A review by michaeldrakich
Writers of the Future, Volume 33 by L. Ron Hubbard
4.0
I picked up this book at the AD ASTRA Conference in Toronto. There were a number of successful authors there to promote the book. Not only are there seventeen short stories to enjoy, but a number of anecdotal reports on writing and illustrating. These reports were: SEARCH FOR RESEARCH by L. Ron Hubbard, A THOUSAND OR SO WORDS OF WISDOM by Anne McCaffrey, and HOW TO BECOME AN ILLUSTRATOR by Larry Elmore. I am not including a review of these reports as I suspect most readers are only interested in the stories. I rate the stories from 1 to 5 stars and came to a collective average of 3.3 stars, but there is a caveat. Three stories in this collection are strictly ghost/supernatural stories. The cover reads "THE BEST NEW SF & FANTASY OF THE YEAR". Although ghost/supernatural stuff may be considered alternative fiction, in my opinion they do not fall into the categories of SF or FANTASY. As a result these stories, regardless of their content and writer's skill only received 2 stars as they did not meet the criteria I applied. Should they have been ranked without the criteria, the average would have been higher. Therefore, my ranking of four stars is based on that detail and the fact that there were a plurality of 5 star pieces. All in all, a good collection worth buying. A big bonus is the wonderful artwork throughout the book. It's something you don't normally see.
Here are the individual ratings.
MOONLIGHT ONE by Stephen Lawson. A good start to a collection. This near future tale involves the first full-time inhabitants on the moon. Throw in some covert actions, a killing, some politics and you get one heck of a scifi thriller. 5 stars
THE ARMOR EMBRACE by Doug C. Souza. Military scifi with a flair. What happens inside a super soldier exoskeleton when the inhabitant is sorely injured? How does one deal with such a combo when they go AWOL? Home is where the heart is. 5 stars
ENVOY IN THE ICE by Dustin Steinacker. So some gigantic alien thingy lands in the Antartic, hates visitors, for some reason cannot be photographed from space and allows delegates once a year. I found the politics of the situation highly unlikely, the submissiveness of humanity totally unbelievable and the ending disappointing. 2 stars
THE DEVIL'S RESCUE by L. Ron Hubbard. I know this collection is sponsored by his estate and they deserve the right to include some of his work as well as an analogy on doing homework as a writer entitled SEARCH FOR RESEARCH, but I have difficulty accepting what I consider a ghost story with a supernatural flare as either science fiction or fantasy. A tale about the Flying Dutchman and the devil does not fit. 2 stars
TEARS FOR SHULNA by Andrew L. Roberts. Stories with selkies (mermaids) always have a fanciful aspect to them and this one is no different. It is not love that drives the story, but respect. 4 stars
THE DRAKE EQUATION by C. L. Kagmi. The equation doesn't deal with dragon-like creatures, but the number of technologically advanced species that exist. It addresses the age old premise of what other intelligent species think of humanity. 3 stars
ACQUISITION by Jake Marley. And so I understand the reason behind the L. Ron Hubbard ghost story as it lends support to this ghost tale and a man who can capture them. This one lacked enough details to flow well and still isn't scifi or fantasy in my book. 2 stars.
OBSIDIAN SPIRE by Molly Elizabeth Atkins. Standard Sword and Sorcery affair with a female warrior lead and the expected unskilled sidekick. Battle with a magically enhance grizzly bear is ho-hum. 3 stars
GATOR by Robert J. Sawyer. Robert was kind enough to autograph my copy of this compendium at the start of his short story. Gators in the sewers of New York. One of the great urban myths. But what if it is true? Or maybe something not quite a gator, but similar? 5 stars
A GLOWING HEART by Anton Rose. The struggle of a youth to have to kill a majestic magical light-hawk to save his mother. 4 stars
THE LONG DIZZY DOWN by Ziporah Hildebrandt. So far, this collection has been pretty good. I guess somehwere they figured they needed to throw in a stinker. The story is told from the POV of a character who receives chemical impulses from a ship to induce happiness, sadness, strength, violence and more. The character thinks and speaks in such a disjointed way to make the entire story unenjoyable. 1 star
THE WOODCUTTERS' DEITY by Walter Dinjos. This piece sounded so much like an old folklore tale. Old gods, chosen ones, the intervention of creatures of the wild, all lend essence to this story. Because of its folklore nature I was tempted to discount this as neither science fiction nor fantasy and score it low for failing to meet the criteria, but in the end I relented and accepted it. 5 stars
THE DRAGON KILLER'S DAUGHTER by Todd McCaffrey. Very standard dragon fare with the highly predictable supposedly surprise ending. It's a meh. 3 stars
USELESS MAGIC by Andrew Peery. Old witches and warlocks are unable to pass on their skills to their children. Some accept it, some don't. It was tough to relate to the characters and the story failed to excite. 2 stars.
ADRAMELECH by Sean Hazlett. A story of demonic possession and the curse associated with it. Clearly a story falling into the supernatural genre and once again something that falls outside the criteria I consider necessary to qualify as either science fiction or fantasy. 2 stars
THE FOX, THE WOLF, AND THE DOVE by Ville Merilainen. A nice piece of high fantasy with three young girls on a mission to revive the world tree. Although the longest piece in this collection, I feel the author could achieve so much more converting this work to a full length novel. There were a few places where things could have been fleshed out more and I was left with too many unanswered questions at the end. 4 stars
THE MAGNIFICENT BHAJAN by David VonAllmen. What's left in the career of an old magician losing his mojo. Chasing phantoms? Or is the threat real? 4 stars
Here are the individual ratings.
MOONLIGHT ONE by Stephen Lawson. A good start to a collection. This near future tale involves the first full-time inhabitants on the moon. Throw in some covert actions, a killing, some politics and you get one heck of a scifi thriller. 5 stars
THE ARMOR EMBRACE by Doug C. Souza. Military scifi with a flair. What happens inside a super soldier exoskeleton when the inhabitant is sorely injured? How does one deal with such a combo when they go AWOL? Home is where the heart is. 5 stars
ENVOY IN THE ICE by Dustin Steinacker. So some gigantic alien thingy lands in the Antartic, hates visitors, for some reason cannot be photographed from space and allows delegates once a year. I found the politics of the situation highly unlikely, the submissiveness of humanity totally unbelievable and the ending disappointing. 2 stars
THE DEVIL'S RESCUE by L. Ron Hubbard. I know this collection is sponsored by his estate and they deserve the right to include some of his work as well as an analogy on doing homework as a writer entitled SEARCH FOR RESEARCH, but I have difficulty accepting what I consider a ghost story with a supernatural flare as either science fiction or fantasy. A tale about the Flying Dutchman and the devil does not fit. 2 stars
TEARS FOR SHULNA by Andrew L. Roberts. Stories with selkies (mermaids) always have a fanciful aspect to them and this one is no different. It is not love that drives the story, but respect. 4 stars
THE DRAKE EQUATION by C. L. Kagmi. The equation doesn't deal with dragon-like creatures, but the number of technologically advanced species that exist. It addresses the age old premise of what other intelligent species think of humanity. 3 stars
ACQUISITION by Jake Marley. And so I understand the reason behind the L. Ron Hubbard ghost story as it lends support to this ghost tale and a man who can capture them. This one lacked enough details to flow well and still isn't scifi or fantasy in my book. 2 stars.
OBSIDIAN SPIRE by Molly Elizabeth Atkins. Standard Sword and Sorcery affair with a female warrior lead and the expected unskilled sidekick. Battle with a magically enhance grizzly bear is ho-hum. 3 stars
GATOR by Robert J. Sawyer. Robert was kind enough to autograph my copy of this compendium at the start of his short story. Gators in the sewers of New York. One of the great urban myths. But what if it is true? Or maybe something not quite a gator, but similar? 5 stars
A GLOWING HEART by Anton Rose. The struggle of a youth to have to kill a majestic magical light-hawk to save his mother. 4 stars
THE LONG DIZZY DOWN by Ziporah Hildebrandt. So far, this collection has been pretty good. I guess somehwere they figured they needed to throw in a stinker. The story is told from the POV of a character who receives chemical impulses from a ship to induce happiness, sadness, strength, violence and more. The character thinks and speaks in such a disjointed way to make the entire story unenjoyable. 1 star
THE WOODCUTTERS' DEITY by Walter Dinjos. This piece sounded so much like an old folklore tale. Old gods, chosen ones, the intervention of creatures of the wild, all lend essence to this story. Because of its folklore nature I was tempted to discount this as neither science fiction nor fantasy and score it low for failing to meet the criteria, but in the end I relented and accepted it. 5 stars
THE DRAGON KILLER'S DAUGHTER by Todd McCaffrey. Very standard dragon fare with the highly predictable supposedly surprise ending. It's a meh. 3 stars
USELESS MAGIC by Andrew Peery. Old witches and warlocks are unable to pass on their skills to their children. Some accept it, some don't. It was tough to relate to the characters and the story failed to excite. 2 stars.
ADRAMELECH by Sean Hazlett. A story of demonic possession and the curse associated with it. Clearly a story falling into the supernatural genre and once again something that falls outside the criteria I consider necessary to qualify as either science fiction or fantasy. 2 stars
THE FOX, THE WOLF, AND THE DOVE by Ville Merilainen. A nice piece of high fantasy with three young girls on a mission to revive the world tree. Although the longest piece in this collection, I feel the author could achieve so much more converting this work to a full length novel. There were a few places where things could have been fleshed out more and I was left with too many unanswered questions at the end. 4 stars
THE MAGNIFICENT BHAJAN by David VonAllmen. What's left in the career of an old magician losing his mojo. Chasing phantoms? Or is the threat real? 4 stars