Sci-Fi Sunday Shorts

Three classic fairy tales with a sci-fi twist.

A Little Stroll through the Woods:

Little Red Riding Hood ventures in the woods in her house vicinity, headed to her granny. When she meets the wolf, something peculiar happens. Why he's saying he met the girl before?

Little Thumb:

Little Thumb is the younger member of a large family. When he realizes they have not enough food for everyone, he decides he will get rid of his parents.While doing that, he meets an Ogre that will completely change his plans.

Cat in a Box

Chi Bi has a package delivered at his door. When he opens it, a cat robot comes out of it. He says he comes from the future and Chi, himself, is his creator. Is that true? What does this peculiar creature want?

Tales of an Untold Past by Mark Russo is not simply a collection of classic stories retold with a science fiction theme:

A LITTLE STROLL THROUGH THE WOODS has a definite Twilight Zone twist to it and left me wanting a companion story told from the wolf's POV.

LITTLE THUMB has a post-apocalypse setting with a steampunk twist.

Last but not least, CAT IN A BOX includes time-travel.

The first story is the best one and I think the author should consider scrapping the other two and lengthening A Little Stroll into a novella. The wolf deserves more attention.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Sci-Fi Sunday Short

Are we alone in the universe? When an alien materializes in the lobby of the Sheriff's department in Searchlight, Nevada, NSA Head Agent Dale Hunter, and his partner, Agent Jerry Rafferty are about to discover the answer.

The Interview by Steven Pajak is a science fiction short story about an alien being interviewed. During the process, "ALF" reveals the Earth will be devastated by a global war and all life will be reduced to mutated abominations.

The pace is slow, much of the story is predictable and/or cliché and I don't even recognize Pajak's writing style anymore. I think Pajak needs to stick with the horror genre...his previous work is far better.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Sci-Fi Sunday: Abandon All Hope

Deep Space Dead by Edward Chilvers is an entertaining mix of horror and science fiction. I expected a story about zombies in space, but this novella is so much more. Not only is there a brutal loss of one colony, but the second attempt also fails as the colonists deal with alien mutants, food shortages, rioting and betrayal. In addition to the tragedy in the community, the main characters are struggling with failed relationships and family drama on a personal level. Difficult decisions have to be made and all of them will cost more lives.

I'm satisfied with the ending if this is a stand-alone, but Chilvers could continue the storyline into another book if he wanted to. I would definitely look forward to reading more about Hearthstone...perhaps the next story could be told from Guya's point of view?

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I'm moving on from short stories to the full-length novels on both my request list and my personal reading list, but I've been struggling to find time to write reviews. I'm hoping I can catch up on posting this week.

I can't stand to admit this, but I have authors who have been waiting over a year for review requests. However, I'm determined to catch up on all the new sequels for each series in my collections for each genre.

Keep checking back!

As always,
AstraDaemon