Triangulation: Taking Flight

Triangulation #2

by Pete Butler (Editor), Gail Sosinsky Wickman (Contributor), Shanna Germain (Contributor)

Rockets funded by bake sales! Zeppelins filled with Nazis! Were-crows! Magic carpets trying to take flight! Ghostly jetliners trying to land! The newest edition of PARSEC Ink's Triangulation anthology takes to the sky with twenty short stories from established pros and new writers alike. So pick up a copy and read about balloon animals in existential crisis, postmen uninhibited by space or time, and the joy of seeing stars with a little help from a friend. Just watch out for the griffins.

Contents

1 • The Reap Assessors • shortstory by Reesa Brown
3 • Guinea • shortstory by Amy Treadwell
11 • Peacock Hour • shortstory by Elizabeth Barrette
20 • Touchdown • shortstory by Katy Darby
26 • Into the Air • shortstory by Rachel Sivirsky
29 • What Are the Odds? • shortstory by Paul Stefko
38 • The Winner • shortstory by Gail Sosinsky Wickman
42 • Seeing Stars • shortstory by Shanna Germain
52 • The Face of the Waters • shortstory by Matthew Johnson
57 • Stone Cold • shortstory by Jacob Edwards
60 • Nine is her Number • shortstory by Amy Treadwell
67 • Nothing to Crow About • shortstory by Gerri Leen
70 • Graveyard of the Cloud Gods • shortstory by David Seigler
79 • Rush Hours • shortstory by Ian Creasey
81 • Ex Libris • shortstory by Marc Vun Kannon
88 • Before the Ink Is Even Dry • shortstory by Matt Betts
95 • It Takes a Town • (2002) • shortstory by Stephen V. Ramey
108 • Post • shortstory by Lavie Tidhar (aka Post-Human Pat 2004 )
114 • Dancing In Air • shortstory by Shweta Narayan
116 • The Life and Times of Penguin • (2005) • shortstory by Eugie Foster
125 • Afterword (Triangulation: Taking Flight) • essay by Pete Butler

126 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2008

Reviews

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flight is the theme of this collection of 20 stories of speculative fiction ranging from about 5,000 words to one-page flash fiction. As you might guess given the theme, science-fiction dominates, but fantasy and horror is represented too. The back cover announces there are: Rockets funded by bake sales! Zeppelins filled with Nazis! Were-crows! Magic carpets trying to take flight! Ghostly jetliners trying to land! My friend Gerri Leen contributed that were-crow story, a fun, short humor piece, "Nothing to Crow About," so I can't claim to be an objective reviewer; I even was a first reader (beta) for that story. But for what it's worth, I didn't just love that story but several others, making it hard to pick out favorites, but I'm going to name my other five favorites below:

Amy Treadwell, "Guinea" - Treadwell appears twice on the contents page because she was the winner and runner-up in a blind contest associated with the publication. This, the winning story, was a light-hearted, charming odd ball piece with great characters.

Elizabeth Barrett, "Peacock Hour" - This story of "Magic carpets trying to take flight" was my favorite out of the five. Lovely piece reminiscent of something out of the Arabian Nights

Rachel Swirsky, "Into the Air" - This is the second Triangulation issue I've read, and one of Swirsky's stories in the other one was a favorite there too. I loved the lyricism of the prose. It appealed to my magpie soul. I liked it's fairy-tale quality and use of the second person.

Paul Stefko, "What Are The Odds?" - The Nazis and Zeppelins story it had a really great premise well executed.

Amy Treadwell, "My Name Is Nine" - This was the runner-up, fantasy where her other hinted at science-fiction. I actually loved this even more than the winner. Great voice, great character.

I didn't care for all of the stories in the anthology, and one was seriously... well disturbing, even squicky. Nevertheless, all the stories were well-written; I found the talent and range of the stories impressive.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of the best stories entered in the PARSEC Writing contest, including my own.