Scribings, Vol 4: Miscreations

by Jamie Alan Belanger

Miscreations are things that should not exist, but do. An event happens that transforms an entity into something so amazingly good or so horribly evil that you can't help but be fascinated by its existence.

Scribings, Vol 4: Miscreations contains twelve stories from the Greater Portland Scribists that explore these oddities. Errors in evolution. Discoveries in supposedly clean rooms. Extreme memory loss. Appliances that are a little too smart. Mythical beasts reborn. And one joke that went way too far.

254 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2014

About the author

Jamie Alan Belanger lives in Maine, where he shares a home with seven computers, a rebellious toaster, and an alarming number of half-finished universes. He currently works as a freelance software engineer, architect, and troubleshooter for his company Syntax Sorcery. He devotes any free time to his other company, Lost Luggage Studios, where he is a programmer, designer, writer, editor, publisher, graphic artist, photographer, and more.

In short, Jamie is a workaholic who is rarely more than two days away from having a meaningful conversation with his toaster. His hobbies include WW2 and computer history, artificial intelligence theory, cooking, beer, nature, photography, and designing worlds he'd rather live in.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as part of GoodReads First Reads giveaway.

This an anthology of 12 short stories that share the common theme of being about 'miscreations.' Things where something went wrong (for good or for ill or neither) when it was born or made.

The thing I like about themed anthologies is figuring out how each story fits the theme and the unique approach that each author takes. This story has horror/suspense stories, rather comedic stories and some that are just strange. A few that stand out in particular are Breed by Timothy Lynch (a story about spider monsters from Japanese folklore), The Joke by Richard Veysey (about someone taking a joke way too seriously or maybe about why you should be careful when joking about serious topics), Room Two by Steven Inman (not about discovering extraterrestrial life but alien life just the same) and My Toaster Hates Me by Jamie Alan Belanger (this is why I don't like 'smart' appliances and it's hilarious).

I will note that the anthology didn't feel like a 'whole'. The theme of miscreations didn't really hold everything together like it should. In some the miscreation theme seems like a real stretch but this is at first look (I'm sure I could be persuaded on some of these stories). But ultimately, the tone of the stories don't hold together well. For example, My Toaster Hates Me is genuinely funny and The Joke is truly chilling but together in the same book it's kind of mood whiplash. Maybe this could be mitigated by not reading straight through though.

With few exceptions each story is good on it's own and individually I'd rate these stories higher. But the together the tone the tone clashes. If that wouldn't bother you, by all means check this one out.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty interesting bundle of short stories encompassing everything from science fiction and future, to fantasy and religion (not obnoxious religion though). Most were of supernatural themes.
My favorite three:
1) "My Toaster Hates Me!"
2) "The Joke"
3) "The Hunt"

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.