Public Domain Short Story Reviews

I started reading these stories months ago and keep forgetting to post the reviews.  All of these stories are public domain, so free to read on the internet.  I found them in several places, but the best concentration is Gutenberg.org, followed by Many Books.net.  If you have an Apple device, there's a great book reader called 'Free Books'.  It's all public domain stuff and if you don't mind the ads, it's free.

Unlike my novel reviews, I decided to go with a star rating on the stories, as there isn't enough plot to do a pro/con for each one.  Five stars means the story was excellent in every way.  Four means it was very good.  Three is good, two is ok and one is mediocre.  I've dated the stories, then give a very short synopsis and my, rather condensed, thoughts on the story.

Some of the links are to the stories themselves, others are to where you can download the stories in multiple formats.

**** "Most Dangrous Game" - Richard Connell (1924)

Very creepy story about a hunter who washes up on a Caribbean island owned by a Russian aristocrat, who has discovered the best thing to hunt.

Even knowing what's coming, the story is creepy.  The actual hunt is less detailed than I'd have liked, given the fantastic set-up.

***** "Keep Out" - Fredric Brown (1954)

Altered humans form a new colony on Mars.

Chilling story.  It's short but carries a very forceful message.

*** "The Ultimate Experiment" - Thornton DeKy (1941)

A robot achieves what the last humans on Earth couldn't: creating new homo sapiens

A interesting premise narrated by the robot.

**** "2+2 Makes Crazy" by Walter Sheldon (1954)

A public liason officer gives a man from the Information Department a tour around Computer City, showing him the computer that's increasingly running their world.

A plausible look both at the importance of computers in the world, and the paranoia of humans when dealing with the unknown/misunderstood.

***** "This World Must Die!" by Horace Brown Fyfe (1951)

Four convicts, individuals who have murdered, or tried to commit murder, are asked to do what no others in normal society are capable of: destroy a ship full of plague victims before it can reach the inhabited Mars.

A complex story that explores many angles of morality.  The convicts have no knowledge beside what they're told, have seen no plague victims and have dubious histories (not all of which are violent).  This one will make you think.

***** "Time and Time Again" by Henry Beam Piper (1947)

43 year old Allen Hartley is sedated after being injured in World War III.  He wakes up in his 12 year old body in 1945.

A time travel story that questions whether the past can - or should - be changed.

**** "The Prize of Peril" by Robert Sheckley (1960)

A man slowly rises in the reality game show circuit to the top: trying to stay alive for a week while being hunted by a gang of thugs.

This is the last few hours of the Prize of Peril game show, and Jim Raeder is convinced he's a walking dead man, because for every 'good samaratin' who's willing to help him, there's another person screaming his location to the thugs he's trying to avoid.

It's an interesting look at what people are willing to risk in the hopes of earning a quick buck.  Reality TV didn't exist when this was written and yet you can see how even the man betting his life is so far removed from reality that it's only in the last few hours of the game that he questions what made him decide to play in the first place.  And what kind of society allowed this show to floroush.

Given the debate around The Hunger Games and Battle Royale recently, this is an interesting story to look at.  These premises - of humans killing humans for sport - are obviously not new.  And we're not as far from the gladatorial arenas of ancient Rome as we'd like to think.

** "The Dunwich Horror" by H. P. Lovecraft (1929)

A small rural village has some bizarre goings on as a boy is born who grows up remarkably fast and who has a malignant aura, unleashes a horror on the locals.

Originally serialized, this story is a lot longer than it needs to be.  Narrated by a character who faces the horror, the story tells of Wilbur Whateley's birth and youth, and the odd things that happen at the farm where he lives with his mother and grandfather.  There's a lot of build up towards a dual climax, one dealing with the boy, the other with the horror he's conjured.  The plot is interesting but there's so much unnecessary description that reading it was fairly boring.  The horror elements are also subtle (as the creatures mentioned are only haphazardly described).

**** "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft (1928)

Written as an account by an unnamed man who discovers the existence of a terrifying creature living underwater after going through his great-uncle's papers and researching the matter himself.

This story was quite scary, both in its attempts to be scholarly and realistic, and in it's slow build up of evidence to support the existence of the Cthulhu Cult and the monster itself.  If you're interested in trying H. P. Lovecraft, start here.

Book Review: Fat Girl in a Strange Land Edited by Kay T. Holt and Bart R. Leib

This is a short story collection dealing with two things: overweight women and fantastical locations.  Aside from those criteria, the collection is quite diverse.  The stories are a mix of fantasy and science fiction, in some the women are comfortable with their weight, in others they aren't.  The stories that take place on earth are situated all over (Guatamala, Australia, New York City), and though most of the authors are American, there are several from other countries as well.  The quality of stories is quite high, and in all cases the women are sympathetic protagonists.  Ultimately this collection showcases a great variety of plus sized women.

(Note, I've used a star rating for the stories as my previous method of stating if I liked a story or not seemed too convoluted.  In each case I rate the story, give it's title and author, a short synopsis and my thoughts on it.  As the stories are short and I don't want to spoil them I've kept my comments to a minimum.)

***** "La Gorda and the City of Silver" by Sabrina Vourvoulias - La Gorda, The Fat One, was born into a wrestling family but told she could never enter the ring.  She makes the Guatamalan streets of City of Silver her ring, wearing a mask and making the streets safe for women and girls until a masked menace comes.

This is a touching story of wanting to be more than you are, and more than society allows you to be.  It's about heroes and sacrifice.  It's not really a science fiction story (as no one has superpowers), but it is a well written story.  

**** "The Tradeoff" by Lauren C. Teffeau - Commander Clarinda Hilliard is on a mission to begin the terraforming process on Caldwell, an ice planet.  In order to work long hours in the cold, her and the other members of her team must bulk up.  She's left very uncomfortable in her new body. 

The examination of a woman who's become fat, if on purpose, is interesting.  Many women are uncomfortable with their bodies, so it's a story with realistic underpinings and an interesting look at food rationing in the future.  

*** "Cartography, and the Death of Shoes" by A. J. Fitzwater - A city woman whose size belies how much walking she does and how many shoes she goes through, tries to find the cobbler shop she remembers as a child where she got a perfect, lasting pair of shoes.

The author puts a fun spin on an old trope though I wasn't a fan of the rather unusal second person singular the story was written in.

**** "Survivor" by Josh Roseman - Overweight Wen Irons is the only survivor when her graduation party shuttle crash lands on Sidqiel.  She's told by a Sergeant on the nearest space station that she must walk 35 kilometers to an old research substation on the planet before sunrise 7 hours away or she will be killed by the radiation.

A great story about persevering under pressure, both physical and mental.

**** "The Right Stuffed" by Brian Jungwiwattanaporn - Two large women are hired for what they're told will be secretarial positions, but turn out to be something else.

This story deals with a digital world and utilizes its protagonists in an interesting way.

***** "Tangwystl the Unwanted" by Katherine Elmer - It begins with a princess stuck in a tower, but if you think this is a retelling of Repunzel, think again.  Elmer combines several fairy tale motifs to create a new story, about a young woman fed daily fairy cakes with no room to exercise.

This is a fun story that has the dependence on 3s so prevalent in fairy tales.  Tanny's a great character who never learned that being large is a problem and so merely considers it objectively as her situation changes.

**** "Flesh Of My Flesh" by Bonnie Ferrante - Alina's not thrilled to learn her fiancee is en route to the distant alien planet where she provides translation  He's controlling and she's learned to love her new home.  

Creepy story and quite short.

*** "How Do You Want To Die?" by Rick Silva - A group of captured soldiers escape the desert city of Ahman and run into a sand storm.  Their leader, Donna Stone, contemplates how she'd like to die. 

This is an atmospheric story.  The author packs a lot of character detail into Donna, considering the setting and length.

***** "Nemesis" by Nicole Prestin - When Flux, a size 14 soccor mom who can manipulate molecules (think Kitty Pride of the X-Men), joins Liberty Force, she's dismayed by the attitude of one of her teammates and the press about her size.  She quickly proves that intelligence and skill are what make a superhero.

This is the only story in the collection to have typos.  Most notably, the team is called Liberty Force five times and Omega Force three.  That aside, it's a brilliant story, the type that makes you want to cheer for the heroine who's completely comfortable with who she is and won't take grief from anyone or change herself to meet others' standards.

***** "Davy" by Anna Dickinson - The unnamed narrator of the story suffers from post-partem depression and excessive weight gain.  In an attempt to help his despondent wife, her husband buys a painting.  All is not well when the wife starts seeing grey, elf like figures emerge from it.

Another creepy story with antecedents in old folk and fairytales.

*** "Sharks & Seals" by Jennifer Brozek - Corelli, a member of the First Circle of the Order of the Sacred Eye, is asked to a meeting with the leader of the Children of Anu.  

This story felt like a prologue or first chapter to a novel.  While it was self-contained, as I reader I was left wanting more. 

*** "Marilee and the S.O.B" by Barbara Kransoff - Marilee's hobby when depressed is to follow interesting looking people and see where she ends up.  Her latest target is an overly good looking boy on the subway.

An interesting premise, with a classical ending.

**** "Blueprints" by Anna Caro - The unnamed narrator of this dying earth story wants desperately to travel to Terra Nova, a beautiful, unpoluted planet.  But people above a certain weight are denied transport on the grounds of health.

An interesting look at getting what you wish for versus knowing what you want.

***** "Lift" by Pete Alberti - Teenaged Mary Beth determines to build her own spaceship after friends tell her she's too fat to ride in theirs.

A great story about hard work and effort paying off in the end.  And that some friends aren't worth keeping.

Ultimately I was happy with this collection.  I would have liked more stories where the protagonists were not bullied/teased about their weight or where they were content with their weight despite outside criticism.  However, the collection does pack a lot of realistic emotions into its stories, exploring a number of different personalities and situations.

Want some great stories with a character set that's usually ignored (as far as being the protagonist is concerned)?  Then pick this collection by Crossed Genres up.

Magazine Review: Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1

Edited by Mark Lord

I should start this review with a disclaimer that until recently I disliked short fiction, so I haven't read many collections or magazines.  I'm slowly changing that, having read some SF stories, but it makes it harder to know if the stories in this magazine are comparable to what else is on the market for fantasy or if they're unique.  I will say that the first few stories certainly felt different and fresh in comparison to the novels I've been reading lately.

For the most part, I found this an excellent collection.  Two of the stories really stood out for me, "The Dying Elf" and "The Pivot".  One story however, "Demon Stone", surprised me by its inclusion as it didn't seem up to the skill level of the other stories.  There were a few typos, but those are easily overlooked.

About the magazine:

Fantasy Short Stories is a new publication established with the aim of publishing the best short stories in Heroic, Epic, and High Fantasy, and with plenty of Swords and Sorcery thrown in. Although many of our authors may be unknown to you, we aim to set high standards for publication, and to discover some great new talent in the world of fantasy fiction.

Learn more about it on it's website.

It's available for US$ 4.99 at Smashwords and Amazon US
And £3.08 at Amazon UK 

The Stories:

"The Dying Elf" by Mike Pielaet-Strayer

The ironically named Oberon fights for the first King of Men against the creatures of magic who destroyed his home.  At this, the aftermath of the final battle, Oberon wonders if what he's done was worth it.

This story was absolutely brilliant.  The writing was sharp, evocative and touching.  The best of the issue, I highly recommend it.

"The Empty Dark"  by C. L. Holland

A traveller from another world wakes to find his companion missing and a tale of locals vanishing in the night.  Using magic, he scrys his partner's location and sets off to rescue him.

Not quite as good as the first story, this one was still entertaining and showed magic with definite limits.  

"Demon Stone" by Jake Scholl

King Dagr Brightsword is surprised in his halls one night by a mysterious sorcerer.  In order to save his wife, the king must return with a magical stone.

Given how good the previous stories were, I was surprised and dismayed by how bad this one was.  The story made little sense.  Several important things were left unexplained (like where the king's guards were, why the king trusted this sorcerer enough to leave him in his keep, etc.).  The king had a magical sword and yet he only used it as a torch.  He never tried to fight the sorcerer.

Content issues aside, the story was also riddled with cliched phrases and grammatical errors.  Take this sentence as an example.  "Erion screamed a scream no other human should ever go through, ..."  I know what the author was trying to say, but the thing about writing is that people expect you to use words correctly.  And too often in this story the author didn't.  He also repeated himself in unnecessary ways.  "His face was filled with shock, his face turned pale as fresh snow."  Putting aside the fact that the author joined two sentences with a comma, they both say the same thing, that the man's shock showed on his face.  

Very disappointing.

"The Pivot" by Noeleen Kavanagh

The 'Peasant King' thinks of the turning point in his life that brought him from the farm where he grew up to a position of prominence in the king's household.

The story was well written, at par with "The Dying Elf", though without quite the same emotional punch that story had.  The fantastical element was minor, but interesting.

"Sparrows Falling" by Gretchen Tessmer 

An enchantress must come to terms with her benefactor, and teacher's, unpalatable decision.

This story was well written, lyrical almost.  It had a lot of details with regards to dress, hair, etc. but not as many details regarding the decision the benefactor made.  As such, I didn't like it as well as some of the other stories in the issue, but did enjoy the author's style.