Ten Tales for Tomorrow

by Stuart Aken

This collection of speculative fiction, largely science fiction, is a broad selection covering many different themes. The ten stories vary in length, style and content but all are intended for an adult readership. Some have won prizes in international contests and some have been published. But most are new and published for the first time here. Enjoy.

Genres: Science Fiction

50 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Reading from infancy. Writing stories since I could hold a pencil. Always fascinated by the power of words to entertain, illuminate, transform, educate, and influence. Stories are fundamental to our psyche: we love them. It's an honour to be privileged to tell my own versions of tales that have abounded for millennia.
Fantasy fascinates me: that ability to enter an imagined world and witness events not always shackled by Earthen rules.
Science Fiction allows speculation on our future: what will happen if we carry on in certain directions, and what will occur if we allow developments that might actually threaten our very existence?
Romance is fundamental to human relationships and love, with its opposite, hate, form the roots of most stories.
As I say to all my readers; Enjoy the read!

Reviews

[Joshua Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuart Aken’s short story compendium Ten Tales for Tomorrow explores several possible futures. Speculative fiction often has the capacity to be a little dry, but Aken’s writing does not suffer from this plague. Each story was full of life, action, and the capacity to make you think in a way that would make Asimov proud!

[Stuart Aken · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this is a collection of my own speculative fiction (some of it quite dark), I don't feel I can make much of a comment, except to say I wouldn't have published this if I didn't think people would want to read it.

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read short stories quite a bit. I even tried my hand at writing them. For the past 2 years, however, I've read novels--not novellas--novels. So, take this with a bit of salt--I didn't find the short stories in this collection to be that interesting. Granted, short stories can have powerful impact, a real 'wow' factor at the end, but only one or two of these stories barely approached that level for me. Some were not only 'adult', which is fine--I'm not bothered, but the 'adult' in a couple of the stories just seemed like abusive, rambling wet dreams--not very interesting to read. Some of these stories have won awards, so my response is outside the norm. Still.

To write magical short stories takes a lot of work, skill, and inspiration. I'm in awe when I read a good one. But a good novel, well, I guess I like settling in. A Steven King quote that I've always liked ends with “...a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.” Even quick, and in the dark, a kiss needs a certain magic to be memorable.

[Mick Canning · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb for this collection describes it as 'dark, speculative fiction', and it certainly lives up to its description. The majority of the stories depict a distinctively dark and dystopian future, where the average Joe is powerless and dispensable; little more than the servant of governments, corporations or powerful individuals, to be disposed of as soon as he or she steps out of line.
There are a couple of playful tales here, although they too certainly have their dark undercurrents, and, unexpectedly, I thought, a love story, and a story of new beginnings, although these were the only stories that seemed to offer any hope for the morrow. Otherwise, the message seems to be that in the future, governments or corporations, whichever happens to be the power of choice in the story, have the power of life and death over each individual, and are answerable to no one but themselves.
There seems little hope for the individual.
If you like your fiction dark and highly inventive, then this collection should satisfy.

[Linda Acaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Space Opera here. This is our own time extrapolated, or perhaps the thinking of our time, the actions of those supposedly in office to serve us, the alienation of humans as individuals, the corporate ID taken to extremes. It is the dystopian view without the apocalyptic event to blame it on, to hide behind.

The longer stories pack a punch of revulsion, especially 'Adrianne Zultan - An Official Enquiry' for its portrayal of inhumanity, yet haven't we all sat through news items covering reports where "lessons will be learned"? Both the short 'A Land Despoiled' and the longer 'Phobia' carry their messages, and their warnings, in the depth of their text. But there is playfulness among the mix. 'Penultimate Upgrade' made me smile, and 'A Gastronomic Treat At The Edge Of The Galaxy' pokes fun at po-faced restaurant guides. I'll never read another in the same light.

[Ronnie Dauber · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ten Tales for Tomorrow" is a collection of ten fiction - and slightly on the dark side - love stories written by Stuart Aken. I enjoyed this book because although many of the stories have a mystical setting and left me in sudden awe at the end, each story is very different from the others, which made this book an exciting read. Stuart has a talent for drawing the reader right into the heart of story and then leaving them with an anxious feeling of wanting to return. He's a skilled author and perhaps a bit more loose in his character descriptions than some readers are comfortable with, but on the other hand, this is likely one of the qualities that keeps readers coming back for more.

[Penny Grubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully crafted. A very good read, or rather a set of very good reads.

[Kay Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It made a change going back to SF and these ten tales were enjoyable, each one just long enough to be read in one sitting and all different enough to show the writer's imagination and ability to get ideas across. I can't honestly say that this dip will have my love of thrillers pushed into the back seat, however, it will mean I don't disregard the genre altogether. Definitely one I'd recommend not only to lovers of SF but also to those who haven't yet made up their minds as to where their reading will take them.

[Stuart Aken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is my own, so I can't, in all honesty, provide a review as normal. However, the ten stories, all speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy, are good reads. Give it a try.