Writers of the Future (Vol 39)

 Release Date: May 16, 2023

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In the world of speculative fiction...your favourite authors...have selected the best new voices of the year.

24 Award-Winning Authors and Illustrators. 3 Bonus Short Storues by Kevin J. Anderson - L. Ron Hubbard - S. M. Stirling. Art and Writing Tips by Lazarus Chernik - L. Ron Hubbard - Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Edited by Dean Weasley Smith - Jody Lynn Nye. 16-page colour gallery of artwork - Cover art by Tom Wood.

Check out the stories Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, Nnedi Okorafor, Robery J. Swayer, Kevin J. Anderson, Jody Lynn Nye and others chose as the best of the best. Be amazed. Be amused. Be transported ... by stories that take you by surprise and take you further and deeper into new worlds and new ideas than you've ever gone before...Twelve captivating tales from the most exciting new voices in science fiction and fantasy accompanies by three from masters of the genre.

Contents:

-Kitsune// Devon Bohm: A miracle? An omen? Or something else? One day, they arrived in droves - the foxes of the desert, the field, the imagination... Illustrated by Alaya Knowlton. 

-Moonlight and Funk// Marianne Xenos: When a vampire, a dragon and a shape-shifting Chihuahua meet on a beach in Key West, fireworks go off! But that's just the background. Illustrated by April Solomon.

-Fire in the Hole// Kevin J. Anderson: Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., faces one of his funniest and most perplexing cases ever- an enlighteded ogre, a salamander with low self-esteem, and a raging fire dragon terrorixing the Unnatural Quarter!

-Death and Taxman// David Hankins: The Grim Reaper, trapped in an IRS agent's dying body, must regain his powers before he dies and faces judgement for his original sin. Illustrated by Sarah Morrison.

-Under My Cypresses// Jason Palmatier: In a metaverse future, a women who exposes falseness in others must decide what is real to her, the love she lost or the love she may have found. Illustrated by Helen Yi.

-The Unwilling Hero// L. Ron Hubbard: Vic Harden wasn't lured by glory on a daring mission into the reaches of outer space, he was ordered out there by his editor. Illustrated by Bruce Brenneise. 

-White Elephant// David K. Henrickson: Dangerous opportunites present themselves when an alien ship arrives in the soloar system seeking repairs. Illustrated by Kritsen Hadaway.

-Piracy for Beginners/ J. R. Johnson: With her spaceship at the wrong end of a pirate's guns, a former war hero must face down her enemies and demons to save Earth's last best chance for peace. Illustrated by Chris Binns.

-A Trickle in History// Elaine Midcoh: Years after the Second Holocaust, the last surviving Jews on earth attempt to rewrite the past. Illustrated by Jose Sánchez.

-The Withering Sky// Arthur H. Manner: When I said I'd do anything to pay off my debts and get back home to Earth, I didn't mean survey a derelict spaceship at the edge of the solar system, but here I am. Illustrated by Ximing Luo.

-The Fall of Crodendra M. / T. J. Knight: High-powered telescopes bring galactic life to our TVs, and network tuner Hank Enos figures he's seen everything, until the day an alien boy stares back. Illustrated bt Chris Arias.

-Constant Never// S. M. Stirling: Kights, damsels and dragons, curses and fates foretold, the stuff of legens and stories, but unexpectedly perverse. Illustrated by Nick Jizba.

-The Children of Desolation// Spenser Sekulin: Determined to save his wife, Tumelo takes an unlikely client through South Africa's ruins to the heart of the Desolation, a journey that will cost or save everything. Illustrated by Alexandra Albu

-Timelines and Bloodlines// L. H. Davis: When a terrorist smuggles a nuclear weapon into London, a team regresses in time to AD 1093 to assassinate a knight on the battlefield, thereby eliminating the terrorist a millennia before his birth. Illustrated by Clarence Bateman.

-The Last History// Samuel Parr: The Grand Exam, a gateway to power for one, likely death for all others, its entrants include ambitious nobles, desperate peasants, and Quiet Gate, an old woman with nothing left to lose. Illustrated by Dao Vi.

My thoughts in the most chaotic way possible:

Honestly such an enjoyable read. I would be lying if I said I read it all in one go. Although it was an easy read, there was moments I had to drop my kindle out of pure shock and then go back to it. 

As always with short stories, you aren't going to find every single one enjoyable but to my surprise I enjoyed different aspects of different stories. I put my kindle down after every story to full digest the world and the area I was put in. Each world was different and each story was a unique experience.

This had been such an enjoyable read!