Product Description

HARDCORE NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEGUN

Customer Reviews (8)

Good stories, bad formatting.
The stories are excellent, but the ebook formatting is poor. Random hyphenations mid-line and carriage returns mid-sentence breaking the text flow. Despite these distractions, the stories are first rate.

War Stories
Breach the Hull (2007) is the first combat SF anthology in the Defending the Future series.It contains sixteen short stories and an Authors Bio.Three stories have been previously published, but the others have not.

- Cryptic (Asimov's, 1983) by Jack McDevitt tells of a strange finding in a SETI facility.

- Peter Power Armor by John C. Wright relates a trip to an abandoned house by a child, a matron, a guard, and a janitor.

- Wayward Child by Mike McPhail describes the encounter that made a young soldier into a veteran.

- Not One Word by James Daniel Ross explains how a mercenary meets the love of his life.

- Forgotten Causes (Absolute Magnitude, 2001) by John C. Wright follows the drop onto a Terran colony by a man without any memory of his mission.

- In the Dying Light by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is about an old artifact that absorbs light.

- Black to Move (Asimov's, 1982) by Jack McDevitt considers an abandoned planet formerly occupied by another sapient species.

- Killer Eye by James Chambers discloses the reactions of soldiers to a kill order.

- Compartment Alpha by Jeffrey Lyman regards a small number of survivors on a disrupted ship.

- Dead End by John G. Hemry (AKA Jack Campbell) confronts humanity with aliens who are incomprehensible.

- Broadside by Bud Sparhawk examines the consequences of an interstellar civil war.

- Thresher by Laurence M. Schoen presents a medical case on a pirate ship.

- Alliances by Bud Sparhawk relates the adventures of a hijacker and the captain of the hijacked ship.

- Dereliction of Duty by Patrick Thomas introduces the leader of a naval group that had mutinied against their deposed masters.

- Perspective by Tony Ruggiero divulges the fate of an alien species of vampires.

- Shore Leave by C.J. Henderson takes a group of human sailors into an alien strip for rest and recreation.

- Author Bios presents the background of these authors.

These tales are full of blood and guts and cynicism and sorrows.Much like the war stories of old soldiers.Read and enjoy!

Recommended for fans of combat SF.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Surprising Treat
A delightful collection of stories. I thought several were outstanding, and all were engaging. Perhaps I should mention that the publisher, "Dark Quest, LLC," is a small outfit. The look and feel of the book (font choice, dimensions) is not quite the same as you would get from a major publisher, and there were a handful of spelling errors of the sort that a spellchecker doesn't catch. These points would be annoying if the stories were subpar, but I find them endearing when the content is so good. I'm eager to read the next book in this series, and also to order books from some of the authors in this volume who I hadn't read before.

waste of good paper
This is one of the worst collection of short stories that I have ever read! It is more like the editor took the authors notes and published them as complete stories. I made the mistake of buying the second volume with the first. Selling this as a book should be illegal! Burn this book!

Sci-Fi collection
This was a great collection. They were the right length of each of the stories. It was great on the Kindle. I had half of them read to my by the kindle while riding in a plane cross country and the other half I read when I had time travling. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good humorous science fiction
In the late 22nd Century, Earth's first interstellar spaceship is involved in a collision with a much larger vessel outside the approved travel lanes. In its desperation to avoid the Galactic Hegemony, the captain gives Earth a more modern ship out of its inventory. This allows Earth to build more ships, and explore local space. Intelligent life is pretty common, and the only reason Earth hasn't heard about it is their use of inefficient and outdated electromagnetic energy for communication, instead of the much more efficient galactic phloomb. About the only talent humans have, according to the rest of the galaxy, is that of negotiation and arbitration.

Sam Boone works at Earth's major spaceport, near Trenton, New Jersey. It's there because one of the favorite tourist destinations is the nearby city of Hoboken (along with Disneyworld, of course). In one story, Sam must deal with a pair of alien races who decide to settle their differences in a professional wrestling ring, thinking that humans also do it this way. Another popular export for Earth is magazines of any type. Whether it is a home and garden magazine or a mechanical hobby magazine, the other alien races find them absolutely hilarious. In another story, Sam must escort a pair of aliens around Disneyworld. This wouldn't seem so difficult, except these are group mind aliens, where one individual inhabits 20 or 30 separate bodies. Do they get a group discount on tickets? In each of these stories, Sam must deal with very different cultural values, while keeping his alien boss happy and keeping himself out of some potentially disastrous situations.

There is a sad lack of humor in science fiction. This book helps to fill the gap. For lighter, humorous reading that is still well written, this is very much worth checking out.

... Read more

Product Description
DANCING WITH DRAGONS . . .

The first short-story collection from Nebula Award-nominated author Sparhawk assembles a collection of related stories from the pages of Analog magazine (plus one original written for this collection).

The monstrous snow snake roared past Paul Levin at fantastic speed, leaving a falling mist of slush and ice behind. The mist was so dense that he couldn’t even see giant Jupiter above the horizon.

The habitat could only be a few hundred meters further, Paul thought. He cautiously skied ahead, probing the ice with the tip of his ski before transferring his weight forward.

Suddenly a massive jolt shook the ice pack. He was violently thrown off his feet and tossed about. It felt as if all of Europa had shifted beneath him. He was terrified as the surface continued to tremble. As the tremors continued, Paul didn’t know whether he was going to live or die . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Just Above Fan Fiction
/Vixen/ has many of the elements that could make a very good story. Colonists awakening in a new star system, and many years and distance from help. Strange happenings that bring in the possibility of aliens. Reality of aliens, and the multiple reactions to them from the human crew. However, /Vixen/ just isn't very well written. The dialog is stilted, the situations forced, the characters stereotyped and cardboard cutouts. This is the sort of science fiction that people who don't read any, think that all SF is like.

Unequivocally not recommended
Poor characterization.Unresolved conflict.Stupid main characters.Read at your own risk.

Three months after the above line was written:
I just read the review in the November 2009 Analog.Don Sakers and I must have read different versions of this novel, or his BS quotient is much lower than mine.He seems to like it.I stand by my review. ... Read more

Product Description
CONTENTS: ~ ~~ ~ NOVELLA: Magic's Price [Bud Sparhawk]; NOVELETTES: Wet [J. Brian Clarke]; Creative Destruction [Edward M. Lerner]; SHORT STORIES: Out of the Fire [Pauline Ashwell]; One For the Road [David Phalen]; The Milk of Human Kindness [Brian Stableford]; ARTICLES: Redefining Copyright [Stanley Schmidt]; The Poverty of Nations [William Sims Bainbridge, Ph.D.]; A Modest Proposal [Walter G. Aiello]; Faster-than-Light Laser Pulses? [John G. Cramer] ... Read more

Product Description

Experience the Human Cost of War!

Customer Reviews (5)

New Combat Stories
So It Begins (2009) is the second combat SF anthology in the Defending the Future series, following Breach the Hull.This volume contains a dedication, fifteen previously unpublished short stories, the author bios, and an extract from an unpublished novel.

- The dedication is to the Demontech Series by David Sherman.

- "Recidivism" by David E. Gannon is about a throwback to an earlier way of thinking.

- "The Last Report on Unit Twenty-Two" by John C. Wright exposes the practice of enslaving cyborgs in the Belt.

- "The Nature of Mercy" by James Daniel Ross examines the life of a retired Radiation Angel.

- "Clean Sweeps" by Jonathan Maberry exposes the morality of the media.

- "War Movies" by James Chambers considers the thinking of higher command.

- "The Battle for Knob Lick" by Patrick Thomas continues the story of the naval officers who had not supported the mutiny.

- "Junked" by Andy Remic describes a raid by a Combat K squad against the junks.

- "First Line" by Banielle Ackley-McPhail provides a packbot with a copy of the mind of a combat leader and bomb expert.

- "To Spec" by Charles E. Gannon confronts an experienced noncom with a raid on his post where his only weapon is a protype undergoing field tests.

- "Gunnery Sergeant" by Jeffrey Lyman presents the backstory of Compartment Alpha.

- "Grendel" by Jack Campbell reveals the origins of the Lost Fleet campaign.

- "Cling Peaches" by Mike McPhail involves something alien that appears on a damaged starship.

- "The Glass Box" by Bud Sparhawk takes a cyborg marine to a far planet looking for a human survivor.

- "Looking for a Good Time" by Tony Ruggiero tells of the troubles of a marine on shore leave.

- "Everything's Better with Monkeys" by C. J. Henderson has the crew of the Roosevelt putting on a show.

- Author Bios describe the authors of these stories.

- "Surrender or Die" by David Sherman is the prologue to a Demontech novel that was never published.

Many of these authors also had stories in the First anthology of this series.Only Charles E. Gannon, David E. Gannon, Jonathan Maberry, Andy Remic and David Sherman were not published in the first volume.

Highly recommended for fans of combat SF.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Some great short stories, some so-so
I had no idea this collection was based on a basically self-published series.The stories were well written, and some were pretty original (zombies in space and that type of thing) - what I did not like was the number of pages for the price.Should have been about 3x more pages for the price.

GOOD GOOD GOOD
Unlike the first book in this series, Breach the Hull, this volume is full of excellent stories. If you like military si-fi this is a must read. Try it you will like it.

So It Begins - A Fun Collection of Sci-Fi War Short Stories, with a Great Cover
The second of two short story collections on sci-fi military war stories. The two that I remember best are James Chamber's "War Movies" and C.J. Henderson's "Everthing's Better with Monkeys." Both have interesting, and amusing, takes on several sci-fi clichés.

But that doesn't mean the other authors aren't fun, too. There is a good healthy range of short stories, which are perfect for fun on the go. I read my copy on a trip through O'Hare.

And the covers to this series are rather cool, too.

It's worth the coin if you're interested in some quick solid fun.

Enjoyable and Stimulating
So it Begins continues with the legacy started by Breach the Hull. Breach the Hull exposed me to several authors whom I had never heard of (e.g Bud Sparrhawk and Jeffery Lyman) and as a result I am now on the lookout for their works.

The stories in SIB are captivating and stimulate plenty of thought. To Spec by Charles E Gannon keeps you wondering right up to the end. Grendel By Jack Campbell gives insight into His Lost Fleet Series and continues to be my favourite of the 16 separate stories in this anthology.Personally coming from an engineering background I found Gunnery Sergeant by Lyman compelling reading as humanity rushes to get its new ships ready for battle. The ending of Glass Box by Bud Sparrhawk will definitely draw a reaction from you as a Marine endeavours to rescue a young girl left behind in enemy territory.

Even if you're not that into scifi the book is well worth reading. This book will have something for you, your parents and everybody who reads it. It will expose you to several talented authors who will draw you into unique worlds and often leave you wishing for more. Another feature is that you can read one story at a time while having a spare five minutes though I couldn't put it down. I eagerly await the next instalment of the Defending the Future series and await the authors return to the universes each one created.

A welcome distraction from the real world.

... Read more

Product Description
July/August 2005 special double issue of this publication with lead article "Of Kings, Queens and Angels" by Rajnar Vajra. ... Read more