Author Archives: James Pyles

Something Old, Something Stolen, and a Dead Cat

dales office

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Fifteen-year-old Daphne plopped herself down on the chair next to the table.

“This is stupid.” She blew a random cluster of hair out of her eyes. “We’re looking for an old book, not old junk. What is this crud?”

The backpack at her feet stirred and Skinner’s head lolled awkwardly to the side. “That ancient tech would be an adding machine and a typewriter.”

“How would a sorcerer’s familiar know that?”

“The spirit trapped in this dead cat knows a lot,” Skinner croaked.

“My great-grandma better have that stolen spellbook or we’ll never get you out of that murdered kitty.”

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Book Review of “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” (2020)

to sleep

© James Pyles

I just finished reading To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars (2020) by Christopher Paolini and was really impressed. One of the biggest points for me is that the book is over 800 pages long and it didn’t drag at some point.

From the blurb on Amazon:

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she’s awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . .

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Geoffrey’s Secret

david's train

PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart

The female attendant politely asked to verify Geoffrey’s identification. Something was wrong.

Of course, something was wrong. He was traveling under false documents on the Beijing to Xi’an bullet train at 350 kph. If he was discovered, there would be no jumping off like in some fanciful old spy movie.

His synthetic biology let him pass most scanners, though a detailed exam would reveal his true nature and the nuclear device. His detonation would kill 10 million and be blamed on the isolationists. However, his true objective was to eliminate their AI industry. No one must compete with his masters.

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All the World’s a Game and All the Lords and Captives Merely Players

cribbage

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

“Shall we play a game?” Her jailer placed the elements of Charlotte on the table between him and Ciara with notable mistakes. Ciara recognized what Isom had taken from her brother’s style but only a barbarian would have so clumsily arranged the dice on the left of the cards and the board.

“You bested my brother one game out of thousands and now you would play with me, Lord Governor?” It was difficult for her to keep disdain from her voice.

“One game between us, Princess. You win and your brother goes free. You lose, and I execute you both.”

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Seven Drabbles Accepted Into “Second Wave”

second wave

Promotional image for the upcoming Starry Eyed Press anthology “Second Wave.”

I’ve just had seven (out of the ten submitted) of my science fiction drabbles accepted into the Starry Eyed Press anthology “Second Wave.”

Here’s the short blurb:

For Second Wave we are looking for stories centering on the aftermath of initial contact with aliens. Show us what impact first contact had. Give us changing politics, cultural and social transformation, alien perspectives, reinforcements at the front, veteran viewpoints, colonization, interracial exchange… but keep in mind we do enjoy adventurous, thoughtful and uplifting stories.

Here are some samples of my stories:

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Book Review of the Dresden Files Novel “Small Favor” (2009)

small favor

© James Pyles

I finished Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novel Small Favor a week or more ago, but I’ve been so busy (largely with granddaughters) that I haven’t had time to write the review before now.

Just when I think everything that can happen to wizard Harry Dresden has happened, something new comes up.

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And the Sea Shall Claim Her Dead

roger-bridge

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

“We came to take nuclear torpedoes from an old submarine, not hunt for ghosts.” Simon, in the pilot’s seat of the deep-sea submersible, sounded almost panicked rather than his usual assured self.

“I can’t help that,” yelled Cora at the hydrophones. The banging I hear from the inside of that sub is an SOS. Someone’s still alive in there.”

“That’s bloody impossible,” snarled Vic. He was working the manipulators trying to free the first torpedo. “We’re 10,000 feet deep and that sub sank 60 years ago.”

“Tell that to them,” Cora shrieked. Then the sea’s dead came for the pirates.

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I Don’t Know Art, But I Know What I Like

box of rocks

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

“What do you think, Dad?” Liz proudly showed off her university senior art project resting in a dorm courtyard.

“I’m not sure what to think,” Mike said. “What is it?”

“It’s symbolic of the constraints placed on reality and the illusion that if we were released from our cage, that we would be anything more than inert material.”

“Seems a little dark, Liz,” said Mike scratching his chin.

“We live in a dark world, Dad.”

“But why so grim? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

“Dad, you grew up in a world of hope. That world is gone.”

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A Look Back at the Beginning of the Series “Andromeda”

andromeda

Promotional image for the TV show “Andromeda”

I’ve been deciding which classic science fiction television series to start watching for quite a while now. However, it was a chance post on X/twitter that made me choose Andromeda, created from a concept developed by the late Gene (“Star Trek”) Roddenberry and starring Kevin Sorbo.

I made my decision when “Andromeda” was described as sharing a lot of the thematic “DNA” with a favorite show of mine Firefly.

The show ran from 2000 to 2005 which would make it seem pretty successful, but it didn’t attain anywhere near the notoriety, let alone the legend, that Roddenberry’s Star Trek achieved as a franchise.

I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, but what I’ve seen shows promise, if also presents as flawed.

Keep in mind, two episodes isn’t enough to judge an entire series and “Star Trek’s” first season, although thoroughly enjoyable, was also greatly inconsistent.

Oh, this will be loaded with spoilers, so you have been warned.

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The Girl in the Macramé Bikini

macrame

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

“This will be fun, Grandpa,” said his youngest granddaughter. At fourteen, she was as full of silliness as when she was four.

“I’m seventy-one, not seventeen. What do I care for glow-in-the-dark strip and macramé parties?” the old man groused. “This is worse than Chuck E. Cheese.”

“Relax into it,” said his oldest grandson. “It won’t be so bad. Besides, the pizza here’s pretty good.”

“Well, maybe for a little bit,” Grandpa said.

“We have a surprise, Grandpa,” said one of the middle granddaughters.

Then they brought out the blond stripper in the glow-in-the-dark macramé.

“At my age?” he groaned.

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