What do you think?
Rate this book
Portals
PORTALS: What mysteries…or horrors…await you on the other side?
The lure of an open doorway is hard to resist. What lies beyond? Where will it take you—and how will you be transformed? Will it lead to paradise…or a living hell? You’ll never know, unless you have the courage to take that first step.
In this anthology you will find sixteen stories of portals to exotic destinations, whether it’s a doorway in the desert that appears out of thin air, a fairy ring of mushrooms in the backyard, a crack in the road, or a train headed straight to Hell. Science fiction and fantasy authors Nancy Holzner, Esther Friesner, Ian Tregillis, Jacey Bedford, John Linwood Grant, Kate Hall, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Juliet Kemp, James Enge, Steven Harper, F. Brett Cox, Jaime Lee Moyer, Jason Palmatier, Andrija Popovic, and Patrick Hurley invite you to step through a host of doorways to other realities with infinite possibilities, some horrible, some comic, and some just plain weird.
So take my hand—not too tight!—and let’s journey into another world. The door is open. The portal awaits.
Contents:
* Introduction (Portals) • essay by Joshua Palmatier
* What Time Is It? / short story by Nancy Holzner
* This Way Out / short story by Esther M. Friesner
* Deus Ex Machina / short story by Ian Tregillis
* A Land Fit for Heroes / short fiction by Jacey Bedford
* Iron and Anthacite / short story by John Linwood Grant
* The Namesake / short story by Kate Hall
* Portal Pirates / short story by Gini Koch [as by Anita Ensil]
* Doorways in the Sand / short story by Violette Malan
* Somewhere Else, Nowhere Else / short story by Julie Kemp
* A Stranger Comes to Town / novelette by James Enge
* Brick and Mirror / short story by Steven Piziks [as by Steven Harper]
* A Bend in the Air / novelette by F. Brett Cox
* All the Lost Places / short story by Jaime Lee Moyer
* Onward to Glory! / novelette by Jason Palmatier
* Hard Times in the Vancouver Continuum / short story by Andrija Popovic
* The Cracks in the Road / short story by Patrick Hurley
* About the Authors • essay by editors
* About the Editors • essay by editors
The lure of an open doorway is hard to resist. What lies beyond? Where will it take you—and how will you be transformed? Will it lead to paradise…or a living hell? You’ll never know, unless you have the courage to take that first step.
In this anthology you will find sixteen stories of portals to exotic destinations, whether it’s a doorway in the desert that appears out of thin air, a fairy ring of mushrooms in the backyard, a crack in the road, or a train headed straight to Hell. Science fiction and fantasy authors Nancy Holzner, Esther Friesner, Ian Tregillis, Jacey Bedford, John Linwood Grant, Kate Hall, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Juliet Kemp, James Enge, Steven Harper, F. Brett Cox, Jaime Lee Moyer, Jason Palmatier, Andrija Popovic, and Patrick Hurley invite you to step through a host of doorways to other realities with infinite possibilities, some horrible, some comic, and some just plain weird.
So take my hand—not too tight!—and let’s journey into another world. The door is open. The portal awaits.
Contents:
* Introduction (Portals) • essay by Joshua Palmatier
* What Time Is It? / short story by Nancy Holzner
* This Way Out / short story by Esther M. Friesner
* Deus Ex Machina / short story by Ian Tregillis
* A Land Fit for Heroes / short fiction by Jacey Bedford
* Iron and Anthacite / short story by John Linwood Grant
* The Namesake / short story by Kate Hall
* Portal Pirates / short story by Gini Koch [as by Anita Ensil]
* Doorways in the Sand / short story by Violette Malan
* Somewhere Else, Nowhere Else / short story by Julie Kemp
* A Stranger Comes to Town / novelette by James Enge
* Brick and Mirror / short story by Steven Piziks [as by Steven Harper]
* A Bend in the Air / novelette by F. Brett Cox
* All the Lost Places / short story by Jaime Lee Moyer
* Onward to Glory! / novelette by Jason Palmatier
* Hard Times in the Vancouver Continuum / short story by Andrija Popovic
* The Cracks in the Road / short story by Patrick Hurley
* About the Authors • essay by editors
* About the Editors • essay by editors
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2019
4 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Bray
32 books68 followersPatricia Bray is the author of a dozen novels, including Devlin’s Luck, which won the 2003 Compton Crook Award for the best first novel in the field of science fiction or fantasy. A multi-genre author whose career spans both epic fantasy and Regency romance, her books have been translated into Russian, German, Portuguese and Hebrew. Patricia Bray has also spent time on the editorial side of the business, as the co-editor of After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar (DAW, March 2011), The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity (DAW, March 2012), and Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens (ZNB, June 2014).
Patricia lives in a New England college town, where she combines her writing with a full-time career as a Systems Analyst, ensuring that she is never more than a few feet away from a keyboard.
Patricia lives in a New England college town, where she combines her writing with a full-time career as a Systems Analyst, ensuring that she is never more than a few feet away from a keyboard.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 31, 2020
This is probably the heftiest tome in the venerable Zombies Need Brains anthology series. Full of readable stuff, I found the following to my liking~
1. 'Iron and Anthracite' by John Linwood Grant: A bone-chilling Mama Lucy adventure.
2. 'Portal Pirates' by Anita Ensal (Gini Koch): Breezy, 'Captain Kirk goes Johnny Depp' style adventure.
3. 'Doorways in the Sand' by Violette Malan: A memorable Dhulyn and Parno adventure.
4. 'A Stranger Comes to Town' by James Enge: The wit and cynicism pervading this story made it sharp, apart from the rapid-fire narrative and dialogues.
Overall, a decent anthology.
1. 'Iron and Anthracite' by John Linwood Grant: A bone-chilling Mama Lucy adventure.
2. 'Portal Pirates' by Anita Ensal (Gini Koch): Breezy, 'Captain Kirk goes Johnny Depp' style adventure.
3. 'Doorways in the Sand' by Violette Malan: A memorable Dhulyn and Parno adventure.
4. 'A Stranger Comes to Town' by James Enge: The wit and cynicism pervading this story made it sharp, apart from the rapid-fire narrative and dialogues.
Overall, a decent anthology.
April 15, 2022
I didn't think I would find a lot of stories I enjoyed as the theme seemed more naturally sci-fi than fantasy.
I was mistaken. Some stories were terrifying, others were astounding, and several made me realize my understanding of the theme was limited.
I was mistaken. Some stories were terrifying, others were astounding, and several made me realize my understanding of the theme was limited.
April 18, 2023
Good, I picked up a physical copy from the goodwill so I'm not familiar with this ZNB, but lots of good stories in this.
What time is it - decentish
This way out- very good, one of my favorites
Dues ex machina -interesting and fun, imaginative
A land fit for heroes -eh. More of the set up for a story than an actual story (I felt this as a problem for a lot of these). Not bad but so much of it felt pointless. Like the guys being retired war veterans, and they just meet aliens at the end and it's very vague about the aliens "ending war". Idea and payoff wasn't strong for me
Iron and anthracite -quite good, I'm not a huge fan of the tone but it was a decent little badass hero saves the day story
The namesake - I don't know why I didn't like this. I felt like too much was unexplained and it kept going back and forth with her leaving and then saving her aunt. Not enough forward momentum for me.
Portal pirates -not a huge fan either, it had a decent story and structure but felt maybe too standard Sci fi. Writing seemed slightly more amateur, but I liked the story so this was Mid in terms of the stories in here
Doorways in the sand -weird, not bad. Has a weirdly dnd feel, decent
Somewhere else nowhere else - one of my favorites in here. Theme was great, I love the ending. Lots of mood. I think this is tied with Brick and Mirror for the best spot
A stranger comes to town - cute, fun characters. Payoff was OK, decent but lower mid.
Brick and mirror - I think my favorite. Notiably good writing, great imaginative plot, didn't see the twist coming and it raised a great question. Loved
A bend in the air - worst plot maybe, they investigate a portal, the one guy sees nothing and everyone else sees an interesting land. That's it, no rising tension of climax really. Not badly written just badly structured plot
All the lost places - another I felt was a better set up to a story than a short story. Feels like the beginning of a romance novel. Meh
Onward to glory!- most amateur writing, but despite that it was fun and cute. I liked that it doesn't take itself seriously, cheesy but endearing. I'm not sure how to rate, but I liked it
Hard times -ok, structure was kind of confusing. Not my favorite, lower Mid
The cracks in the road -very imaginative, good and interesting. Upper mid
What time is it - decentish
This way out- very good, one of my favorites
Dues ex machina -interesting and fun, imaginative
A land fit for heroes -eh. More of the set up for a story than an actual story (I felt this as a problem for a lot of these). Not bad but so much of it felt pointless. Like the guys being retired war veterans, and they just meet aliens at the end and it's very vague about the aliens "ending war". Idea and payoff wasn't strong for me
Iron and anthracite -quite good, I'm not a huge fan of the tone but it was a decent little badass hero saves the day story
The namesake - I don't know why I didn't like this. I felt like too much was unexplained and it kept going back and forth with her leaving and then saving her aunt. Not enough forward momentum for me.
Portal pirates -not a huge fan either, it had a decent story and structure but felt maybe too standard Sci fi. Writing seemed slightly more amateur, but I liked the story so this was Mid in terms of the stories in here
Doorways in the sand -weird, not bad. Has a weirdly dnd feel, decent
Somewhere else nowhere else - one of my favorites in here. Theme was great, I love the ending. Lots of mood. I think this is tied with Brick and Mirror for the best spot
A stranger comes to town - cute, fun characters. Payoff was OK, decent but lower mid.
Brick and mirror - I think my favorite. Notiably good writing, great imaginative plot, didn't see the twist coming and it raised a great question. Loved
A bend in the air - worst plot maybe, they investigate a portal, the one guy sees nothing and everyone else sees an interesting land. That's it, no rising tension of climax really. Not badly written just badly structured plot
All the lost places - another I felt was a better set up to a story than a short story. Feels like the beginning of a romance novel. Meh
Onward to glory!- most amateur writing, but despite that it was fun and cute. I liked that it doesn't take itself seriously, cheesy but endearing. I'm not sure how to rate, but I liked it
Hard times -ok, structure was kind of confusing. Not my favorite, lower Mid
The cracks in the road -very imaginative, good and interesting. Upper mid
August 23, 2022
As always, a wonderful grab bag of science fiction and fantasy loosely based around the theme of Portals. Some great, some good, nothing bad, and they're all short enough to enjoy in one sitting. I love these collections.
July 21, 2019
I enjoyed this collection of portal-related short stories. Sometimes the portal led to a differnt location, sometimes a different time, sometimes a completely different universe.
July 27, 2019
Even without Violette Malan "Tuckerizing" me and lopping my head off, there are some great reads in this anthology. The diversity of the author created portals makes this an enjoyable read.
February 3, 2020
Disclaimer: I have a story in this anthology (the last story in the book, in fact). This was a fun read, a nice mix of sci-fi and fantasy, sometimes within the same story! Happy to be in this one!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews