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A review by weaselweader
Unknown Realms by C.L. Cannon
4.0
“No amount of preparation would ever make the sensation of having his nostrils shoved inside his ass as he was squeezed to the size of tardigrade remotely pleasant.”
Passing “through a micro black hole that connected with the right dimension” is obviously a pretty tricky and physically demanding feat, LOL!!
I suspect it’s a simple truism that it’s impossible to find an anthology in which every story knocks the ball out of the park. So let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
A SONG OF DARK THINGS and MESSING WITH THE MULTIVERSE are, not to put too fine a point on it, simply indecipherable. They’re clearly included based on the stated anthology theme of “mystic portals”, “alternate dimensions” and “undiscovered landscapes” but I don’t think the intention was for their plots to remain undiscovered as well. In this reality, the editors of UNKNOWN REALMS would have done well to omit these two laggards as they are the ONLY weak entrants in a rock-solid anthology of winners!
As to the rest, THE MIDNIGHT CITY, for example, is at once a heartbreaking and heartwarming tale dealing with the emotional fallout of a friend’s suicide when one feels in significant part responsible for that suicide in the first place. THE DEMON OF CORPUS CHRISTI is a sweet little paranormal short in which an author solves the perennially recurring problem of writer’s block. MICROSCOPIC MAYHEM is a sci-fi treasure and, if I may say so, with a slight modification of character names and descriptions and a minor change-up in the terms used for technology, it would serve admirably as a screenplay for a STAR TREK episode in any of its incarnations. Brilliant, thoroughly enjoyable, humorous in good measure, exciting, high-speed space opera on board a starship with time and space travel capability.
I could go on but suffice it to say that every one of the tales in UNKNOWN REALMS save the two noted weak links in the chain are solid four- to five-star champions. I’ll definitely be looking for a couple of the collections referred to in closing marketing blurbs, A TWIST OF FATE: A Twisted Fairy Tale Anthology and COUNTERCLOCKWISE: A Time Travel Anthology. Yessirree, definitely recommended!
I purchased this gem at a local book fair so, with considerable thanks, I'll pass along extra kudos and two thumbs-up to the proud Canadian authors included.
Paul Weiss
Passing “through a micro black hole that connected with the right dimension” is obviously a pretty tricky and physically demanding feat, LOL!!
I suspect it’s a simple truism that it’s impossible to find an anthology in which every story knocks the ball out of the park. So let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
A SONG OF DARK THINGS and MESSING WITH THE MULTIVERSE are, not to put too fine a point on it, simply indecipherable. They’re clearly included based on the stated anthology theme of “mystic portals”, “alternate dimensions” and “undiscovered landscapes” but I don’t think the intention was for their plots to remain undiscovered as well. In this reality, the editors of UNKNOWN REALMS would have done well to omit these two laggards as they are the ONLY weak entrants in a rock-solid anthology of winners!
As to the rest, THE MIDNIGHT CITY, for example, is at once a heartbreaking and heartwarming tale dealing with the emotional fallout of a friend’s suicide when one feels in significant part responsible for that suicide in the first place. THE DEMON OF CORPUS CHRISTI is a sweet little paranormal short in which an author solves the perennially recurring problem of writer’s block. MICROSCOPIC MAYHEM is a sci-fi treasure and, if I may say so, with a slight modification of character names and descriptions and a minor change-up in the terms used for technology, it would serve admirably as a screenplay for a STAR TREK episode in any of its incarnations. Brilliant, thoroughly enjoyable, humorous in good measure, exciting, high-speed space opera on board a starship with time and space travel capability.
I could go on but suffice it to say that every one of the tales in UNKNOWN REALMS save the two noted weak links in the chain are solid four- to five-star champions. I’ll definitely be looking for a couple of the collections referred to in closing marketing blurbs, A TWIST OF FATE: A Twisted Fairy Tale Anthology and COUNTERCLOCKWISE: A Time Travel Anthology. Yessirree, definitely recommended!
I purchased this gem at a local book fair so, with considerable thanks, I'll pass along extra kudos and two thumbs-up to the proud Canadian authors included.
Paul Weiss