Science Fiction Short Stories

by Andy Sawyer (Foreword), Edward Ahern, Stewart C. Baker

A deluxe edition of super-charged, original and classic short stories. Featuring dystopia, post-apocalypse, time travel, robots and more, this brilliant collection brings together the best of today's writers (many stories previously unpublished), with an eclectic range of science fiction masters including H. Rider Haggard, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Philip Frances Nowlan, Edward Page Mitchell and Jack London.

New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Adrian Ludens, Alexis A. Hunter, Beth Cato, Conor Powers-Smith, M. Darusha Wehm, David Tallerman, Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Kate O'Connor, Mike Morgan, Nemma Wollenfang, Rob Hartzell, Sarah Hans, Patrick Tumblety, Stewart C Baker, Brian Trent, Jacob M. Lambert, Rachael K. Jones, Zach Shephard, Keyan Bowes, and Edward Ahern.

An eclectic collection of SF adventure tales. Perfect as a gift, and for years of reading pleasure.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Anthologies, Classics

480 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2015

Reviews

[Mangieto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm planning to make a list of best stories in the book, but I haven't find the way to put them in order, so I'll let it on hold for now.
They're good in general, some of the stories are really short and it's fine, others are way too long for my taste and for a few I would liked to read a longer and more developed version of the story. However, it's a great compilation for all the tastes.

[Endless Dreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely think i might have enjoyed this series more if i was an avid sci-fi reader, but my heart simply connects more with fantasy and romance.
With that being said i picked this book up to try and introduce myself with the genre, and while i did at times find myself dozing off at certain stories, overall there were some pretty interesting and captivating ones.
I was conflicted due to the variety of authors, dus some writing styles and narratives sat well with me, while some did not.

Overall i definitely think this book is for sci-fi lovers and those who might like collections of short stories by some very iconic and classic authors, mixed with more modern ones.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, most of the stories were enjoyable, and demonstrated the widest reaches of the fairly broad sci-fi scope. There were a few in the collection which reminded me why I'm sometimes hesitant to pick up sci-fi stories. A couple of the tales leaned very heavily on the psuedo-science and maths, and were too light for my tastes on the characters, world and events. The first story, for instance, was an exercise in telling, not showing, written in the kind if style I would expect notes for a story to be done in. Part of that is due to the nature of the story - I'm not sure how else you could have written it - but I'd still argue if a story can't be written in an engaging way there might be a flaw in the idea to begin with. I did wonder what I was in for, for the first 50 pages then, if I'd committed to reading nearly 500 pages of the like. Fortunately almost every story that followed was a unique, well-realised tale which served as great examples of what the genre can be.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

A surprising amount of typos. In one spot an entire three- or four-sentence paragraph is repeated two pages before it’s supposed to appear! Many of the stories were hard to get through as they’re so outdated and the science described just wrong. I wish the year the story was published was put with the title instead of at the back of the book. I didn’t think to look at the bibliography until I was nearly finished with the entire collection. Perhaps if I’d known the age of each story at the beginning it would have been easier to give it the benefit of the doubt. Then again, I’m not often one for classics. Overall, too much social commentary and not enough intergalactic battles.

[Marija S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it in audio on escapepod.org podcast site:

http://escapepod.org/2012/11/15/ep369...

Written from a robot's point of view, this story is something else - intelligent, well written and with a bitter-sweet humor to it. Not to give away any spoilers, reasoning of an AI helper sounded convincing and logical(remember Data and his troubles with humans?) and the point the story is underlining is skilfully painted by AI's computing vs reality of human relations with its illogical and unwritten rules.

Loved it!

[Beth Cato]

Not a review. Includes a reprint of my story "Overlap."

[Mike Malony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any anthology, a wide variety of differently presented stories. I liked most. One or two were quite good.

[Ishmael Soledad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim, mainly on the promise of the new stories it contained. To be honest they were not to my tastes; nothing wrong about them but, then again, nothing right.

Thankfully this volume contained old favorites that for one reason or another have gone missing from my bookshelf. Most were welcomed back, however the 49 pages of Flatland could, I think, have been better served with newer work. And if I'd not lost them half the book would have been redundant.

If, as the publisher's note maintains (and even this had an error, referring to the book as "This Collection of Gothic Fantasy Stories", unable to get heir mind around which of the four books it is) there was a 'tidal wave of entries' more of them, and less of the old hard worn favorites would have helped.

Somehow it was neither fish nor fowl, and that's a pity.

[Ruby Jusoh · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 500 pages. Lots of stories, most are alright, some are confusing and a few are downright amazing. I really enjoyed reading this. However, it does require one to be focused. Sci-fi tends to be huge on concepts rather than stories. One short story, Red, is literally about a plague. Too relatable. So many other topics such as genetic engineering, AI and reliance on robots, parallel universe. It will definitely be a good read if you are not a sci-fi fan but like to have a taste of what the stories are usually like.

[Earl Biringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre collection of public-domain moldy-oldies (with one or two classics thrown in - Flatland, the Piper story) and second-tier newer stories. Worth the $5.00 I paid for it, but wouldn't be worth anything more. A lot of typos.

Major Gripe: the removed the diagrams from Flatland, but not the references to the diagrams? Did anyone actually edit this thing?

[Shaoroun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the majority of the stories, there were a few i skipped because i just wasnt into them, but many left me wanting to know what happened next!

[Alex Hodkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were really great and others were pretty rubbish.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mix of classic and new stories. I especially enjoyed Butterfly Dreams and The Care and Feeding of Mammalian Bipeds, v. 2.1

[Kev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just reached page 350. Such gems I have found. These are standout stories; the others are good, too. But these three (at the moment) left me breathless.
Behind the First Years by Stewart C. Baker... Wow.
Rest in Peace by Sarah Hans... Wonderful story.
Red by Kate O'Connor. Thought-provoking.
Eleven stories to go.

[Psyckers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories ranging on a revolution happening in a two dimensional world through to the first impressions of a caregiver robot after meeting their human family.
The stories are well written and memorable. Some are quite thought provoking, certainly worth reading.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Care and Feeding is my favourite story by Darusha. I am her number one fan boy: I have read all of her work. This is the best.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to read more