SFS Stories Issue #2: Twelve Human Advancement Flash Fiction Stories

by J.A. Taylor, Rod Castor, John Bullock

SFS Stories is a throwback to the golden age of fantasy and science fiction. Think of authors like Bradbury, Clarke, Asimov, and the sci-fantasy pulp magazines that published their delectable stories. This issue debuts with twelve sci-fi flash fiction stories about human advancement. Some advancements are beneficial while other outcomes are less desirable. Stories J.A. Taylor, Bill Adler, Rod Castor, K.B. Cottrill, Patrick Kemp, LeNai LaRue, Samantha Kemp-Jackson, Jim Dutton, John Bullock, Ana Y. Meyer, Betsy Denson, and Kyle O'Reilly.

50 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2021

About the author

J.A. Taylor started believing he could write when he won the first short story contest he ever entered. He enjoys writing flash fiction stories with O. Henry style twists. He is the creator of SciFiShorts.pub & FantasyShorts.pub, and coiner of Centinas and Pentinas. Get his newsletter at jataylorwrites.com or write with him at sfswriters.com.

Reviews

[Poptart19 (the name’s ren) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

A lackluster collection of 12 flash fiction SF stories. A few were decent, several were disappointing.

[What I liked:]

•There are some fun & creative ideas here: flipping the fear of an AI takeover of humanity, robot ballet dancers (cool, but not sure that would work well), etc.

•There are a few stories that had some merit, either due to good writing (Soul Waves) or to meaningful, thought provoking premises (The Implant, Remade).


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The story “Last Goodbye” uses the racial slur g*p in a context where many other acceptable words would’ve worked to describe a bad leg.

•Several of the stories were lacking, imo. Clumsy writing, undeveloped ideas, or just unclear premises.

CW: racial slurs, animal cruelty/experimentation, human medical experimentation, domestic violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered last year that I love short stories, and this kind of compilations can give us a big insight in the mind of the author and the way him/her write, this book with 12 stories, or better mini stories, the whole book takes less than half an hour reading, we don’t get much in return of author quality, some stories do give the felling of being an excerpt of a bigger short story… I did like some stories better than others, but almost all left me wishing they were a couple pages bigger…

I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily

[Robbie Sheerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phenomenal sci-fi!