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Explorer One: A Collection of Extraterrestrial Tales: A Zimbell House Anthology
Explorer One is a collection of fourteen short tales told from the alien's point of view, written by twelve up-and-coming new writers.
Which will be your favorite?
Featured Contributors:
Jennifer Andersson ♦ Dawn DeBraal ♦ Scott Chaddon ♦ E. W. Farnsworth ♦ Bruce Markuson ♦ Edwardo Perez ♦ Bob Price ♦ Lincoln Reed ♦ Taylor Rigsby♦ Todd Salvia ♦ H. R. Schwartz ♦ and Katie Stairs
Which will be your favorite?
Featured Contributors:
Jennifer Andersson ♦ Dawn DeBraal ♦ Scott Chaddon ♦ E. W. Farnsworth ♦ Bruce Markuson ♦ Edwardo Perez ♦ Bob Price ♦ Lincoln Reed ♦ Taylor Rigsby♦ Todd Salvia ♦ H. R. Schwartz ♦ and Katie Stairs
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 18, 2020
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 3, 2020
A collection of commissioned short stories, most of which featuring spacecrafts by the name of “Explorer One”:
“A Whole New World” (Katie Stairs): Told from a teenaged, humanoid, English-speaking space-jockey’s pov, showing befitting brattiness (“6 Missed Calls from Dad. As always, he’s upset. It’s only been an hour, and he still doesn’t think I’m capable of handling myself.”) falling instantly in love with the first earthling she claps eyes on. Supposedly written for a teenaged audience. – 3 stars
“Beyond” (H.R. Schwartz): Alien space crew on a mission for a new home planet. Features angst, funny names (“General Foetidus. His face was always cast in a permanent scowl as if he just smelled something awful.”) and a black hole tunnel. – 3 stars
“Eric Smith” (Taylor Rigsby): Rather sweet love story recounting the doomed relationship between a space scout and an Earth woman. – 4 stars
“Explorer One” (Bob Price): Angels and demons fighting for a suicidal human’s soul. A bit meta and drawn-out. – 3 stars
“For Science” (Jenniefer Andersson): Humanoid, English-speaking alien scientists on a rescue mission to “Tellus”. Instant understanding and co-operation with earth scientists ensue, evolving into a love story “for science”. Phrases like “He looked inherently angry” calling for a good editor. – 3 stars
“Lost Cause” (Bruce H. Markuson): An interstellar plague forces scientists to join forces. It does not work out too well. - 3 stars
“The 23rd Day” (Edwardo Pérez): Alien explorers with plant names (Gilia, Dianthus, Yarrow) stranded on a polluted earth and being afraid of Thrips – I thought I knew where this was going to go, but it didn’t. No spoilers here – 4 stars
“Gifted”, “The Message of Zeres” and “The Witness” (E.W. Farnsworth): Three very similar stories about a spacecraft crew with naval slang type names: Omphalos the commander, Armata the weaponeer, Herodotus the historian ... on rescue missions in a setting clearly taken from Star Wars. Purple-ish and repetitive prose (“the large-brained, super-intelligent star pilot”, “because he alone showed no prejudice”) and a meandering storyline going nowhere in particular - 2 stars
“The Spark of Flame” (Lincoln Reed): A linguist as the sole survivor of a mission that failed – or did it? Sad and sweet. - 4 stars
“The Wanderer” (Dawn DeBraal): Clueless alien in human disguise crash-lands in a lake, emerges mother-naked, quickly fashions garment modelling from the first (female) human he encounters – and then instantly recognizes a police officer’s uniform. Supposed to gather information, but gets fed impossibly detailed information from base that could they could not yet have, thus stretching the reader’s credulity quite a bit. OK in style, but could do with a spot of editing to eliminate unit confusion (“It was only a few light-years until …”, “Sartun had only a light-year left to find …”) – 3 stars
“Visitor from the Edge” (Todd Salvia): A tongue-in-cheek conspiracy story featuring one Ununpentium “Bob” Lazaar. – 4 stars
“Worlds Apart” (Scott Chaddon): An invaded ET species turning the tables on their invaders, told in 1st person pov of the alien species. Quite funny, with clever world-building. – 4 stars
“A Whole New World” (Katie Stairs): Told from a teenaged, humanoid, English-speaking space-jockey’s pov, showing befitting brattiness (“6 Missed Calls from Dad. As always, he’s upset. It’s only been an hour, and he still doesn’t think I’m capable of handling myself.”) falling instantly in love with the first earthling she claps eyes on. Supposedly written for a teenaged audience. – 3 stars
“Beyond” (H.R. Schwartz): Alien space crew on a mission for a new home planet. Features angst, funny names (“General Foetidus. His face was always cast in a permanent scowl as if he just smelled something awful.”) and a black hole tunnel. – 3 stars
“Eric Smith” (Taylor Rigsby): Rather sweet love story recounting the doomed relationship between a space scout and an Earth woman. – 4 stars
“Explorer One” (Bob Price): Angels and demons fighting for a suicidal human’s soul. A bit meta and drawn-out. – 3 stars
“For Science” (Jenniefer Andersson): Humanoid, English-speaking alien scientists on a rescue mission to “Tellus”. Instant understanding and co-operation with earth scientists ensue, evolving into a love story “for science”. Phrases like “He looked inherently angry” calling for a good editor. – 3 stars
“Lost Cause” (Bruce H. Markuson): An interstellar plague forces scientists to join forces. It does not work out too well. - 3 stars
“The 23rd Day” (Edwardo Pérez): Alien explorers with plant names (Gilia, Dianthus, Yarrow) stranded on a polluted earth and being afraid of Thrips – I thought I knew where this was going to go, but it didn’t. No spoilers here – 4 stars
“Gifted”, “The Message of Zeres” and “The Witness” (E.W. Farnsworth): Three very similar stories about a spacecraft crew with naval slang type names: Omphalos the commander, Armata the weaponeer, Herodotus the historian ... on rescue missions in a setting clearly taken from Star Wars. Purple-ish and repetitive prose (“the large-brained, super-intelligent star pilot”, “because he alone showed no prejudice”) and a meandering storyline going nowhere in particular - 2 stars
“The Spark of Flame” (Lincoln Reed): A linguist as the sole survivor of a mission that failed – or did it? Sad and sweet. - 4 stars
“The Wanderer” (Dawn DeBraal): Clueless alien in human disguise crash-lands in a lake, emerges mother-naked, quickly fashions garment modelling from the first (female) human he encounters – and then instantly recognizes a police officer’s uniform. Supposed to gather information, but gets fed impossibly detailed information from base that could they could not yet have, thus stretching the reader’s credulity quite a bit. OK in style, but could do with a spot of editing to eliminate unit confusion (“It was only a few light-years until …”, “Sartun had only a light-year left to find …”) – 3 stars
“Visitor from the Edge” (Todd Salvia): A tongue-in-cheek conspiracy story featuring one Ununpentium “Bob” Lazaar. – 4 stars
“Worlds Apart” (Scott Chaddon): An invaded ET species turning the tables on their invaders, told in 1st person pov of the alien species. Quite funny, with clever world-building. – 4 stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review