kimberlywade

Here are my highlights:

I was mesmerized by Daniel Braum’s “Emperor of Mist,” a story set in “an alternate universe Japan,” to use the author’s words. In the story, a group of monks travel through the world between worlds of “nether” to save the emperor, but that hardly describes what happens. The monks accomplish their journey through meditation and defeat their foes with Zen koans. Don’t think I’ve give too much away. There’s no way to spoil this story, as it reveals fresh delights from beginning to end.

Jason Heller is obviously a fellow music lover. His “Like a Cannonball” is a story about a mystical being from the “Spheres,” who has been exiled to a record store. How does he return to his celestial home? It starts with Van Morrison and includes “… weird symbols, little pictures, bits of guitar tablature” and, well, read it, because this story also reveals why “music has been getting progressively lousier on Earth over the past few years.”

 “Dates With Poetry” by Jonathan David Lim: a witty gem

 “Danny’s Magical Toe Jam” marshallpayne1 : the story delivers on the title’s promise. You won’t be disappointed, but I had the feeling there was more coming. Could there be a novel in the works, or is this one in a hilarious series?

 In “Labyrinth,” Janet E. Sever combines archaeology, mythology, sex, time travel and superior writing in an entertaining tale. It’s an impressive accomplishment.

“Star Spores” by William Doreski:

“I peer so hard through the telescope
my good eye distends like the foot

of an amoeba, and the star-spores
peer back with fungal humor,”

Cort Ellyn is another superior craftswoman. In her story, “Fire Eater,” the main character, Mirrah, is an advocate for tortured aliens held prisoner by humans. The human guards, who torture without apparent intentions, are not evil but ignorant of the aliens’ human qualities. The aliens themselves are not innocent. As Mirrah listens to Derinzan confess his war crimes, she says, “I’m trying very hard to separate war from … other kinds of killing.” I hate to make any assertions about the author’s intentions, but I could not help but see parallels between this story and the plight of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. It is deeply affecting.

 “Adam” jennyblackford  is a creepy thriller told in Blackford’s usual expert prose. It plays on parental fears about protecting a child and begins with the chilling line, “There’s something sinister about a neat child.” You won’t be able to stop reading before the end.

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