Love. That special moment: eyes lock, hearts flutter and two people find each other. Boring! What about that other moment? The one people don't talk about so much. The cruel hand of fate nudges us off the cliff, and that someone that could've been - should have been - is only a fleeting memory. Orbital Hearts tells those stories: doomed, lost, denied romances - each one tinged by the otherworldly, the macabre and the fantastic. An international coterie of ten extraordinary authors bring new voices to the field of fantastic fiction, which will move your hearts - one way or the other.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Far worse to be love's lover than the lover that love has scorned..."
February 10, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
I'm a VD Scrooge (juvenile pun intended). I regard the holiday, for the most part, as an irritating commercial venture. So I was quite happy to read an advance copy of an anti-Valentine's Day compilation.
The theme and the title aligned perfectly. I found myself enjoying almost all of the stories, and had my socks knocked off by several. I highly recommend this for any fan of SF/F and/or weird fiction.
I'll have to note that my ARC contained some sentence errors, but I'm not going to focus on those, since I don't think they'll be in the final copy.
First, the diamonds. The first story, "The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling", is a fantastic sort of domestic-Lovecraftian piece that creates instant sympathy for something we should properly be horrified by. It had the best line in the whole book, as well... the one about lovers. You'll see what I mean. Wow.
"Dear Diary" was a nasty bit of flash fiction, tightly constructed, with a big bang at the end. A dark send-up of young-girl-in-love tropes, this is one of the best short-short horror stories I've read in a long time.
"Stop Errors" is also a pure genre story (science fiction) with an original world painted in gorgeous detail, full of care and love... which makes it all the more horrifying when that world starts crumbling at the edges, then drags you apart along with it.
Those three were the tops for me.
There was only one truly bad story in this anthology, "Ties", about a moron necromancer, but it was so bad--single tears rolling down cheeks bad--that its inclusion struck me as incomprehensible. This is not writing that is ready for primetime.
The rest of the stories were all enjoyable on different levels. "Clotho" narrowly missed being a diamond; the concept was brilliant, and the immersive style was ambitious but very rough around the edges. "Poof... Just Like That" had a distinctive voice and grim atmosphere, but an underdeveloped concept and characters. "Quasi Stellar" I didn't know whether to hate or love (more rough style) but by the end I loved it; it turned out to be a compellingly creepy subversion of Taketori Monogatari.
"The Prisoner" was set in a generic fantasy world, and seemed to promise some amusing Jack Vance style amorality and subversion, but by the end the promise petered out. "Oracle" was an enjoyable romance story that ended in a well-depicted catastrophe. "I Promise the Sun Shall Rise" had a dense style that veered between awkward sentimentality and beautiful lushness, but on the whole was emotionally moving once you accepted the story's vision.
If you have a love/hate affair with love, buy this book. It's worth it. You might be humming "Tainted Love" to yourself by the end.
The theme and the title aligned perfectly. I found myself enjoying almost all of the stories, and had my socks knocked off by several. I highly recommend this for any fan of SF/F and/or weird fiction.
I'll have to note that my ARC contained some sentence errors, but I'm not going to focus on those, since I don't think they'll be in the final copy.
First, the diamonds. The first story, "The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling", is a fantastic sort of domestic-Lovecraftian piece that creates instant sympathy for something we should properly be horrified by. It had the best line in the whole book, as well... the one about lovers. You'll see what I mean. Wow.
"Dear Diary" was a nasty bit of flash fiction, tightly constructed, with a big bang at the end. A dark send-up of young-girl-in-love tropes, this is one of the best short-short horror stories I've read in a long time.
"Stop Errors" is also a pure genre story (science fiction) with an original world painted in gorgeous detail, full of care and love... which makes it all the more horrifying when that world starts crumbling at the edges, then drags you apart along with it.
Those three were the tops for me.
There was only one truly bad story in this anthology, "Ties", about a moron necromancer, but it was so bad--single tears rolling down cheeks bad--that its inclusion struck me as incomprehensible. This is not writing that is ready for primetime.
The rest of the stories were all enjoyable on different levels. "Clotho" narrowly missed being a diamond; the concept was brilliant, and the immersive style was ambitious but very rough around the edges. "Poof... Just Like That" had a distinctive voice and grim atmosphere, but an underdeveloped concept and characters. "Quasi Stellar" I didn't know whether to hate or love (more rough style) but by the end I loved it; it turned out to be a compellingly creepy subversion of Taketori Monogatari.
"The Prisoner" was set in a generic fantasy world, and seemed to promise some amusing Jack Vance style amorality and subversion, but by the end the promise petered out. "Oracle" was an enjoyable romance story that ended in a well-depicted catastrophe. "I Promise the Sun Shall Rise" had a dense style that veered between awkward sentimentality and beautiful lushness, but on the whole was emotionally moving once you accepted the story's vision.
If you have a love/hate affair with love, buy this book. It's worth it. You might be humming "Tainted Love" to yourself by the end.
By Katie
Format:Kindle Edition
Overall, I found the book dark and moody - as promised - but with vey little to say. Seven out of the ten stories left me feeling: "...your point?" This is a personal quirk and your mileage may very, but it greatly hindered my enjoyment.
With some exceptions, I was really disappointed with the treatment of women. Most of the female characters were either flat or only ever seen through the eyes of male characters. The inclusion of queer romances would also have been appreciated.
Breaking it down by story:
THE FINE ART OF FORTUNE TELLING - I really enjoyed this one. While I didn't entirely understand what was going on, it left me intrigued and wanting to reread.
TIES - I felt like the writing was strong, but the concept was pretty slightly cliche, though with a few interesting twists. The world-building really bothered me, though. WHY is it different for necromancers to bring their loved ones back to life than it is to bring other people's loved ones back to life? Without some kind of explanation - even something as simple as "emotion pollutes the spell" - it felt to me like a pointless morality tale with an element of "Because I said so, that's why."
DEAR DIARY - I found this one just...odd. It felt more like a joke than a story. There's enough character and setting to lead up to a punchline, but not enough to build a world.
CLOTHO - Again, odd. I feel like it's supposed to be mysterious, but mostly I was just confused. The rules of that particular world were incredibly important to the characters, but I could not figure out what they were.
POOF, JUST LIKE THAT - I loved the characters and the awkward awful complexity of their relationship. And then the story just...ended. It doesn't have any kind of arc; the ending is essentially "Well. That happened." It left me very disappointed.
STOP ERRORS: I LOVED this one. The sci-fi premise was eerie, with just enough world-building to hold everything together without bogging the story down, and I loved the ending. It was twisted and wistful.
QUASI-STELLAR: Mostly, this story just made me really uncomfortable, which was probably its intention, but that doesn't make me like it any better. The relationship creeped me out and the ending confused me.
THE PRISONER: This story came so close to working for me, but the ending just baffled me. Even if the ending hadn't, though, I feel like the premise deserves a novel to really explore the story.
ORACLE: I did not like this story at all. The concept is cliche and the characters felt very two dimensional. At no point did it do anything unexpected.
I PROMISE THE SUN SHALL RISE: I did really like this one. The dialogue can be painfully cheesy, but the story itself - the idea, the heart, the structure, and the narrative language - are just gorgeous.
With some exceptions, I was really disappointed with the treatment of women. Most of the female characters were either flat or only ever seen through the eyes of male characters. The inclusion of queer romances would also have been appreciated.
Breaking it down by story:
THE FINE ART OF FORTUNE TELLING - I really enjoyed this one. While I didn't entirely understand what was going on, it left me intrigued and wanting to reread.
TIES - I felt like the writing was strong, but the concept was pretty slightly cliche, though with a few interesting twists. The world-building really bothered me, though. WHY is it different for necromancers to bring their loved ones back to life than it is to bring other people's loved ones back to life? Without some kind of explanation - even something as simple as "emotion pollutes the spell" - it felt to me like a pointless morality tale with an element of "Because I said so, that's why."
DEAR DIARY - I found this one just...odd. It felt more like a joke than a story. There's enough character and setting to lead up to a punchline, but not enough to build a world.
CLOTHO - Again, odd. I feel like it's supposed to be mysterious, but mostly I was just confused. The rules of that particular world were incredibly important to the characters, but I could not figure out what they were.
POOF, JUST LIKE THAT - I loved the characters and the awkward awful complexity of their relationship. And then the story just...ended. It doesn't have any kind of arc; the ending is essentially "Well. That happened." It left me very disappointed.
STOP ERRORS: I LOVED this one. The sci-fi premise was eerie, with just enough world-building to hold everything together without bogging the story down, and I loved the ending. It was twisted and wistful.
QUASI-STELLAR: Mostly, this story just made me really uncomfortable, which was probably its intention, but that doesn't make me like it any better. The relationship creeped me out and the ending confused me.
THE PRISONER: This story came so close to working for me, but the ending just baffled me. Even if the ending hadn't, though, I feel like the premise deserves a novel to really explore the story.
ORACLE: I did not like this story at all. The concept is cliche and the characters felt very two dimensional. At no point did it do anything unexpected.
I PROMISE THE SUN SHALL RISE: I did really like this one. The dialogue can be painfully cheesy, but the story itself - the idea, the heart, the structure, and the narrative language - are just gorgeous.
By Cheryl M-M
Format:Kindle Edition
Refreshing and unexpectedly good anthology of anti-love poems.Perhaps anti love is a little harsh, but they are not your run of the mill Jack meets Jill, runs up the hill and has two kids with a picket fence kind of love stories. They go from one end of the macabre spectre to the other end of fantastic, with a smidgen of horror and sarky humour in between. I really enjoyed them and I am surprised that none of these authors have never flown across my Kndle screen before. If you are looking for something just a little bit different and perhaps a tiny wee bit harsh, but very memorable then I recommend you give this anthology of short stories a go.
I would just like to add that I especially liked Michelle Kings contribution and would love to see her try her hand at a novel, perhaps even in the supernatural genre.I received a free copy of this book for my review.
I would just like to add that I especially liked Michelle Kings contribution and would love to see her try her hand at a novel, perhaps even in the supernatural genre.I received a free copy of this book for my review.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and thought-provoking; great anthology
I didn't know quite what to expect when I opened this. A friend sent me the ARC and asked that I read it, review it, and let him know my thoughts. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lana
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of I Promise the Sun Shall Rise by T. Fox Dunham
I expected this story to be sad. How could it not be, when the theme of the anthology is Love's Bitter Ruins? Read more
Published 15 months ago by Tara Fox Hall
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