Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2022 - Robert Greenberger

 

Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2022 by Robert Greenberger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just finished the latest Thrilling Adventures Yarns (2022 Edition) once again funded through Kickstarter and edited by Robert Greenberger (also contributes a story) and again came away thoroughly entertained. Granted I liked some of the stories more than others but I enjoyed all of them especially that moment before starting each one when you are not sure what you are going to get more so from authors who you are very familiar with. The stories span across a number of well used genres so there is literally something for everyone but again it's difficult not to like the stories on offer from detective dramas within the "real" world or with a supernatural leaning or something out of the myth/legend given a spin you wouldn't see coming, also, some great artwork. As usual you will have one or two that resonate and for me that would be The Ghosts of War by Steven Savile and Riding in Cars with Girls by Geoffrey Thorne. Highly recommended anthology, infact why not pick up all the editions of the series, I won't lead you wrong.



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Release the Virgins

Release the Virgins by Michael A. Ventrella
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Release The Virgins was a project that I discovered via Kickstarter and given the wealth of writing talent it was a simple decision to back the project. Once however I read about the anthologies creation via the use of the phrase "Release The Virgins" in each story I was if anything even more excited about the prospect of this unusual concept. As it turned out the results far exceeded my expectations with the majority of the eighteen stories using the phrase with clever, creative and intelligent intent and yes as pointed out by the editor the line was drawn on the number of stories which featured unicorns. So if you are looking for an entertaining collection of short stories with Dinosaurs, Unicorns, Private Detectives, Interstellar Sleeper Ships and even the threat of world wide Cthulhu inspired destruction covered with plenty of humour (subtle and not so) then Release The Virgins is for you.

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Pew! Pew! - A Fist Full of Pews!

Pew! Pew! - A Fist Full of Pews! by M.D. Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The latest anthology in the Pew! Pew! series arrives with another eight broadly humorous tales of science fiction spread across all subgenres with submissions from authors who are returning to the series and a few new to the anthologies. I enjoyed all eight of the stories, they all had fun moments and were far from simplistic in their narrative or structure, these are all well written scifi with the humour when required as the bonus element or icing if you will.

Cryonite Caper by Felix R. Savage
Mike Starrunner small time freighter captain finds his weapons officer frozen in a block of cryonite, some shady business going on but what exactly and who with has yet to be determined. In a society where there are humans who can shape shift and of course aliens a plenty it's going to be tricky for him to find out the truth and to be alive after he does.

The Chadd by Richard Parry
Chad Forradel is assigned to track down a newly emerged human empath which leads him to the terraforming world of New Haven, there is no one left alive. The ongoing war with the insect like Ezeroc is raging, empaths are the key to victory but the Ezeroc can infest a host empath and use their abilities against the human empire so the pressure is mounting on Chadd to finish his mission but then the space pirates turn up guns ablazing and they have the empath.

My Andersonia by James S. Aaron
Ngoba Starl was eager to get his embedded link, an offer of a job from a friend to infiltrate an offworld society and liberate a sentient AI will get him what he wants. Now if only he didn't have to pretend to be the fiancee of a young woman he quite likes or that their guide has the serious hots for him and it's Mardi Gras time and well anything goes...

Rogue Planets and a Bored Kitty by M. D. Cooper
The Delta Team return and well their gifts from their recent visit to Disknee World has kinda changed the dynamic of the ship and crew but a job is a job and so what if the team consists of Cinderella, Catwoman a Vampire and a few other critical changes in circumstance? The job requires them to retrieve an energy device stolen from the world of Crossbar by someone from Allaran two worlds deep in the void in a starless system both dependent upon these devices to provide energy, oh and Crossbar is populated by vampires so no worries.

Space Girl and the Sensual Spy by Andrew Dobell
Space Girl Seren Zenith second to none in her chosen profession of intelligence operative is assigned a critical mission to rescue a deep cover agent, turn the tables on a alien state and collect valuable intelligence. However while her robot McTechbot is always useful (sarcastic to the extreme but useful) she is also lumbered with a Fleet officer, granted she would ride him all night long (well sex is one of her favourite pastimes in any way you care to imagine) but this isn't how she works but as in her private or not so private life a willing partner can always be made to hit the right spot.

Making Trouble by Amy DuBoff
Jack Tressler has had an interesting time since meeting the crew of the Little Princess II and they all agree life is more fun with a little adventure and danger so why not use some of the cabins for high paying covert transport, not trafficking per se but getting people to where they want to go no questions asked. Of course they soon find themselves transporting a group of men and women to a mysterious destination so they decide to liberate the people by stealing back the ID tags from the organised crime gang they mistakenly contracted themselves too. Fun and games galore.

Valentine's Day 1979: An Intergalactic Adventure by Andrew Gates
Wrong place and wrong time sees Ryan Gifford taken onboard an alien starship and learning that the Earth is part of a huge galactic power and as such an Earthman has been chosen as husband in a political marriage to head off a interstellar war. Why an Earth man, well no one else really wants to marry such a hideous creature but hey it's Valentine's Day and as usual Ryan is alone so why the hell not!

The Unbelievers by Bill Patterson
Something is different about the graduating class of 2360 as strange events and deaths occur around them after being assigned to the fleet in the war with the Poon. Extracted from the fleet they are examined and backgrounds checked until yes a common denominator is found and then the fun begins, if they are such a threat to their own fleet how dangerous could they be to the Poon fleet?





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No Surrender - SCE #4

No Surrender SCE #4
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth omnibus release from the Star Fleet Corp of Engineers series contains four stories continuing the timeline as set down in the original release of the individual tales.

The first story is "No Surrender" written by Jeff Mariotte in which the Da Vinci's Captain has a face from his past come back to haunt him as the Kursican Orbital Incarceration Platform suffers some damage and while not part of the Federation there are Federation citizens onboard and thus the SCE are tasked with securing the facility.
In Caveat Emptor written by Ian Edginton and Mike Collins a Ferengi trading vessel is abandoned by her Captain and when picked up by the Da Vinci they learn that a piece of technology from Beta III is involved. The Ferengi crew seem pleased to see these new arrivals but there is more going onboard as the landing party soon find out.
Past Life written by Robert Greenberger has a soon to be Federation member world request help after they discover a piece of technology which may have been buried on their world long before their race gained sentience. The concept of a third party guiding or intervening in the development of the Evoran people causes civil unrest and so the Da Vinci has to balance learning the purpose of this device and how to maintain relations between this worlds people and the plant with the Federation.
The final story is Oaths written by Glenn Hauman and deals with an serious outbreak on Sherman's Planet which has the potential to spread amongst the stars thanks to it's long incubation rate which allows the contagion to spread before symptoms can be identified. Dr. Elizabeth Lense has the whole world on her shoulders and we learn she had reasons for being assigned on to the Da Vinci and the story is equally balanced between the plot and a character piece.

Once again this omnibus offers a variety of Star Trek stories making use of the abilities the SCE bring to the franchise. My favourite story is probably Oaths as I had not realised Dr. Elizabeth Lense was the character first brought to screen in Deep Space Nine and how the revelations of Bashir would impact others within the service. Former Captains gone bad, Kirk's never look back philosophy and truth versus dogma all form the basis for some good Trek.

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Chronicle Worlds: B-Movie

Chronicle Worlds: B-Movie by Samuel Peralta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My latest dip into the collection of anthologies under the Future Chronicles banner deals with the good old "B-Movie" genre and the authors who contributed work really let themselves have fun. This anthology contains nine stories with subjects covering the whole spectrum from Invading Aliens, Vengeful Spirits, Kungfu Mummies and of course Clowns. I enjoyed every single story and that has to be perhaps the best recommendation I can give, they were all different but entertaining and Samuel can be proud of putting together this anthology.

• Plagued by Matthew Stott
• Bubbles by Eamon Ambrose
• Friendship is Forever by Jessica West
• Gorillabot vs Mermaids from Neptune by Christopher J. Valin
• Nightmare by Stefan Bolz
• Attack of the Kung-Fu Mummies by Daniel Arthur Smith
• The Legends of Boone Ridge by Artie Cabrera
• Jeffboy at the Drive-In by Forbes West
• Drop Bears by S. Elliot Brandis

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Pew! Pew! - The Quest for More Pew!

Pew! Pew! - The Quest for More Pew! by M.D. Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well here we are with even more Pew! Pew! for your space cash and this anthology does not fail to deliver with nine varied scifi tales with a comedic slant, some out and out humorous others less so but all with the ability to make you smile. I was quite pleased that a number of the authors contributed stories to the anthology with characters from the first so we got the further space tourist adventures of Charles (the redshirt), Ben and his sexbot as the return to Earth from Europa and of course Delta Team who run foul of the magical kingdom/world of Disknee. Along with them are six other original stories and from all of them my favorite was Miss Planet Earth by S.E Anderson a tale of young woman crowned miss universe a month or so before first contact who is then cryofrozen for the intergalactic trip to well the real Miss Universe pageant, 13000 years later when she wakes up well things have changed :)
Overall an excellent follow up to the first Pew! Pew! anthology and a third collection Pew! Pew! - Bite My Shiny Metal Pew! is due to arrive this November.

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Pew! Pew!: Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My!

Pew! Pew!: Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My! by M.D. Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's rare for an anthology to get five stars given that no matter the genre there are going to be one or two stories that don't quite hit the mark but this was an exception.
Pew! Pew!: Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My! offered up nine stories most with a strong humorous themes or at least a style that offered up humour be in a dark fashion of by the natural reactions of the characters within. A few are simply out and out comedic scifi and every single one had me wanting more which is kinda the point of this style of book. I really can't recommend this collection highly enough, I was said when each story finished and soon delighted with the next one up, there are certainly authors here whose other works needs exploring.

Delta-Team - by M. D. Cooper
An homage to the classic 80's tv show The A-Team with a few changes.

The Methane Lake of Excruciating Tedium - by Felix R. Savage
A year on Titan doing research but when everyone stationed at this small scientific facility annoys you...

The Last Bounty - by Barry J. Hutchison
A man's past comes back with a vengeance when his stepdaughter is space kidnapped.

Spaceberg - by M. Pax
When a spaceberg threatens the solar system and the family of Nikili Echols (Orbital Rescue Squad) is in peril she flies to the rescue. Very much a nod to the melodramatic disaster movies of today.

The Long Dark Pew - by Chris J. Pike
Space Bees threaten the planet and the perennial late to the party space tug Barnburner and its motley crew are all that stands between Earth and globs of sticky weaponised honey.

Brewing Trouble - by Amy Duboff
A daring heist to steal a new energy technology, the goal to brew the best cup of coffee in the galaxy if they can dodge corporations, uber weaponed starships and security systems.

Dodging Fate - by Zen DiPietro
The Red Shirt gene is a nasty thing to be born with and when Charlie Kenny decides to spend the rest of his life on a well padded retirement planet what could go wrong, just one more space flight to get there on the safest commercial carrier in existence.

Gli+ch - by Drew Avera
Ben is captivated by the advert for a new life on Europa, soon after he is blasting off from Earth on the adventure of a lifetime with only his sex bot as company.

Bat Johnson, the Mad Mortician of Mars - by Rachel Aukes
Bat Johnson wasn't expecting much when he took the job on Mars as undertaker but with three deaths in the first week and all of them a lot more suspect than the doctor and base commander are willing to admit Bat can't help but investigate.


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At the Helm Volume 2

At the Helm Volume 2 by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

At The Helm Volume 2 is a very solid collection of science fiction stories covering a number of sub-genres and styles. There are nineteen stories in the anthology and the strength of the book comes from its eclectic mix of stories, out and out space based scifi with others focusing more on individuals living in worlds beyond our current one. A few even step beyond into more dramatic narratives and one which I particularly liked was certainly more mystical.
For the price of the ebook you can't go wrong, pretty much guarantee you'll find stories you like which leds you to the various author's other works, that's the great thing about these anthologies, you never really know what you'll get.


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Explorations: First Contact

Explorations: First Contact by Isaac Hooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Explorations: First Contact is a shared universe anthology centered around the human race and their first contact with alien life and associated wonders within the universe. The first story in the anthology is called Prologue written by Stephen Moss and provides the core element the other stories are built around. Sometime in the near future the spacecraft Abeona orbits the moon and approaches an alien sphere shaped artefact recently discovered on the dark side. As they near the sphere mission commander Susan Skarsgaard finds herself floating in space with no sign of her ship or crew and then an assault of images and information floods her mind including one very clear and ominous warning.

Well there we go, the sphere and its effect on humanity and their expansion into space provides a very well thought out structure for authors to build first contact stories around them. You'll find a wide range of styles and approaches to the concept and not all of them go well for humanity and of course the warning is always casting a long shadow as we spread out into the galaxy.
I do enjoy reading these anthologies, they tend to be cheap as they are very much promotional tools for the authors involved and I have certainly followed an author after first reading their work in this type of publication. A recommended read for any science fiction fan.

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