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Four powerful, creative short stories in a spectrum of speculative fiction categories.
"Mythtaken" by Kyle Robert Shultz is a quirky retelling of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is a fun adventure with snarky humor and unexpected twists.
"Stealing Life" by J.E. Purrazzi is a high action cyberpunk heist story set in futuristic Japan. Wildly imaginative, this story will take you on an adventure you won't soon forget.
"Government Man" by E.B. Dawson is a fast-paced dystopian with deep, emotional themes, fleshed out characters, and some unexpected twists.
"The Lake of Living Water" by Beth Wangler is an uplifting Christian fantasy that will leave you feeling hopeful and refreshed.
"Mythtaken" by Kyle Robert Shultz is a quirky retelling of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is a fun adventure with snarky humor and unexpected twists.
"Stealing Life" by J.E. Purrazzi is a high action cyberpunk heist story set in futuristic Japan. Wildly imaginative, this story will take you on an adventure you won't soon forget.
"Government Man" by E.B. Dawson is a fast-paced dystopian with deep, emotional themes, fleshed out characters, and some unexpected twists.
"The Lake of Living Water" by Beth Wangler is an uplifting Christian fantasy that will leave you feeling hopeful and refreshed.
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About the author
E.B. Dawson
36 books145 followersI grew up in Southeast Asia. My first experience with America was when I was six years old. Sometimes I amuse my friends by telling them stories of my first impressions of this country (clean bathrooms, Toy Story, Taco Bell, getting lost in department stores).
My family moved to California when I was eleven and completely changed the course of my life. On the outside I'm a well-adjusted American adult, but in all honesty some days I still wake up to the sound of the grass being cut by machetes.
I have traveled a fair amount and lived in four separate countries. I see the world very differently from most people that I know. And because I am an analytical introvert I try to understand everything in my life. I pour this into my writing.
Everything I write is deeply personal to me. People who know me well recognize the shadows of people I've met, experiences I've had, and emotions I've walked through in my writing. My goal is not just to entertain and explore imaginary worlds, but to take the reader on a journey that explores difficult questions and instills some sort of hope.
My family moved to California when I was eleven and completely changed the course of my life. On the outside I'm a well-adjusted American adult, but in all honesty some days I still wake up to the sound of the grass being cut by machetes.
I have traveled a fair amount and lived in four separate countries. I see the world very differently from most people that I know. And because I am an analytical introvert I try to understand everything in my life. I pour this into my writing.
Everything I write is deeply personal to me. People who know me well recognize the shadows of people I've met, experiences I've had, and emotions I've walked through in my writing. My goal is not just to entertain and explore imaginary worlds, but to take the reader on a journey that explores difficult questions and instills some sort of hope.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 28, 2019
The Pheonix Fiction Anthology is a collection of four gripping short stories, written by four immensely talented authors. Despite all these stories existing within the broad genres of fantasy and sci-fi, I was rather impressed at how different all these stories ended up feeling. Here are my reviews of each story:
Mythtaken: 3 out of 5 stars
Mythaken took while for me to really get into it, but it ended up becoming a quite lot of fun! I really enjoyed how everything played out in the end, and I positively LOVED Theseus. He ended up being one of Shultz’s funniest characters yet (and that’s saying something because all his characters are a hoot). I just tend to love the overly-cocky, satirical hero trope. And I really enjoyed Theseus’s relationship with the Minotaur; it reminded me of the relationship between Nick and Crispin.
I did have a few minor gripes with Mythtaken, though. Mainly, the story seemed too dialogue-heavy. I usually prefer reading (and writing) dialogue-heavy books—but the amount of dialogue in Mythtaken still struck me as excessive. I also felt like the Minotaur’s narrative voice sounded too similar to Nick’s narrative voice from Beaumont and Beasley (which is Shultz’s amazing fantasy series, by the way. You should totally check it out if you haven’t yet).
Nitpicky critiques aside, though, Mythaken is a fun and enjoyable story. It carries a pleasantly whimsy tone that starts the Anthology on a fun note.
Stealing Life: 3 out of 5 stars
Out of all the stories in the Phoenix Fiction Anthology, I probably loved the concept of Stealing Life even more than the others. A heist story where a group of people who have been experimented on against their will by a corrupt corporation break into this corporation in order to steal the consciousness that the company has hijacked from their friend and stowed away for the purpose of further experimentation—what’s not to love about this premise? Stealing Life’s synopsis on Goodreads likens itself to Ocean’s 11—but I would deem Purrazzi’s story as far superior to Oceans 11, a film that I found to be rather bland, predictable, and simply-plotted. I found Stealing Life, on the other hand, to be hugely ingenuitive. The ending of this short story is also fantastic. I won’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that the ending was by far my favorite part of the narrative. Unlike Oceans 11, Stealing Life actually underwent an interesting and surprising turn of events.
As much as I liked the premise and the ending, though, I might have preferred to have seen Stealing Life played out in short-film format. As someone who has not read any other cyberpunk besides Malfunction and who is embarrassingly unfamiliar with advanced technology (and doesn’t really care for reading action sequences, either) I had a difficult time envisioning a great deal of what was occurring in the story. I recognize that this is a very subjective critique, but I thus found that I could not get immersed in Stealing Life quite as much as I personally hoped to. Also, I have mixed feelings about the characterization. While the story gave me the impression that Purrazzi knew her characters intimately well, I had a hard time really getting to know them, personally. I liked Jack, though. He was awesome.
Again, however, I want to reiterate that I adore the premise of Stealing Life and did enjoy the story on the whole—even if I might not have been its Target audience. I feel confident that anyone more familiar with Cyberpunk would love it.
Government Man: 4 out of 5 stars
I tend to really enjoy well-made Dystopias (in other words, pretty much anything except Divergent), so I was engrossed in Government Man from the very first paragraph. And the rest of the story did not disappoint! Admittedly, I did not find the dystopian government in the story particularly unique or impressionable among the vast array of dystopian governments that already exist in literature—but this, I felt, was surprisingly one of Government Man’s foremost strengths. Rather than focusing primarily on the government treachery, as most Dystopias seem to do, this story focuses instead on its main character, Caleb Weiss. Dawson works within the confines of a short story to produce something that I’d never quite beheld before in a Dystopia: a compelling character study.
As far as critiques go, there is some expositional dialogue, coming from Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, that I personally found forced. Also, I felt like the story needed to be a bit longer; some of Caleb’s background and life-situation could have been fleshed out more thoroughly. However, none of these critiques really took away from my enjoyment of this great story. Any fan of dystopias ought to go read it right now.
The Lake of Living Water: 4 out of 5 stars
The Lake of Living Water is a great retelling of the Biblical tale of the fall of man. It started out a bit slow for me, but the chilling shift in tone toward the end of the narrative proved more than enough to warrant it four stars.
The Lake of Living Water serves as a brief prelude to Wangler’s new novel, A Child of Kaites. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the story was the world-building; in this short story, Wangler hints at an intricately crafted world that I now eagerly look forward to discovering more about in A Child of Kaites. I also found it interesting that Wangler’s world is already populated with quite a few people in it when the fall occurs; this decision, I thought, gave the story a distinct flavor and set it apart from the Biblical fall of man—without ever taking away from the essence and heart of the Biblical account. We are thus able to witness how the fall might affect a group of people, rather than two mere individuals. Wangler does not beat around the bush: man’s decision to rebel against its Creator changes everything, plunging Creation into an inferior state.
The characters in The Lake of Living Water show practically no development, or even individual personalities for that matter—but, as another reviewer pointed out, this allegory is not exactly the type of story that necessitates character development. Even with the arguably lackluster characters, I still enjoyed the story, which is something I almost never say about any story. I would enthusiastically recommend The Lake of Living Water to any Christian—or even just to anyone interested in Biblical lore.
Overall, I was really impressed by all of these stories, and I eagerly look forward to the next joint piece that Phoenix Fiction releases.
Mythtaken: 3 out of 5 stars
Mythaken took while for me to really get into it, but it ended up becoming a quite lot of fun! I really enjoyed how everything played out in the end, and I positively LOVED Theseus. He ended up being one of Shultz’s funniest characters yet (and that’s saying something because all his characters are a hoot). I just tend to love the overly-cocky, satirical hero trope. And I really enjoyed Theseus’s relationship with the Minotaur; it reminded me of the relationship between Nick and Crispin.
I did have a few minor gripes with Mythtaken, though. Mainly, the story seemed too dialogue-heavy. I usually prefer reading (and writing) dialogue-heavy books—but the amount of dialogue in Mythtaken still struck me as excessive. I also felt like the Minotaur’s narrative voice sounded too similar to Nick’s narrative voice from Beaumont and Beasley (which is Shultz’s amazing fantasy series, by the way. You should totally check it out if you haven’t yet).
Nitpicky critiques aside, though, Mythaken is a fun and enjoyable story. It carries a pleasantly whimsy tone that starts the Anthology on a fun note.
Stealing Life: 3 out of 5 stars
Out of all the stories in the Phoenix Fiction Anthology, I probably loved the concept of Stealing Life even more than the others. A heist story where a group of people who have been experimented on against their will by a corrupt corporation break into this corporation in order to steal the consciousness that the company has hijacked from their friend and stowed away for the purpose of further experimentation—what’s not to love about this premise? Stealing Life’s synopsis on Goodreads likens itself to Ocean’s 11—but I would deem Purrazzi’s story as far superior to Oceans 11, a film that I found to be rather bland, predictable, and simply-plotted. I found Stealing Life, on the other hand, to be hugely ingenuitive. The ending of this short story is also fantastic. I won’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that the ending was by far my favorite part of the narrative. Unlike Oceans 11, Stealing Life actually underwent an interesting and surprising turn of events.
As much as I liked the premise and the ending, though, I might have preferred to have seen Stealing Life played out in short-film format. As someone who has not read any other cyberpunk besides Malfunction and who is embarrassingly unfamiliar with advanced technology (and doesn’t really care for reading action sequences, either) I had a difficult time envisioning a great deal of what was occurring in the story. I recognize that this is a very subjective critique, but I thus found that I could not get immersed in Stealing Life quite as much as I personally hoped to. Also, I have mixed feelings about the characterization. While the story gave me the impression that Purrazzi knew her characters intimately well, I had a hard time really getting to know them, personally. I liked Jack, though. He was awesome.
Again, however, I want to reiterate that I adore the premise of Stealing Life and did enjoy the story on the whole—even if I might not have been its Target audience. I feel confident that anyone more familiar with Cyberpunk would love it.
Government Man: 4 out of 5 stars
I tend to really enjoy well-made Dystopias (in other words, pretty much anything except Divergent), so I was engrossed in Government Man from the very first paragraph. And the rest of the story did not disappoint! Admittedly, I did not find the dystopian government in the story particularly unique or impressionable among the vast array of dystopian governments that already exist in literature—but this, I felt, was surprisingly one of Government Man’s foremost strengths. Rather than focusing primarily on the government treachery, as most Dystopias seem to do, this story focuses instead on its main character, Caleb Weiss. Dawson works within the confines of a short story to produce something that I’d never quite beheld before in a Dystopia: a compelling character study.
As far as critiques go, there is some expositional dialogue, coming from Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, that I personally found forced. Also, I felt like the story needed to be a bit longer; some of Caleb’s background and life-situation could have been fleshed out more thoroughly. However, none of these critiques really took away from my enjoyment of this great story. Any fan of dystopias ought to go read it right now.
The Lake of Living Water: 4 out of 5 stars
The Lake of Living Water is a great retelling of the Biblical tale of the fall of man. It started out a bit slow for me, but the chilling shift in tone toward the end of the narrative proved more than enough to warrant it four stars.
The Lake of Living Water serves as a brief prelude to Wangler’s new novel, A Child of Kaites. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the story was the world-building; in this short story, Wangler hints at an intricately crafted world that I now eagerly look forward to discovering more about in A Child of Kaites. I also found it interesting that Wangler’s world is already populated with quite a few people in it when the fall occurs; this decision, I thought, gave the story a distinct flavor and set it apart from the Biblical fall of man—without ever taking away from the essence and heart of the Biblical account. We are thus able to witness how the fall might affect a group of people, rather than two mere individuals. Wangler does not beat around the bush: man’s decision to rebel against its Creator changes everything, plunging Creation into an inferior state.
The characters in The Lake of Living Water show practically no development, or even individual personalities for that matter—but, as another reviewer pointed out, this allegory is not exactly the type of story that necessitates character development. Even with the arguably lackluster characters, I still enjoyed the story, which is something I almost never say about any story. I would enthusiastically recommend The Lake of Living Water to any Christian—or even just to anyone interested in Biblical lore.
Overall, I was really impressed by all of these stories, and I eagerly look forward to the next joint piece that Phoenix Fiction releases.
May 10, 2018
Mythaken
Kyle Robert Shultz
First up in the Phoenix Fiction Anthology is a retelling of the minotaur-and-labyrinth myth from Greek mythology. It’s carried off with Shultz’s characteristic sense of humor and imagination, but some of the mythological elements came off a little too strong for me. For example the gods and goddesses were explained to be very much human (if immortal), but their behavior didn’t stray far from their original mythological counterparts. Still, it was a light-hearted beginning to the anthology, and I enjoyed getting inside the head of a minotaur for the first time in my life. xD
Stealing Life
J.E. Purazzi
Our next stop is a wildly-creative take on futuristic Japan. Stealing Life is probably the most intense one out of the four, but I enjoyed it. There’s just something about Purazzi’s writing that’s like watching a movie in your head, and this short story is no exception. Personally, I found it a little creepy, but in a good way. It centers around people doing things with science that they never should have, and asks serious questions about life and death.
Government Man
E.B. Dawson
I’d been looking forward to reading this one for a while, and was not disappointed! It’s a dystopian adventure told through multiple POVs, following one man’s journey to the realization that he’s been fighting the wrong war all along. Each of the POV characters were unique, and I found myself chuckling more than once while reading the descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. (After all, don’t we all know people like that?) And even though the story wrapped up nicely, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more of Caleb Weiss in the future. :P
The Lake of Living Water
Beth Wangler
Last up is an imaginative retelling of the Biblical account of the Fall, in a fictional universe. I loved the comfortable form of narration, as if the main character was telling you the story themselves. I think it takes real talent to make a perfect world interesting—and Wangler pulled it off. The synopsis says it’ll leave you feeling hopeful and refreshed, and it does. The Fall was not the end. One day Aia shall repair what was rent.
Kyle Robert Shultz
First up in the Phoenix Fiction Anthology is a retelling of the minotaur-and-labyrinth myth from Greek mythology. It’s carried off with Shultz’s characteristic sense of humor and imagination, but some of the mythological elements came off a little too strong for me. For example the gods and goddesses were explained to be very much human (if immortal), but their behavior didn’t stray far from their original mythological counterparts. Still, it was a light-hearted beginning to the anthology, and I enjoyed getting inside the head of a minotaur for the first time in my life. xD
Stealing Life
J.E. Purazzi
Our next stop is a wildly-creative take on futuristic Japan. Stealing Life is probably the most intense one out of the four, but I enjoyed it. There’s just something about Purazzi’s writing that’s like watching a movie in your head, and this short story is no exception. Personally, I found it a little creepy, but in a good way. It centers around people doing things with science that they never should have, and asks serious questions about life and death.
Government Man
E.B. Dawson
I’d been looking forward to reading this one for a while, and was not disappointed! It’s a dystopian adventure told through multiple POVs, following one man’s journey to the realization that he’s been fighting the wrong war all along. Each of the POV characters were unique, and I found myself chuckling more than once while reading the descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. (After all, don’t we all know people like that?) And even though the story wrapped up nicely, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more of Caleb Weiss in the future. :P
The Lake of Living Water
Beth Wangler
Last up is an imaginative retelling of the Biblical account of the Fall, in a fictional universe. I loved the comfortable form of narration, as if the main character was telling you the story themselves. I think it takes real talent to make a perfect world interesting—and Wangler pulled it off. The synopsis says it’ll leave you feeling hopeful and refreshed, and it does. The Fall was not the end. One day Aia shall repair what was rent.
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May 31, 2024An anthology to satisfy all of your speculative fiction needs!
Kyle Robert Shultz's mythological retelling, "Mythtaken" is full of snark, wit, and dastardly villains. It's sure to make you smile.
J.E. Purrazzi's cyberpunk "Stealing Life" is full of gorgeous worldbuilding, striking visuals, fascinating characters, and a heart-pounding heist! Plus it delves into questions about the value of human life that will get you thinking.
E.B. Dawson's dystopian "Government Man" will have you rooting for the loyal civil servant who's been betrayed by his government and has to re-examine his loyalties. It's a fast-paced read with a thought-provoking twist.
Finally, Beth Wangler's fantasy "The Lake of Living Water" will take you on an uplifting journey to a world without sin and draw out your sense of wonder as her characters go on enchanting adventures. You will feel the pain when paradise falls.
A well-written, riveting selection of imaginative stories, which you won't soon forget!
Kyle Robert Shultz's mythological retelling, "Mythtaken" is full of snark, wit, and dastardly villains. It's sure to make you smile.
J.E. Purrazzi's cyberpunk "Stealing Life" is full of gorgeous worldbuilding, striking visuals, fascinating characters, and a heart-pounding heist! Plus it delves into questions about the value of human life that will get you thinking.
E.B. Dawson's dystopian "Government Man" will have you rooting for the loyal civil servant who's been betrayed by his government and has to re-examine his loyalties. It's a fast-paced read with a thought-provoking twist.
Finally, Beth Wangler's fantasy "The Lake of Living Water" will take you on an uplifting journey to a world without sin and draw out your sense of wonder as her characters go on enchanting adventures. You will feel the pain when paradise falls.
A well-written, riveting selection of imaginative stories, which you won't soon forget!
April 14, 2019
Loved getting to see samples of what these brilliant writers are capable of!
Kyle Robert Shultz's "Mythtaken" was a very clever take on the tale of "Theseus and the Minotaur." I loved the banter between the two main characters and the humor. Would love to see more of these two.
J.E. Purrazzi's "Stealing Life" was perhaps the hardest for me to understand. I don't know if it was the characters or the story, but I feel a longer story would've served this tale better. Very poignant message about the value of life and for that reason alone, I'd happily read it 100 more times.
E.B. Dawson's "Government Man" made me start to like the dystopian genre which, until I read this, I'd given up on completely.
Beth Wangler's " The Lake of Living Water" was a beautiful short story that put me right into a pre-fallen world. So full of wonder and beauty! Also, kudos to Beth for being one of the few authors who can make me cry. That is a rare gift so, thank you.
Thank you to all these authors who write so beautifully and who inspire me to be not only a better writer, but also a better person.
Kyle Robert Shultz's "Mythtaken" was a very clever take on the tale of "Theseus and the Minotaur." I loved the banter between the two main characters and the humor. Would love to see more of these two.
J.E. Purrazzi's "Stealing Life" was perhaps the hardest for me to understand. I don't know if it was the characters or the story, but I feel a longer story would've served this tale better. Very poignant message about the value of life and for that reason alone, I'd happily read it 100 more times.
E.B. Dawson's "Government Man" made me start to like the dystopian genre which, until I read this, I'd given up on completely.
Beth Wangler's " The Lake of Living Water" was a beautiful short story that put me right into a pre-fallen world. So full of wonder and beauty! Also, kudos to Beth for being one of the few authors who can make me cry. That is a rare gift so, thank you.
Thank you to all these authors who write so beautifully and who inspire me to be not only a better writer, but also a better person.
May 21, 2018
Awesome short stories from my fellow PFW authors! Review to come!
May 31, 2018
Full review coming later, but in short: I loved this collection of short stories. They covered the gamut of speculative fiction, mixing genres while also managing to be quirky, unique, thought-provoking, fun, and inspirational.
August 28, 2020
4.5 stars :)
I might write reviews for the individual short stories here later...
I might write reviews for the individual short stories here later...
March 30, 2019
I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Each one was so unique and pleasant.
Mythtaken was so good I read it in one sitting and it definitely makes me want to try other books by Kyle Shultz .
Stealing life was so different from what I usually read I honestly thought I wouldn't like it. Well folks let me tell you that I was wrong. I not only fell in love with the characters but the world building and descriptive scenes just blew me away. So gooood and quirky.
Government Man was my favorite if I had to choose. I was so sad when it ended, like hello I need more !!! I'm a sucker for dystopian ( do not ask me why bc I don't know, honestly so much of the genre is a disappointment to me and yet I keep coming back - mini explanation over). The story was so well set up and the plot twist hit me like a train, safe to say I didn't see it coming which was refreshing. I want a novel with these characters please and thank you.
The lake of living water was very good! I enjoyed the creative analogy. Beth Wangler did an amazing job with this short story.
All in all I liked each short story and can honestly say it leaves me wanting to try more of each individual author's work!
Mythtaken was so good I read it in one sitting and it definitely makes me want to try other books by Kyle Shultz .
Stealing life was so different from what I usually read I honestly thought I wouldn't like it. Well folks let me tell you that I was wrong. I not only fell in love with the characters but the world building and descriptive scenes just blew me away. So gooood and quirky.
Government Man was my favorite if I had to choose. I was so sad when it ended, like hello I need more !!! I'm a sucker for dystopian ( do not ask me why bc I don't know, honestly so much of the genre is a disappointment to me and yet I keep coming back - mini explanation over). The story was so well set up and the plot twist hit me like a train, safe to say I didn't see it coming which was refreshing. I want a novel with these characters please and thank you.
The lake of living water was very good! I enjoyed the creative analogy. Beth Wangler did an amazing job with this short story.
All in all I liked each short story and can honestly say it leaves me wanting to try more of each individual author's work!
July 30, 2018
This is a fun sampler of some of the PFW writers.
Mythtaken has the characteristic humor of Kyle, with awesome characters.
I really liked Stealing Life, although it (and Government Man) felt too big for a short story. I have a copy of Malfunction by J.E. Purazzi that I've been meaning to read for a while, and this story just made me more excited for it.
Like I said, Government Man felt like too big of a world to cover in a short story, and so as a whole the character development felt rushed. That being said, the concept behind it is really good, and it's worth reading for the ideas.
The Lake of Living Water is the first story I've read by Beth Wangler, and I really liked its take on the Garden of Eden. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia (in a good way, not a plagiarizing way) and is a great story to explore more of that type of a world- a world that is innocent but has hidden depths.
Mythtaken has the characteristic humor of Kyle, with awesome characters.
I really liked Stealing Life, although it (and Government Man) felt too big for a short story. I have a copy of Malfunction by J.E. Purazzi that I've been meaning to read for a while, and this story just made me more excited for it.
Like I said, Government Man felt like too big of a world to cover in a short story, and so as a whole the character development felt rushed. That being said, the concept behind it is really good, and it's worth reading for the ideas.
The Lake of Living Water is the first story I've read by Beth Wangler, and I really liked its take on the Garden of Eden. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia (in a good way, not a plagiarizing way) and is a great story to explore more of that type of a world- a world that is innocent but has hidden depths.
January 18, 2021
4.5 stars
This was a fantastic collection of short stories. I loved every single one of these tales. There's not a weak one in the bunch. They range from humorous to bittersweet to thought-provoking and hopeful. Seriously, it was so good. I highly recommend it to fans of speculative fiction.
This was a fantastic collection of short stories. I loved every single one of these tales. There's not a weak one in the bunch. They range from humorous to bittersweet to thought-provoking and hopeful. Seriously, it was so good. I highly recommend it to fans of speculative fiction.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews