Triangulation: End of Time

Triangulation: End of Time hit she shelves about a month ago. Click on the link and buy a copy.

Anthologies are great because you have so little investment in reading them. With novels, I always have a problem where I start reading right before bed, only to get to a good part. The next thing I know it's 4:00 AM and I still don't want to put the book down. With an anthology (or any collection of short stories) I have obvious places to stop and return to whatever life demands of me until I next have time to read.

Even with the convenient format, you still need something interesting to read. It never fails to amaze me what writers can come up with. The whimsical "America is Coming" by Dario Ciriello is an excellent example.

Other highlights are Hugo winner Tim Pratt's "Morris and the Machine", which is the kind of story you want to talk to other people about. Of course, it's kind of hard to talk about it if you haven't read it, so go spend $12 so you can talk about it!

It's tough to choose a favorite story in a collection such as this, since there are so many good stories. Twenty to be exact. It's quite possible, however, that my favorite is Kurt Kirchmeier's "Surface Tension." In my experience, it's tough to pull off the "twist" ending, but Kirchmeier made it work for this story.

Matthew Johnson pulls off a near twist ending with "When we have time," although in a different way. The ending isn't as much a surprise as it is satisfying that the author decided to take the story where he did.

Another gem is Katherine Shaw's "Final Episode," which is simply fun to read.

Just covering the highlights, this anthology is a must read. Sure, you may not like every story, but each one ends at the beginning of a new story by a new author, and that's the beauty of any anthology. There are enough winners here to make anyone happy.