Epic Fails

by Scott Rhine

Eight epic fantasy stories that have a common theme—failure. Sometimes dark but often funny, these tales paint other worlds where things didn’t work out the way the main character planned.
• A Lesson in Summoning—an apprentice learns how summon Shrong demons.
• A Boy with No Name on a Horse Called Spot—a young man must earn his adult name.
• Cheating Death—an untrustworthy Greek wizard finds a way to live forever.
• The Loneliness Drug—a new drug hits the market with side effects.
• Of Mycenaean Men: an ancient foible—a Monty Pythonesque spoof of the Odyssey.
• Native Intelligence—a teenaged Indian learns magic from his grandfather.
• Agents of Fortune—an Appalachian witch helps people by listening to the right voice.
• Zaboath Must Die—a post-apocalypse where one person’s heaven is another’s hell

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2013

About the author

Scott Rhine wanted to find a job that combined his love of reading with math problem solving, so he studied both short stories and computer languages. As a techno-gypsy, he worked on optimizing some of the fastest and largest supercomputers in the world. A couple of degrees, patents, and children later, at forty-eight, he still didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up. When his third publication "Doors to Eternity" unexpectedly hit #16 on the Amazon epic fantasy list, he decided to retire from engineering in order to become a full-time author. Humor is a part of every story he writes because people are funny, even when they don't think so. In the real world, something always goes wrong and people have flaws. If you can't laugh at yourself, someone is probably doing it for you. Strong female characters also play a major role in his stories because he's married to a beautiful PhD who can edit, break boards, and use a chainsaw.

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Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so secret that I think Scott Rhine is brilliant, and this anthology of fantasy shorts would be a great way for you to find out just how talented he is. My favorite was "The Loneliness Drug," a stream-of-consciousness treat for the mind. Ranging from serious to silly, there is something here for everyone.

I edited the stories in this anthology a few at a time over the past year or so, and they were awesome. I do not receive remuneration based on sales, and all opinions are my own.

[David King · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Epic Fails” by Scott Rhine is an anthology of fantasy short stories which all focus around one fundamental point, failure. By calling it fantasy however, you should not expect any Epic, High Fantasy here, the fantasy on show here is rooted in our own world. Due to the stories being based around failure, I found that the collection contains and interesting mix of both humour and darkness.

Rhine provides the reader with an introduction to each story, providing an element of background to each one which I did find rather interesting and helpful considering the range of stories the collection contains. What I mean by a range of stories is that there is a variety of sub-genres and styles on show. Whilst, I suspect this variety is mainly related to the fact they were written over a period of time, I think it does a good job of highlighting Rhine’s talent and ability to write engaging and entertaining stories in various different manners.

I don’t really want to say much more as detailing short stories tends on the whole to spoil them too much for the reader. However, if you haven’t read anything by Rhine, I can’t help but recommend this collection as an entertaining introduction to a talented Indie Author. There really is something in the collection for almost any fan of speculative fiction in the collection.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic Fails by Scott Rhine is a 2013 publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short stories falls into the fantasy genre, for the most part. The author provides us with an introduction to each story, explaining when he wrote the story or what was going on in life at the time or what gave him the idea for the story. When I say "fantasy", keep in mind this is not High Fantasy. These stories could fall into speculative fiction or could be labeled as modern fables. There are stories that are fitting for children, and then a few fairly dark stories. My favorite one was Native Intelligence.
By not really sticking to a set theme, the author showcases his ability to write a variety of story types with a variety of styles. Admittedly, these stories were written over a span of time and that could be why the style is so diverse.
There was a little something for everyone in this collection. If you enjoy off the beat path tales with imagination, wit, a little tongue in cheek at times, and all with a supernatural or fantasy tone, then you should give this one a try.
Overall I give this one an A.

[Tabitha Ormiston-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is a very pleasant way to while away a Sunday afternoon. I didn't love all of the stories equally well; I disliked Of Mycenaean Men and The Loneliness Drug, but the wonderful Agents of Fortune made up for everything. Rhine's strength as a writer lies more in the concrete than the abstract, I feel, and when the leavening touch of humour is left out, as in The Loneliness Drug, or overdone, as in Of Mycenaean Men, the story falters. Overall, though, I enjoyed the collection very much.