Off the Beaten Path

by Gustavo Bondoni

22 science fiction and fantasy stories, including two new, never-before published pieces, from the award-winning Argentinian author Gustavo Bondoni. Set in corners of the world oft forgotten, these stories will take you from the Namib desert, to the Amazon rainforest, to the far side of the moon. When you dare step Off the Beaten Path, the results could be catastrophic, but the possible rewards are great. Some of these stories will shock you with a horrifying twist; others will tug at your heartstrings with their emotional resonance. But all will intrigue and move you.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

318 pages, paperback

Published September 1, 2019

About the author

Gustavo Bondoni is novelist and short story writer with over three hundred stories published in fifteen countries, in seven languages. He is a member of Codex and an Active Member of SFWA. His latest novel is Test Site Horror (2020). He has also published two other monster books: Ice Station: Death (2019) and Jungle Lab Terror (2020), three science fiction novels: Incursion (2017), Outside (2017) and Siege (2016) and an ebook novella entitled Branch. His short fiction is collected in Pale Reflection (2020), Off the Beaten Path (2019) Tenth Orbit and Other Faraway Places (2010) and Virtuoso and Other Stories (2011).

In 2019, Gustavo was awarded second place in the Jim Baen Memorial Contest and in 2018 he received a Judges Commendation (and second place) in The James White Award. He was also a 2019 finalist in the Writers of the Future Contest.

His website is at www.gustavobondoni.com

Reviews

[Julie Capell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong collection of short stories written in English by an Argentine author. Only a couple of the stories are explicitly set in Argentina, but all of them bear the influence of being written from a non-US point of view, which is pretty rare in scifi. Many of the stories are set in Africa, a little strange since the author admits he's never been there. Bondoni shows a good grasp of plot and character and the wide variety of subjects covered shows his versatility. There are some nice turns of phrase, such as here:

"The three women walked boldly to the group of Spanish and Portuguese mariners and spoke in their own language, a tongue that sounded harsh and ho0llow to De Menes, as desolate as the moaning of the ever-present wind"

There's even a pandemic story written before COVID in which Bondoni accurately predicts that Australia and New Zealand closed themselves off and survived while the rest of the world "lambasted them for it."

My favorite story was "The Barber of Manaus" about how the Amazon rain forest has completely taken over the cities. And the extremely short story "A Gathering of Ashes" was absolutely perfect.

I will be seeking out other works by Gustavo Bondoni!

[Eliza Mood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating collection by a consummate storyteller. Bondoni crosses geographical and genre boundaries and shows he is as at home in each and either space. As each story is introduced by the author, the reader gets a sense of the range of his work. Also of being addressed, guided and let, conversationally, into secrets of his craft. I am getting into genres that are new territories for me - and getting a taste for going further on the journey.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow.