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Six Bits

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Warning!
This book is a collection of short stories, novelettes, and novellas. Two of them, Porter and Macos have been available on Amazon as stand-alone stories in the past, but readers complained that they were too short to justify Amazon’s minimum $0.99 price. Thus, I removed Porter and Macos from Amazon, extensively rewrote them and then compiled them with some new short stories in order to provide a better value.
If you already purchased and read Porter and Macos when they were available as stand-alone stories you may be disappointed, but they only make up 34% of the total and the price for all six stories is still just $0.99.
The book consists of six stories (65K words – same length as the novel “Quicker”).
1. Sander (Novelette - 8K words) – a story about growing up in the asteroid belt and encountering a man who‘s a complex mixture of good and evil
2. Exceltor (Novella - 19K words) – a story considering how warfare might work in a future where wormholes allow sudden bridging of large distances in space
3. Macos (Short Story - 8K words) – a coming of age story wherein a young man finds his father is a completely different man than he had always imagined
4. Porter (Novelette - 14K words) – a young girl can open small portals from one location to another with her mind but—to her father’s great disappointment—she just wants to play guitar
5. Billy Benoit (Novelette - 12K words) – a man who thinks it would be awesome to go back in time, finds out it isn’t as cool as he’d hoped – not at all…
6. Guitar Girl (Short Story - 4K words) – a cover band at a beach bar invites a pretty girl with a guitar to play a set with them – having no idea who she really is…

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2015

260 people are currently reading
30 people want to read

About the author

Laurence E. Dahners

62 books673 followers
I was born on the island of Cyprus where my dad was employed as a mining engineer. We moved to the Philippines (more mining) when I was three and then to Arizona when I was 9. I went to med school at the University of Arizona and did a residency in Orthopaedics at the University of Kansas. I taught Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until I retired in 2017.

I've always loved science fiction and it's been great fun getting to write some. I also like music and have a little home recording studio. You can read more, listen to some music and look at some of my art, at http://laury.dahners.com/ if you like.

If you want to contact me, or be put on my email list to be notified when new books come out, just email me at ldahners@gmail.com

Laury Dahners

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5 stars
260 (54%)
4 stars
159 (33%)
3 stars
45 (9%)
2 stars
8 (1%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Bryan457.
1,562 reviews26 followers
January 8, 2018
Sander - 3 stars. Told through the eyes of a young man whose family owns and works/mines an asteroid. It is a dangerous, somewhat lawless existence. You need to be very careful who you trust.

Exceltor - 3 stars. Interstellar war between two races, both of which use wormholes to port ships, people, weapons, surveillance gear, etc.

Macos - 2 stars. An angry young man rebelling against the subjugation of his people.

Porter - 3 stars. What if you could make small wormhole ports with your mind; what would you do?

Billy Benoit - 4 stars. My favorite of the book. I like books like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and The Cross-Time Engineer, but how would your average "Billy" do if they went back in time?

Guitar Girl - 4 stars. A cute story featuring Eva from story # 4, Porter.
27 reviews
October 10, 2021
Does not disappoint!

I can't believe how devoted a fan I have become of Laurence Dahners. I have read & enjoyed virtually all his Works! 'Six Bits did not disappoint & I found myself as usually anxiously anticipating each story in the book! Here's hoping that he brings to life full length novels to the stories featured in 'Six Bits'!
Profile Image for Stephen Garinger.
45 reviews
March 19, 2022
A great array of short stories

If you read Lahrence Dahners novels then please read his short stories as well. You will not be disappointed. And if you've never read his work this is a good sampling of what he does.
Little what-ifs become tools to shift reality in wondrous directions. Sometimes subtle and sometimes world changing. And always entertaining.
233 reviews1 follower
April 4, 2022
Cool read!

You just never know what you might wander Into on Amazon. I saw a title I thought said Fast times at Ridgemont High. I was wrong but said why not. When I opened the file it said it was stand-alone but, I might enjoy it mire by reading this first. Great read, on to the next book. After that? Perhaps the whole catalog. Cool!
677 reviews
April 4, 2024
A group of really entertaining and enjoyable stories!!!!!

Congratulations to Lawrence Dahners for this amazing series. It’s hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also provides top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories.
759 reviews2 followers
April 5, 2024
Ending at the beginning seems quite appropriate for this series.

Very different and very worthwhile, this series has a group of characters that are capable of sustaining through at least one more round of stories. There are still lots of tyrants out there and some are not that far away..
892 reviews4 followers
January 2, 2021
Mostly excellent!

Like most short story collections, some are very good, some aren't, but they are all better than I could do. Plus, this is a pretty good writer, I enjoy most of his stuff.
62 reviews
March 22, 2022
Growing craft!

I've now read, and enjoyed, many Dahners books. They all have interesting characters, interesting plots, and good pacing. This little sestet of stories shows a more playful and literary bent. Loved 'em!
10 reviews
July 24, 2022
Dahmers does it again

Lawrence Dahmers shows he can write short stories as well as great science fiction books. His stories are succinct and very well written. Hopefully he'll write more of them
Profile Image for Philip.
420 reviews4 followers
November 25, 2022
Nice shorts

This collection of short stories really help portraying the bigger universe of Dahners. From the nasty aliens, to the porters, the long ago bonesetter, all mixed into a coherent universe.
649 reviews4 followers
February 5, 2019
Great stories

I'm reaching the end of Laurence Dahners backlist and they all are good. Even these shorts live up to his high standards.
Profile Image for Aaron Eichler.
782 reviews
September 25, 2019
Awesome collection

I saw some commonalties between other books I have read, I don’t know the order they were written in, but I guess this was first.
718 reviews6 followers
March 26, 2020
Decent collection of stories

This is one of those times I just don't want to do a review, so words from the top bar, I'm done! Twenty dumb words. But I like your writing.
35 reviews2 followers
December 10, 2021
Great short stories

They're well written and fun.
Coming at you from a different angle and with characters you'll like and root for
7 reviews
March 21, 2022
More amazibg stories!

I just cannot get enough of this writer. His charactersare captivating. Ill keep reading as long as Dahners keeps writing
770 reviews4 followers
July 4, 2022
Six Bits

A very good copulation of short stories. I enjoyed reading this book. This author has a great writing style that does not have to resort to a cocky cutter style of action.
Profile Image for Lukas Lovas.
1,395 reviews64 followers
February 12, 2024
Fun little extras...some connected to other works, some, not so much.
256 reviews
February 2, 2016
Fantastic reading

This was a really great read! Hopefully LD will write some books off these shorts. If never continued into a full book still well worth cost and time to read these short stories. My favorite were with Eva and family but all of them were good!
44 reviews
September 26, 2015
Another winner

Once again Dahners has succeeded in creating a very entertaining effort. I thourally enjoyed this book. I eagerly await his next creation.
9 reviews1 follower
November 25, 2015
Good Stories

As always, Dahners delivers. I'd like to see more of the Eva character. She could have some interesting adventures. Good book!
16 reviews
January 16, 2016
Good read

Enjoyable stories with interesting plot twists, believable characters, worth the read. If you liked Mr Dahners's other books you will like this one.
Profile Image for Jim Kratzok.
1,070 reviews3 followers
May 3, 2017
That's what I'm talking about

This was a fine collection of short stories! Lawrence Dahners has written a number of novels but I haven't seen too many of his short stories - until now. He creates a vivid world in each story and ends most of them with just the perfect twist. Most enjoyable!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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