Joe Vasicek

I don’t like writing low reviews. It takes a lot for me to leave one. This warranted it.

I was expecting Saffron and Mal. Instead I got a romp through sexist, racist, cliched tropes.

Jeremiah arrives on a space station hoping to complete an unspecified trade deal. What is he carrying? Why has he come to this space station? Who the hell knows?

He’s greeted by a racist caricature, who for ‘forces’ him to choose one of his virginal daughters to marry. Jeremiah chooses the eldest of the children, whom he estimates to be about 18.

It goes downhill from there.

Don’t be fooled by the twenty-first century publication date, this is your grandad’s science fiction.

When I finally got to the end, everything was made clear when the author revealed he wrote this in response to a female science fiction author’s feminist science fiction series. I’ve not yet read any of CJ Cherryh’s work, but if she pissed this guy off that much, she had to be doing something right.

Honestly, I’m annoyed I wasted £0 on this when I could’ve read one of Cherryh’s books instead.… (altro)

Review of eBook

Christopher Columbus Jackson gave a great deal for his chosen profession, that of an asteroid wildcatter. But today, as he heads toward an asteroid claim in the Vulcan system when another wildcatter tried to beat him there.

But luck was on his side; he’d beat the other ship about ten hours.

And then there was a distress signal from an escape pod.

What choice will Christopher make? Continue on to stake his claim or give it up to rescue the escape pod?

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Part of the author’s Short Story Singles series, this science fiction story introduces readers to a futuristic explorer. With a strong sense of place, a sweet kitten, and an intriguing central character [a cybernetically augmented mine worker] the story keeps the reader involved in the telling of the tale.

Readers will find the dilemma facing Christopher both compelling and significant and it ultimately reveals the wildcatter’s true character.

Highly recommended.… (altro)

Review of eBook

Ellie, Mia, Jenny, Sheila, and Anya gather around a table at Denny’s in the late night/early morning hours and, not surprisingly, the conversation turns to dating woes. Mia’s been ghosted by her latest Tinder match, the young women discuss their way through the Fermi Paradox, UFO sightings [now referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena], alien life, radio transmissions, Dyson Spheres, and the Drake Equation.

While they don’t solve the mystery of why they don’t seem to be able to connect with a single man interested in a relationship [and whether or not there are enough of those preferred ‘ones’ to go around], they do convince Mia to ask the cute waiter for his phone number. They are delighted when he leaves his phone number and a “call me” note on the top of Mia’s receipt . . . certainly, in Mia’s opinion a very good omen.

Or is it?

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This short story, one of the author’s Short Story Singles, has a strong sense of place, especially for readers who may have found themselves with a group of friends sitting in Denny’s in the early morning hours. The characters, all single young ladies, have a fair amount of preoccupation with finding suitable dates and could be any group of young women.

The unfolding story ultimately brings the possibility of alien life into a discussion regarding the scarcity of promising dates. Inevitably, that leads to the “what if they’re already here” speculation . . . and provides the unexpected denouement for this clever tale.

Highly recommended.… (altro)