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Rare Specimen and Other Stories
Eight tales of weal and woe.
An oracle whose gift for prophecy is infectious …
A watchwoman who guards the mouth of a wormhole …
A monster hunter who worships her quarry …
A mage whose sorceries are trapped by stitched lips …
Welcome to the dread futures and grim antiquities of S.J. Shank. Together, these eight stories weave a feverish tapestry of misplaced loyalties, tainted victories, and survival by the leanest of margins.
An oracle whose gift for prophecy is infectious …
A watchwoman who guards the mouth of a wormhole …
A monster hunter who worships her quarry …
A mage whose sorceries are trapped by stitched lips …
Welcome to the dread futures and grim antiquities of S.J. Shank. Together, these eight stories weave a feverish tapestry of misplaced loyalties, tainted victories, and survival by the leanest of margins.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 16, 2023
5 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
S.J. Shank
4 books14 followersS.J. Shank is a lover of dead languages and collapsed empires. His writing inhabits the grim borderlands between fantasy, horror and historical fiction. He is the author of The Knave of Graves, Mountain Fast and Rare Specimen and Other Stories.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 14, 2025
This is a solid collection of stories with a horror flair, but also some fantasy and sci-fi mixed in. Definitely worth a read.
December 3, 2024
Dark, mythic fiction in the form of very short stories. More fantasy and sci-fi than horror, but beguiling nonetheless. “Nivel Del Mar” is particularly strong.
December 21, 2023
The collection "Rare Specimen and Other Stories" by S.J. Shank features eight short stories within the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. While many works in these genres typically draw from reality and science to envision alternate worlds, this book employs a significant amount of invented language. I find this linguistic creativity somewhat distracting. Having to interrupt my reading to look up unfamiliar words disrupts the immersive experience, making it challenging to stay engrossed in the narrative. Consequently, my reading pace was slower than usual.
Despite the linguistic challenge, I awarded the book three stars, reflecting the difficulty I faced in maintaining my focus and the need to consult dictionaries for certain terms. It's important to note that individual preferences vary, and others may find this linguistic approach enhances their reading experience. The following are my reviews for each of the eight stories. While my perspective might not align with everyone's, I encourage readers to form their own opinions and share their reviews.
Para Bellum, the first story in the collection centers around Erna, an interstellar gatekeeper tasked with welcoming and directing newcomers to her galaxy into quarantine. The plot takes an unexpected turn when the arriving visitor defies Erna's expectations. I found this narrative engaging, prompting contemplation and curiosity that left me desiring more details. However, my enjoyment was tempered by the inclusion of challenging-to-pronounce words. Whether these terms were fabricated or real, my inability to effortlessly pronounce them without sounding them out caused frustration and led me to skim over those portions, detracting from the overall reading experience. Nevertheless, my interest in the story remained strong, especially regarding the mysterious visitor and the events following the activation of sirens around the planet. This tale succeeded in capturing my attention, leaving me eager to unravel more of its intricacies.
On High is about an oracle, a not quite willing "chief", and a lowlander "supplicant" who wishes to see the oracle and who brings something the chief cannot ignore, even though he's warned to deny the stranger. I will admit, I skimmed a lot of this story to get to the good parts. Unfortunately, there weren't many good parts. The ending helped to make sense of the story, however. I was not a fan of this story, mainly because again, there were a lot of words that made no sense and were hard to pronounce, or I had to use the dictionary to find out what they meant.
Storm Surge is about a man who can command the genii, has been in captivity, his mouth sewn shut with magical threads so that he cannot speak and they can only be cut by the "Oaetheric Knife", and has escaped and is attempting to find someone to take his place as the conjurer. A woman finds him on the shore of her fishing village. The rest is for you to find out because any more information will give the story away. I did enjoy this story though. Even with some words that didn't make sense or weren't in the dictionary, such as "nereidic", I was able to understand the untold backstory because it included "nereids", which are sea nymphs, and spoke of the gods, which I love, and was the reason I kept reading. The author used words like "fifthform monster", the dictionary did not have a definition so I Googled it, and it means "the 5th year of secondary school in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or in America is 11th grade, now I have a new word in my vocabulary, but the word associated with the monster didn't make sense to me.
Rare Specimen is a quirky little story about a freshwater biologist who is trying to capture proof of a giant sturgeon called "The River Leviathan" from the Long John Silver story in the town shop. She has witnessed a man who fell off a cliff and she is interacting with an officer, explaining what she saw happen. The officer doesn't seem to fully believe her story so he takes her to the top of the cliff, I can't ruin the story for you but I do think you will like it. I didn't figure this one out until almost the end of the story, and it left me with a cliffhanger. (see what I did there? lol) I wanted to find out what happened next.
Unnamed calls up many movies I've watched where there are scribes who take the information provided by their customers and inscribe them onto clay tablets, this is a story about a scribe whose shop is not doing as well as the owner would like and one day a beggar enters the shop wanting him to take down a message for the King's astronomer, and includes the name of a star, of which he will only say one time. This story was interesting, although not my favorite, but it was easy to read and understand.
Mother X now this was another interesting story for me and fell straight into the realm of Science Fiction. Mother X is about the New Desert Mothers, or nuns as we currently call them. The story is far into the future, or perhaps another realm, and begins with a person traveling to check on a specific nun who had not, well let's just say, checked in, in a very long time. The main character travels to the hermitage to check on this particular nun and finds more than was expected. This story is easy to read and quite enjoyable for such a short story.
Nivel del Mar is a tale that is completely believable about a brother trying to find his brother who, for many years of his adult life, had stayed on the brothers' couch like a squatter. The brother was last seen in a park 4500 miles from home and hadn't been heard from since. The main character, and a woman who joins him later, are traveling to the desert to try to find the brother. They find a surprising little shack being guarded by a man, and within the shack, there is a hole in the ground leading to "The Well of Equilibrium", a place to find your sanity. Now they must descend into the hole to find the brother, but what they find, may not be what they want to find. I did like this story because it was believable, easy to read, and had me wondering, trying to figure out the ending.
Hunger's End is the final story in this book and was interesting as well. The story is about an army traveling without rations and they see smoke wafting and come upon an old lost abbey. The main character spent the first twenty years of his life in such a place before leaving and joining the army. He reports to the captain, who is a very violent man. They then meet the only inhabitant of the abbey, who shares his food with them and is then attacked by the captain. What follows is the main characters fight for what is right and learns who he is.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Despite the linguistic challenge, I awarded the book three stars, reflecting the difficulty I faced in maintaining my focus and the need to consult dictionaries for certain terms. It's important to note that individual preferences vary, and others may find this linguistic approach enhances their reading experience. The following are my reviews for each of the eight stories. While my perspective might not align with everyone's, I encourage readers to form their own opinions and share their reviews.
Para Bellum, the first story in the collection centers around Erna, an interstellar gatekeeper tasked with welcoming and directing newcomers to her galaxy into quarantine. The plot takes an unexpected turn when the arriving visitor defies Erna's expectations. I found this narrative engaging, prompting contemplation and curiosity that left me desiring more details. However, my enjoyment was tempered by the inclusion of challenging-to-pronounce words. Whether these terms were fabricated or real, my inability to effortlessly pronounce them without sounding them out caused frustration and led me to skim over those portions, detracting from the overall reading experience. Nevertheless, my interest in the story remained strong, especially regarding the mysterious visitor and the events following the activation of sirens around the planet. This tale succeeded in capturing my attention, leaving me eager to unravel more of its intricacies.
On High is about an oracle, a not quite willing "chief", and a lowlander "supplicant" who wishes to see the oracle and who brings something the chief cannot ignore, even though he's warned to deny the stranger. I will admit, I skimmed a lot of this story to get to the good parts. Unfortunately, there weren't many good parts. The ending helped to make sense of the story, however. I was not a fan of this story, mainly because again, there were a lot of words that made no sense and were hard to pronounce, or I had to use the dictionary to find out what they meant.
Storm Surge is about a man who can command the genii, has been in captivity, his mouth sewn shut with magical threads so that he cannot speak and they can only be cut by the "Oaetheric Knife", and has escaped and is attempting to find someone to take his place as the conjurer. A woman finds him on the shore of her fishing village. The rest is for you to find out because any more information will give the story away. I did enjoy this story though. Even with some words that didn't make sense or weren't in the dictionary, such as "nereidic", I was able to understand the untold backstory because it included "nereids", which are sea nymphs, and spoke of the gods, which I love, and was the reason I kept reading. The author used words like "fifthform monster", the dictionary did not have a definition so I Googled it, and it means "the 5th year of secondary school in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or in America is 11th grade, now I have a new word in my vocabulary, but the word associated with the monster didn't make sense to me.
Rare Specimen is a quirky little story about a freshwater biologist who is trying to capture proof of a giant sturgeon called "The River Leviathan" from the Long John Silver story in the town shop. She has witnessed a man who fell off a cliff and she is interacting with an officer, explaining what she saw happen. The officer doesn't seem to fully believe her story so he takes her to the top of the cliff, I can't ruin the story for you but I do think you will like it. I didn't figure this one out until almost the end of the story, and it left me with a cliffhanger. (see what I did there? lol) I wanted to find out what happened next.
Unnamed calls up many movies I've watched where there are scribes who take the information provided by their customers and inscribe them onto clay tablets, this is a story about a scribe whose shop is not doing as well as the owner would like and one day a beggar enters the shop wanting him to take down a message for the King's astronomer, and includes the name of a star, of which he will only say one time. This story was interesting, although not my favorite, but it was easy to read and understand.
Mother X now this was another interesting story for me and fell straight into the realm of Science Fiction. Mother X is about the New Desert Mothers, or nuns as we currently call them. The story is far into the future, or perhaps another realm, and begins with a person traveling to check on a specific nun who had not, well let's just say, checked in, in a very long time. The main character travels to the hermitage to check on this particular nun and finds more than was expected. This story is easy to read and quite enjoyable for such a short story.
Nivel del Mar is a tale that is completely believable about a brother trying to find his brother who, for many years of his adult life, had stayed on the brothers' couch like a squatter. The brother was last seen in a park 4500 miles from home and hadn't been heard from since. The main character, and a woman who joins him later, are traveling to the desert to try to find the brother. They find a surprising little shack being guarded by a man, and within the shack, there is a hole in the ground leading to "The Well of Equilibrium", a place to find your sanity. Now they must descend into the hole to find the brother, but what they find, may not be what they want to find. I did like this story because it was believable, easy to read, and had me wondering, trying to figure out the ending.
Hunger's End is the final story in this book and was interesting as well. The story is about an army traveling without rations and they see smoke wafting and come upon an old lost abbey. The main character spent the first twenty years of his life in such a place before leaving and joining the army. He reports to the captain, who is a very violent man. They then meet the only inhabitant of the abbey, who shares his food with them and is then attacked by the captain. What follows is the main characters fight for what is right and learns who he is.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 15, 2023
Shank’s collection of dark science fiction short stories makes for an extremely strong debut. The opening story, Para Bellum, is likely the collection’s strongest, and left me thinking about it for days after. Though I am not typically a fan of anything space odyssey-esque, Shank’s ability to weave in a strong element of horror into his science fiction left even me on the edge of my seat.
The seven remaining short stories have the reader following a myriad of well-drawn characters through terrain both familiar and jarringly surreal. Players from the stories On High and Unnamed are cleverly tied together through a plot line of busy cities, remote rituals, and a mysterious, deathly star.
Rare Specimen and Nivel Del Mar place the reader on a more-or-less contemporary Earth, leaving Shank to rely more heavily on the eerie aspects of his writing, which he does so successfully. The atmospheres created in these stories are enough to recommend reading this collection outside in broad daylight.
Overall, this is a unique and imaginative collection that truly leaves the reader mulling over monsters for days. I highly recommend for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and horror!
The seven remaining short stories have the reader following a myriad of well-drawn characters through terrain both familiar and jarringly surreal. Players from the stories On High and Unnamed are cleverly tied together through a plot line of busy cities, remote rituals, and a mysterious, deathly star.
Rare Specimen and Nivel Del Mar place the reader on a more-or-less contemporary Earth, leaving Shank to rely more heavily on the eerie aspects of his writing, which he does so successfully. The atmospheres created in these stories are enough to recommend reading this collection outside in broad daylight.
Overall, this is a unique and imaginative collection that truly leaves the reader mulling over monsters for days. I highly recommend for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and horror!
August 30, 2025
Like the collection itself, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. If you're in the mood for some brief yet satisfying tales of speculative fiction, or are simply interested in sampling S.J. Shank's work as an author, "Rare Specimen and Other Stories" will almost certainly deliver on those desires.
The eight provided tales offer tantalizing glimpses into worlds that consistently appear to have more going on in them after just a few pages. The effect is that every story feels like part of something bigger that lurks just beyond its scope, almost forcefully willing readers to consider them further upon reaching their ends. There is science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy on display, with significant doses of joy, dread, catharsis, and despair that, while fleeting, still managed to hit hard for me on several occasions.
In closing, those craving long, dense, interconnected works may not find this a great fit but if your primary goal is to experience some quick, thought-provoking speculative fiction, and perhaps discover a talented new author in the process, "Rare Specimen and Other Stories" is a read I'd highly recommend.
The eight provided tales offer tantalizing glimpses into worlds that consistently appear to have more going on in them after just a few pages. The effect is that every story feels like part of something bigger that lurks just beyond its scope, almost forcefully willing readers to consider them further upon reaching their ends. There is science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy on display, with significant doses of joy, dread, catharsis, and despair that, while fleeting, still managed to hit hard for me on several occasions.
In closing, those craving long, dense, interconnected works may not find this a great fit but if your primary goal is to experience some quick, thought-provoking speculative fiction, and perhaps discover a talented new author in the process, "Rare Specimen and Other Stories" is a read I'd highly recommend.
January 16, 2024
Para Bellum- A colony gets a visitor with strange readings only to realize it is their worst nightmare- a plague bringer. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On High- The story shied around the twist at the end which made it both intriguing and hard to read at the same time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Storm Surge- This was an excellent start of what could be an epic longer story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rare Specimen- a fun short story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unnamed- another story that I would love to see fleshed out into a longer tale. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mother X- fascinating and creepy in the best way ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nivel del Mar- creepy yet relatable and concerning all at once. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hunger’s End - fascinating and I wanted more. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received this book as an ARC and am giving this review voluntarily.
On High- The story shied around the twist at the end which made it both intriguing and hard to read at the same time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Storm Surge- This was an excellent start of what could be an epic longer story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rare Specimen- a fun short story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unnamed- another story that I would love to see fleshed out into a longer tale. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mother X- fascinating and creepy in the best way ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nivel del Mar- creepy yet relatable and concerning all at once. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hunger’s End - fascinating and I wanted more. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received this book as an ARC and am giving this review voluntarily.
June 1, 2025
This is a slender book of dark and imaginative short fiction, some no more than a snapshot spanning a couple pages, others a bit more fleshed out--but none too much so. There are whispers here and there of some mysterious religious orders (cults? Probably, I dunno), landscapes ravaged by who-knows-what, characters with their own unstated motivations and goals.
The point, seemingly, is that we know there's something behind all of that, not that we know what it is. I feel like many of these glimpses could be spun off into a novel, but I'm content just chewing on the mysteries I've been shown.
In any case, as an introduction to an author, this is tantalizing stuff, and I for one will be waiting to see what he comes up with next.
The point, seemingly, is that we know there's something behind all of that, not that we know what it is. I feel like many of these glimpses could be spun off into a novel, but I'm content just chewing on the mysteries I've been shown.
In any case, as an introduction to an author, this is tantalizing stuff, and I for one will be waiting to see what he comes up with next.
November 16, 2023
So I was sent an advanced readers copy for my honest review.
So this book contains 8 short stories, which were dark and some were quite strange. what I enjoyed about this book, was the different types of stories, I enjoy short stories that make you think and these did that. I did find some of them not to my liking, but some I found weird, which I loved. My favourite is probably unamed.
These are dark, weird and unusual stories, so won't be for everyone. But if that's your kind of thing then this book should appeal to you!
So this book contains 8 short stories, which were dark and some were quite strange. what I enjoyed about this book, was the different types of stories, I enjoy short stories that make you think and these did that. I did find some of them not to my liking, but some I found weird, which I loved. My favourite is probably unamed.
These are dark, weird and unusual stories, so won't be for everyone. But if that's your kind of thing then this book should appeal to you!
November 3, 2023
Eight short stories: some science-fiction, some fantasy, all dark and just a bit twisted. Wormholes, monsters, and a black pit that reaches deep into the earth. Survival that may be worse than death, victory that you may wish was defeat. A few of these stories wormed their way into my brain and will not let go. The dawning dread as each twist and turn unfolds doesn’t leave you when the story ends. This is everything I want from short stories.
November 18, 2023
Quite the mixture of horror and fantasy, while I'm more a fan of the first, this book did excellent at portraying the horrendous. "Fringe" at its finest. There are many who write about fantasy but lack the finesse to make it scary, it comes out rather cheesy, Shank manages to inspire creepiness throughout. A Rare Specimen indeed.
Special thanks to the author and publisher for allowing me to read and review the arc. My review is voluntary.
Special thanks to the author and publisher for allowing me to read and review the arc. My review is voluntary.
November 12, 2023
This book was a complication of short stories and each of them left me speechless, bewildered, confused and dying to know more. But that’s the point of short stories…it riles up your imagination and leaves you hanging on for more. This book was definitely worth the time and I highly recommend it!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 9, 2023
A collection of thriller and suspenseful stories in all genres, everything from sci-fi alien species to fantastical monsters. I found the stories a bit confusing at first, but soon the action and narrative honed me in. This book is great for fans of short atmospheric horror stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and Carthago Nova Press for this ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and Carthago Nova Press for this ARC.
February 6, 2024
Some of the most thought provoking stories I have ever read. While I did find it a tad difficult to get into each story, by the end, the stories had me going into a spiral of thoughts. Many times I found myself wanting more within the world of the individual stories!! Almost each time I would say “this is my new favorite,” and now I do not know which one is my favorite.
December 18, 2025
Quite a mixed bag of genres here. Nonetheless some quite interesting stories, well written but often leaving you with a slight feeling of ‘ok’ rather than wowed with some deeper question being asked. Perhaps the best of the bunch is the first tale, of which left me wanting more, much more! As this was such an intriguing premise. Fingers crossed the author is writing that book right now. 🤞🏻
November 14, 2023
A great collection of dark fantasy and sci-fi stories with a classic horror vibe. All very intriguing with endings with endings that leave you startled and wishing for more.
November 24, 2023
This was a quick collection of short, spooky stories! They were very creepy and I liked every story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews