Top Selected Products and Reviews
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1.
"Short but sweet" - By Larry Kollar (Planet Georgia)
Icy Sedgwick is a #FridayFlash regular on Twitter, and "Checkmate" is a collection of 15 of her short pieces. It's a good choice for a rainy weekend afternoon or plane trip.
Synopsis: A collection of Icy's flash fiction, published between 2008 and mid-2010. The stories run the gamut of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, and are arranged in chronological order of publication.
Storytelling: Five stars. Icy has an amazing ability to write dark fiction with an oft-humorous twist. While all of them are well-written, six of the stories stand out as particularly memorable for me:
Midas Box -- a young woman's life takes a turn when she is given a very special box.
Checkmate -- in which the fate of the world is decided over a coffee shop chessboard.
My Bleeding Heart -- a macabre twist on an old pun.
Bleed Them Dry -- a ... full review(7) -
2.
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List Price: $15.95 Price: $12.35 You Save: $3.60 (23%) "with a nice combination of contemporary and classic authors" - By Catherine Siemann (New York, NY USA)
An exemplary collection of feminist speculative fiction, with a nice combination of contemporary and classic authors. Although, as with all anthologies, some stories appeal more than others, there wasn't a story here that I felt didn't belong. (Disclaimer: I was a Kickstarter backer for this project, which really just means I paid for my copy quite a bit in advance.)
Stories that especially stood out for me:
"The Forbidden Words of Margaret A." by L. Timmel Duchamp
Speculative *legal* fiction about a woman, seemingly ordinary, but the power of whose words are so intense the Constitution has been amended to stop her.
"The Screwfly Solution" by James Tiptree Jr.
Best last line ever.
"Gestella" by Susan Palwick
What if a werewolf fell in love with a human? How would that actually work?
"When It Changed" by Joanna Russ
A classic that I should have known already; powerful.
"The Evening ... full review(8) -
3.
"A fantastic collection of voices normally not heared" - By Brigid Keely (Chicago, IL United States)
"Long Hidden" is an utterly fantastic collection of short stories featuring the voices and stories not normally heard in published fiction, the themes and motifs generally buried under the white heterosexual able bodied primarily male stories given so much more weight and power. Every single story is good, is thought provoking, is imagination firing. I found myself pausing after reading each one, taking time to let them sink into me, to mull them over. A fantastic book. I'm already looking forward to more like it.(26) -
4.
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List Price: $16.00 Price: $9.69 You Save: $6.31 (39%) "Very engaging story." - By Anon
This book is a strange mixture of distant-future dystopian science fiction, with near-future technology. Most of the technology in this book is probably <30 years away, but the dystopian landscape portrayed in the book exaggerates how much damage people can do between now and then.
The coral reefs and rainforests will be in much worse shape, but the urban landscapes shouldn't decay much worse than detroit between now and then. This book ignores the underlying demographic trends which will drive the dystopian landscapes of tomorrow. It also ignores the substantial advances in machine learning and biotech which will likely intervene to exacerbate these trends in some ways and mitigate them in others.
Specifically: there isn't much discussion of antibiotic-resistant superbugs or disease despite the presence of a clear ongoing public health crisis in the story. Simultaneously, the book's characters dedicate almost 100% of their interactions with other people, ... full review(12,284) -
5.
- Available for download now.
Price: $0.99 "It is fun and creative" - By Prof Val
This is a book worth reading. It is fun and creative, but also explores important questions about the future in terms of daily life, space and resource competition, food culture, and the superstar world of athletes, agents, agribusiness, and PR folks. I read this in it's serialized form and was anxious for each new installment. The characters are engaging, and the future world is both fascinating and horrific. I highly recommend this debut work from who will certainly be an important author.(3) -
6.
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List Price: $35.95 Price: $24.00 You Save: $11.95 (33%) "inspiring" - By Amazon Customer
Design as a social instrument of change - Imagining possible futures - that is my interest and this book does a nice job of highlighting those that are doing that kind of work and the thinking behind it.(12) -
7.
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List Price: $25.00 Price: $24.98 "Fine study of future fandom" - By Noah Berlatsky (Chicago, IL United States)
This is an extremely smart discussion of race and science-fiction fandom. It thoughtfully discusses downsides—like the way Uhura in Star Trek was marginalized, or how Storm in the X-Men is based on stereotypes. But it also talks about how black fans find interest and inspiration in these characters, and rework them or rethink them in novelizations, fan fiction, and sometimes in canon. I was lucky enough to interview Andre; our discussion provides a good summary of the book's content and approach: [...]https://randomnerds.com/an-interview-with-dr-andre-carrington-author-of-speculative-blackness-the-future-of-race-in-science-fiction/(4) -
8.
"Great collection of short stories." - By Stefano Scaglione
Of all the authors of this anthology I already knew only its curator Lucas Bale. I'm happy I read it because the great cure he puts in his novels can be found here, it pervades every short story. All the authors are great and their stories left me wanting for more. Of some of them I'll surely read more in the near future.(39) -
9.
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List Price: $17.00 Price: $9.99 You Save: $7.01 (41%) "This book has some great tips" - By Steven Atwood (USA)
The tips contained within this book from the experts make it a must read for any aspiring author. I recommend this to anyone interested in writing.(17) -
10.
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Price: $16.95 "Great collection of speculative fiction." - By Adrian Shotbolt
I have never heard of any of the authors within this excellent volume of speculative fiction from Apex Publishing. Collections and anthologies are always a great way to find new writers. As is the case, more often than not, collections are a great way to dip in and out of a book. Some days I may read two or three stories, whilst others just the one. I found myself taking my time with this collection and let each story sit with me afterwards. Not all of them worked for me but the majority were fresh, interesting and generally very well-written. Personal highlights were 'Elegy' and 'The Kite of Stars' though I feel that there will be a little something in here for everybody. Great stuff. 4 stars.(6) -
11.
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List Price: $9.99 Price: $6.54 You Save: $3.45 (35%) "Five Stars" - By Amazon Customer
This book is stunning, really makes you think how degraded our government has become.(5,600)
