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First Contact
First Contact - Digital Science Fiction Anthology: Original Imprint - Book 1 (54,569 words; about 192 pages in print), is an anthology of ten original science fiction short stories from professional writers. We are pleased to present in this exciting anthology a rich range of compelling new stories from established authors. In selecting stories for inclusion in this introductory edition we looked not only for exciting or novel content but for genuine literary quality. We know these science fiction tales will not only entertain, but will offer something extra as well: an aesthetic pleasure, a beauty, or a thought-provoking quality that renders them timeless.
Ten unique stories by professional science fiction authors. First Contact includes 10 first-time-published science fiction short stories by:
- Ian Creasey - How I Lost Eleven Stone and Found Love
- Ed Greenwood - Biting a Dead Man's Hand
- Ken Liu - The Caretaker
- Jennifer R. Povey - Masks
- Rob Jacobsen - Hera's Tempest
- Edward J. Knight - Roanoke Nevada
- Jessi Rita Hoffman - Nectar of the Gods
- Kenneth Schneyer - The Tortoise Parliament
- David Tallerman - Black Sun
- Curtis James McConnell - Pop Quiz
Ten unique stories by professional science fiction authors. First Contact includes 10 first-time-published science fiction short stories by:
- Ian Creasey - How I Lost Eleven Stone and Found Love
- Ed Greenwood - Biting a Dead Man's Hand
- Ken Liu - The Caretaker
- Jennifer R. Povey - Masks
- Rob Jacobsen - Hera's Tempest
- Edward J. Knight - Roanoke Nevada
- Jessi Rita Hoffman - Nectar of the Gods
- Kenneth Schneyer - The Tortoise Parliament
- David Tallerman - Black Sun
- Curtis James McConnell - Pop Quiz
165 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2011
47 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 22, 2021
It would be reasonable to think that this would be about first contact with aliens based on the title and the cover, but that'd be wrong. There are aliens, but the more important first contact tends to be of the empathetic sort. A meeting of minds, for better and worse. This reminds of when I read the Alien Sex anthologies, which would've been more accurately called Alienated Sex.
How I Lost Eleven Stone and Found Love - Ian Creasey
The protagonist has an alien pet that sucks out his fat. His love interest finds the sucking to be highly erotic.
Meh
Biting a Dead Man’s Hand - Ed Greenwood
In 1816, the powers of Europe gather to watch a demonstration of a flying ship, then they begin dying. I found the story to be rather incongruous. It's somewhat strange for me to read a story like this from Greenwood.
Meh
The Caretaker - Ken Liu
At first it was mildly reminiscent of Ted Chiang's "Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" that was published in the same year. By the end it had much more in common with Samanta Schweblin's "Little Eyes", which was published several years later. A robot takes care of a disabled elderly man.
Ok
Masks - Jennifer R. Povey
Planet of the Furs. As with apes, but with a different animal. Nothing is explained in the slightest. It's just how the world is.
Ok
Hera’s Tempest - Rob Jacobsen
A sociopath confronts an immobile half-human/half-machine murderer. I laughed.
Ok
Roanoke, Nevada - Edward J. Knight
The US government has been hiding aliens for decades, but now they're dying and neither the aliens nor the humans have any idea why. A microbiologist is brought in and he conducts a methodical epidemiological study. I'm conflicted about the ending.
Enjoyable
Nectar of the Gods - Jessi Rita Hoffman
What if all the conspiracies were true? You don't believe them? You better, you're one of them. It's rather hamfisted in its presentation, but I still chuckled a few times.
Ok
The Tortoise Parliament - Kenneth Schneyer
This is a consideration of the difficulties a galactic confederation faces in a universe where messages take decades to arrive at the galactic parliament. The story takes place mostly through parliamentary proceedings. I'll have to read more from this author as he could be one that I particularly enjoy.
Highly Enjoyable
Black Sun - David Tallerman
I wasn't expecting this to be horror based on how it started, but that worked as well. I found his voice to be interesting. It reminded me of a mix of golden age SF, classic anime, and a few other media. Based on his website, that's about right. I'll look into his work more, but this may be an outlier as it relies a lot on my specific personal history.
Enjoyable
Pop Quiz - Curtis James McConnell
Reminded me of the Voigt-Kampff test from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by PKD, though in this case for detecting an alien species. A very humorous ending.
Enjoyable
How I Lost Eleven Stone and Found Love - Ian Creasey
The protagonist has an alien pet that sucks out his fat. His love interest finds the sucking to be highly erotic.
Meh
Biting a Dead Man’s Hand - Ed Greenwood
In 1816, the powers of Europe gather to watch a demonstration of a flying ship, then they begin dying. I found the story to be rather incongruous. It's somewhat strange for me to read a story like this from Greenwood.
Meh
The Caretaker - Ken Liu
At first it was mildly reminiscent of Ted Chiang's "Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" that was published in the same year. By the end it had much more in common with Samanta Schweblin's "Little Eyes", which was published several years later. A robot takes care of a disabled elderly man.
Ok
Masks - Jennifer R. Povey
Planet of the Furs. As with apes, but with a different animal. Nothing is explained in the slightest. It's just how the world is.
Ok
Hera’s Tempest - Rob Jacobsen
A sociopath confronts an immobile half-human/half-machine murderer. I laughed.
Ok
Roanoke, Nevada - Edward J. Knight
The US government has been hiding aliens for decades, but now they're dying and neither the aliens nor the humans have any idea why. A microbiologist is brought in and he conducts a methodical epidemiological study. I'm conflicted about the ending.
Enjoyable
Nectar of the Gods - Jessi Rita Hoffman
What if all the conspiracies were true? You don't believe them? You better, you're one of them. It's rather hamfisted in its presentation, but I still chuckled a few times.
Ok
The Tortoise Parliament - Kenneth Schneyer
This is a consideration of the difficulties a galactic confederation faces in a universe where messages take decades to arrive at the galactic parliament. The story takes place mostly through parliamentary proceedings. I'll have to read more from this author as he could be one that I particularly enjoy.
Highly Enjoyable
Black Sun - David Tallerman
I wasn't expecting this to be horror based on how it started, but that worked as well. I found his voice to be interesting. It reminded me of a mix of golden age SF, classic anime, and a few other media. Based on his website, that's about right. I'll look into his work more, but this may be an outlier as it relies a lot on my specific personal history.
Enjoyable
Pop Quiz - Curtis James McConnell
Reminded me of the Voigt-Kampff test from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by PKD, though in this case for detecting an alien species. A very humorous ending.
Enjoyable
June 12, 2017
Very disappointed.
While the stories were ok, nothing fantastic, not one had anything to do with first contact. I would not have wasted my money on it had I known the true contents. The title was purposefully misleading.
While the stories were ok, nothing fantastic, not one had anything to do with first contact. I would not have wasted my money on it had I known the true contents. The title was purposefully misleading.
May 22, 2017
I don't care for short stories but this was a free kindle book so i tried it out. a few of the stories were quite good and some weren't or maybe I just didn't "get" them.
January 21, 2018
Nice collection
This was a fine selection of stories. Quite enjoyable. Although nothing stands out in my mind as exceptional, overall they were well worth reading.
This was a fine selection of stories. Quite enjoyable. Although nothing stands out in my mind as exceptional, overall they were well worth reading.
July 11, 2018
Mi aspettavo qualcosina di più originale, ma non posso dire di essere rimasto deluso da questa antologia fantascientifica.
July 24, 2012
Maybe 2.5 stars. I got this free from my Amazon Prime lending library, and it was an enjoyable collection of short stories. Overall, I found the story topics and treatment surpassed my expectations from the title; it wasn't 10 different Star Trek-like explorations of strange new worlds, but a varied rethinking of the ideas of contact, in a variety of sci-fi and fantasy settings. Honestly, I probably wouldn't pay for it, but I'll definitely look at any of the other anthologies that I can snag from the library!
February 23, 2015
Great science fiction stories
This book I had a long time before I got to it. I wish there were more like it. Black Sun was the only one that seemed to drag but maybe others would like it. It is really great to have this type of volume that you can read continuously or one at a time. It is well worth the price.of $4.99
This book I had a long time before I got to it. I wish there were more like it. Black Sun was the only one that seemed to drag but maybe others would like it. It is really great to have this type of volume that you can read continuously or one at a time. It is well worth the price.of $4.99
July 31, 2012
These Science Fiction anthologies from Digital Science Fiction are rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. This is the first one I read, and have since read a second, and both have had some really good stories in them. I highly recommend these to anyone who enjoys good speculative fiction.
July 20, 2011
Great first start can't wait to read more!
May 19, 2013
A number of good Sci-Fi short stories here. I particularly liked "Pop Quiz" by Curtis James McConnell - the punch line is worth the read.
November 23, 2015
Like any collection, some were outstanding, some were good, and a couple not-so-hot-so. Overall worth your time if you are a science fiction fan.
March 11, 2016
Stories cropped short.
The stories ere well written, engaging, but just as I was starting to identify with characters, the stories ended. These would do well with a longer length.
The stories ere well written, engaging, but just as I was starting to identify with characters, the stories ended. These would do well with a longer length.
August 4, 2016
Nice stories
Someday I will right stories as s retraining as these. Nice endings that I could savor. Different from the classic human - alien plots.
Someday I will right stories as s retraining as these. Nice endings that I could savor. Different from the classic human - alien plots.
August 13, 2016
Combined the review of this with "Hooey"" of Digital Science Fiction Anthology.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews