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10 Bits of My Brain
"Stuart's work defies pigeon-holing. All of these pieces, though, show a master storyteller at the top of his art." -- from the introduction by David B. CoeFrom the tiny life of a fly to the far reaches of space, from an elderly witch in WWII's Lublin ghetto to a dragon detective in the modern world's harsh streets, from tattoos and chess games to robberies and betrayals, these ten stories are packed with action, drama, and a bit of the weird.
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2011
24 people want to read
About the author
Stuart Jaffe
157 books213 followersStuart Jaffe is the madman behind the Nathan K thrillers, Max Porter paranormal-mystery series, The Malja Chronicles, The Bluesman series, and much more. He has written numerous short stories in Fantasy, SF, and Horror. He was also the co-host of The Eclectic Review (http://eclectic.libsyn.com) -- a podcast about science, art, and well, everything.
Stuart lives in rural North Carolina, and for those who keep count, the latest animal listing is as follows: one dog, two cats, one albino corn snake, three aquatic turtles, assorted fish, seven chickens, and a horse. Thankfully, the chickens and the horse do not live inside the house.
Stuart lives in rural North Carolina, and for those who keep count, the latest animal listing is as follows: one dog, two cats, one albino corn snake, three aquatic turtles, assorted fish, seven chickens, and a horse. Thankfully, the chickens and the horse do not live inside the house.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 27, 2011
Cool collection of imaginative stories everyone can enjoy.
December 14, 2012
I really enjoyed this collection of Stuart Jaffe's stories. Some were old favorites, others were new to me. It was a good representative sample of his work.
November 13, 2012
Fun, fascinating SciFy short story selection
April 30, 2017
Read for Dewey's readathon. Finished at 11:09pm. 3.5/5 stars.
I'm going to review each short story individually and then make some comments on the anthology as a whole.
Bone Magic - This one was okay. I didn't feel strongly about it in any way. It was an interesting premise but I guess the setting felt out of place? I'm not sure, I just wasn't really impressed by this one but I didn't dislike it either. 3/5 stars
Black No. 7 - I liked the premise of this story a lot. Writing successful sci-fi short stories isn't easy, but Jaffe did a good job with this one. I wished this story was longer. Honestly, I could see this one being fleshed out into an entire novel. I think it would've been better with more detail. Otherwise, I definitely enjoyed it. 4/5 stars
The World Through Patrick - I wasn't a fan of this one. Again, it was an interesting premise but I didn't like how it was executed. 2.5/5 stars
A Simple Gesture - Definitely one of the least action packed of the stories. The plot to this one was simple, but not unenjoyable. Jaffe seems to do well with sci-fi and I liked how it was mixed with something as mundane as chess. 3.5/5
Henry's Son - I didn't like this one. The plot was interesting and kinda Aesop's Fables-sequel. Like the kind of story where there's talking animals, magic items, and you're probably some sort of lesson. But there isn't really a clear cut message. That wasn't my problem with it though. I didn't like the abuse and anger and the story felt choppy, hard to follow, and needed more to it. The ending sorta confused me. 2/5 stars
A Full Life in Twenty Four Hours - This was a weird one but I enjoyed it. A realistic amount of action and an enjoyable open-ending. It also kinda reminded me of the movie The Princess and the Frog because of the swamp setting and talking bugs. 3.5/5 stars
An Appreciation For Dragons - This is one of my favorite stories in the anthology. Of course anything with dragons is a win for me, but the combination of the couple's marriage issues added a weird but interesting twist. The ending was unexpected, but more realistic than a traditional "happy ending" 4.5/5 stars
Burdens - This one was definitely the best short story. It had the right amount of creepiness and tension and I loved how you could see Prim change as the story progressed. The setting was described really well and I had sympathy for both of the primary characters. 5/5 stars
The Three Fingers Case - Again, dragons are the way to my heart. The dragon in this story was pretty different from your traditional dragon, however. I've never read any other dragon story where the dragon wears a suit. I really enjoyed it though. The mystery was short and sweet but still a great little mystery. By the time I read this one, I noticed a lot of the male characters in these short stories are really similar and that's kinda boring. Otherwise, good story. 4/5 stars.
A Final Battle - Another thing I love is stories about pirates. So, of course, this one pulled me in right away. I did like it but it didn't really stand out to me. The inclusion of magic was a nice touch. The ending kind of confused me. 3.5/5 stars
Overall, I'd say I enjoy Jaffe's stories. I think he comes up with really creative ideas and he's very good at intertwining premises that seem totally unrelated. However, I do think his characters are all similar. Individually the characters are mostly good (Prim from Burdens was my favorite) but when you read them all in a row like that, they start to seem obnoxiously similar. Most of the main characters were male and pessimists and many got really ticked off by small things. Pessimism and anger aren't really a charming qualities.
On the whole, I'd rate this anthology 3.5 stars. There are some real gems, especially in the last few stories, but the repetition of character traits bothered me.
I'm going to review each short story individually and then make some comments on the anthology as a whole.
Bone Magic - This one was okay. I didn't feel strongly about it in any way. It was an interesting premise but I guess the setting felt out of place? I'm not sure, I just wasn't really impressed by this one but I didn't dislike it either. 3/5 stars
Black No. 7 - I liked the premise of this story a lot. Writing successful sci-fi short stories isn't easy, but Jaffe did a good job with this one. I wished this story was longer. Honestly, I could see this one being fleshed out into an entire novel. I think it would've been better with more detail. Otherwise, I definitely enjoyed it. 4/5 stars
The World Through Patrick - I wasn't a fan of this one. Again, it was an interesting premise but I didn't like how it was executed. 2.5/5 stars
A Simple Gesture - Definitely one of the least action packed of the stories. The plot to this one was simple, but not unenjoyable. Jaffe seems to do well with sci-fi and I liked how it was mixed with something as mundane as chess. 3.5/5
Henry's Son - I didn't like this one. The plot was interesting and kinda Aesop's Fables-sequel. Like the kind of story where there's talking animals, magic items, and you're probably some sort of lesson. But there isn't really a clear cut message. That wasn't my problem with it though. I didn't like the abuse and anger and the story felt choppy, hard to follow, and needed more to it. The ending sorta confused me. 2/5 stars
A Full Life in Twenty Four Hours - This was a weird one but I enjoyed it. A realistic amount of action and an enjoyable open-ending. It also kinda reminded me of the movie The Princess and the Frog because of the swamp setting and talking bugs. 3.5/5 stars
An Appreciation For Dragons - This is one of my favorite stories in the anthology. Of course anything with dragons is a win for me, but the combination of the couple's marriage issues added a weird but interesting twist. The ending was unexpected, but more realistic than a traditional "happy ending" 4.5/5 stars
Burdens - This one was definitely the best short story. It had the right amount of creepiness and tension and I loved how you could see Prim change as the story progressed. The setting was described really well and I had sympathy for both of the primary characters. 5/5 stars
The Three Fingers Case - Again, dragons are the way to my heart. The dragon in this story was pretty different from your traditional dragon, however. I've never read any other dragon story where the dragon wears a suit. I really enjoyed it though. The mystery was short and sweet but still a great little mystery. By the time I read this one, I noticed a lot of the male characters in these short stories are really similar and that's kinda boring. Otherwise, good story. 4/5 stars.
A Final Battle - Another thing I love is stories about pirates. So, of course, this one pulled me in right away. I did like it but it didn't really stand out to me. The inclusion of magic was a nice touch. The ending kind of confused me. 3.5/5 stars
Overall, I'd say I enjoy Jaffe's stories. I think he comes up with really creative ideas and he's very good at intertwining premises that seem totally unrelated. However, I do think his characters are all similar. Individually the characters are mostly good (Prim from Burdens was my favorite) but when you read them all in a row like that, they start to seem obnoxiously similar. Most of the main characters were male and pessimists and many got really ticked off by small things. Pessimism and anger aren't really a charming qualities.
On the whole, I'd rate this anthology 3.5 stars. There are some real gems, especially in the last few stories, but the repetition of character traits bothered me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews