Chronicle Worlds: Paradisi (Future Chronicles Book 14) Kindle Edition

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Review Copy of this work. Then I promptly purchased it on my Kindle. :)

This is actually my first real foray into the Chronicle Worlds. I'm going to admit that my expertise is sadly lacking and my knowledge of its history and complex cultures, languages, and people is poor. However, I've bee a lifelong Sci-Fi and Fantasy lover, so I really wanted to read the stories and see if the hype was true.

Even those readers who are JUST entering this world, I guarantee you will be learning a LOT about it. These stories drew me in as I read, giving me insight and immersing me in the rich narrative. I felt the pain, joy, fear, anger, hope, and doubts of each of the main characters and even though each story was written by a different author, with a different voice, telling different tales, I felt the interwoven threads that pulled them all together.

Exploring space and life on other planets and galaxies has always fascinated me. Chronicle Worlds made it come to life. I could picture the terrain in my mind, see the stars as the space ships passed them by, feel the tension and the longing to make a better future after seeing the depths of destruction humans can leave through generations of careless disregard for one another and the world. Wondering if the future can correct past mistakes or if history is bound to repeat itself. Chronicle Worlds explores what it means to be human in a brave new world, while cautioning us to heed the mistakes of our past, lest we make them again. It reveals the greatest good we can do AND the greatest evil. It explores our ignorance and curiosity as well as our will to survive.

While I definitely have my favorite authors in the anthology, I must say that every one of them wrote their stories well. It's amazing to me what we can do as a human race when we're united in one common goal. And it's amazing to me how well fiction can communicate truth.

It is such a shame that this anthology contains so many pathetic stories. The framework sounded so good but most of the authors saw it as an opportunity to experiment with bad writing styles and sad endings. This gets 2 stars instead of 1 because Louise Locke had one of the few good stories in this book. Most of the book was a waste of my time.

I have now read a number of the Chronicles, of which this collection is a worthy addition. What a novel (to me) idea to invent and open source a universe and common history and let creative writers run with that!! I absolutely love it!! This collection is a delightful and varied contribution and I hope more contributions flow and add to this very broad endeavor.

Reviewing two of the representative stories in this box set -- they are all awesome!!!
>>>>> Reviewing “The Fall of Seren” by Cheri Lasota >>>>>
Serentyn Myric climbed up to the Keenbarrows, hills of the old dead. She was to be the chosen sacrifice for the entire village. This was her destiny from the time she was born. She was pondering the words of the old prophecy. Would her power be able to hold back Dinistrydd, a catastrophic meteor strike that had done so much damage to her world year after year? Was she going to die?

She thought back to when Idris had taken her to a cave to see something he had found. The first chamber had a smell of death and she was glad to move away from it. It opened up into a cavern and she saw all sorts of glowing, colorful worms on the walls. As they sat on the floor watching, he let her read his thoughts of wanting to kiss her. She wanted that too.

When the time had come, her friend Idris had followed her, upset that the elders would let her face this alone and would not agree to face the disaster and join their powers to hers. When she would not abandon her fate, Idris kissed her and something frightening happened. She realized he had given her most of his psychokinetic power before he said goodbye. And if she survived what was coming, he asked her to find him in the far away place he was going to now. Could that happen? Would she ever see him again?

This was a really compelling story about unlikely heroes. I highly recommend reading this one, along with all the other great stories in the box set. What a wonderful treat for the reader!

>>>>> Reviewing “Down and Out in Caprinet” by Fexlix R Savage >>>>>
Gustav Gunther woke up from the helio crash with none of his weapons; even his contacts were missing! His head hurt and he pulled off a wrapping to discover his DOT, an implant which connected him to the Net, was cut out of his head. The stranger, referred to as the “runty SOB” and eventually identified as Saul, led him through the jungle. Apparently Saul had been a member of the 11th ship heading to Paradisi system which disappeared. The other 10 colonist ships chose to ignore the missing ship in their escape to Paradisi. Gustav was now hearing about their fate.
As they continued through the jungle, Gustav realized he had a fever from his wound. He and Saul rode creatures like dolphins down the river until a storm forced them to shore. The redhead Gustav encountered earlier cutting apart his crashed helio was riding a large bird. She argued with Saul and had the bird snatch his up by its claws; it then dropped him from high above to his apparent death. Gustav passed out and was luckily found by fishermen. They took him to their village where he seemed to fit right in. Now it was time to make the choice – stay or continue on? What will the future offer him? Can he survive this world?
We hear the story through switching back and forth from the original incident and Captain Gunther’s court-martial, interspersed in the story. The world is described so well that the reader feels like a part of it. The extreme views of the native people reflect clearly their attitudes toward Gunther, one of the original Descendants. The story progresses relentlessly, and you never know what’s coming. It was a good read and I highly recommend it.

I'm liking the Pardisi world. I'm usually a mystery reader, but I followed an author of both genres and discovering a new world (for me, and for the stories). This is an anthology full of new authors to me, and to this new future world. The stories cover centuries, since the project covers the nearer future on earth to near and far future on the new world. I found the stories very good to excellent. (Of course, I'm new to the genre.)

This was a spur of the moment reading choice for an airplane trip - and it was perfect. Sci-fi short stories can be tricky because the author can't spend masses of time building background and characters. That's problematic with other planets and imagined realities. However, all of these were entertaining to read and while not the greatest fiction ever written, they passed the time pleasantly. I plan to look for more.

Some stories are superior to others, of course. The general theme is a little depressing, because as usual humans disperse to a planet where they displace, enslave, or otherwise treat non-human life inhumanely.

Good stories. They're short so you can finish them in under an hour. Because of this anthology I have some new favorite authors.