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First Casualty: A #LoveOzYA Short Story
A holiday trip (in space!) goes horribly wrong when alien refugees are rescued but the dark side of politics and the media emerges.
- GenresShort Stories
36 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2017
About the author
Michael Pryor
129 books190 followers Michael Pryor's bio
Check out my Fantasy podcast, 'The World Below the War in the Heavens' wherever you get your podcasts!
I was born in Swan Hill, Victoria. I spent my childhood in country Victoria and Melbourne before moving to Geelong at the age of 10. I lived in Geelong until I went to university in Melbourne after secondary school.
I currently live in Melbourne. I’ve worked as a drainer’s labourer, a truck driver, a bathroom accessories salesperson, an Internet consultant, a Multimedia Developer, a Publisher, in a scrap metal yard and as a secondary school teacher. Whew.
I’ve taught English, Literature, Drama, Legal Studies and Computer Studies.
I've published over thirty-five novels and more than sixty of my short stories have appeared in Australia and overseas in publications such as Overland and the New South Wales School Magazine. My writing moves from literary fiction to genre Science Fiction to slapstick humour, depending on my mood.
I’ve been shortlisted eleven times for the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction, and have also been nominated for a Ditmar award. My short stories have twice been featured in Gardner Dozois’ ‘Highly Recommended’ lists in The Year’s Best Science Fiction and The Year’s Best Fantasy. Nine of my books have been CBC Notable Books, I’ve been longlisted for a Golden Inky and I’ve been shortlisted for the WAYBRA Award. I’ve also twice won the Best and Fairest Award at West Brunswick Amateur Football Club.
My reviews tend toward the three word style of the trenchant critic, N. Molesworth.
Check out my Fantasy podcast, 'The World Below the War in the Heavens' wherever you get your podcasts!
I was born in Swan Hill, Victoria. I spent my childhood in country Victoria and Melbourne before moving to Geelong at the age of 10. I lived in Geelong until I went to university in Melbourne after secondary school.
I currently live in Melbourne. I’ve worked as a drainer’s labourer, a truck driver, a bathroom accessories salesperson, an Internet consultant, a Multimedia Developer, a Publisher, in a scrap metal yard and as a secondary school teacher. Whew.
I’ve taught English, Literature, Drama, Legal Studies and Computer Studies.
I've published over thirty-five novels and more than sixty of my short stories have appeared in Australia and overseas in publications such as Overland and the New South Wales School Magazine. My writing moves from literary fiction to genre Science Fiction to slapstick humour, depending on my mood.
I’ve been shortlisted eleven times for the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction, and have also been nominated for a Ditmar award. My short stories have twice been featured in Gardner Dozois’ ‘Highly Recommended’ lists in The Year’s Best Science Fiction and The Year’s Best Fantasy. Nine of my books have been CBC Notable Books, I’ve been longlisted for a Golden Inky and I’ve been shortlisted for the WAYBRA Award. I’ve also twice won the Best and Fairest Award at West Brunswick Amateur Football Club.
My reviews tend toward the three word style of the trenchant critic, N. Molesworth.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 7, 2021
Describing alien species is tricky because they're alien. Which sounds stupid, but it's actually profound if you think about it.
Damien Heong is preparing to go for a trip in his spaceship with Tekura. He shares his secrets with her but she doesn't return the gesture. Then they come across the Palmeenee race and turns out that they are alien refugees and Damien and Tekura decide to help them. But then Earth politics intervene and things turn ugly.
I could not get into this story from the beginning even though it has two hindi/punjabi/urdu words. I say three languages because they are the same two words in each of these languages and I thought hmm interesting, may be it'll have more such words or may be the story will get better but that was the only time things were interesting for me. I really tried but it just wasn't for me. I get the message that refugees should be helped by the governments and things could be better but the whole space setup did not work for me. I also didn't like any of the characters. This story felt so long and it dragged and I stopped reading it multiple times and started reading it again and it's only a short story. My heart breaks for only giving it one star. It's the classic case of it's not you, it's me.
1 star
Damien Heong is preparing to go for a trip in his spaceship with Tekura. He shares his secrets with her but she doesn't return the gesture. Then they come across the Palmeenee race and turns out that they are alien refugees and Damien and Tekura decide to help them. But then Earth politics intervene and things turn ugly.
I could not get into this story from the beginning even though it has two hindi/punjabi/urdu words. I say three languages because they are the same two words in each of these languages and I thought hmm interesting, may be it'll have more such words or may be the story will get better but that was the only time things were interesting for me. I really tried but it just wasn't for me. I get the message that refugees should be helped by the governments and things could be better but the whole space setup did not work for me. I also didn't like any of the characters. This story felt so long and it dragged and I stopped reading it multiple times and started reading it again and it's only a short story. My heart breaks for only giving it one star. It's the classic case of it's not you, it's me.
1 star
May 10, 2017
My fifth story in "Begin, End, Begin" and probably my least favorite so far. That being said, I'm not very interested in sci-fi or political thrillers, so this story had a bit of an uphill climb anyway. I really feel like this story would have been stronger as a full length novel, because Pryor does some pretty sick world building...but the character development is really meh. The protagonist, Damien was unbelievably vanilla and so were the aliens, and the love interest Tekura was a bit too MPDG for my tastes. I was totally uninvested in the love story, and the main plot just wasn't my cup of tea, so I was really counting the pages just waiting for this one to be over :-(
May 21, 2017
I thought this story was an amusing yet important political statement. Glad to have had this recommended by a bud and it was super convenient for this to be available on BorrowBox!
"All the good things like kindness and pity and sharing were thrown aboard just to help win an election by playing to the worst in us"
"Much wow"
"Go is a worthwhile product of your civilisation. War is not"
"All the good things like kindness and pity and sharing were thrown aboard just to help win an election by playing to the worst in us"
"Much wow"
"Go is a worthwhile product of your civilisation. War is not"
November 19, 2017
(This review was part of my full review on the Begin End Begin anthology)
I did really like some elements of this but it was quite heavy handed. Like I absolutely think the message is an important one (cough cough Australian government get your shit together cough cough) but some of the discussions between characters about the issues did not feel real. Like they'd make good tweets, but they don't sound like something people actually say casually.
I think I'm going to reiterate what I've seen other reviewers say - that this would have much stronger as a full novel. I get that short story doesn't really lend a lot of space to expand on issues like refugee aliens, and so it lacks a bit of the heart it needs to make this really hit home. Which is a pity, because the world was pretty cool, and it could have made for a very pointed commentary if we'd been able to really connect with these aliens.
That makes me seem a little callous, but I guess I was kinda a little iffy, and then the political talk really turned me off. I guess that might just be me!!
Also, the relationship didn't reaaally grab me... which I think was another thing that could have been really good if it were longer? It had the bones for it, it was just a little jumped.
I did really like some elements of this but it was quite heavy handed. Like I absolutely think the message is an important one (cough cough Australian government get your shit together cough cough) but some of the discussions between characters about the issues did not feel real. Like they'd make good tweets, but they don't sound like something people actually say casually.
I think I'm going to reiterate what I've seen other reviewers say - that this would have much stronger as a full novel. I get that short story doesn't really lend a lot of space to expand on issues like refugee aliens, and so it lacks a bit of the heart it needs to make this really hit home. Which is a pity, because the world was pretty cool, and it could have made for a very pointed commentary if we'd been able to really connect with these aliens.
That makes me seem a little callous, but I guess I was kinda a little iffy, and then the political talk really turned me off. I guess that might just be me!!
Also, the relationship didn't reaaally grab me... which I think was another thing that could have been really good if it were longer? It had the bones for it, it was just a little jumped.
March 17, 2018
An awesome story that reminded me of Star Trek.
Original ideas, detailed descriptions and interesting characters (including aliens) really engage readers in this short story. The narrative arc was developed wonderfully.
This story did not focus on romance like most of the other stories in #LoveOzYa Anthology, and I found that it stands out more.
Highly recommended for tween and teen readers.
Original ideas, detailed descriptions and interesting characters (including aliens) really engage readers in this short story. The narrative arc was developed wonderfully.
This story did not focus on romance like most of the other stories in #LoveOzYa Anthology, and I found that it stands out more.
Highly recommended for tween and teen readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2017
Extremely smart! A short story about an adventure in space that turns into a refugee rescue mission but is really a story about our current treatment of refugees in the world, boat people, detention centers and the way politicians spin things. I loved this!
March 28, 2025
Pryor Occasions #1
Another short yarn from the anthology of stories is again an average yarn with sparks of interest, but again nothing really memorable.
Another short yarn from the anthology of stories is again an average yarn with sparks of interest, but again nothing really memorable.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews