Sci-Fi Shorts II

by Mark Roman, Corben Duke (illustrator)

Ten humorous science fiction stories telling of the retired scientist who invents an antidote to Murphy’s Law, a hen party in space, a train journey into a parallel world, and more.

Genres: Anthologies, Humor

173 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2023

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding out the end of the year with this very short anthology of humorous science fiction stories. All provided chuckles...there's the train trip to a parallel universe, the scientist who invents an antidote to Murphy's Law, the spy human, and more.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong group of short stories ranging from a paranoid scientist that solves a problem and may have ended the world to an "internet influencer" that can save the world when its owner sells the Earth and the new owner wants to do a complete tear down remodel. Funny stuff and, no, not every story is about ending the world.

[Billy Buttons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Sci-Fi Shorts 2
Author: Mark Roman

Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 3/5

Of the 15 readers:
12 would read another book by this author.
9 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
13 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
12 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

Readers’ Comments
“You don’t see a lot of sci-fi shorts. The books always seem to be huge tomes, so this is rather original. I must say, I enjoyed them, well, most of them. Very funny in parts, although not every joke hits the mark. Still, I was very impressed by the author’s imagination and comic timing.” Male reader, aged 69
“I loved Space Tourists and Spy Human. But Well Read didn’t do it for me. Lots of energy to this book; lively almost. I suspect the author enjoyed writing it. If you love a bit of sci-fi, absurdity, and humour, you’ll probably enjoy this.” Female reader, aged 48
“What an inventive mind this author has. The sort of fellow I’d love to sit next to at a party. I enjoyed every page of this witty set of sci-fi shorts. You never knew what was going to happen next.” Female reader, aged 38
“A wonderful set of very odd, very colourful and very charismatic characters -and lots of space too. A rather niche book; I don’t know a lot of sci-fi/comedy fans – but it’s fun stuff. The author is very innovative in terms of plot, characters, sci-fi settings. I felt the books was a little too short though. I was just getting into it, and it ended.” Female reader, aged 58

To Sum It Up:
“A wonderfully witty, far-ranging set of sci-fi shorts filled with oddest of characters!” Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[Thomas Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat of a mixed bag, but I did chuckle at the inanimate objects bit.

[A.W. Morisseau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor of beta reading some of these stories before they were published. I almost hurt myself laughing.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were a fun read. Not particularly refined writings but I liked them.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sometimes humorous stories.