Spectacular Sci-Fi Anthology

THE OCEAN OF SKY by John A Connor is a collection of twenty-three short stories and flash fiction pieces mixing sci-fi, horror and suspense...

THE OCEAN OF SKY: dark tale about the fate of the Lost Cause

IN TWO MINDS: unpredictable results of experiment

HONEST TO GOD: interplanetary missionary

A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: unusual meteorite

TIME ON THEIR HANDS: adrift in space

A LIFE LESS COLOURFUL: relationship vs. duty

TO AND FRO: time travel

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: cultural clash with alien species*

THE LAST MARTIAN: terraforming gone wrong

MIND GAMES: out of body experience

RIGHT AND WRONG: reconstructing flesh

BAD TIMING: time travel ripple*

NUISANCE CALL: spam in space*

THE TRUTH AND NOTHING LIKE THE TRUTH: alien author

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE: Death makes an unusual friend*

SKIN DEEP: future cosmetic surgery

TWO-WAY TRAFFIC: this one confused me too much to enjoy

EVERLASTING LIFE: a lemming strategy

WELL, DO YOU?: the God debate

NET RESULT: worse than your phone listening to your conversations

THEORETICALLY SPEAKING: science vs. magic

THE DAY MAY COME: fantastic ending!!*

POINT OF ENTRY: time travel as a means of revenge

The ones marked with an asterisk are my favorites, mainly because of they have a touch of dark humor, but all of the stories are very entertaining. Connor has always provided a wide variety within his anthologies, which is why he remains one of my favorite science fiction authors.

I highly recommend this collection, especially if you are a fan of Ray Bradbury.

As always,
AstraDaemon

John Connor Returns

Fifty Percent of Infinity by John A Connor is an interesting assortment of science fiction short stories and flash fiction, with a touch of horror. I have enjoyed Connor’s work in the past, but I had mixed feelings about this particular collection:

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT shows how alternate realities can literally cross paths.

WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF is an absolutely excellent story, a perfect example of Connor’s talent.

FIFTY PERCENT OF INFINITY is one of my least favorites, but remains a unique concept of mind and body.

MISSING, PRESUMED LOST is an ironic, post-apocalyptic tale.

PORTAL could be taken as either a suicide account or a tale of ascension.

LAIKA is an alien’s best friend.

DREAM, BABY has lots and lots of dialogue, but very little in the way of a plot.

YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE makes me not want to check my voicemail ever again.

AFFAIR OF THE HEART is a major transplant issue.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY is a long story about first contact.

END OF THE LINE is quite a surprise.

LIVING IN REALTIME is an example of what the imagination can do.

SLOW LANE is a fantastic twist on immortality.

END OF TERM is definitely my least favorite, and not at all what I expect from Connor.

HERE TODAY features an uncertain future.

PICK AND MIX is a time analogy.

WORLD’S END left me wondering if it is real or the best con ever.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD made no sense to me…possibly the author’s intention?

UNQUIET MEALS shows how a space journey can take its toll on the human mind.

I think the reason this anthology didn’t meet my expectations is because there is more flash fiction than short stories, and while the flashes might give readers a thought-provoking and/or entertaining moment, they don’t always deliver a story.

I do recommend that readers check out Connor’s interview here at the Lair.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Top Five Anthologies of 2015

I've read a lot of anthologies this year, and a few of them were fundraisers for some excellent charities. However, I know how little time many of you have for reading, especially at this time of year, so I've limited my Top Anthology list to five:

#5 - Whines and Spirits by John A Connor has an excellent variety of twenty-two stories, each with their own unique plots. Connor is an upcoming author I will be reviewing again in the future.

#4 - Deadsville by Dale Elster and T.D. Trask is a collection of stories that take place in a fictional town in New York. The two make an excellent writing duo, and I hope they release another volume soon.

#3 - Fantasy For Good is a charity anthology that supports The Colon Cancer Alliance. The stories, written by some of the most well-known authors in the business, include a variety of fantasy sub-genres.

#2 - Times of Trouble is an anthology featuring a time-travel theme. I found this collection to be one of the best science fiction anthologies ever published.

Last, but not least...



#1 - At Hell's Gates: Bound By Blood, another charity anthology, which donates proceeds to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. There are actually three volumes currently available, each with its own theme, but this volume is my favorite of the three and focuses on the dark side of family.

There you have it, horror fans, my TOP FIVE ANTHOLOGY picks for 2015. Check back for my next top five: NOVELS.

As always,
AstraDaemon

P.S. Not all of the titles were published in 2015, but they are from my 2015 review list.

John Connor Interview

No, nothing to do with Cyberdyne. (Did you know there really is a robotics company called Cyberdyne?!) This John Connor is a horror/sci-fi author that I recently discovered during one of my breaks from the undead. He's written an entertaining horror anthology filled with twenty-two fantastic tales.

Some of the stories are merely entertaining, some are utterly terrifying, but they are all well-written and completely captivating. I love the variety of the stories - not only is each plot unique, but the settings, POV, etc. are also unique to each story. I wanted to know more about the man behind the stories, so I asked Connor a few questions in the Lair:




Q. Have you always aspired to be a writer, or is this a recent development?

Well, I suppose that I've been writing for a long time, but I've only considered myself to be 'a writer' for the last decade or so.  I spent my career with the provincial press, which always leads people to the conclusion that I was a  journalist when in fact I was a member of the commercial staff and wasn't required to write a word as a part of my employment.  But opportunities came along from time to time and I made contributions to our various publications.  However, it wasn't until I found myself in early retirement that the time to write seriously became available.

Q. What genre are you most comfortable with and why?

I began reading science fiction as a child when I discovered Kemlo, the creation of the author E C Elliot, and was hooked.  Kemlo lived on a space station and owned his own space scooter - what nine year old wouldn't be captivated?  After that I read everything I could get my hands on, which in the UK in the mid fifties, wasn't a lot.  After I'd exhausted the supply of H G Wells and Jules Verne in my local library I had to look elsewhere for writers and that, with a few exceptions, meant the USA.  In my teens I was a huge fan of Ray Bradbury.  I loved both his sci fi and the poetry of the tales in The October Country and Dandelion Wine. I rediscovered his short stories just a while ago and they're still magical.  At home, John Wyndham was an influence (both he and H G Wells were former pupils of the school I attended).  The Day of the Triffids; The Midwich Cuckoos and The Kraken Wakes were all part of my reading experience.  In fact, I have to admit, my interests have been pretty single track when it comes to genre preference and I must have consumed just about all there's was from Aldiss to Zelazny as a young man.  No wonder then that sci fi is where I feel happiest.

Q. How does Whines and Spirits compare with your other anthologies?

In view of the above you'll see that Whines and Spirits is a little outside my usual area of interest as an author.  It came about as a result of one of those opportunities I spoke about earlier.  I received a commission to write a regular column for a young readers feature in one of our newspapers and that meant a ghost story was required each Halloween and New Year.  Over the years I compiled quite a collection and more  recently I sat down and rewrote many of them for an adult audience.  That's how the title came about.  It's the result of a commercial imperative I suppose. 

Style wise it's not a million miles from my other works, Fifty Percent of Infinity and Short Circuits, which are both collections of short sci fi stories.


Q. Who or what influences your writing? Do you follow the same process each time, or do you approach each story differently?

What influences my writing?  Well all of the above and everything else in my life - just like any writer I guess.

I look for a new idea, or more usually, since new ideas are hard to come by, a new slant on a familiar theme and I start writing.  The 'voice ' is the important thing.  The tone, the style; something that catches the nature of, and enhances, the narrative.  That just comes naturally.  I don't give it a lot of thought.  There are alternative possibilities of course and the one you choose - if you do choose - can make the difference between a story that sounds credible and one that's appears contrived and false.  With the voice comes the story.

Q. How do you think genres such as horror and science fiction have changed since the 1980s? Do you think readers have also changed? If so, how?

As to horror I can't offer an opinion but with regard to science fiction, yes there have been changes.  Genre style is an evolving condition adapting to social mores and preferences.  Twenty first century sci fi has been hijacked somewhat by the movie industry and expectations from readers new to the genre are sometimes for similarly grandiose concepts.  But there are still plenty of people out there writing high quality sci fi for discerning fans. Take a look at Gardner Dozois' annual Year's Best.  The near future is often more intriguing than the death of the universe and the day after tomorrow is changing all the time, as a result of what's happening today.

Q. Do you think there is a difference between US readers and UK readers, besides location? Do you think authors need to take culture into consideration when writing for different audiences?

Oh yes, I'm sure there is.  We may, in many respects, share the same culture but there is a wide divergence in social mores and, I suspect, a very different national consciousness. At a basic level there's much that divides us too. I'm reading Stephen King's 11-22-63 right now and  - apart from that date, which would read 22-11-63 over here - there are frequent references to sport, politics and even retail businesses (!) which leave me baffled.  Do I think King should publish a UK friendly version of his story? No, certainly not.  It's those touches of Americana that are an added attraction for a British audience and place the story right where it belongs.

Q. What else would you like readers to know about your work?

If there is anything to discover, I'd like the readers to do that for themselves. If you're a horror aficionado then Whines and Spirits may seem pretty tame to you; no blood and guts, no slavering monsters from the nether reaches of hell. Just, I hope, quietly chilling tales and lots of story lines to make you think.  Friends tell me that's a fault.  There are enough ideas in that collection to write three or four novels, they say, why don't you expand the plots a little and stretch things out?  But that's not what I'm about.  You'll find this with Fifty Percent of Infinity and Short Circuits too, if you're kind enough to give them a go.  Ideas sparking into life and racing to a conclusion, or at least part way to a conclusion, because I like to leave the reader room to think on...

I definitely recommend Whines and Spirits to my fellow horror fans...sometimes it's nice to go back to the basics that first attracted us to the genre.

As always,
AstraDaemon