Acquired Book by: Did you ever grow curious about a new publisher who produces science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre selections in both novel length and short stories? Did you ever decide to enquire with the publisher you’ve found to see if they were open to book blogger requests to read and review their selections!? This is the situation I found myself in as I was quite mystified by the offerings of World Weaver Press! Such a delightful discovery on my behalf [in 2015] with a website full of inspiring reads across SFF!
Since I started reviewing with World Weaver Press [in August, 2015] there has been a changing of the guard behind-the-scenes where there is a new owner & publicity team. I am wicked happy to see the legacy and tradition of WWP has been carried forward by this lovely new team! I am honoured to work with them continuing to showcase World Weaver Press through reviewing their titles and hosting future guest features by their authors! Except to say when my personal health afflictions and adversities overtook my ability to concentrate on the stories with successive delays in posting my reviews suddenly became the norm, I withdrew making new requests from the publisher as much as it pained me to admit I was falling further behind. I enjoyed the time I had as a reviewer for this publisher and I will continue to seek out the stories by the authors I’ve discovered along the way. I especially want to continue to gather the anthologies by Rhonda Parrish to round out my collection!
I received a complimentary copy of “Far Orbit: Apogee” direct from the publisher World Weaver Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I’ve been dearly keen on reading this lovely Anthology:
It is fair to say, one of my favourite sections of Science Fiction are the realms within Space Opera & the infinite array of how we can not only explore Spacer lifestyles but delve into the myriad dimensions of how evolving life in Space can become for intrepid explorers, traders & colonists who dare to live offworld. It’s a place where due to the variety of entrances you can make as a writer – the reader, can become treated to different perspectives of life in Space inasmuch as the complex complications which go along with interstellar travels.
I originally wanted to read this during #RRSciFiMonth 2017 – as that is when I last updated the draft for this review. However, it was the year my father recovered from his stroke and the following year [2018] I had over 10+ months of health afflictions and a higher frequency of my chronic migraines. Last year [2019] was the first year I started to find relief from the migraines but also, the first year I could re-address my backlogue reviews whilst self-motivating myself through a few challenges which help re-inspire our self-directed goals such as #BeatTheBackList.
I made some positive enroads towards that personal goal of mine of erasing my backlogue of reviews, however, to be fair, I had less migraines this 2020 but more adversities to overcome as well. Such as the medical emergencies of my parents which included two ER visits in March (non-covid related) wherein I was alerted to be prepared if my Mum might have had a TBI and that would have left me as the carer of both my parents for the foreseeable future. She had sustained a series of bad injuries in an accident and thankfully after a few months recovered and healed from them all. It was an unexpected blessing and one we cherished receiving – yet, from January to May I was migraine-free only to have them return May-October.
I realise now my backlogue goals were set a bit too high to reach and thereby I’ve reset my goals to simply be “pick up a book on the backlogue, read it, sort out my thoughts for the review and let time be the chooser of when it is erased”. It speaks to how sometimes our goals are more long-term than short-term and how sometimes if you have health afflictions, you can maintain your optimism but sometimes you have to be more realistic with how quickly you can accomplish the goals you dearly want to achieve. Thereby, it is a pleasure of JOY being able to share this review during #SciFiMonth 2020! *whew!* What a long, long route I took to diving into FAR ORBIT: Apogee!
It goes without question, I will one day purchase copies of FAR ORBIT (the original collection) and FAR ORBIT: Outpost (if I can find where it was published and when).
Far Orbit: Apogee
Subtitle: Speculative Space Adventures
by Bascomb James
Source: Direct from Publisher
Looking for science fiction stories like they used to write?
Far Orbit Apogee takes all of the fun-to-read adventure, ingenuity, and heroism of mid-century pulp fiction and reshapes it into modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of writers. Follow the adventures of heroic scientists, lunar detectives, space dragons, robots, interstellar pirates, gun slingers, and other memorable and diverse characters as they wrestle with adversity beyond the borders of our small blue marble.
STORIES include:
Introduction by Bascomb James
To Defend and Keep from Harm by Anna Salonen
This Story Will Win a Hugo by James Van Pelt
Contamination by Jay Werkheiser
A Most Exceptional Scholarship by Nestor Delfino
Masks by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
Murder at Tranquility Base by Dave Creek
The Affairs of Dragons by Julie Frost
Culture Shock by Keven R. Pittsinger
Lost in Transmutation by Wendy Sparrow
N31ghb0rs by Eric Del Carlo
Dainty Jane by Dominic Dulley
Live by the Ten, Die by the Gun by Milo James Fowler
By The Shores of a Martian Sea by Sam S. Kepfield
Genres: Anthology Collection of Short Stories and/or Essays, Science Fiction, Short Story or Novella, Space Opera
Places to find the book:
Book Page on World Weaver Press
ISBN: 978-0692509760
Published by World Weaver Press
on 13th October, 2015
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 325
The Far Orbit series of Anthologies:
Published By: World Weaver Press (@WorldWeaver_wwp)
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Ebook
Genre(s): Speculative | Hard Science Fiction | Soft Science Fiction
Space Opera | Futuristic Fiction | Feminist Science Fiction
Featuring: Gender-Fluid and/or Gender Neutral Characters
Far Orbit: Outpost | List of Authors & their Stories via Bascomb James blog
A bit of background – Far Orbit: Outpost was meant to publish through WWP, however, the editor Mr James took the rights to the anthology series with him. I found the post on his blog and read press updates about this anthology during [2016] – however, the artwork featured on this banner seemed to be the same kept for the finished anthology if you view his blog. I’m unsure what became of the anthology over the past few years – as I cannot find further information on it’s publication. Nor if this anthology series will continue to be ongoing such as the one by Ms Parrish. Sadly I cannot find any updates about the publications for this editor and writer past [2016/17].
About Bascomb James
Bascomb James is a clinical virologist, author, and editor who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His
daytime persona has authored or edited four scientific textbooks and more than 60 scientific articles and chapters. His nighttime persona is an author, editor, and science fiction fan. Bascomb is the anthologist and editor of the Far Orbit anthologies published by World Weaver Press.
The first Far Orbit volume, Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures was published in 2014 and has garnered many outstanding reviews. A science-fiction fan since childhood, Bascomb credits his interest in science, engineering, and invention to the science fiction stories he read as a child. Bascomb blogs about writing, editing, storytelling, and life in a Northern state (Up North Stories) at bascombjames.com. He also tweets occasionally @BascombJ.
my review of far orbit: apogee
As per my usual disclosure – when it comes to anthologies – I never know which of the shorts or novellas are going to whisk out a fanciful attachment on my behalf, which is why I may or may not mention each story inclusive to the anthology but rather focus on the stories which moved me most or which gave me something to chew on even if it wasn’t one of my favourites.
on behalf of the Introduction by Bascomb James
These are the sections I love the most to read ahead of digging into the heart of anthologies – you get to gather a sense of what the editor behind the anthology was thinking as they set aside the time to collect the stories they desired to feature & of course, how they pulled together the anthology as a collective whole.
As Bascomb James related to those of us who are entering into this series of anthos on the sequel rather than the original release [ie. Far Orbit] it was lovely to have a nod of the original collection as we enter into this sequel anthology. The beauty for me in reading this section was finding that I am NOT alone in preferring not to read Grimdark and/or Darkly Lit Speculative Fiction or any sub-genre of Science Fiction! I knew there was a distinctive difference in reading the anthologies I’ve been blessed to review for World Weaver Press – as I’ve read such a diverse & eclectic selection of them now, I’ve come to understand which stories they are gravitating towards publishing and I must admit, they are the most uplifting tales I’ve come across in a Speculative Fiction collection of short stories!
I, too, like the innocence and the playfulness of Science Fiction – I love feeling *absorbed!* by the genre and the gentle intonations of what makes this genre such a lovely one to feel attached inside. Clearly, I have found my tribe in this publisher & their story-tellers as too oft I find other anthologies have less stories inside them I can fully appreciate whereas with World Weaver Press, I am finding nearly the full of their anthologies are to my liking!
I admit, I haven’t read Pulp Fiction Science Fiction in the Grand Tradition and in case my readers & the followers of #SciFiMonth are unsure what Mr James is referencing to infer this collection of stories is meant to include, let me quote a piece from the introduction itself as he eloquently puts a summary on it which made absolute giddy with joy to be able to concentrate on this collection right here & now:
What, you might ask, is Grand Tradition story-telling? The formal answer is Grand Tradition is a writing and story-telling style popular in mid-century SF publications – “pulp” science fiction composed of plot-driven, fun-to-read adventures with an upbeat message and a sense of wonder. Protagonists who could – through the power of science, engineering, and their own cunning – save the day.
-quoted from Far Orbit: Apogee with permission of the publisher World Weaver Press
I wish I had known about this sub-niche sooner! I would have gladly sought it out ever since I first joined the Science Fiction Book Club as a seventeen year old fascinated with the wonderment of Science Fiction and especially of Hard Science Fiction as it parlayed into Space Opera adventures or took me sideways through the lens of Speculative narratives like “The Demolished Man”.
As I start to embark inside this anthology, I already decided to fetch a copy of “Far Orbit” as soon as it is possible to bring a copy home as I want to see how this series first began and I hope – at some point, to hear news of how it continues through new installments as it expounds into new volumes of interest and discovery.
I did forget to mention one important thing about *Far Orbit: Apogee* – they altered the traditional Grand Tradition niche by implementing stories for a 21st Century reader wherein the gender bias is gone & heroes come in all shapes, forms and genders! Whilst each of the stories are happily prefaced by notations by Mr James to give you a bit of nod of awareness about the writer’s approach to tell the story and what it might be about as you embark further into the anthology itself.
| To Defend and Keep from Harm by Anna Salonen |
Anna Salonen has been exploring imaginary worlds ever since she could pick up a book, and she loves speculative fiction in all its forms. Having studied medicine at the University of Turku, she currently works as a GP. When she’s not writing, she enjoys graphic novels, console games, and playing robot ninja pirates with her niece and nephew. She lives in Turku, Finland, with her husband. This is her first English-language science fiction sale.
Site (which is also her book blog of readerly joy)
Ever since I first read The Clan Chronicles (which are extensively archived on Jorie Loves A Story, kindly find the bookishly geeky ruminations in my Story Vault) – I have been attempting to seek out more Space Opera dramas, adventures and/or Hard Sci Fi worlds like the Clan Chronicles had given me for a solid nine-book series! As I started to soak inside this lovely story my quest to find more Space Opera like the Clan had finally arrived in my hands! It felt like I had gone home again and it was blissfully wonderful!
I personally LOVE! when Space Opera takes you so readily off-world (ie. from Earth, from any planet elsewhere from our solar system) you do not have a lot of footing to guide you forward except your wits and you’re keen adventurous spirit to guide you forward! This is where you alight inside To Defend and Keep from Harm – as Kit is a no-nonsense kind of gal – telling it like it is and isn’t afraid to speak her mind if it means defending someone’s honour. She’s also dealing with a health affliction which puts her in a vulnerable state but not without the confidence to field off advances by blokes who ought to respect the word ‘no’.
What made this story so approachable for me is how I miss spending time on Plexis (ie. from The Clan Chronicles) where the whole of the universe would come to barter, trade and shop the various levels of commerce on the floating space station! It was a one-stop destination of species where instead of people watching like humans do at regular malls, on Plexis you can creature watch and species watch taking how each of the various entities breathe, talk and interact with each other. So, too, you have the privy of observing Kit as she is seated a bar which has a motley crew of persons inside it during various stages of getting drunk and/or attempting to have a good time unwinding into a perpetual party state.
It was her sense of honour and duty which made her stand-out the most – she couldn’t let a girl fall victim to someone who had no filter (for his mouth) or understanding of boundary (when it came to respecting a woman’s wishes); she had to step-in and make a difference even if the instant she did act on those instincts she could place herself in danger just for the aide she would provide. It was a crazy suggestion that the rescuer could become jailed but such is life on this world. Uniquely shortly afterwards she meets up with Reese and it is his proposition of a job on the sideways ledger of the law which granted Kit the potential of changing her stars towards a living she could bank on.
The setting [Elysium City] is the kind of busy metroplex you’d expect in Space – where everyone is moving at lightspeed whilst going about their individual business and giving a bit of an edge to those who need to keep to the shadows, remaining hidden and blessedly allowing for some clandestine activities. I loved how she shaped this futuristic world – how she described it geometrically and how she intuned that this is a world that has its frightful attributes but where a gal with a fierce sense of self, iron-steel confidence and a courageous heart can make her way through it on her own terms.
Kit had one epic horrid nightmare about the villainous Nilja – not that I could blame her – just hearing about how they approach other living species is enough to chill your bones to ice; but how she was going to qualm her nerves to fight this adversary would prove the muster of strength she has within her despite those fears attempting to overtake her sensibility. The realistic way in which the nightmare was presented you’d have thought we were flashing forward and yet backward through a living memory – that’s how real the details were portrayed!
I love seeing what happens to crew mates in close quarters – on the journey it takes to reach destinations in space, you can have some pretty epic encounters and of course, sometimes there is a punch of cheekiness amongst crew, too! Seeing the light-hearted banterment and the cheeky interactions between Kit and Reese, you’d have suspected they were half smitten with each other but without the need to pursue a steady relationship. It was only hinted round the edges – such as what Reese makes Kit with his newfound talent of origami which gets a rise out of Kit just as he hoped it might obtain! Such a cheeky monkey!
#FuellYourSciFi elements of loveliness:
- Feminist Hard Science Fiction, Feminist Space Opera
- A species called a Heliowraith (a type of Star-Ghost) whose the navigator and pilot of Kit’s ship – loved the descriptive details about her skin and how she can shapeshift herself into a mould that is more agreeable to humans rather than scaring the skin off them!
- Multi-species interactions in an environment which reminded me of Plexis!
- Quasi-military dominant world wherein serving with the Coalition Corps seems to be both a rite of passage and a degree of reputation
- Advanced Tech: Datacubes and holo projected solar maps of the star systems yet travelled
- Villains who can self-replicate other species(!)
#EqualityInLit notations:
- Gender-fluid and/or Gender-Neutral characters who are openly themselves
- Positive reminders of pronouns but in an approachable way of respect
- Alpha-male dominance is not tolerated within this world nor patriarchy tendencies
| This Story will win a Hugo by James Van Pelt |
James Van Pelt is a full-time writer in western Colorado. He has been a Nebula Award finalist and his fiction has appeared in most of the major science fiction and fantasy magazines and many “year’s best” anthologies. His third collection of stories, The Radio Magician and Other Stories, received the Colorado Book Award in 2010. His first novel, Summer of the Apocalypse was published in 2006 and his first Young Adult novel, Pandora’s Gun will be released in August 2015 from Fairwood Press
This short involves ‘recursive science fiction’ which I have never come across previously – the key reference to how this would be used in the story is how there is a juxtaposition between a story about First Contact and the goals of a Sci Fi writer who is striving to win a Hugo. I admit, I was keenly curious to see how this would work and how I might react to how the story was told.
One of the most humourous aspects of this story is how Van Pelt is making a case for how laser focused writers can be about their story whilst when their interviewing someone who has knowledge about the particular connections of theory and thought parlaying into their story, they sometimes come off wrong-footed! Such is the case about how Bradley (a girl, not a bloke) is keenly invested in interviewing the scientist of her choice but rarely sorts out that he has larger issues than giving her notations about how to write an expertly crafted story befit for a Hugo Award! In this volley between them, you see how the scientist simply wants to find success in his own right for his project involving long distance cameras in space snapping images of alien worlds without much luck in actually getting full resolution back in regards to what the cameras saw before the images were captured.
His idea was quite a simple one – purchase all the cameras once a company goes into default and then spend years trying to re-capture the success of his youth by having more images brought back to his lab which confirm what everyone presumes about deep space: there is alien life and there are alien worlds. Yet, within this framework of the story, there is an undertone of suspense about what is fuelling interest in this project and how ordinary events interconnected to this lab research might be undermined by others who are seeking the information for different means than the scientist himself. Whilst at the centre of it is Bradley – the writer who seemingly has zero interest in the actual reasons behind the research and simply wants to leave her mark on the Hugos. Yet, the beauty of the story as it is slowly revealled – has a greater purpose behind it than what is first realised!
I wasn’t expecting to feel so emotionally connected to this story – as on the surface of it, throughout most of how its told, you feel for the scientist the most; he’s caught in an impossible situation and he’s barely cutting even on his returns. Then, you have this super confident writer who just wants to make a mark in publishing but has completely lost the point behind the long hours of research, experimenting and the waiting game afterwards. I was truly swept into the ending – especially of the REVEAL you’re not quite expecting because the lead-in was painting this story to go a completely different way!
By the time you conclude this short, you’re going to feel short-changed – you will want more, need more and all we have is the hope of ‘what could be’ whilst we sit there hearing what they are hearing and deeply grateful to be one of the few who understands the ‘truth’ behind the sound!
#FuellYourSciFi elements of loveliness:
→ Research scientist meets quirky laser focused writer
→ Deep Space Photographic Project to prove Alien Life
→ First Contact and Alien Communication
| Contamination by Jay Werkheise |
Jay Werkheiser teaches chemistry and physics to high school students. He often finds inspiration for stories in classroom discussions. Not surprisingly, his stories often deal with alien biochemistries, weird physics, and their effects on the people who interact with them. Many of his stories have appeared in Analog, with others scattered among several other science fiction magazines and anthologies.
What stood out rather immediately by the tone of this short story is how quickly you can eclipse a lot of the back-story by simply listening to what is happening in the foreground of the story itself. This is a time in our (human) history on Earth where we set our sights on the stars and took ourselves off Earth on a mission of preserving the sanctity of alien life and of scientific research therein. These are the descendants of that original ship – taught and trained to be observers of alien worlds from a distance which would benefit everyone involved. They were never meant to get close enough to an alien world to fall out of orbit much less to ‘touch’ or interact with it directly. All of that changes when a new ship from Earth descends into their happy oasis in Space!
Clearly there have been incredible changes in the timeline of Earth’s history – from the fact no one there even knows about the research happening right now or the fact the planet they are intentionally trying to land on is one that is caught up in a cycle of observational evidence gathering to further said research! I was quite chuffed to find Ari – the young, brash and super confident flyer whose struggling to make sense of why he’s life is suddenly in danger of being snuffed out due to a bureaucratic conflict with his leaders and the persons involved with the newly arrived ship!
When you boil it down to the people being focused on in this short – you have Ari, his best friend Maura (on radio frequency) and the Earthborn ship’s pilot Bill. The three of them become caught in this web of intergalactic feuding between their leaders wherein they are pitted against each other and are left to either accept their new fate or do something about it themselves. I enjoyed the exchanges of conversation between Bill and Ari and likewise between Maura and Ari; as each of them gave something new to contemplate as you observed what was happening in ‘real-time’.
What I think was most fascinating is how quickly Werkheise can develop his characters, the urgency of their dilemma and the complexity of their situations! He isn’t just telling you about this quirky nightmare unfolding in front of you, he’s giving it buoyancy and balance wherein you have to contemplate for yourself what is happening against what you are learning through reading this short! As the ending is what says the most about why he wrote this short story – when it comes to contamination – are you only thinking along biological terms or is there another way to contaminate a society outside of the obvious routes?
#FuellYourSciFi elements of loveliness:
→ First Contact (though not in the way you might think!)
→ Alien world preservation vs contamination
→ Genetic Engineering
| Masks by Jennnifer Campbell-Hicks |
Jennnifer Campbell-Hicks is a writer, journalist, wife, mother and lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. Her first memory from a movie theater is of Darth Vader’s mask. She doesn’t remember anything else from that showing of the movie (probably The Empire Strikes Back), but Darth made an impression. She hopes that someday humanity will break free of Earth to visit other planets. Julie’s stories have appeared in Raygun Chronicles, Galaxy’s Edge, and Intergalactic Medicine Show, among other publications.
It isn’t oft I read a story set in Space where I am questioning if the story is resonating with me or if it simply isn’t my cuppa. This short story was a bit of a hard sell for me as a reader – meaning, it did not grip me within the opening bridge of its delivery nor did I fully give m a reason to champion it until nearly the very end of it – where the surprise revelations are made and noted about how ‘masks’ can both apply to an object a person can wear as much as it is a symbolism of how we can mask ourselves to everyone in our living sphere.
It is a dual theme explored through an interesting world hierarchy wherein there is a passing of the torch between those in power and those who will soon ascend into the power they were predestined to take over for someone else. The rub there is that not everything in this world is as benign and as transparent as it almost feels it could be if you were to overlook a few startling factors which seek to separate this world from our own. There is just enough reality within the short to give you a firm reason for keeping with it – but it wasn’t until we sorted out whom is ‘behind’ the masks themselves where we first start to take root into the world and how it operates.
The ending by far is my favourite slice of the story – it gives you a very unique perspective about the choices we are destined to make and the choices which define who we are and what we are to become afterwards. It is an interesting premise out of the gate but it is how this story humbles itself through an ending which I felt the lead characters had the best surprise to give us all. By the time you reach the conclusion of the story, wait and see if you’re not smirking out of your ears, too!
#FuellYourSciFi elements of loveliness:
→ Nanotechnology by way of DNA implantation and coding
→ A Space Opera world in the fragility of balance between peace and war
| Murder at Tranquility Base by Dave Creek |
Dave Creek is a retired television news producer who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include two short story collections — A Glimpse of Splendor and The Human Equation –and a novel, Some Distant Shore. His most recent book is a novella, The Silent Sentinels. Dave is a regular contributor to Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, where many of his short stories first appeared.
Point of fact: Alfred Bester’s “The Demolished Man” was one of my first critically loved works of Science Fiction – the story itself spoke to me and I loved how Bester told it – at the time, I was seventeen and just sorting out the Science Fiction genre as a friend at school shared his membership choices for the Science Fiction Book Club with me. I later joined the club myself and staid with it until the early years into the 2000s when I started to notice a decline in their publications wherein there would be copy editing errors and other issues in the books themselves. Until then, it was a singular resources for seeking the grandfathers & grandmothers of the genre whilst embracing the modern writers who were reshaping where Science Fiction could take us. It was also the club where I first read Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars saga.
I am noting this because this short is about how Mystery can merge into Science Fiction and how the two are not necessarily independent and elusive of each other. I never felt they had to be separate if a writer was inspired to bridge the gap between both of their disciplines and tell a story which would be enjoyable to read by those readers like me who are genre explorers!
It should be noted one of my previous readings for this publisher was a Science Fiction Crime Novella!
Detective Dacia is quite hardcore – she wants to close cases but she’s constantly having to sort out what is causing her to lose traction with the investigations cut short by the erasure of memory from potential witnesses. It seems this has become a habitual issue she’s been facing – as another case held the same confounding situation as the current one. What I felt was an ethical issue moreso than a criminal one is the choice people were considering when they were facing either to leave the truth intact in their mind or to take the erasure route and limit their ability to defend themselves in the long term. To me it felt like the worst kind of gamble because you were literally at the mercy of the detectives and what they might intuit as the truth; would that truth be your own truth or the truth that can sustain itself even if it is obscured?
You definitely could feel her frustration. With the process of detecting and the inadequate ways in which she had to deduce whom was telling the truth and whom was a master of deceiving what the truth could be from her purview. And, that is where the Detective made it her mission to root out the truth she could not ascertain without good ole groundwork and sleuthing. The curious bit (of course) is despite all the technological advances to their advantage – they still could not recognise whom was being the deceiver and whom was the innocent caught in a web of deceit. Th technology yielded a few extra results standard practices might have masked but it still wasn’t an absolute cure-all for those who sought to lie and to let their lies replace the truth.
This is one of the more sombering stories in the anthology – Dacia is tried of her job and of what she has to do to prove whether someone is guilty or innocent. In the end, she has the last say about how she wants the memory of this moment to kept or cast aside. To her, she has a keen sense of duty about how this part of the moon should remain sacred as it asserts man’s hopeful hope by exploring past our solar system and planet, we can find others who would be as interested in us as we are in them. And, yet, the ending also proved the one thing you cannot predict is human behaviour and the reactions people have when they feel backed against a wall.
#FuellYourSciFi elements of loveliness:
→ Memory erasure techniques
→ Advanced Criminology technology in interrogation rooms
→ Lunar and Earthbound societies
Closing Remarks:
There is a short story within Far Orbit: Apogee which is a sequel of a short which was appeared in the first Far Orbit anthology – a copy of which I do not yet have and I chose not to spoilt the surprise of reading the two shorts together. The short I am referencing is The Affairs of Dragons – as I still remember how much I enjoyed reading the two shorts which were meant to be read together between Corvidae and Scarecrow; sometimes you have to remain patient to read the stories as they were meant to be read rather than out of sequence.
The shorts which simply did not appeal to me were A Most Exceptional Scholarship, Culture Shock, Lost in Transmutation*, N31ghb0rs, Dainty Jan, Live by the Ten, Die by the Gun or By The Shores of a Martian Sea.
(*) I thought for sure I might enjoy this short as it starts by talking about non-binary lifeforms who choose their gender once they assent into adulthood and become transgender as they generally are not bourne the gender they are but rather are bourne one gender and then transition into their authentic gender lateron. I just couldn’t get a hold of the story but respected the writer for writing such a forward-thinking story and having a character others could relate too and see a bit of themselves inside.
The stories I read and highlighted on this review were my top favourites because I could feel myself hugged into those worlds and walking alongside those characters to where I could see their world as they saw it themselves. Even the short which was a bit of a hard draw for me to connect was still easier to read than the ones I had to take a hard pass on reading right now. I might change my mind lateron or they might remain not my cuppa in the future. The beauty of anthologies is seeing which story you can soak into on first reading and which writers you’d like to continue to read once you’ve read their shorter fiction. On that note, this was a very wickedly stimulating anthology and it gave me loads to contemplate as I moved in and out of the authors’ combined visions for life in Space!
As I enjoy listening to soundscapes as I’m reading it took a bit of digging to find a playlist via #Spotify which works well with reading Speculative Science Fiction & specifically stories of Space Opera adventures! I finally sorted out that they have this lovely soundscape entitled: Space-themed Classical Music whilst seeking Hans Zimmer whose one of my favourite composers for ‘sound for motion picture’. Isn’t that lovely?
This book review is courtesy of: World Weaver Press
Showcases of World Weaver Press Titles:
FAE (see also Review)
Disclosing my keen interest in CORVIDAE + Scarecrow (#BookishNotBookish No.6)
CORVIDAE (see also Review)
SURPRISE! I awarded World Weaver Press the honour of two of my Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards
as disclosed on my *End of the Year Survey, 2015*.
The Falling of the Moon by A. E. Decker (see also Review)
SCARECROW which contains a sequel short story from Corvidae! (see also Review)
During #RRSciFiMonth [2017] I featured the following:
Murder in the Generative Kitchen by Meg Pontecorvo (see also Review)
Whilst during #WyrdAndWonder Years 1-3 (2018-2020) featured the following:
Frozen Fairy Tales (edited by) Kate Wolford (see also Review)
Heir to the Lamp (the first of the Genie Chronicles) by Michelle Lowery Combs (see also Review)
Solomon’s Bell (the second of the Genie Chronicles) by Michelle Lowery Combs (see also Review)
Reader Interactive Question:
What do you look for in Science Fiction Short Stories and/or Novellas? What do you love most about reading Speculative Anthologies such as the ones I’ve been featuring from World Weaver Press!?
This anthology is part of my #SciFiMonth 2020:
A bit late to the event but wickedly happy to have arrived!
Well, hallo there fellow Spacer!
Were you curious which titles from World Weaver Press I want to add into my personal library as this marks my final review for the publisher as a reviewer!? I’m so thankful you’ve read this whole post to find out because here is my growing list of #musthave anthologies by the publisher:
- A new niche of genre to explore [ Solarpunk! ] : Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World; Glass & Gardens: Solarpunk Summers; Glass & Gardens: Solarpunk Winters – though I hope they continue to make these!
- More Rhonda Parrish anthos : Equus; Sirens as well as Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline
- Science Fiction anthos : forementioned FAR ORBIT; Recognize Fascism
So you see, there are more STORIES by World Weaver Press coming to Jorie Loves A Story!
{SOURCES: Cover Art for “Far Orbit” & “Far Orbit: Apogee”, editor photo of Bascomb James, book synopsis, author biography, Far Orbit: Apogee, Far Orbit and the Far Orbit: Outpost badges/banners as well as the WWP logo badge and the biographies of the contributors of this anthology were provided by World Weaver Press and used with permission. Extract chosen by Jorie whilst being used with permission of World Weaver Press. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #SciFiMonth Book Review banner, #SciFiMonth banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
I’m a social reader | I tweet as I read
Hallo, Hallo #RRSciFiMonth!
Remember Jorie's #reading FAR ORBIT: Apogee this month!?
Look what's open for stories in JAN17#amwriting #scifi https://t.co/O1TJvVubY3— Jorie blasts off into #SciFiMonth🚀 (@joriestory) November 18, 2016
As we wrap up our convo today – if you're #currentlyreading #SpaceOpera, kindly post which stories your hugged inside — I'll start:
* To Guard #AgainstTheDark by @julieczerneda
* Star Trek #shortstory by @RJSullivanAuthr
* Far Orbit Apogee Antho by @BascombJ#RRSciFiMonth🚀— Jorie blasts off into #SciFiMonth🚀 (@joriestory) November 18, 2017
Onwards and upwards,… moving skyward towards the cosmos now as I enter into the #SpeculativeFiction Space Adventures of “Far Orbit: Apogee” an #anthology of #SciFi #SpaceOpera by @WorldWeaver_wwp during #SciFiMonth🚀https://t.co/pv7fkGaerO
— Jorie jumps hyperspace into #SciFiMonth🖖💜🦝 (@joriestory) November 15, 2019
I’m only into the first story “To Defend & Keep from Harm” by #AnnaSalonen (wish I could tag her on here!) and *yet!* I feel like I’ve ‘come home to the #SpaceOpera worlds I’ve come to love #amreading‘ esp post-reading #theclanchronicles!☺️💞#SciFiMonth🚀
— Jorie jumps hyperspace into #SciFiMonth🖖💜🦝 (@joriestory) November 15, 2019
💜LOVE! when #SpaceOpera takes you so readily off-world (ie. from Earth, from any planet elsewhere from our solar system) you do not have a lot of footing to guide you forward except your wits and you’re keen adventurous spirit – what about you? #SciFiMonth🚀what are you keen on?
— Jorie jumps hyperspace into #SciFiMonth🖖💜🦝 (@joriestory) November 15, 2019
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- #FuellYourSciFi
- #SciFiMonth 2020
- 2020 Backlogue Reviews
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