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Life Without Crows
"Wonderful collection." --Dean Wesley Smith; "You'll be hearing a lot more from Gerri Leen." --Mike Resnick. Life Without Crows, the new collection by Gerri Leen. Journey to faraway places, go back to the beginning, travel to the future...sink into two dozen stories that range from dark to light, fantasy to everyday, short-shorts to novelettes.
308 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2010
3 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Gerri Leen
136 books28 followersGerri Leen was born in Ohio, lived most of her younger life in and around
Seattle and Belfair, Washington, and has spent the last twenty odd years in
Northern Virginia. She dabbled with writing when younger, but
started writing steadily in her forties, and her first publications came in the
Star Trek Strange New World books (volumes seven, nine, and ten)—her
story “The Smell of Dead Roses” took the grand prize in the tenth and
final volume. She has since had stories appear in a diverse range of
publications, both anthologies and magazines (print and web). She
primarily focuses on science fiction and fantasy themes, but has
occasionally moved over to literary and poetry. She points to Connie Willis, Kevin Smith, Doug Coupland, Ron Moore, and
Quentin Tarantino as professional idols. Her favorite places in the world
are Port Townsend, Washington; Vail, Colorado; Palm Desert, California;
Venice, Italy; and just about anywhere in Guatemala. She is a horseracing
fanatic and can often be found blogging about the weekend races at her
LiveJournal. Keep up with Gerri at www.gerrileen.com or find her on Facebook at @GerriLeenAuthor.
Seattle and Belfair, Washington, and has spent the last twenty odd years in
Northern Virginia. She dabbled with writing when younger, but
started writing steadily in her forties, and her first publications came in the
Star Trek Strange New World books (volumes seven, nine, and ten)—her
story “The Smell of Dead Roses” took the grand prize in the tenth and
final volume. She has since had stories appear in a diverse range of
publications, both anthologies and magazines (print and web). She
primarily focuses on science fiction and fantasy themes, but has
occasionally moved over to literary and poetry. She points to Connie Willis, Kevin Smith, Doug Coupland, Ron Moore, and
Quentin Tarantino as professional idols. Her favorite places in the world
are Port Townsend, Washington; Vail, Colorado; Palm Desert, California;
Venice, Italy; and just about anywhere in Guatemala. She is a horseracing
fanatic and can often be found blogging about the weekend races at her
LiveJournal. Keep up with Gerri at www.gerrileen.com or find her on Facebook at @GerriLeenAuthor.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 28, 2011
After reading the first couple of stories I decided that it was worth the price (I could have gotten it cheaper if I'd have had more patience and waited). I didn't expect to like every story in the book, that rarely happens. However, I can honestly say there wasn't a story in here that I didn't like. I'm not exaggerating when I say I laughed, I cried, and even re-read. Definitely worth the read.
October 7, 2010
Loved this collection. Was transported into each story and was emotionally involved with each one. I know I am looking forward to reading more from her and am truly delighted I ran into her work. It was really thought provoking without felling like a chore to read, couldn't put the book down.
June 15, 2010
This is a collection of 24 stories ranging from flash fiction to novelettes in length. The author is a friend and I was a first reader (i.e., beta) for these stories, so I am by no means an unbiased reviewer, but for what it's worth, I love these stories. Most of them can be described as "speculative fiction" - fantasy, science fiction, horror - with a smattering of what might be called "literary fiction."
The author's style is clean, spare and often lyrical and stands out to me for the way it catches various voices: from a tough old lady remembering her good times with truckers in "Memory Lane" to the down to earth survivor in the post-apocalyptic tale "Life Without Crows" to the old groom of a talking race horse who manages his own career in "Bluegrass Dreams Aren’t for Free" to a subversive Biblical Ruth in "Whither Thou Goest." The stories feature historical figures like Anne Boleyn and Francis Drake; Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese goddesses and Biblical figures; early hominids, dragons, ghosts, vampires and were-crows and robots and aliens. Memorable characters who grab at the heart, stories that often have a twist in the tale, that make you laugh or cry or gasp--served with lovely prose and featuring eye-poppingly gorgeous illustrations by Maggie Middleton, a young artist. (The beautiful cover art is "The Song of Eternity," by another artist, Richard Kirsten-Daiensai.)
What's not to love? You can find her Official Home Page here . Some of her stories can be read for free online on her site, so you can give them a try to see if her style might appeal to you.
The author's style is clean, spare and often lyrical and stands out to me for the way it catches various voices: from a tough old lady remembering her good times with truckers in "Memory Lane" to the down to earth survivor in the post-apocalyptic tale "Life Without Crows" to the old groom of a talking race horse who manages his own career in "Bluegrass Dreams Aren’t for Free" to a subversive Biblical Ruth in "Whither Thou Goest." The stories feature historical figures like Anne Boleyn and Francis Drake; Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese goddesses and Biblical figures; early hominids, dragons, ghosts, vampires and were-crows and robots and aliens. Memorable characters who grab at the heart, stories that often have a twist in the tale, that make you laugh or cry or gasp--served with lovely prose and featuring eye-poppingly gorgeous illustrations by Maggie Middleton, a young artist. (The beautiful cover art is "The Song of Eternity," by another artist, Richard Kirsten-Daiensai.)
What's not to love? You can find her Official Home Page here . Some of her stories can be read for free online on her site, so you can give them a try to see if her style might appeal to you.
April 23, 2013
I really liked the stories about horses, crows, and assorted other wildlife, along with 'Vessel', which was the story that got me interested in buying this book in the first place. Oh, and don't forget the story about the robots as sexual partners. That's a pretty diverse field of favorites, no?!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews