Review/Making Contact
Title: Making Contact
Authors: Cornelia Grey, Lyn Gala, Andi Deacon, K.R. Foster, Sue Brown, Emily Moreton, Andrea Speed, Cari Z., JL Merrow
Tags: Anthology, Short Stories, Scifi, MM romance
Length: 265 pages
Rating: Okay, Fun
Blurb: Everyone knows that love can turn your world upside down, but it can also be literally out of this world!
In this selection of M/M science fiction short stories, there's romance among the shooting stars, love that matches the glory of the spheres, and passion that burns like the largest of suns.
Making first contact makes on a whole new meaning.
This is one of those anthologies that I both loved and hated. I liked the range and variety of ideas that existed between its pages. However, it was one of those that struck me as really simply being all about the sex. The forgone conclusion in each story was the fact that characters were going to jump each other. While I do not mind reading such thing, I find anthologies in which all the stories are only there for the sex, tire some. But, there are plenty of people out there who would undoubtedly disagree with me.
Lol, on the subject of this anthology instead, it was an interesting combination of far out there alien stories and some that are closer to home. Either way, if you like reading MM romance and you like reading Sci-Fi, you'll most likely find more than one thing you enjoy between the pages of this book. :)
Better Than Cola By JL Merrow - Summer Storm has just arrived on earth and is not let use to the differences between their cultures. Shortly after arriving he meets Nathan Chambers who proceeds to introduce him to some of the differences. What happens between the two of them is much more than either expected. I think what was most charming about this story was that Merrow deals with the something we take for granted, casual touch and turns it into something more. But it also has to do with being different and how liberating it can be when someone cares about you no matter what you look like.... even if that is alien.
Revolving Realities By Cari Z. - Having read some of Cari Z., previous work I was curious to see what would happen in this story. In this work we meet Dr. Eliot Hollister a man desperate to change what he has already experienced. He might not be able to change things in his own reality but he will be damned if he lets it happen to someone else. This is the story about a man who is willing to do anything to save his lover, even if the lover he's saving belongs to another Eliot Hollister. But what he finds may not be what he expects. When he finds what he's looking for, will they listen to him? Will he be able to change things or is the course of events inevitable even in another reality?
The Sacrifice By Sue Brown - I think this might have been one of my favorite stories in the entire anthology. This is the story about a man willing to sacrifice everything for his world, and his people. However, his reasons for doing so lead him to a great destiny. The ending of this comes as a bit of a surprise--at least the manor of it. Sue Brown puts to work for her the differences in these two cultures (humans and the other) and makes them bring her characters together. I liked the way she built up these two worlds and how their successes and their failures pushed them apart and eventually bring them together.
Alone By Andrea Speed - One of the interesting things about this story is that it takes place almost completely in the main character (Logan Murakami's mind). Ending up on an isolated outpost by himself, Logan has little to do save work on his own personal project. However, that project takes him to a place he didn't expect. While this was an interesting story it was not one of my favorites. I found the conclusion somewhat, obvious.
Losing Sight of the Shore By Emily Moreton - This story was another one of those duh stories for me. It was quiet obvious what was going to happen. Boy meet alien, boy and alien fall in love... alien must leave, etc... It was not badly written, I simply did not find it all that interesting. However, it is a sweet little story but in the end I think it could have used more.
Gifted in Tongues By JL Merrow - I honestly have mixed feelings about this story. While there was a lot of wonderfully witty humor in this story, I suppose it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. In here we meet Spitz who is thrown in jail because he accidentally offends the locals. There he meets Tao (walking, talking, sexy cat), the Felid. While, I have nothing against alien, cat's or cat like species... I honestly just find it somewhat over used. But the inter play between these two characters is amusing; the ending is a bit obvious.
Analytic Geometry By Andi Deacon - So, this might be my second favorite story. I felt that there were a few deeper things going on in this work than in some of the others. I especially liked the introduction to the story and to the main character Kevin Ikoro. Kevin is an analyst who ends up going on an exploratory mission because he gets drunk an open's his mouth once too often around his boss. What Kevin doesn't expect is to be stuck on a ship with Cameron and Theo Banark and their secrets. I think I liked the tension in this story and the fact that you're in the dark as much as Kevin is. I liked the way things turned out in the end. Great job, good story. ;)
The Monsters Below By Lyn Gala - I liked this story because it was a very different take on a rather over done mythology. Gala uses the idea of the vampire and set's it in space. *chuckles* It was fun to read this story about loss, finding and what might happen. Brai never really wanted to fight the sub-humans who infest Kestia but he would do anything to follow his lover Rick. Gala, explores the present and the past events between Brai and Rick in a fast paced back and forth that keeps you wondering... what will happen. In the end I think this is also a story that carries more meaning and makes you think.
Feral By K.R. Foster - Okay, so I mentioned the whole cat's in space thing earlier.... but I liked this story. I liked the way Foster took the whole cats in space thing and made a complete culture out of it. There is a whole world, culture and set of rules in this story that are not human. I think that that imagination is what really makes this story work. While the ending is somewhat obvious after you get to a certain point in the story. It is still sweet. :)
Ganymede's Honor By Cornelia Grey - Trapped in an escape pod running out of hair, Colonel Ardeth Connor doesn't expect to make it. When he wakes up on board a rebel ship, he's not sure he's any better off. However, over the course of the story Ardeth's views of the rebels begin to change. Eventually he finds himself expected in a way that he never expected or looked for. But when it comes down to it comes down to the line? Must of this story may not be realistic but I love the mental image of the great galleon flying through space, spearing asteroids like whales. :)