desert” at Location 691, and “lightening” for “lightning” at location 720 (Kindle version). “Perspective” is a very short story of God’s view of space exploration, told with drollery and a point of view that would likely make NASA nervous…

The rest (about 1/4) of the book is a teaser (Prologue and part of Chapter 1) of “The Magic Wakes,” a full length novel. The two main characters are described; Jaron, who for vague reasons summons a demon into himself, then goes to a meeting in a city called Joharadin in which he volunteers to be a sort of rebellion storm trooper against the “Royalists.” The other protagonist, Talia Zaryn, is being sent to Joharadin to work closely with the Royalists, who have some concern about information leaks to “an unnamed terrorist group.” The blog for the book indicates that these two people, on opposite sides, come to need each other in order to survive. I found the writing intriguing and may at some time actually read the remainder of the book.

All that said, I was somewhat miffed that a full quarter of this book was devoted to getting me hooked on another book. I also was distracted by the typos in this selection (mostly hyphenated words which shouldn’t be hyphenated), which I shall list below; Ms. Bradford, if you’re gonna put your stuff out there in published form, make sure the dang thing is fit to do so. Here we go:

Location 777 “con-tent” for “content”
Location 788 “con-tents” for “contents”
Location 815 “…be present in a face-to-face presentation” – awkward
Location 827 “phoe-nix” for “phoenix”
Location 872 “mak-ing” for “making”
Location 912 “sky-scrapers” for “skyscrapers” (well, this might be OK)
Location 925 “thou-sand” for “thousand”
Location 973 (Oh, Ms. Bradford, this is unforgiveable!) “Assimov” for “Asimov”

Despite this, I still give the stories in “Stellar Cloud” four stars; entertaining, thought-provoking, fun reads. And again I thank Ms. Bradford for providing this free of charge.

[Carol Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTE: I "read" the audio version of this book.

This was my first EVER audiobook that I’ve ever listened to! Yes, I’m behind the times. It was a fun and interesting experience. I enjoyed these 6 stories and one 100-word flash-fiction piece; it made me want to write a short story of my own instead of the novels I usually write. The narrator’s (Julie Hoverson’s) voice was appropriately tough in places (like for the soldiers in the first story, good for yelling) and softly smooth in others (like for one quiet woman’s voice). She was a very versatile narrator, though a bit nasally at times…lively and easy to listen to despite my occasional thinking that if I were reading the anthology to myself, my mental “voice” would be much different in inflection and the voices from how she spoke them. That’s a unique facet and the beauty of an audiobook, I think—it’s a united effort, a more comprehensive experience to reading a book, similar to watching a movie. Both to a degree interpret how a book is relayed to the reader/viewer. Fascinating!

The stories themselves were vivid and interesting, holding my interest. The characters’ dilemmas drew me in. I’m sure I’ll be thinking of some of these stories in the future as they return to my mind and make me mull them over again. From aliens and clones, to hive minds and assassins and flesh-eating alien bugs, this is a great collection.

[C.D. Coffelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a chilling alien dilemma to soldiers discovering who they really are, this book of short stories follows a pattern of surprise and frightening situations. Set on an abused Earth, distant planets, and a laboratory, these tales are sure to make you gasp and then spend the rest of the day wondering how the author could get into your head.

As with her previous novel, The Magic Wakes, the writing is superb. I love a surprise, an ending or twist that I didn’t see coming. This one delivers. Sci-fi at its best, in the tradition of Tales From the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke. Don’t pass this one by. It is well worth the time.

[Amie McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

What awesome characterization and world-building!

Some of these stories fell flat for me, either too confusing because they were filled with information that I couldn't unravel or because I wasn't connected to the characters, but when the emotions and atmosphere were spot on...wow. There was a lot to feel, a whole roller coaster of emotion for the robot who only wanted to live a bit longer with her beloved and the mother who was resolved to survive. There was a lot of beauty and depth in the stories that seized me.

[Hillary Sperry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book of sci-fi stories that stretch the imagination and had my mouth open in shock as each new story took shape. Every idea is so unique. I loved reading through the different plot lines and experiencing these things I'd never even dreamed of. Thanks Charity!

[Christine Rains · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written collection of science fiction and fantasy stories. Clever and full of imagination. "The Sleeper" is my favorite of the bunch. I loved how the story twisted on itself and gave me the urge just to look outside at the clear blue sky.

[Charity Bradford]

This book of short stories is dedicated to my blog friends and followers. Thank you for giving me a place to try out new ideas!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great collection of short stories written by Charity Bradford. Each story was of different lengths, and each had a unique vision. It was easy to sit and listen to the whole collection in one sitting. I recommend this group to others who enjoy short stories. Julie Hoverson's narration was great, and she provided different voices for the characters. I was given a free copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily posted this review.

[Nemesis Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written short story collection from Charity Bradford. Overall, the characters are engaging in each story, and the plots different enough to warrant a collection. I didn't necessarily think each story was outstanding but enough were to make the overall collection a great read. I look forward to what Charity writes next! Audio Version: Julie Hoverson does a great job narrating this story and the characters are all different sounding and you always know who is speaking.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received as an audio review copy from Story Origin, this is and honest review. A beautiful, unique set of short stories that whisk you off to the deep regions of your brain with each eclectic narrative. Narrated wonderfully by Julie Hoverson, highly recommended.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very creative collection, featuring seven off-the-cuff stories of Speculative Science Fiction written to prompts. Enjoyed the world-building, and the attention to character development. Quite a range here.

[Alex Cavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun collection of short stories. I really liked The Sleeper and it's implications and possibilities. I also really liked Instinct. I could feel the bugs crawling around me as I read it. A fine collection of science fiction stories.

[Patricia Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wished some of those stories had been longer. The worlds were intriguing.