As an exit counselor, Katherine Purnell has encountered her share of conspiracy theories. Whether it be chemtrails, QAnon, or Mass Formation Psychosis, she is adept at identifying disinformation and freeing her clients from their paranoid delusions.
PLAY TO WIN! FIGHT TO SURVIVE!
PerfectQuestion is back! He’s running and gunning his way across an incredible civilization-building game set on Mars.
Bravery isn’t built. It’s forged.
On a planet plagued by perpetual war, where a mech is a prerequisite for survival, there is one simple rule: Be bigger than the other guy or get your ass kicked.
At just seventeen measly tons, Shorty doesn’t measure up. His enemies can level cities and punch holes through mountains. They can reshape the world on a whim. They wouldn’t be caught dead in an overgrown trashcan like Shorty.
But Shorty isn’t interested in the rule of size.
He knows heart isn’t measured in pounds of steel. Bravery isn’t found in the finest machined parts. Glory isn’t just for giants.
Shorty has a new rule, and he’s about to teach it to everyone.
Ass-kicking doesn’t have a size requirement.
If mech on mech violence disturbs you, then don’t read. But if you like mechs duking it out on a planet battlefield littered with the dismantled carcasses of the losers, then this short story is for you.
It begins with a runt of a mech, affectionately nicknamed Shorty, and a mech pilot that has learned to navigate the turbulent waters of a planet battlefield. The years he’s spent on planet has given him keen insight into the situation he’s facing. And that’s what makes this an enjoyable story. It’s the personality the author (Scott) has given the pilot. He’s brash (the mech pilot, not the author) but vulnerable. In every decision made, his life is the ultimate price to pay. He knows that, and even faced with that grim reality, marches on.
Scott does a good job of developing his story and characters through some nice world-building. I would’ve liked to have seen more, but then it probably wouldn’t be a short story anymore. There’s cussing sprinkled throughout and a couple of slightly suggestive moments. And of course, there is mech violence.
Pick up this quick read. For the mere pennies it costs, you’ll receive more than double the return in the way of entertainment.
In the spring of ’43 Terry found Surprised Dead Tree just outside of Pine Town.
Late for dinner one lazy afternoon, Terry took a shortcut through a nearby unfamiliar forest. He stumbled upon a rotting pine with a face. It looked human, and so Terry decided to ask it a question. If he snuck into his house through the garage, could he escape Dad finding out?
He took the tree’s surprised look as a resounding yes!
He made it home and upstairs, unnoticed. That night Dad’s meatloaf never tasted better. The next day he told his friends about Surprised Dead Tree, as he named it. They told their parents. Their parents told their friends.
Soon, Surprised Dead Tree became the local legend. People showed up with gifts and questions. Unmoving, face still eternally frozen, Surprised Dead Tree answered any and all questions.
Pine Town’s mayor just knew this was the shot in the arm his town needed to put them on the map. He officially declared Surprised Dead Tree an honorary citizen in a grand ceremony. All the town showed up. When the parade moved to the forest, they found two sparrows had moved into Surprised Dead Tree’s right eye.
This is a dead tree I had cut down in my backyard. Only later did I notice the face. I found it interesting.
In the deepest heart of rural Kentucky, there is a community of “plain people” even more separatist and reclusive than the mainstream Amish. They are the Amish of the Amish—the Rebel Amish—and they hide a murderous secret disguised as a myth.
Night of the Bunnyman is an 8,000-word novelette.
As a teenager growing up in the Central Texas woods of twisted mesquites, prickly pears, and brutal jumping cactus, I’ve hunted my fair share of rabbits. I’ve skinned a few, too. I vividly remember hanging their hind legs off a gnarled limb with a bit of baling wire, then exposing their thin, red bodies as I stripped their fur off in one long sheet. As I read Bunker ‘s Bunnyman those memories came flooding back to me. Other than this, my memories have nothing else to do with the story. I digress.
I’ve read several of Bunker’s stories, and have appreciated them all, in one way or another. This one also delivers. In it, Bunker’s storytelling tone is conversational, which is nice. Plus, the story held my attention to the end. Lately, I’ve found my mind wandering when trying to read. That’s frustrating as I thought I was doomed to never enjoy a story again. Turns out I was just going through the motions. Or something.
Anyway, the story has some violence, but it’s necessary for it to be told. it is horror, after all, so there’s that.
What I appreciate most about Bunnyman is it blurs the line between legend and reality. It’s a make-believe story that seems believable. Plus, broadfall pants makes a cameo appearance. You cannot have a proper Bunker story without broadfalls.
That’s pretty much it for this review. Bunnyman’s a good story. Buy it and read it. And never kill what you don’t intend to eat.
What do you do when you reach the end of all times?
Colonel Preston Lost is a man of many talents. One of the youngest to achieve the rank of colonel, Lost found himself unable to return to civilian life after the war. He was a man born at the wrong time. Chivalry was dead, and there were no more crusades or mighty deeds to be done.