Writer's of the Future XXVI - Marvelous new ideas from new writers

Writers of the Future Volume XXVI
Edited by K.D. Wentworth
Galaxy Press (2010)

Reviewed by Clare Deming

Each new volume of L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future series of anthologies collects the winning stories from that year's contest. Started in 1983, it has gone on to become one of the most well-known contests for science fiction and fantasy stories. Entries from amateur or unpublished writers are accepted quarterly, with several levels of awards given. The first, second, and third place winners for each quarter earn publication in the anthology and a workshop with professionals in the field. Out of the four first place stories, one is granted the Gold Award, which comes with extra prestige and payment. A companion contest for illustrators is held concurrently, and the winners each illustrate one of the stories in the anthology.

This is the first of these anthologies that I have had the chance to read, and they may certainly vary from year to year. I found that this volume was weighted toward science fiction, with fewer fantasy selections. The stories are interspersed with short essays about the field from well-known authors and artists. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I thought that it was a solid collection of fiction. I'll highlight some of my favorite stories below.

"Living Rooms", by Laurie Tom, was the first story in the collection, and the Gold Award winner. Rill returns home after several years among ladies at court. Her father has died, but the animated personas of each room in his house have remained. Rill must confront the threat of a neighboring wizard while unraveling the secrets that her father left behind. This was a well-rounded story and a solid opening to the collection. While this was fantasy, with wizards and magic, the focus was different from many such tales.

In a unique look at androids, Alex Black brings us "Lisa With Child". Once manufactured as a bodyguard for one of the Agency's Clandestine Service members, Lisa manages to subvert her systems to become pregnant. However, the Agency will not likely allow a self-replicating weapon to exist, no matter what the reason.

"Exanastasis" by Brad R. Torgersen explores a world in which Earth's population has been eliminated to allow its ecosystems to recover. Atreus, caretaker for the project, is re-animated in a cloned body by his humanoid constructions built to resurrect the population from stored data. When his wife is also cloned, he has to decide what distinguishes a human from a monster.

When Izzy left Earth to work on the solar station, she found challenges amid the native Offworlders. Brent Knowles examines the differences of this environment in "Digital Rights". A ghost is lurking in the digital systems, and the exchange of knowledge carries a price.

In "Coward's Steel" by K.C. Ball, Tate struggles to survive in a difficult world. Armed with only a pistol and her long-lost mentor's collection of rules, she stumbles upon a village that seems a bit too inviting. What will be the cost of her visit?

Told from the point-of-view of a sentient tree-like species, "Written in Light" by Jeff Young was quite an engaging tale. Zoi'ahmets (the tree) finds a human girl, stranded in the wilderness of the planet's Dispute Zone. When the youngster's life becomes threatened, Zoi'ahmets must figure out how to save her without endangering the political situation or her own work.

My favorite illustrations were those by R. M. Winch and Jingxuan Hu. Many books don't offer any visual art other than the cover, so I enjoyed seeing these with each story. I think that one of the strengths of this collection is that there are always going to be fresh ideas and voices. I look forward to picking up another volume. More information about the contest can be found at: www.writersofthefuture.com.

Beauty Has Her Way

Beauty Has Her Way
Ed. by Jennifer Brozek
Dark Quest Books, 2010

Reviewed by Clare Deming

In Beauty Has Her Way, editor Jennifer Brozek [interviewed herein] brings us a collection of short stories featuring women. As Ms. Brozek explains in the introduction, the title is taken from a song by Mummy Calls that she discovered on The Lost Boys soundtrack. Each story here is about a woman, but these are no stereotyped damsels in distress. While certainly in distress, these women don't wait to be rescued by a fairy tale prince, but take action and use all of their assets - beauty, sex, or their wits, to conquer their adversaries. They're not all heroines in the typical sense, and many of them are far from stellar role models, but they do manage to accomplish their goals and get their way.

The anthology is divided into three sections - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - and the stories vary all over the speculative genre, including sword and sorcery, historical fantasy, urban fantasy, and space opera. I enjoyed most of the stories, but by the middle of the book, many of the protagonists' motivations centered around revenge. The details about the women's enemies and how they enacted their revenge differed, but especially as these were mainly "Today" stories, the setting did not offer as much variation to set each tale apart. The repetition of revenge as a theme shouldn't take anything away from each story individually - the wrongs these women faced felt legitimate and they often overstepped legal or cultural boundaries to fix the situation they faced.

One advantage an anthology offers over a novel is that there is no overall narrative, so if you tire of revenge or prefer fantasy to spaceships, just skip around and revisit the other sections later. For readers who don't mind mixing it up a little, this anthology provides a good assortment of stories. I did find one tale - The Runner, by K.V. Taylor - to be out of place. It may have occurred in the future, but with a plot that centered on a clan defending its swampy home, it could just as well have been an alternate world fantasy.

A couple of the stories also felt incomplete - as if they belonged to a larger novella or novel - and left me feeling like I had missed something. In Maurice Broaddus' story of ancient Rome, I, Theodora, some of the most exciting events are described in a few short paragraphs at the end. And in Witch Fire by Erik Scott de Bie, I found the concept of a gun witch to be intriguing, but felt like the witch's encounter would have had more impact if I had understood some of the character's back story better. At the end of the volume, there are biographies for all the authors. I'm going to highlight some of my favorite stories below:

"Dunkle Froline" by Ramsey Lundock
Humans are kept as slaves by their demon overlords in this harsh fantasy world. When a new pit slave is brought into the household, she must learn that the best way to fight her captors may not be the most obvious one. I really sympathized with Tessa and her plight when she is finally freed from the underground pits only to discover how little she knows about her world.

"Vengeance is Mine" by Kenneth Mark Hoover
This story started the cluster of revenge tales for me, but was set in such an interesting alternate weird West setting that I think it was one of my favorites in the anthology. A half-Indian woman takes it upon herself to see that an outlaw is dealt with when the law cannot do enough.

"The Moko-Jumbie Girl" by Chuck Wendig
A cop brings a girl to jail after she kills a pesky neighbor's chickens in an angry fit. Yet, Kalinda's true goals are only revealed to the police once she calls upon the Moko-Jumbie's powers. I liked this story because the plot elements came together in an unexpected way with a satisfying conclusion.

"Someone Else to Play With" by Pete Kempshall
This story was told through the man's point of view, but dealt with his ex-girlfriend's struggle to hold onto him when a rich woman from the other side of town seduces him away. The Australian slang in this tale put me off at first, but the meaning was clear and the language was appropriate to the character, so it ultimately made for an engaging tale.

"Ride the Rebel Wind" by Amanda Gannon
The first story in the Tomorrow section brings us into a post-apocalyptic setting where a few humans roam on skyships between isolated settlements. Two strong women clash in a search to destroy the Kraken as it rides through thunderstorms and brings devastation to defenseless colonies. I couldn't put the book down as I read this dark, yet fascinating, tale about the creation and destruction of a monster.

"Her Eyes On" by Kay T. Holt and Bart R. Leib
What's a woman to do when she's stranded on a planet where only men have rights? Build her own ship so she can leave, of course. But when her husband sells her ship, she's faced with some tough decisions and a daring flight. This story was a great example of a woman who makes tough choices that fall into a gray area of morality, but the authors made me both cheer for her and simultaneously struggle with her decisions.

Editor's note: Beauty Has Her Way also includes "Trapped Star" by Ann Wilkes. Due to conflict of interest, I asked my reviewer not to single that one out.

After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar -- Who can resist a drink poured by Gilgamesh?

After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar
Edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray
DAW 2011

Reviewed by Clare Deming

In After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar, editors Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray have taken the clichéd tavern meetup of fantasy stories and role playing games and turned it on its head in an entertaining anthology that revolves around a time-traveling bar. Benjamin Tate establishes the origins of this Ur-Bar in the first story of the collection, "An Alewife In Kish". In ancient Sumeria, perhaps in the city of Ur, Kubaba has been cursed to live an immortal life spent tending her drinking establishment. While the origins of her curse and the nature of the magic are never really elaborated, that is not the point. When her bar is visited by Gilgamesh, she strikes a deal that allows them both to achieve their ultimate desires.

With Gilgamesh, known as Gil to many of his patrons, at its head, the Ur-Bar evolves a second meaning as the earliest or original Bar. Popping into different time periods, the bar brings Gil in contact with many people and cultures in its travels. There are a few common elements to each story - mainly that Gil runs the bar and makes at least a peripheral appearance in every tale. I found that he was a remarkably consistent character for being written by such a diversity of authors. Other recurring elements include a stone tablet that contains the gods' original beer recipe. Gil himself has a mystical quality, which comes into play in some of the stories. Whether he can mix that most exemplary (and maybe magical) drink, or if it's just to talk, Gil helps his guests with their problems.

The stories follow "An Alewife In Kish" in chronological order, from the Vikings to ancient Rome, on to Europe and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and even into one possible future. The tales are set in a bar, but are only peripherally about the drinks - rather they are about the relationships that evolve as a result of entering the Ur-Bar and interacting with its other patrons and inhabitants. At the end of the volume, there are biographies for all the authors. I have highlighted some of my favorite stories below:

Maria V. Snyder pours us some "Sake and Other Spirits" in ancient Japan. Azami has fled from life as a samurai's wife and works in the Ur-Bar, but a water vampire is killing travelers and complicates her escape after her identity is discovered.

An orphan boy peddles junk and causes strife between rival bars in "The Tavern Fire" by D.B. Jackson. Set in Boston in the 1700's, this story ties a true historical event into the narrative.

Seanan McGuire highlights some lesser-known properties of mixed drinks in "Alchemy of Alcohol", complete with drink recipes at the end. The Summer King hopes that Gil's alchemist can help him revive the Winter Queen, but family disagreements lead to broken bottles amid a magical battle.

While Prohibition may have impeded Gil from operating his bar in America for a short time, Paris during the '24 Olympics makes an exciting setting in "Paris 24" by Laura Anne Gilman. An epee fencer from the U.S. team seeks a little excitement, but instead has to think about what he wants out of life when a world war hovers in the near future.

"Steady Hands and a Heart of Oak" are needed by British sappers, but a stiff drink from Gil can also help. Ian Tregillis shows several futures and a man's struggle to decide upon the best one amid war-torn London.

I found Jackie Kessler's tale – "Where We Are Is Hell" - to be the most unique story. A ghost trapped between heaven and hell finds her way into the Ur-Bar, where speaking to Gil helps her remember what was important in her life.

What does the future bring for the Ur-Bar? Zombies, apparently. In "Izdu-Bar" by Anton Stout, we see a glimpse of the world after the zombie apocalypse. The bar is on lockdown and no one is to be admitted after dark. However, when the bouncer's greed overcomes his common sense, will a drink be able to save him?

This was a light-hearted collection of stories which I think would be easy for most readers to relate to, as the majority of them have a historical setting that is readily identified. As with all anthologies, the theme is present throughout, but I felt that there was enough variety to keep me entertained without causing me to feel like I was reading the same story repeatedly.