There Comes a Time

by J.J. Green

Return to classic scifi with these shorts about time travel, future Earth, interplanetary exploration, Mars colonies, strange new subterranean life forms and other futuristic, weird and horrific tales. Previously published in Lamplight, Perihelion and Thrills and Mystery Podcast, stories include:
There Comes a Time
Corporal Elliot, the first Future Soldier, has only one mission: to find out why humanity will be wiped off the face of the Earth. But time isn’t on her side.
The Last Days of Duane Dayton
Brutal murderer Duane Dayton waits on Death Row for his second and final execution, hoping for a quick end. His new technician has other ideas.
Breathing Space
In the deepest cave ever entered by human beings, Collins searches for the body of a lost caver. But there’s something strange about a colleague of the deceased, and the patches on the cave walls she's investigating. Collins must figure out the mystery if he’s to get out alive.
Never in Fear Fly to the Woods
For the first colony on Perseverance to survive, Robert has to overcome his grief and fear.

Genres: Science Fiction

111 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2015

About the author

J.J. Green is a British-Australian science fiction author with a lifelong love of distant landscapes, intriguing cultures and fascinating places. She was born within the sound of the bells of Mary-le-Bow church in Cheapside, London, making her a bona fide Cockney, and she lived in Australia, Laos and Taiwan before returning to the UK to settle down in Cambridge.

Green’s novels weave science-based speculation with richly personal stories. Her works explore themes of environmental degradation, political conflict, mythical resonance, human resilience, and the ethics of technology and expansion. Her characters—often strong women—navigate future worlds grounded in both scientific plausibility and mythic imagination.

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Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not big on short stories, I always come away wanting more...but this is easily the second best single- author selection of short stories I've ever come across (my favourite is still Isobelle Carmody's Green Monkey Dreams).
The title story was my favourite in the collection. Green's writing is just effortlessly evocative, beautiful style. Some concepts I liked more than others, but I enjoyed all of the stories.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a collection of short sci-fi-type stories of various lengths. Each one was, in its way, tied to the book's title: there comes a time. In some cases, that time was an eternal punishment for bad deeds or daring to rebel against the order of things. In others, it was time to move on, move up, leave behind, and change. Quite a few of these stories punched me right square in the feels, which is precisely how I like my fiction. My only minor complaint was that a few stories had some stilted wording, a lot of 'could not' and 'would not' instead of 'couldn't' and 'wouldn't,' etc. Only a few suffered from this, though, and it is easily overlooked.

I would highly recommend this collection of stories to those who aren't afraid of sad or ambiguous endings (though not all are sad and ambiguous) and enjoy a good 'what if' kind of sci-fi.

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

The version published in 2015 had 4 short stories; in 2024 the book/audio has 10 shorts. The audio is AI generated (which means that there is a variety of voices).

Enjoyable collection

[Thomas Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of these are evocative of Black Mirror, and I am here for it.

[Sally Hannoush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is several short stories in one book. Some of them were a little confusing for me and require more story to "get it" but others were very good. I enjoyed the first story, which is named after this whole book. "Tread Lightly" was one of the stories I found needed more story for it to make more sense. "The Last Days of Duane Dayton" was told well and was easy to picture. I like this book because the short stories means you can pick it up and put it down as needed without forgetting what the books about.

[Carly Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

I really enjoyed the short stories in this collection. Each one is different and gives you something to think about. Looking forward to seeing what else this author has written, hopefully his books are as good as these were.