Science Fiction: At The Helm, 2017 Sci-Fi Bridge Anthology Vol. 3

(Drivebycuriosity) - I like science fiction. Unfortunately most science fiction novels disappoint. Often a writer has an interesting idea which carries a story about maybe 100 pages or less, but when she stretches the plot the story gets thinner and thinner and the text has too many fillers.  Just a minority of authors is capable to keep the tension over hundreds of pages. Therefore I usually skim collections of science fiction short stories in order to find some gems.

I just finished reading "At The Helm," 2017 Sci-Fi Bridge Anthology Vol. 3 (amazon). The collection belongs to a series that focuses on new authors and contains 18 stories. Each one of the writers is introduced at the end of the story and has a link to her website. The Kindle versions costs just 99 cents - an invitation to browse through an eclectic mixture of ideas & styles and to try new authors in the genre.

I have 5 favorites:

"Geospermia" by Patty Jansen. The author - trained as agricultural scientist - tells a solid story about terraforming Mars and its complications. A nice story with a lot insights about biology, chemistry & agriculture - hard science fiction in the tradition of Robert Heinlein.

"Storming  Tbe Norse Wind" by M.D. Cooper is military sci-fi focusing on the crew of a control space ship crew who encounters a suspicious space ship, spiced with fast action.

"The Far Side of Psyche" by Rhett C. Bruno. The plot is set in an alternate universe where the space race between Americans and Sovjets continues. 2 American space pilots are flying to asteroid Psyche and experience some surprises.

"The Tribe" by Andreas Christensen follows a group of people from different centuries who found themselves suddenly in an alternate universe and who are struggling to survive.

"The Last Ship" by Christ Pourteau. The crew of a military space ship prepares for a battle and is confronted with strange effects.

The other stories may cater different tastes.