This was a great idea for an anthology. Laurell and William explain where it came from in the intro, but basically the way she pitched it to me, she was sick and tired of too much recent fiction trying too hard to be grimdark and hopeless. You know the stuff I’m talking about. Everything sucks, everyone is a jerk, everything fails, then the characters all die. The end. That’s lame and kind of depressing. So Laurell wanted to put together an anthology of stories that had an element of hope to them.
They didn’t need to be sugary, happy fun times, magic rainbows and unicorns stuff either. On the contrary, some of these in here are dark and deal with some harsh stuff, but she wanted stories that had some element of hope to them. Even when stuff is bleak, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s out this week. (Come to think of it, the timing of this is appropriate, but she started putting this together last summer).
I had a lot of fun with my story in this one. I’ve used it for my live reading at a couple of cons now because it gets a lot of laughs from the audience. You know all those stories where a time traveler goes back in time to stop someone from doing something? Only imagine if instead of the Terminator, you got Rob Lowe’s character from Parks & Rec… except he’s still trying to kill you.
I’ve read about half of the book so far and everything I’ve read has been really good. In anthos like this I usually check out the newbs before the more famous writers (I like to keep up on up and coming talents, because they are the ones who need the publicity. Us old established types are fine) and I’m happy that all of them I’ve read so far have been great.
William McCaskey’s story is about PTSD and how teddy bears protect us from nightmares, and it is poignant and really well done. KC Ezell’s had a story about a pioneer handcart company and werewolves, excellent. Rob Hampson has one about the history of the moon which is a really love story. Patrick Tracy’s tale of a convenience store clerk who turns into a vampire is surprisingly tender. And I really liked Griffin Barber’s sci-fi tale of a bad ass crime boss in space prison which went in a direction I didn’t expect.
So check it out. I hope you enjoy it.
Can’t wait, I pre-ordered as soon as heard about (probably from one of your posts)!
I want this book.
And I want to get a story in the next one, because this is my fricking wheelhouse. Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, orbital weapons get fired in anger, nobody dies, party at the end.
Larry, you need to call the Mad Geniuses up and get an anthology going called “Return to Omelas” where Big Damn Heroes roll up to the walls and rescue that kid they have locked in the basement. I’ve got some heroes ACHING for payback on those Omelas bastards.
Good job for Franks. Or Jake Sullivan. Or Franks AND Jake Sullivan. Its fiction, right? We can do what we want.
The Ones Who Burn Omelas To The Ground?
Nah. Call it “The Ones Who Marched on Omelas.”
“The Fall of Omelas”, or maybe a little more Old Testament, “The Sack of Omelas.”
Magic bullshit meets megatons per second, baby. >:D If its worth killing, its worth over-killing.
“…And Then Salt The Fields.”
$13 for an eBook? You have GOT to be f***ing kidding me!
Give it a rest, you cheap bastard. I don’t set the prices. 😀
Pre-ordered for Kindle and Audible.
I, too, am tired of grimdark. I’m really looking forward to this.
On a only tangentially related note, if anyone is looking for a movie that is the opposite of grimdark, Jon Favreau’s Chef is amazing. I’m not going to say too much, other than he seems to consciously avoid making anyone a villain, who would normally be one in another, similar movie. Really fun movie.
This sort of trend might get me more interested in fiction than I’ve been for, I dunno, say, the last 15 years or so? I don’t mind some grey on grey morality, flawed characters, and dark themes. But too many authors seem terrified of a moral conflict, where horribly, irredeemably flawed characters inhabit a bleak morass of a world…and that’s it.
Yeah, I really want to escape to a place that could really benefit from a world-cleansing enema, where I end up rooting for the apocalypse that doesn’t seem to happen.
I think I’ll pick this one up.
Laurell Hamilton’s stories are a guilty indulgence that I will not admit too , publicly, as being too wild a match for my normal tastes. The anthology promises to be really good.
Really enjoying the recommendation! Just finished our Illustrious Host’s contribution. Nicely done, sir!
Heh, Laurell Hamilton’s books are the vampire/were-creatures analog of Nora Roberts’ J. D. Robb series. Hamilton got a little too far into the sex-every-ten-pages or so after her first ten or so Amanda Blake books, but the ones I read were a lot of fun.
And damn the state governor(FL) for closing the nearest B&N bookstore because otherwise WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE FROM WUHAN/CHINA FLU!!!111!!!
Ya got a source I can buy these two from, Larry? They’ll sit nicely on the bookshelf reserved for your stuff in the hacienda.
My sentiments exactly; this month, I shopped at my LCBD (local comic book shop) in person because I wanted to get my monthly titles, and also because I don’t want to buy everything online or have to read with an e-book reader (although I might do that in the future due to space issues-I live in a small apartment.) And I’m going to do it next week at the end of this month, too.