TINY TIME MACHINE

 

TINY TIME Machine

The Complete Trilogy

By John E. Stith

An Amazing Selects Edition

486 pgs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DJ3M6JBH

https://amazingstories.com/store/

 

Every now and then a science fiction book comes along that is simply fun to read. Most  of these are science fantasies or space operas and not what is labelled Hard Science. It is rare that one finds a rollicking, fun sf adventure under the Hard Science umbrella. This is clearly one of those treasures.  

Meg Vauntage’s mother died when she was a young teenager. Now, a rebellious young woman, she’s constantly butting heads with her widowed father who rarely pays her any attention. What Meg doesn’t realize is that her father is obsessed with inventing a time machine that will allow him to go back in time and save Meg’s mother.  

As the book opens, Meg, and a young man named Josh, are wanted by the San Francisco police for misdemeanor crimes against corporations who poison the environment. Fleeing to her father’s lab, they arrive to find him dying of a gunshot wound. With his last breath, he tells Meg to guard his cell-phone. Confused by this cryptic order, Meg, with Josh’s help, examines the phone and discovers it is a functioning time-machine that will allow them to travel to the future.  

“Tiny Time Machine,” was first written as three novellas. Now they have been collected in this omnibus edition. The first tale has Meg and Josh discovering a devastating end of the world scenario in the future and are challenged to prevent it. In the second tale, they, with the help of a futuristic AI entity, manage to travel backwards into the past, their goal, to save Meg’s father. And finally, with the third chapter, Meg explores the possibility of being able to save her mother. 

The action, from page one, is nonstop. Meg and Josh, and the supporting cast are beautiful realized and a joy to accompany in their wild escapades. “Tiny Time Machine” is a gem by a truly gifted writer. Pick it up, we think you’ll love it.

NOT BORN OF WOMAN

 

NOT BORN OF WOMAN

Paradise Investigations, Book 1

By Teel James Glenn

Macabre Ink

211 pgs

 

As strange as it may sound, Mary Shelley’s classic character, the Frankenstein monster, has been utilized as the hero in quite a few series. What comes to mind is the recent comic book series wherein Joe Frankenstein is a mobster. Then we have Dean Koontz memorable paperback series which had the creature battling his creator in modern time as the doctor is the true villain wishing to rule mankind. Thus, when picking up Teel James Glenn latest offering and discovering the monster as a private eye in 1930s New York, we were both surprised and delighted. 

Glenn’s hero, now calling himself Adam Paradise, is the same patchwork human we discovered in Shelley’s book. He has survived a few hundred years in the cold of the Arctic realizing he is somewhat immortal. Returning to civilization, and New York City specifically, his goal is to discover his own purpose for being while studying the ways of humanity.

In this first of what is obviously intended to be series, Paradise is hired by a young woman from a Romani family, i.e. of the gypsy culture, to retrieve a lost necklace of importance to her clan. The woman’s older brother sold the item to a pawnbroker to pay off gambling debts. When confronting the buyer, Paradise finds himself crossing paths with a local Mob Boss and the police. His pal, detective Tommy Shane, is dealing with a serial killer who targets young women and a Catholic priest receiving death threats. If that stew plot wasn’t complicated enough, Paradise then discovers German Bundist promoting their Nazis philosophy are also after the same necklace.

With “Not Born of Woman,” Glenn weaves a fast-paced narrative as told by his protagonist. The supporting characters are pulp colorful, but what fascinated this reviewer was Paradise’s philosophical musings on life, death, good and evil. There is a depth to this thriller not often found in such stories. Highly recommended. This is one of the writer’s best.

MAQ Issue # 11

 

MEN’S ADVENTURE Quarterly Issue # 11

The UFO Issue

Edited by Robert Deis & Bill Cunningham

Subtropic Productions, LLC.

143 pgs

 

In publishing, as well as any other business ventures, timing is crucial. Examples being the release of a new tanning oil just prior to the summer season. Or a movie about the Revolutionary War released the week of July 4^th. These kind of thematic connections provide extra marketing boost to whatever it is being pitched. Thus, it is this reviewer’s opinion that editors Bob Deis and Bill Cunningham are two of the luckiest publishers today with the debut of their 11^th issue of their “MEN’S ADVENTURE QUATERLY” focusing on the UFO craze of the 1950s and 60s at the same time Americans are caught up in the recent hubbub surrounding the sightings of Unidentified Flying Drones. These first appeared on the East Coast at the start of Dec. and have now spread across the entire country.

Could these drones be the work of the same aliens who sent UFOs to spy on us during the days of the Cold War? Or maybe the drones, like those UFOs are the work of Russian or Chinese spy cabals? Who knows? Much like the UFOs of bygone days, our own government is anything but forthcoming. What is it they are hiding now?

Happily, Deis and Cunningham don’t hide a single thing in this cornucopia of articles and photographs detailing the history of these sightings that so captivated America’s imagination after World War II. From factual articles by experts ala Major Donald E. Keyhoe to the bizarre antics of “abductee” George Adamski, this issue is filled with all kinds of delights. And if dry, expose text aren’t your thing, you can revel in the fun piece on Gerry Anderson’s early TV series UFO, or Gary Lovisi’s look “Space-Sploitation” paperbacks. Their regular Gal-lery section also features tributes to Ann Francis, Mara Corday and Patricia Laffan.

All in all, another great issue. We just wonder how long before they devote an issue to the UFDs. Unidentified Flying Drones.