Personal Paradise

Windrose Chronicles #4.5

by Barbara Hambly

A novelette of 15,000 words. The Personal Paradise Secure Community Corporation specializes in producing tiny enclave universes as vacation homes for the rich and famous. Unfortunately, something goes wrong with their Void technology and all these enclaves - and everyone in them - lose touch with the corporation's central computer. Exiled wizard Antryg Windrose and his partner, computer programmer Joanna Sheraton, are hired to find out what the problem is, and to bring the enclaves back, before the enclaves themselves collapse (killing everyone in them). And Joanna suspects that the corporate representatives have not told her and Antryg the whole truth of what the enclaves are, or how the problem appeared.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2015

About the author

aka Barbara Hamilton

Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.


"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly

Reviews

[Heather D-G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short had a fun premise: what if a greedy corporation was selling condos (essentially) in a pocket universe, created with technology that they didn’t understand? Of course something goes horribly wrong, and of course Antryg and Joanna get called in to fix it.
I didn’t care for the relationship dithering, but otherwise I enjoyed this.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the premise of this one. It's so frighteningly believable, that a company would set up shop across multiple enclaves in the Void. But I did find the politics and lifestyle of the people Joanna and Antryg met to be a bit confusing, mostly because there wasn't enough space for them to be properly developed.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joy to behold

Once again, a terror filled continuation of the Antryg & Joanna saga. Looking forward to more of these works. Thank you

[Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful! More Joanna and Antryg!

[Lia Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favourite amongst the Antrig / Joanna novelettes, simply for the original idea of the rich renting their own little pocket universes.

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novelette, Windrose Chronicles. A fun story with two of my favourite characters.