Chronos: An Anthology of Time Drabbles

by Eric S. Fomley (Editor), Andrea Allison (Contributor), Tiffany Michelle Brown (Contributor)

Chronos is an anthology of drabbles (a story told in exactly one-hundred words) themed around time. Seventy-five talented authors from around the world come together to present ninety-eight stories of time, time travel, time zones, time manipulation, flash-forwards, space-time, time freezes, and so many other variations on the theme.

Genres: Fiction

115 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2018

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I wrote one of the stories.

That said: this was a fun anthology of stories. Some great and thought provoking while others are odd. It’s interesting how many associate time travel with murder.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Note: I have 2 stories in this anthology

I really enjoyed reading all of the different drabbles in this collection. The 'time' theme was fun to write, and all the authors came up with original interpretations and styles for their pieces.

If you like science fiction, time travel stories, and general speculative fiction, this is a good way to sample a range of new authors' works.

[Hákon Gunnarsson]

I’ve got one of the stories in this collection of drabbles, so I’m not going to review it. What I can say is that I enjoyed working on it. My story plays on the concept of time within a high fantasy setting, hopefully with a little bit of humor thrown in.

[Milliebot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review and others posted over at my blog.

I grabbed a copy of this anthology because my friend Jacob over at Red Star Reviews happens to have a story, or drabble, within and I enjoyed my first foray into micro-fiction. Never before have I read a book composed entirely of stories of 100 words or less! It’s amazing what some can accomplish in so few words.

As with any story collection, not every short did something for me, but I want to highlight my favorites. To keep on brand, my thoughts will be short as well.

Diastanaut by M. Yzmore – unexpectedly sad and a little bit beautiful
Future Tweak by R. Daniel Lester – LOL
Timing is Everything by Brian K. Lowe – vampires are dicks; also lol
The Benefit of Hindsight by Douglas Prince – dark
The Red-Nosed Man by I.E. Kneverday – another dark tale, hinting at a broader story
Where Credit is Due by Joshua Scully – ugh; a likely future if time were used as compensation
The Prophecy of Byrek by Stuart Conover – this one feels like a prologue to a fantasy and I’d like a full novel
Beyond the Known by Madison McSweeney – interesting concept for time travel
Djinn and Tonic by Sara Codair – clever title, funny and another one I’d like to read as a novel
Relative Disaster by John H. Dromey – allergies, man
Wasted Time by Jacob Stokes – maybe I’m biased since he’s my friend, but this is a fun open with the feel of a riddle or limerick; there’s a sense of playful poetry
The Frozen Desert by Paul Thompson – excellent concept/world building and needs to be part of a novel
Trying to Make a Living by Patrick Stahl – another depressing look at what it might be like to be paid with time

Now for some quick comments on the physical book. As I sometimes find with smaller publishers, the design is lacking. I know this isn’t an issue for many, but it’s one I noticed. I wish there were just a few tiny details to add a little pizazz. One major issue I had is that the margins are narrow and the text goes almost right to the binding – it was hard to read at times and if you’re someone who hates to break the spine this will likely annoy you.

At the end of each drabble, authors were given a chance to provide a blurb about themselves or their accolades and a few authors wrote longer bios than fiction. I think that was a bit extra, if you ask me. I think it would have been cleaner if everyone was limited in their bios so that the story and bio fit on one side of the page.

In writing this I also noticed an editing snafu – Poor Douglas Price is missing the L in his name under the title of his story. I imagine that’s something spell check might have caught.

Also, the cover art is so eye-catching and I love the colors – not sure who designed/drew it though, as there’s no credit listed.

Overall, this is a solid collection. I paid $9.99 and for me, that’s worth it because I’m supporting a friend. I do wish a bit more care had been taken in the editing and design in the book, but I’m not at all bothered I spent money on it. If you’ve never forayed into micro fiction this might be a good place to start, especially if you’re a sci-fi fan! I imagine it’s quite a challenge to fit a full story into 100 words or less and I applaud all the authors for doing so!

[Ike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decide to publish a book. Pick a topic—say, time. Challenge 98 authors to weave works of fiction around any aspect of time expressing it in an interesting and meaningful way. By the way, fence each story with 100 words, no more, no less. This challenge succeeded exceptionally well in Chronos: An Anthology of Time Drabbles edited by Eric S. Foley. Each drabble is a full story complete with a beginning, middle and end. I highly recommend that you get a copy and experience the full pleasure of reading 98 mini-works of literature. (I’m proud that my son wrote one!)

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first collection of drabbles. They're not all great, but drabbles are tough, and some of them were truly outstanding. I'll seek out more work by the drabble-authors I liked best.

[Addison Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of bite-size stories

This book had a lot of fun ideas explored 100 words at a time. Many of the drabbles could have supported longer stories, but were refreshing in their brevity. Very fun collection!