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Hyperpowers
Fictional military superpowers have captured our imaginations since
Plato invented Atlantis, and superpowers are all too real in today's
technological world. How would our stories evolve if they took place
on other worlds?
"Hyperpowers" from Third Flatiron Anthologies, guest-edited by Bascomb
James, takes on the challenge of telling short speculative fiction
stories that explore space opera and military fiction themes. These
tales raise potent issues such as:
o Empires may grow and dominate, but civilizations can also lose
momentum and dissipate into lawlessness
o Great distances may put an end to warfare and environmental
degradation, but expansionist tendencies could cause it to spread
instead
o Our silicon-based creations or other life forms may compete with us
for galactic domination, ultimately outshining us
The international group of contributors includes William Huggins,
Jonathan Shipley, Dan Koboldt, John M. Campbell, Mark Rookyard, Sam
Bellotto Jr., Erik B. Scott, E. J. Shumak, Brandon L. Summers, Neil
James Hudson, Robert Walton, K. S. Dearsley, Noel Ayers, Elliotte
Rusty Harold, Martin Clark, and Art Lasky. And as usual, our "Grins
and Gurgles" humor section allows a light-hearted take on the
subject.
Plato invented Atlantis, and superpowers are all too real in today's
technological world. How would our stories evolve if they took place
on other worlds?
"Hyperpowers" from Third Flatiron Anthologies, guest-edited by Bascomb
James, takes on the challenge of telling short speculative fiction
stories that explore space opera and military fiction themes. These
tales raise potent issues such as:
o Empires may grow and dominate, but civilizations can also lose
momentum and dissipate into lawlessness
o Great distances may put an end to warfare and environmental
degradation, but expansionist tendencies could cause it to spread
instead
o Our silicon-based creations or other life forms may compete with us
for galactic domination, ultimately outshining us
The international group of contributors includes William Huggins,
Jonathan Shipley, Dan Koboldt, John M. Campbell, Mark Rookyard, Sam
Bellotto Jr., Erik B. Scott, E. J. Shumak, Brandon L. Summers, Neil
James Hudson, Robert Walton, K. S. Dearsley, Noel Ayers, Elliotte
Rusty Harold, Martin Clark, and Art Lasky. And as usual, our "Grins
and Gurgles" humor section allows a light-hearted take on the
subject.
- GenresShort Stories
133 pages, ebook
Published May 15, 2016
1 person is currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Juliana Rew
58 books45 followersJuliana Rew was an NCAR science and technical writer in Boulder, Colorado, and is editor at Third Flatiron Publishing, publishing SF and fantasy anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 28, 2016
There are 16 stories in the anthology, all of which detail some adventure that has to do with space, alien invasion, interstellar battles and so forth. There’s kind of low diversity in the authors on this one, as you might expect given the topic, but the stories make up for it with fairly diverse characters. Also, we get to see some exotic aliens. There were several of the stories that I liked a lot.
One of these is “Grid Drop” by William Huggins. Celeste is part of a team that enforces the anti-tech provisions of a Fallowing, where an overpopulated and over-polluted world is stripped of technology so it can recover. She and her team are on a mission. They take the shuttle down to the offending village to deal with the problem. Will there be resistance? Can they save anyone here?
Another story that really caught my attention was “The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson. This one is brilliant, sharply plotted, and very edge-of-the-seat. The captain of a warship has been ordered by her command to destroy the world New Borodin. Thinking the order is questionable, the captain sends the order by slow radio, which means there is a Mytilenian delay, and the order can be rescinded within 30 hours by faster-than-light communication. She expects a mutiny, but her crew holds fast. She discusses the order with her command, and realizes the Empire is in disarray, so large now that communication has broken down. Lodging her complaints about the order, she waits for it to be rescinded. Will the order be changed? Will there be a decision in time to save New Borodin? Read the story to find out.
These stories are all generally entertaining, including plot twists and subtle humor.
One of these is “Grid Drop” by William Huggins. Celeste is part of a team that enforces the anti-tech provisions of a Fallowing, where an overpopulated and over-polluted world is stripped of technology so it can recover. She and her team are on a mission. They take the shuttle down to the offending village to deal with the problem. Will there be resistance? Can they save anyone here?
Another story that really caught my attention was “The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson. This one is brilliant, sharply plotted, and very edge-of-the-seat. The captain of a warship has been ordered by her command to destroy the world New Borodin. Thinking the order is questionable, the captain sends the order by slow radio, which means there is a Mytilenian delay, and the order can be rescinded within 30 hours by faster-than-light communication. She expects a mutiny, but her crew holds fast. She discusses the order with her command, and realizes the Empire is in disarray, so large now that communication has broken down. Lodging her complaints about the order, she waits for it to be rescinded. Will the order be changed? Will there be a decision in time to save New Borodin? Read the story to find out.
These stories are all generally entertaining, including plot twists and subtle humor.
June 20, 2016
REVIEWED: Hyperpowers anthology
EDITED BY: Bascomb James
PUBLISHED: May, 2016
Hyperpowers is the sixteenth anthology out from Third Flatiron Publishing, and the first guest-edited by someone other than its regular anthologist, Juliana Rew. Bascomb James, however, ensures the standard of quality continues in this latest, as has been established by Juliana. The theme of this volume is space opera and military science fiction, and it does not disappoint.
Included are 15 full-length stories, a piece of flash fiction, and opening Editor’s remarks. Each story is good in its own way, many are fun, some dark and tragic; it’s filled with unique ideas, action, diverse characters, and wonderful imaginary worlds, a quality I particularly enjoy reading in short form.
Some of my personal favorite selections included:
“The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson
“Between Two Heartbeats” by Jonathan Shipley
“Kill the Cofee Boilers!” by Robert Walton
“Pre-emptve Survivors” by Martin Clark
Overall: Four-and-a-half out of Five stars
EDITED BY: Bascomb James
PUBLISHED: May, 2016
Hyperpowers is the sixteenth anthology out from Third Flatiron Publishing, and the first guest-edited by someone other than its regular anthologist, Juliana Rew. Bascomb James, however, ensures the standard of quality continues in this latest, as has been established by Juliana. The theme of this volume is space opera and military science fiction, and it does not disappoint.
Included are 15 full-length stories, a piece of flash fiction, and opening Editor’s remarks. Each story is good in its own way, many are fun, some dark and tragic; it’s filled with unique ideas, action, diverse characters, and wonderful imaginary worlds, a quality I particularly enjoy reading in short form.
Some of my personal favorite selections included:
“The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson
“Between Two Heartbeats” by Jonathan Shipley
“Kill the Cofee Boilers!” by Robert Walton
“Pre-emptve Survivors” by Martin Clark
Overall: Four-and-a-half out of Five stars
October 18, 2016
Speculative fiction using 'hyper powers' as a prompt. Wide range of takes on the concept. Engaging and enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews