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Soulmates
"This book will be remembered as one of the major collections of the decade."—Robert J. Sawyer"Standouts include…Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn’s beautifully sad “Benchwarmer,” which takes us into the world of imaginary friends, and introduces us to one friend who simply can’t let go of the boy who created him."—io9"That’s [Soulmates] the second story that will be considered by me for next year’s Hugos; this one in the Novelette category."—SFRevu"In a classic example of cognitive estrangement, we learn the absurdity of our own cultural norms as seen by those on the outside…effectively played to humorous effect." (on :"Report from the Field")—SFSignalMultiple award-winning authors, Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn, get to the heart of the matter in Soulmates, which showcases all the words they have penned together over their years as collaborators (with a bonus solo piece by each). Whether a robot, alien, some kind of supernatural being or human, rising above our prejudices and ignorance allows us to make emotional connections that can have a profound effect on our lives.Each of these stories examine a facet of the simple, yet incredibly complex, concept of companionship. They will make you laugh; will make you cry…but most importantly they will make you look at the very basic notion of soul-mates in a different light.
210 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2016
34 people are currently reading
406 people want to read
About the author
Mike Resnick
812 books551 followersMichael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 29, 2020
I am familiar with Mike Resnick's work from the spec fic magazines I subscribe to, but Lezli Robyn is a new author to me. I liked most of the stories in here, but I was not too fond of "Hunting the Snark." It was a clever interpretation of the poem, but I don't like the old chestnut about big game hunters on an unexplored planet. Been there, done that.
I did like "Android of Green Gables." Wouldn't mind seeing that one fleshed out into a novella.
I did like "Android of Green Gables." Wouldn't mind seeing that one fleshed out into a novella.
February 5, 2017
"Soulmates" by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn is a pleasant collection of nine science fiction stories. The only relatively weak entry is “Report from the Field”. The idea of Earth’s society being examined by an extra-terrestrial observer is fairly common and there is little of interest in this rather tedious attempt. However, there is a fairly clever little sting in the tail but I’m not sure it is worth grinding through the story to get to it.
That said, every other tale provides interesting and enjoyable reading. Two stories are individual efforts.
Lezli Robyn gives us “Anne-Droid of Green Gables”--a delightful take on the Avonlea books by Lucy Montgomery. I look forward to a planned expansion of the story. Resnick’s fine “Hunting the Snark” is a very unusual piece that interpolates sections from the poem into key moments of the strange plot.
The remainder of the stories are collaborations and (with the exception mentioned above) they all work well. ‘Benchwarmer” is an unusual and sensitive study of a child’s fantasy-friend. I found the gentle “Idle Rooner” a bit reminiscent in tone to Simak”s “A Death In The House” though the plots are entirely different. “The Close Shave” and “Making the Cut” are quite entertaining comic pieces. They are followed by “Shame” which is quite serious in tone and theme. The excellent title story rounds off the collection and while it certainly is a stand-alone, I felt that it could possibly initiate a series.
Each story is accompanied by interesting remarks by the authors.
All-in-all the collection is well-organised, varied, imaginative and gives considerable pleasure.
That said, every other tale provides interesting and enjoyable reading. Two stories are individual efforts.
Lezli Robyn gives us “Anne-Droid of Green Gables”--a delightful take on the Avonlea books by Lucy Montgomery. I look forward to a planned expansion of the story. Resnick’s fine “Hunting the Snark” is a very unusual piece that interpolates sections from the poem into key moments of the strange plot.
The remainder of the stories are collaborations and (with the exception mentioned above) they all work well. ‘Benchwarmer” is an unusual and sensitive study of a child’s fantasy-friend. I found the gentle “Idle Rooner” a bit reminiscent in tone to Simak”s “A Death In The House” though the plots are entirely different. “The Close Shave” and “Making the Cut” are quite entertaining comic pieces. They are followed by “Shame” which is quite serious in tone and theme. The excellent title story rounds off the collection and while it certainly is a stand-alone, I felt that it could possibly initiate a series.
Each story is accompanied by interesting remarks by the authors.
All-in-all the collection is well-organised, varied, imaginative and gives considerable pleasure.
June 17, 2018
Soulmates is a very good collection of stories by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn, including seven collaborations and one each solo. My two favorite stories are the solo ones, Anne-Droid of Green Gables by Robyn and Hunting the Snark by Resnick, and I don't know if that's significant or not. Also included are: Benchwarmer, a very nice sentimental fantasy; Idle Roomer, perhaps my favorite of the collaborations; Report from the Field, a '50's-style gimmick story that seemed overly familiar; The Close Shave and Making the Cut, two Damon Runyon-esque silly fantasies; Shame, a nice moralistic Analog story marred only by the statement on page one that the town had been completely abandoned for a long while and then the introduction of the inhabitant on page two; and finally the title story, a very good robot story that reminded me of Simak's City and some of Resnick's earlier excellent work.
partly-read
June 2, 2019DNF at 34%.
What I expected was highly competent and compelling writing from much-lauded professionals.
What I got was lightweight sentimentality, which, in the pre-release version I got from Netgalley, badly needed very basic copy editing.
The stories are linear, the characters minimally developed, and the emotional beats, for me, lacked much punch, though I did enjoy their positivity.
I often read extremely well-written, but dark, fiction and wish it was kinder and happier. Reading this, which is kinder and happier but no more than barely competent, I wished for something that combined the best of both worlds. It must be out there somewhere, but I didn't find it here.
What I expected was highly competent and compelling writing from much-lauded professionals.
What I got was lightweight sentimentality, which, in the pre-release version I got from Netgalley, badly needed very basic copy editing.
The stories are linear, the characters minimally developed, and the emotional beats, for me, lacked much punch, though I did enjoy their positivity.
I often read extremely well-written, but dark, fiction and wish it was kinder and happier. Reading this, which is kinder and happier but no more than barely competent, I wished for something that combined the best of both worlds. It must be out there somewhere, but I didn't find it here.
December 30, 2016
A collection of short stories, one by each of the authors and five collaborations, two of which gained awards. The standard is high - and while the two winners deserve their award there is not a duff story in there. The two solo efforts are, oddly, both based on classic works - 'Anne-Droid of Green Gables' on the LM Montgomery book which I have recently read, luckily, so I was able to better gauge how cleverly the 'junior' author had used that original; 'Hunting the Snark' on the Lewis Carroll poem and there are many references to it, including several of the characters as well as the name of the alien planet: several stanzas are quoted in full at appropriate times in the narrative.
The two award-winners bookend the collection. 'Benchwarmer' is a heart-tugging story about a toy who is abandoned by its owner and waits patiently for almost seventy years to be recalled to service. 'Soulmates' are a widower who feels guilt for switching off the life-support of his wife after a motor accident and a robot at the factory where he is night watchman.
Three of the remaining stories have touches of light comedy and the final two have things to say about the human condition, or aspects of it.
A more than decent collection - Resnick is well known, of course and the newcomer, Lezli Robyn, is a name to watch.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
The two award-winners bookend the collection. 'Benchwarmer' is a heart-tugging story about a toy who is abandoned by its owner and waits patiently for almost seventy years to be recalled to service. 'Soulmates' are a widower who feels guilt for switching off the life-support of his wife after a motor accident and a robot at the factory where he is night watchman.
Three of the remaining stories have touches of light comedy and the final two have things to say about the human condition, or aspects of it.
A more than decent collection - Resnick is well known, of course and the newcomer, Lezli Robyn, is a name to watch.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
July 20, 2017
"Anne-Droid of Green Gables" just blew me away. "Benchwarmer" and "Soulmates" were also particularly good. I also especially enjoyed both "The Close Shave" and "Making the Cut", especially the joint setting of these two stories in a paranormal barbershop. Not surprisingly, the rest of the stories in Soulmates were up to snuff, too (nary a bad story in the bunch).
Soulmates is a collaboration by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn. I had been reading and enjoying novels by award-winning author Mike Resnick for some time now. Lezli Robyn was new to me. All but two of the stories were collaborations. "Anne-Droid" of Green Gables (my favorite by far) was by Ms. Robyn alone. "Hunting the Snark" (yes, Lewis Carroll in space) was by Mike Resnick alone.
All of the stories in this collection are about "companionship" and are largely light-hearted.
Sometimes I don't read enough humorous science fiction. Some of the stories, however, are heart-wrenching.
These stories are also universal. In fact, quite a few have been translated into other languages and either have been nominated for or won literary prizes in other countries.
In short, this Soulmates short story collection is a special treat not to be missed!!
Soulmates is a collaboration by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn. I had been reading and enjoying novels by award-winning author Mike Resnick for some time now. Lezli Robyn was new to me. All but two of the stories were collaborations. "Anne-Droid" of Green Gables (my favorite by far) was by Ms. Robyn alone. "Hunting the Snark" (yes, Lewis Carroll in space) was by Mike Resnick alone.
All of the stories in this collection are about "companionship" and are largely light-hearted.
Sometimes I don't read enough humorous science fiction. Some of the stories, however, are heart-wrenching.
These stories are also universal. In fact, quite a few have been translated into other languages and either have been nominated for or won literary prizes in other countries.
In short, this Soulmates short story collection is a special treat not to be missed!!
February 17, 2017
Soulmates is a collection of short stories by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn that consists of jointly and individually written stories. They are all "nice and heartwarming" type of story, that are pleasant but unremarkable.
That was the case until the final story, which happens to be the title story of this collection as well. Soulmates was different. It was intelligent and thought provoking, and easily the highlight of this collection. It is also one of the collaborations between the two authors. A fragment started by Mike Resnick that turned into a masterpiece when another mind was added into the mix. This story is a great example of why two minds are greater than one. Which, in a way, is an underlying theme of Soulmates as well.
I would wholeheartedly recommend reading Soulmates. The rest of the stories are nice but did not do anything for me.
That was the case until the final story, which happens to be the title story of this collection as well. Soulmates was different. It was intelligent and thought provoking, and easily the highlight of this collection. It is also one of the collaborations between the two authors. A fragment started by Mike Resnick that turned into a masterpiece when another mind was added into the mix. This story is a great example of why two minds are greater than one. Which, in a way, is an underlying theme of Soulmates as well.
I would wholeheartedly recommend reading Soulmates. The rest of the stories are nice but did not do anything for me.
November 4, 2017
In a nutshell: do not miss it.
Not just because some stories got awards ... they are all enjoyable.
The title of an anthology can have varying sources. I read this one thinking that "soulmates" was a common theme for the stories ... which did fit more or less several stories. I then discovered that it was the title of the last and longest story, a frequent metonymical way of naming the whole from a part. This may explain some of my comments, written as I was reading.
Well, whatever the title, I enjoyed the book (which I bought twice, after losing my first copy). Actually, this is the second Phoenix Pick anthology I am enjoying and rating accordingly ... and I became afraid of becoming too soft, not critical enough. Fortunately, I read another anthology in the mean time (I will not name it) which pretty systematically dispelled my fears: I still can dislike stories. But Soulmates happens to be excellent..
One would guess that empathy is an essential ingredient of this anthology. But it raises neighbouring questions regarding sentience and communication. Is sentience really distinct from intelligence, or from ability to communicate? Some would think so, but I have doubts. These themes come back throughout in several stories, in different forms.
The first story, "Benchwarmer". is a bit remindful of the TV episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" from The Twilight Zone (episode 4 of season 3, 22 dec 1961), though all the pleasure and the quality is in the bitter-sweet writing, and the connection with real human perception of our hidden private world, which could also translate into the existence of a parallel fantasy world.
"Idle Roomer" is one of the best stories, low-key, very original in the setting and telling, and in what it does not tell. It reminds me of the late French singer Georges Brassens: "... toi l'étranger qui sans façon d'un air malheureux m'a souri ...".
The third story, "Report From the Field", more scifi than fantasy, is amusing and easy to read. However it feels to me like a quick job and does not seem written with the care and subtlety one would expect from these two authors, maybe because they had too much fun writing it. Thematically, I have to compare it with Resnick's celebrated "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge", which I have not read yet. Not sure that it really belong to the apparent theme of the collection, unless it is "a contrario".
"Anne-droid of Green Gables" is a very charming steampunk tale, a bit in the line of Pinocchio. Coming of age may be a family thing.
The fifth story is a treat. With its title "Hunting the Snark" it is unsurprisingly about a safari. I first thought it was off theme. But it is a frumious and brillig story that should outgrabe all readers. I would hate to spoil it by saying more.
"The Close Shave" is (with "Report From the Field") the humorous contribution to the anthology. The authors are certainly not the first at turning horror themes into their humorous satire, but this one had me laugh aloud. There are so many mythological theme to be thus mixed for fun, and it is always enjoyable to see some disrespect for these classics. The story was apparently so successful that the authors were asked for seconds, which they served in "Making the Cut".
"Shame" is one of those eternal stories (up to variations) that can take place anywhere, in any time period. I read of one actual instance occurring (with some changes) during WW2, though my guess is that it occurred much more often than it is reported. This SciFi rendering is a good opportunity to remind readers that facts are often not what they seem to be, and that we should be careful with definitive decisions.
Historically, science-fiction was a literary device to help explore real issues in a context that made this exploration easier for intellectual, social or political reasons. It has the advantage of disconnecting the discussion from reality and increases our freedom for creating a background where issues may appear more clearly, or in an unusual light so as to make them more obvious or understandable, possibly removing many of the constraints of real life. Of course, artistic and literary aspects are certainly not to be ignored, but I always enjoy it when a SciFi novel gives me food for thoughts, or simply a new way to look at issues.
This is certainly the case with the last story "Soulmates", a great novelette about robots, life, care and responsibility, discussed in a simple and effective setting. This novelette is enough to justifies reading this anthology.
Not just because some stories got awards ... they are all enjoyable.
The title of an anthology can have varying sources. I read this one thinking that "soulmates" was a common theme for the stories ... which did fit more or less several stories. I then discovered that it was the title of the last and longest story, a frequent metonymical way of naming the whole from a part. This may explain some of my comments, written as I was reading.
Well, whatever the title, I enjoyed the book (which I bought twice, after losing my first copy). Actually, this is the second Phoenix Pick anthology I am enjoying and rating accordingly ... and I became afraid of becoming too soft, not critical enough. Fortunately, I read another anthology in the mean time (I will not name it) which pretty systematically dispelled my fears: I still can dislike stories. But Soulmates happens to be excellent..
One would guess that empathy is an essential ingredient of this anthology. But it raises neighbouring questions regarding sentience and communication. Is sentience really distinct from intelligence, or from ability to communicate? Some would think so, but I have doubts. These themes come back throughout in several stories, in different forms.
The first story, "Benchwarmer". is a bit remindful of the TV episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" from The Twilight Zone (episode 4 of season 3, 22 dec 1961), though all the pleasure and the quality is in the bitter-sweet writing, and the connection with real human perception of our hidden private world, which could also translate into the existence of a parallel fantasy world.
"Idle Roomer" is one of the best stories, low-key, very original in the setting and telling, and in what it does not tell. It reminds me of the late French singer Georges Brassens: "... toi l'étranger qui sans façon d'un air malheureux m'a souri ...".
The third story, "Report From the Field", more scifi than fantasy, is amusing and easy to read. However it feels to me like a quick job and does not seem written with the care and subtlety one would expect from these two authors, maybe because they had too much fun writing it. Thematically, I have to compare it with Resnick's celebrated "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge", which I have not read yet. Not sure that it really belong to the apparent theme of the collection, unless it is "a contrario".
"Anne-droid of Green Gables" is a very charming steampunk tale, a bit in the line of Pinocchio. Coming of age may be a family thing.
The fifth story is a treat. With its title "Hunting the Snark" it is unsurprisingly about a safari. I first thought it was off theme. But it is a frumious and brillig story that should outgrabe all readers. I would hate to spoil it by saying more.
"The Close Shave" is (with "Report From the Field") the humorous contribution to the anthology. The authors are certainly not the first at turning horror themes into their humorous satire, but this one had me laugh aloud. There are so many mythological theme to be thus mixed for fun, and it is always enjoyable to see some disrespect for these classics. The story was apparently so successful that the authors were asked for seconds, which they served in "Making the Cut".
"Shame" is one of those eternal stories (up to variations) that can take place anywhere, in any time period. I read of one actual instance occurring (with some changes) during WW2, though my guess is that it occurred much more often than it is reported. This SciFi rendering is a good opportunity to remind readers that facts are often not what they seem to be, and that we should be careful with definitive decisions.
Historically, science-fiction was a literary device to help explore real issues in a context that made this exploration easier for intellectual, social or political reasons. It has the advantage of disconnecting the discussion from reality and increases our freedom for creating a background where issues may appear more clearly, or in an unusual light so as to make them more obvious or understandable, possibly removing many of the constraints of real life. Of course, artistic and literary aspects are certainly not to be ignored, but I always enjoy it when a SciFi novel gives me food for thoughts, or simply a new way to look at issues.
This is certainly the case with the last story "Soulmates", a great novelette about robots, life, care and responsibility, discussed in a simple and effective setting. This novelette is enough to justifies reading this anthology.
Read
October 1, 2019Mike Resnick was interesting in general, but particularly as regards collaboration, in the interview collection Conversations From The Edge. I'd not really read much of his stuff, despite him holding some kind of record for short fiction awards, and none of Lezli Robyn's, so given this was on Netgalley for the asking, I thought I might as well take a punt. And it's a curious beast. There are writers' notes, such as seem to be increasingly common in collections, and normally I welcome that trend, but here many are curiously uninformative – even at only a paragraph long, some feel padded (who bar the authors and their accountants cares that their first collaboration has "since sold to Italy and Greece"?). And really, alarm bells should maybe have started ringing when they admit with an equal lack of self-consciousness that the first story here is their best. Benchwarmer really is lovely, though – the tale of a niche imaginary friend, it's a tearjerker fit to stand alongside Inside Out or Happy!. Whereas something like Report From The Field, a Fermi Paradox explanation in the form of an alien's feedback on Earth, alternates blindingly obvious critiques of human foolishness with 'humorous' misunderstandings in a way which would be fine for a teenager's creative writing exercise, but really doesn't pass muster as professional work. Each also contributes one non-collaborative story; her solo effort, Anne Droid of Green Gables, is a delight, though I may have extratextual reasons for feeling this way. His, while also an homage, is both the longest and probably the most pointless story here, recasting Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark as an extrasolar big game hunt, which while it does have a good twist at the end, still feels a lot like missing the point. There are also a couple of stories about a barbershop for supernatural entities which are passably amusing, but this sort of stuff has been done better elsewhere plenty of times. For the most part, it's fine, but that blurb suggesting "one of the major collections of the decade" could hardly be further from the mark.
July 30, 2019
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Soulmates is a collaborative collection (is it an anthology if it's only 2 authors? Not quite sure) authored by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn. The 9 short stories were all previously published between 1999 and 2011 but are gathered here in one volume for the first time. 7 of them are collaborations, the two others are solo, one for each author.
Originally released in 2016, it's 210 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
I'm very fond of short fiction collections because there's almost always a story which fits whatever reading mood I'm in and if the story I'm reading doesn't satisfy, there's another one coming in a few pages. Happily all these stories appealed. They range from SF pulp formula story (Report From the Field), to sentimental fantasy (Benchwarmer), to homage (Anne-droid of Green Gables). All 9 are competently written and eminently readable, all are worth a look. I can't easily put it into words, but I realized after I finished reading that they left me with a distinctly nostalgic vibe.
Whenever I see collaborative fiction, especially when I'm familiar with one of the authors, I always wind up trying to see where/how they collaborated and find myself wondering about their writing process. Sometimes it's easy, this time it wasn't. I don't have a clue about their collaborative process, but the writing is seamless.
I enjoyed this collection very much. The stories ranged from about a 3-5 star range, and average 4 stars for the book.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Soulmates is a collaborative collection (is it an anthology if it's only 2 authors? Not quite sure) authored by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn. The 9 short stories were all previously published between 1999 and 2011 but are gathered here in one volume for the first time. 7 of them are collaborations, the two others are solo, one for each author.
Originally released in 2016, it's 210 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
I'm very fond of short fiction collections because there's almost always a story which fits whatever reading mood I'm in and if the story I'm reading doesn't satisfy, there's another one coming in a few pages. Happily all these stories appealed. They range from SF pulp formula story (Report From the Field), to sentimental fantasy (Benchwarmer), to homage (Anne-droid of Green Gables). All 9 are competently written and eminently readable, all are worth a look. I can't easily put it into words, but I realized after I finished reading that they left me with a distinctly nostalgic vibe.
Whenever I see collaborative fiction, especially when I'm familiar with one of the authors, I always wind up trying to see where/how they collaborated and find myself wondering about their writing process. Sometimes it's easy, this time it wasn't. I don't have a clue about their collaborative process, but the writing is seamless.
I enjoyed this collection very much. The stories ranged from about a 3-5 star range, and average 4 stars for the book.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
October 3, 2023
Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn have been writing together for what seems like forever. I am so happy to have read new stories from them and see how their writing has evolved over the years.
I really enjoyed reading so many variations of the idea of soulmates. The short stories contained in this volume are so well written, you will wish they were longer. It is really easy to get completely absorbed by each story and they are a delight to read.
I really enjoyed reading so many variations of the idea of soulmates. The short stories contained in this volume are so well written, you will wish they were longer. It is really easy to get completely absorbed by each story and they are a delight to read.
April 29, 2020
I LOVED this book! So many of the stories linger after reading them, and different genres as well. I'm glad I entered the Goodreads giveaway or I probably wouldn't have picked this up. I will be looking for other works by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn.
May 10, 2020
A very excellent book of short stories relating to soulmates. Some of them are poignant, while some of them make you go “hmmmm”.
This collection of short stories done in collaboration with the talented Lezli Robyn is truly a pleasure to read, and a treasure for any fan!
This collection of short stories done in collaboration with the talented Lezli Robyn is truly a pleasure to read, and a treasure for any fan!
June 2, 2020
Soulmates is the best robot story!
I hate writing reviews because I don’t like to recap a story or ruin the fun of reading it for yourself the first time. I am sure synopses or recaps are all over. I will merely say this was a very satisfying story!
I hate writing reviews because I don’t like to recap a story or ruin the fun of reading it for yourself the first time. I am sure synopses or recaps are all over. I will merely say this was a very satisfying story!
May 21, 2020
Excellent book!!!
May 25, 2020
good stories.
June 6, 2022
Excellent collection of stories, well worth reading.
March 20, 2023
These feel like old-fashioned short stories. Some are funny, some are like the Twilight Zone, and all are fairly predictable. Good clean fun with no real ups or downs.
February 23, 2012
This is a short story published in Asimov's so you can't really consider it a book but it's such a lovely tale that I just had to mention it. What is it about?
Gary loses his wife Kathy, his soulmate, he has to unplug her and let her die because she's brain dead after a car accident. But he feels so guilty he starts drinking and his alcoholism threatens his job as a night watchman in a factory. But then he meets the troubleshooting robot MOZ-512 and they become friends.
The story is really short, around 9k words, but the friendship between a man and a machine that starts questioning its programming is wonderful! Do read it if you come across it, it's worth it!
Gary loses his wife Kathy, his soulmate, he has to unplug her and let her die because she's brain dead after a car accident. But he feels so guilty he starts drinking and his alcoholism threatens his job as a night watchman in a factory. But then he meets the troubleshooting robot MOZ-512 and they become friends.
The story is really short, around 9k words, but the friendship between a man and a machine that starts questioning its programming is wonderful! Do read it if you come across it, it's worth it!
September 22, 2012
A food for thought dish, would have amounted to 5 stars if the ending had been done better.
April 3, 2017
Soulmates by Mike Renick and Lezli Robyn is a collection of short stories that express life through a slightly different lens. The opening story, "Benchwarmer" tells of children's toys and pretend friends. Boy and Mr. Paloobi are a wonderful pair. The reader views the world from the perspective of the imaginary toys. The Boy as Old Man needs Mr. Paloobi again to play chess and keep him company. The slightly tilted lens of these stories includes aliens, monsters, and talking cats. Readers of science fiction, short stories, and of "Twilight-Zone" style fiction will be delighted with this collection. Fine writing and good characters provide an entertaining reading opportunity.
May 2, 2017
A wonderful collection of stories. Benchwarmer and Hunting the Snark were my favorites. The only one I found lacking was Report From The Field. It didn't feel all that original or terribly well written. The rest were well worth the read however.
Want to read
July 4, 2017Phoenix Pick's free book of the month for July 2017. The suggested deal price is $1.99, but you can change it to zero. Available in DRM-free mobi or epub. You don't need an account with them, but they do want an email address.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews