Plot: Twenty-four-year-old Joseph Marshal has just lost his mother. He had never left home and had rarely ventured out in public. He misses his mother but is not lonely. He worries about how he will survive without her to provide a buffer between himself and the rest of the world. At her funeral, a tall,Continue reading “Review of “Living Image” by James Rumpel”
Author Archives: 9siduri
Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne
Plot: The Four Horsemen of lore—Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death, have destroyed humanity in an Apocalypse, leaving only Porcaleo alive. Porcaleo pursues them with vengeance across the vast expanse of space through Andromeda and the Horsehead Nebula. With the final quarry, a problem arises: how does one kill Death? Thoughts: This was a fun littleContinue reading “Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne”
Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio
Plot: The reader is told that the Temple of Artemis closes at midnight, and it’s now 11:52. The narrator apologizes to the snake-headed girl in the UNC Chapel Hill sweatshirt who’s cleaning the statue of Artemis. She’s waiting for someone. Not that she has an appointment. She tells the reader she just knows the otherContinue reading “Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio”
Review of “How to Get to Heaven” by Trina Jacobs
Janet has died during what was supposed to be a routine appendectomy. Something went wrong. Now she sees a ghost in the corner telling her not to go into the light. “You wouldn’t like it there.” The ghost is a young man wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans, bearing an uncanny resemblance toContinue reading “Review of “How to Get to Heaven” by Trina Jacobs”
Review of “The Colossus Stops” by Dafydd McKimm
The Colossus that has circled the waters outside the island three times a day as long as anyone can remember has stopped. From birth, the people know the sound of its great gears, forever turning, as it protected the island from pirate ships. On the day before yesterday, the Colossus slowed, making only two rounds.Continue reading “Review of “The Colossus Stops” by Dafydd McKimm”
Review of “The History of the World in Four Sentences” by Liam Hogan
This history of the world is relayed as a bedtime story from a man to his great-granddaughter. She knows it as the story of the things their “an-ces-tors did wrong, an’ what our future is.” Annoyed, the great-grandfather tells the story in four short sentences. The little girl prefers the longer version with Adam andContinue reading “Review of “The History of the World in Four Sentences” by Liam Hogan”
Review of “Dial M for Martians” by Tina Connolly
The little green man approaches Spacetrader Dan with the promise of more cocktails and a business proposition. Dan’s only on his second. Once they’re inside his unmarked ship, the little green man promises Dan it will be the perfect crime. He wants to be rid of his third horizontal living companion. Dan needs a millionContinue reading “Review of “Dial M for Martians” by Tina Connolly”
Review of “CARE” by Eric S. Fomley
Balana sits on the couch in her sweatpants eating chocolate. She watches the same Dr. Who episode she watched the night before. Observing her behavior, her CARE unit determines she is sad. When it asks what is wrong, Balana tells it, “Nothing.” But her voice quivers. The CARE unit has been programmed to take careContinue reading “Review of “CARE” by Eric S. Fomley”
Review of “The Drums Drone Death” by J. Allan Dunn
Joseph Allan Elphinstone Dunn was born in Great Britain. He traveled to the United States and Hawaii. He spent time in Colorado and San Francisco and settled on the East Coast in 1914. He was a prolific author, writing some one thousand stories, roughly half of which were westerns. He also wrote adventure stories andContinue reading “Review of “The Drums Drone Death” by J. Allan Dunn”
Review of “Canaries” by JR Gershen-Siegel
The unnamed narrator and others have to leave when they came. She (or he?) takes her pet canaries and as much seed as she can carry. Others, she notes, takes clothes or emergency rations. A woman who had been rich on earth brought a bottle of perfume. The reader is not told who “they” are,Continue reading “Review of “Canaries” by JR Gershen-Siegel”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 