A review by braynard
Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove by

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 Independent publishing has its ups and downs. But for what it lacks in prestige and fame, it more than makes up in passion. Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove is one of those great passion projects. It is a short story anthology all centered around the fictional Hotel Stormcove. 

A writing professor once told me that the shorter a piece is, the more of a punch each moment needs to pack. The stories of Hotel Stormcove are full of punch. All of the stories have to (theoretically) take place within a five minute time frame. But while the plots are short, they are not necessarily simple. From the moral implications of a robot uprising to a man mourning his dead wife and a pregnant rabbit searching for a safe haven, the stories of this collection are full of emotional and thematic resonance. 

Last week, I wrote a review criticizing a focused anthology from the very same publisher as this collection. So what’s different between the two? The focus of the collection. The first collection was focused around pens, which as I stated, are not narratively interesting. Hotels, however, provide all more options for writers to work with. Even the stories that don’t include fantastical or sci-fi elements are strong enough to stand on their own. I cannot say the same for the other collection. 

In general, Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove is a wonderful short story collection. Some stories are not as good as others, but the overall quality of the collection is very high. I would easily recommend this to anyone who show interest in short stories. My only real complaint is that there isn’t more. 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10 
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