Fantastic Hope

February 17, 2020
“You’re holding hope in your hands,” Hamilton writes in the foreword to this sweet escapist speculative anthology, which exclusively features tales with happy endings. This upbeat ethos is perhaps best demonstrated in Larry Correia’s “Mr. Positive, the Eternal Optimist,” a joyride of a story that manages to put a cheerful spin on a violent mugging. Kevin J. Anderson’s fan-favorite zombie PI Dan Shamble returns in “Heart of Clay,” a delightfully fanciful detective story that sees the peaceful coexistence of zombies, ghosts, and golems. “Not in This Lifetime” by Sharon Shinn follows a reincarnating pair of female friends, a breath of fresh air in this otherwise disappointingly male-centric book. Weaker tales include John G. Hartness’s “Reprise”—featuring his recurring character Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter—and Robert E. Hampson’s “In the Dust,” both of which entertain but are too formulaic. The hard-earned happy ending of Kacey Ezell’s thoughtful “No Greater Love” actually comes as something of a relief given the easy joy that precedes and follows it. Though the one-note optimism is best in small doses, this heartwarming anthology offers a temporary reprieve from reality. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House.

April 1, 2020

Finding a way out of the darkness means more than surviving. One must believe, have faith in something, maybe even onesself. This collection of 16 stories shows that life is not all hearts and rainbows--sometimes it is brutal and deadly, but there can still be happiness at the end. A woman who tries to change her life each time she dies find some support from past friends in Sharon Shinn's "Not in This Lifetime." Kevin J. Anderson's "Heart of Clay" features Dan Shamble, Zombie PI, searching for a killer of golems who takes their hearts. A convenience store owner gives her employee a second chance for a job, even after becoming a vampire, in "Working Conditions" by Patrick M. Tracy. Plus readers get to see favorite characters from Patricia Briggs ("Asil and the Not-Date") and Laurell K. Hamilton ("Zombie Dearest"). VERDICT Themes of hope and light in worlds that may seem dark and despairing thread together this collection of stories from new and seasoned authors. A fine addition to collections.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

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