[email protected]

Surprisingly creepy space story. I was a little disappointed with a lack of a "reveal" at the end and a few spelling errors ("loosing" instead of "losing" and "funy" instead of "funny"). Still, it was okay as one of those stories that asks its readers not to question too much, to just go along with the ride.

Disappointing tale of a test pilot who meets a smoke-thing that tells him of his impending doom. The story itself falls far short of the blurb in the teaser which talks about the "human condition" et al.

I'm used to these short stories being light on character development and med-heavy on fluff but this was one of those stories that caught me off guard. In short: dystopian future circa mid-2100s, Earth is trapped in its own galaxy by an ancient race, humans are perpetually geared for war with this race with the only restraint coming from a computer which calculates the odds of winning which is always against them...until a 20th century man is pulled from the past.

There are problems galore with this story - the whole time travel thing was a stretch, there were plenty of eyebrow raising moments (e.g. how much damage can a human take and still survive?) none of the main characters (other than maybe the villan) were well-developed and even then, few of them were very likeable. Still, it was an engaging story and one I'd recommend.

A better than average version of the oft-told tale of being able to relive your youth (e.g. most recently Hot Tub Time Machine). Coulter is a well-to-do 1950's businessman who, suddenly and inexplicably, finds his consciousness inhabiting his teenaged body in the mid-30's. Much of the story is spent on Coulter accepting his circumstances but it's well-written and believable.

An enjoyable tale about a trio of space explorers: Wyatt, a weary galaxy mapper, Beauclaire, his green replacement, and Cooper, a beligerant third hand. The three explore a planet located in a dust cloud such that it is blocked from seeing the stars. On the planet, the discover a human population that evolved similarly to ours (yes, you have to go with it). They are like us in every aspect except...they are utterly lacking in one human trait: curiousity. The character development is a little uneven and the ending a little abrupt but it's worth a read.

This one has it all: Action, adventure, interdimensional worlds (think Sliders), political intrigue, damsel in distress and swashbuckling hero. There's a lot going on here and it was confusing at times but...You have a world where reincarnation is a fact and where two parties Volitionalists and Statisticalists form the government.

Enter damsel, Dalla, who makes a discovery that immediately makes her a target. Now, said damsel is part of an interdimensional (or "paratime") group that regulates & travels between various timelines (yeah, it's a lot to take in). Enter swashbuckling hero, Vaal, who must find and save damsel. The title and synopsis in no way prepared me for this story. But now that I've read it I want to read more by this author.

Didn't care for it. The story felt fractured and was hard to follow. Basically you're following a person with psi abilities who is trying to help an ailing philanthropist while avoiding a draconian government agency that trains, monitors, and controls all psis.

An pretty good tale from a great author. Our protagonist keeps waking up on the same day, albeit unknowingly, and has strange experiences but fails to recall them after falling asleep. This goes on until he chances to escape the "reset" and sets about trying to discover what's happening to him. An interesting "put yourself in their shoes" story.

This was my first Mayhem adventure. As the description says, Johnny Mayhem inhabits dead bodies and solves mysteries. In this story (episode?) he's been dispatched to a world colonized by East Indians and where any offworlder who enters the society commits suicide, purportedly by the gurus who run the planet. There's a bit of gimmeckry in the telling but it's still a pretty good pulp tale.

A pretty good story about a despondent man who gets trapped "between time". I've seen many similarly premised stories - Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Stephen King's Langoliers - done better, but this one is okay given its length.