Review of “Bad Dog: Military Science Fiction Across A Holographic Multiverse” (2017)

bad dog

Cover art for Ashley Pollard’s 2017 book “Bad Dog”

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Yesterday, I finished reading Ashley R. Pollard’s book Bad Dog: Military Science Fiction Across A Holographic Multiverse. It’s book one in the Gate Walkers series.

I’m acquainted with Pollard on social media including her commenting periodically on this blog. Like so many other people I “know” on social media, I don’t remember how we connected in the first place. I was aware she was a science fiction author, so when I got the chance to buy and download this series onto my Kindle Fire, I jumped at it.

The protagonist is Sgt. Lara Tachikoma, senior NCO leading a group of Marines who go into combat wearing specialized “mech” suits called “Dogs.” The story is set in 2071 so although the Marine culture she operates in is very familiar to me (my son served in the USMC), she works for the Confederated States Marine Corps.

On board the CSN Hornet, the Marine contingent receives orders from CIA operative Anderson to rescue a group of mechanized Army soldiers who were lost in an area of Afghanistan a week ago. Also, if they just happen to encounter a strange magnetic anomaly, to investigate.

Yeah, it’s a setup.

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2023: Reviewing My Year in My Stories

2023

2023 – the year as it was.

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The new year is rapidly approaching and it’s time for me to take you back through my accomplishments of 2023. They are better than last year but not as good as the year before. Oh well.

Let’s start off with my SciFi short story “Fall of the Tower” my first tale of 2023 published in One-Way Ticket: A Science Fiction Anthology by Starry Eyed Press. I’d been trying to get some version of this story published for years and finally hit upon the right presentation.

I took the story’s title from the Biblical tale of the “Tower of Babel” found in Genesis 11:1-9. The story began with that Biblical quote, but the publisher replaced it because they do not want to represent any particular religious viewpoint. So it goes.

This was followed by my short story “The Price” featured in Fantastic Schools, Volume Six and is my second magical schools tale published for Wisecraft Publishing. I’m not a big fantasy or magic school writer, but I’m proud of the magical system and story I crafted here. There’s always a price for using magic and it’s typically blood. Sometimes it is life and even many lives.

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The Times They Are A-Changin’

the ball

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Trevor shivered in the cold wind as he made his way up W 45th street toward Times Square.

It had worked. Bobby Kennedy had originally supported his brother’s plan to bomb the Cuban missile sites. Fortunately, Trevor Ross was a historian and a time traveler. He blackmailed Bobby the same way Hoover had. Then something went wrong.

Yes, Kennedy had his secret meetings with the Soviet ambassador. However, what happened between them not only averted 1962’s Cuban missile crisis, but had changed everything when Trevor returned to 1980. How had New York City become the capitol of a Communist America?

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Does Santa Claus Climb Down Broken Chimneys?

abandoned

PHOTO PROMPT © Rowena Curtin

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“Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild…”

Derek crouched by the fire barrel rubbing his hands together while Anna sang Christmas songs to her little girls.

“Another homeless fucking Christmas,” he muttered.

Old Saul backhanded him on the shoulder. “Hush and let those babies dream.”

“It’s all crap,” Derek hissed back. “There’s no blessing being homeless. Fifteen families freezing in this dump. No baby Jesus will save us.”

“You’re young yet, Derek.” Saul’s voice ground like a cement mixer. “Miracles aren’t money. Look around you. Being able to love in this hole is the miracle.”

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One Winter Evening

candles

PHOTO PROMPT © Susan Rouchard

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Soren basked in the candles’ glow as he had for so many years during this season. He neither celebrated the Hanukah lights nor the birth of the “Light of the World,” mercy forbid.

The presentation “Artwork by Candlelight” was a centuries old family tradition and he must leave soon. Explaining his presence would be awkward.

“Hello.”

He turned to the doorway. She couldn’t be more than five. “You are Daphine, the Baron’s granddaughter.”

“Who are you?”

He stared, considering a light snack, but then declined. The vampire came to honor his family’s legacy, not to dine on a distant cousin.

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Review of “Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter”

ginger

Screenshot from the internet.

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I woke up this morning to find a wonderful review of the Christian SciFi anthology Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter by Ginger Nuts of Horror. “Dark Matter” features my short story “The Heavens Shall Declare His Glory.”

Tales by Richard Paolinelli, Frank B. Luke, and L. Jagi Lamplighter received high honors. That said, there was one drawback the reviewer found with the book:

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My SciFi Drabble “Hunter” is Available at “Martian Magazine”

martian

Screenshot of Martian Magazine web page.

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Martian Magazine publishes science fiction drabbles every Monday and Friday. I somehow missed that one of my drabbles was going to be coming out on Monday, November 30th.

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The Old Shoe

shoes

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

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Alan sat in the laundry contemplating the last moments of his life. It was cold outside, and not just because of the weather.

You see things differently sitting on the floor. All these different types of footwear, all for different occasions and seasons.

They cut off his job, his finances, his friends, family, even his electric car. The people of diversity and acceptance were going to kill him because he didn’t fit in with their politics and dogma.

The door from outside opened. It was Brevoort. “Still time to join us before the end.”

Alan threw a shoe at him.

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Review of “The Soldier: Rise of the Jain, Book One” (2018)

soldier

The cover of Neal Asher’s 2018 novel, “The Soldier.”

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Last night I finished Neal Asher’s novel The Soldier: Rise of the Jain, Book One (2018). This one was harder for me to get into than some of the others.

I’ve read a number (but only a fraction of those published) of Asher’s novels, both series and stand alone.

One of the challenges in general is keeping track of all the different characters. It’s not just the Polity and Prator, but now we have the Species, the android Angel, the haiman Orlandine, various AIs including Earth Central (EC), not to mention the mysterious Dragon and the more mysterious Librarian.

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Flowers and Rust

flower car

PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

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Things like the “flower Datsun” weren’t all that unusual, but people seemed to make a big deal over them.

“There’s worse ways to repurpose your old rig.”

He paused on his walk to regard the object. No doubt someone’s attempt at art or maybe a commentary on the environment.

“Plants are wilting and the chassis is rusting. Can’t really help the latter, but if you’re going to keep plants…”

He knocked on the door of the house belonging to the Datsun. No one answered but the hose was right there.

Jerry started spraying down the pots in the engine compartment.

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