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Rebirth: Havok Season One

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WARNING: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE.

This book may include mysterious thieves, soul-weary assassins, paranormal archivists, reformed vampires, apprentice magicians, and clown armies.

You may be transported to a small moon orbiting Neptune, a bridge that erases your past, a store selling re-purposed family members, a dinner party served by fey waiters, a haunted golf course, or an island at the edge of the world where magic finally died—and is reborn. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Rebirth: Havok Season One is a collection of flash fiction stories from forty-four different authors, including never-before seen work from bestselling and award-winning authors James Scott Bell, David Farland, Robert Liparulo, DiAnn Mills, and Kerry Nietz. From fantasy tales about magical rebirth to science fiction stories about time loops and second chances, the entire collection celebrates the theme of starting anew.

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2019

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Andrew Winch

77 books12 followers

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5 stars
26 (61%)
4 stars
14 (33%)
3 stars
1 (2%)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Nicole Dust.
197 reviews34 followers
July 30, 2019
Did I love all the stories in here? No.

But did the ones I love overpower the ones I didn’t? YOU BET THEY DID.

One of my personal favorites is The Devil Went Down to Costco. This story is the actual best thing ever. Maybe it’s because I’m a grocery store employee. But it’s genuinely funny.
Profile Image for R.F. Gammon.
850 reviews255 followers
July 28, 2019
I don't love all of these stories but most of them are FANTASTIC.
Profile Image for Kristiana Sfirlea.
Author 8 books55 followers
August 9, 2019
The best thing about this anthology is no matter what genre of speculative fiction you like best, there's going to be a sizable chunk of stories in here that you'll adore.

And the rest of them? Well, you might just find yourself enjoying new genres and styles that you'd never considered before!

These are my personal, five star favorites (in order of appearance):

When Magic Died by Michael Dolan
Now THIS is the way to start a book! Comical dragons, snarky magic, a great big serving of "let's make fun of fantasy tropes" - how can you NOT love this story?

Bitten by Jessie L. Roberts
Vampires vs. werewolves. A tale as old as time - plenty of time before Twilight. And this one with a clever twist. I'm always rooting for my werewolves, and these guys are ready to send those vamps packing in their coffins!

Ordained by Tracey Dyck
A richly developed fantasy world...in under five pages. An endearing protagonist who draws you deeply into her plight...in under five pages. This story accomplishes a lot in under five pages.

If These Walls Could Talk by J.L. Knight
Can I get a "CREEP-AY"? We're talking MAJOR chills. Ghost stories at their finest. And the dual narrative is inspired!

To Find a Thief by E.A. West
This one'll make you smile for sure. Who knew a thief could be so adorable? (But what else can you expect from someone whose greatest crime is pilfering cutlery?)

Humdinger's Army by A.C. Williams
The narrative choice for this is genius! A story told in letters. I loved putting together the little clues from Humdinger's correspondence with his dearest Veronica. What a hilarious turn of events!

One Shot by Zachary Holbrook
A marvelous vampire hunting story with an excellent plot twist. It takes place in the world of the author's novel, and frankly that's a book I'd like to read.

Words by Katherine Vinson
I would definitely call this story the most impactful of the bunch with a message that drives straight to the core. Words are powerful, and kind words? Unlimited.
Profile Image for Katrina Michelle.
222 reviews
December 1, 2019
4.5 stars

This anthology includes some of the best short stories I have EVER read. Since this is my first actual print publication, there's probably a biiiiit of bias here, but thinking of the stories besides my own (which is only a small percentage of the anthology), I truly believe that Havok has published in this collection some of the most incredible, highest-quality flash stories of all time.

I'll be back with a little list of my absolute favorites soon!!
Profile Image for Carina  Shephard.
350 reviews68 followers
October 2, 2022
5 stars // read October 2022

My very first Kindle Unlimited read, and it was fantastic. I was expecting to only like just a few of the stories and find most of them average, but honestly, I enjoyed quite a few. A high-quality flash fiction collection that ranges from dystopian to fantasy, comedy to horror, thought-provoking to “The Pet Rock Named Dave.” Looking forward to reading the next anthology!

Content: Overall, very clean.
Occasional mild swearing and a few stories do have a bit more problematic storylines (I’m thinking specifically of Beads and Baubles). Some mild to medium violence, depending on the story.
Profile Image for Tracey Dyck.
Author 5 books89 followers
October 31, 2019
WARNING: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE says the back cover... and for good reason! This anthology of flash fiction* packs more than a few punches. There's everything from spaceships to royalty, dragons to dinosaurs, assassins to butt-kicking grandpas.

*flash fiction = a story 1,000 words or less

Some of MY personal favorites are...

-Life Cycle 63 // Just B. Jordan
-Bitten // Jessi Roberts
-The Misfits // Samwise Graber
-Gilded Finality // Brianna Tibbets
-Seeing is Believing // Clarissa Ruth
-Corruption's Kiss // Margaret Graber
-A Terrible Debtor // Savannah Grace
-Life Lessons from Grandpa // DiAnn Mills
-At Your Service // Christine Smith
-Salvage and Reclamation // Abigail Falanga
-It's Going to be Okay // Teddi Deppner
-Dino Day // Lauren Hildebrand
-Words // Katherine Vinson
-The Pet Rock Named Dave // Justin Mynheir
-A Symphony of Words // Kerry Nietz

(Yep, I just picked 15 favorites. Whoops. I also have a little story of my own in here, but including it as the 16th in the list would probably be in bad taste. ;) It's called Ordained, and I hope you enjoy it!)

As with any anthology, I liked each individual story in here to varying degrees—some more, some less—but overall, this was a fantastic book featuring themes of rebirth and reformation from cover to cover. 4 stars!
Profile Image for Deborah Smith.
Author 22 books18 followers
January 13, 2021
Fun in flash fiction! It takes discipline and talent to distill a story into less than 1000 words, but these authors excel at the challenge. Every story is a wonderful slice of science-fiction, fantasy, steampunk, or supernatural wonders. I’ve chosen my favorites to mention in this review, and it was a VERY difficult call to make!

Unnatural 20 by Andrew Swearingan
Three young tweens find themselves face to face with a barbarian straight from their video game. The mayhem that ensues is truly hilarious. Be careful when you turn on those games!

Dune Buggy Dash by Katie Robles
When a dad takes his son out of school and rents a dune buggy, Carl thinks it’s a joy ride… until his dad reveals the real reason for their excursion. This is a chilling peek into an all-too-possible real future.

Ghost of the Golf Course by Kristiana Y. Sfirlea
This was a charming little ghost story with an unexpected twist. Lovely work, Ms. Sfirlea!

Baubles and Beads by Lisa Godfrees
Ms. Godfrees shares with us a resale shop you don’t want to patronize! When a husband decides to treat his wife to a little bit of retail therapy, they stumble into a shop with a surprising inventory.

At Your Service by Christine Smith
Thunderstorms can have hilarious repercussions. Ms. Smith tells the story of a dinner party that goes terribly wrong when the weather interferes with a servant’s duties.

It’s Going to be Okay by Teddi Deppner
In this outer space piece, a mother retells the story of a defining moment in her life and schools her son in the miraculous.

Dino Day by Lauren Hildebrand
Andrew’s Uncle Jim was obsessed with time travel, but a few of his computations go awry with disastrous results.

These were just my personal favorites. Every story is a gem, a diamond waiting to be discovered. Dig in!

Profile Image for Madeline J. Rose.
Author 1 book33 followers
November 29, 2020
I...I don't even know where to start. I LOVED THIS ANTHOLOGY SO MUCH.
I would love to go over every single story, but...that could take eons. So instead, I'm going to give you a rapid-fire list of the stories that I loved best. Keep in mind, they're all fantastic and unique and you should read allll of them, but these are the ones that I personally connected with the most.

When Magic Died by Michael Dolan
Wow. This was the right way to open the book. I am LIVING for that ending and I also need a full book please?

Life Cycle 63 by Just B. Jordan
I could just melt into a puddle of despair but also awe right now. Because HOW do you pack that much feeling and emotion into less than 5 pages?!

Sins of Fire and Metal Emileigh Latham
I am so confused but in the best way possible. Can this be a full novel already?

Gilded Finality by Brianna Tibbetts
SERIOUSLY ALL OF THESE STORIES NEED TO BE FULL LENGTH. This story made me want to start a revolution.

Run by Cathy Hinkle
Ooooh, this one is INTENSE and the ending...wow, a little eerie and a lot tragic.

Ordained by Tracey Dyck
AGH I LOVE THIS. The fantastic-ness is only added to because it's like a little snippet of backstory from Tracey's full book and I LOVE IT.

If These Walls Could Talk by J.L. Knight
I'm literally going to go cry in a corner now because WHY would you hurt my heart so much?

Corruption's Kiss by Margaret Graber
This is like the epic spy thriller story I never knew I wanted until now and now I want a feature length story please and thank you.

Humdinger's Army by A.C. Williams
At first I didn't realize what was going on, but as SOON as I did I was smiling the rest of the time. SUCH a cute story.

A Terrible Debtor by Savannah Grace
I don't know how Savannah manages to do this, but there is so much juicy story shoved inside this tiny little book package and I AM IN LOVE.

Misfire by Abigayle Claire
This is tense and action-packed...but also somehow hilarious and fantastic? I'd love a full story.

Ghost of the Golf Course by Kristiana Y. Sfirlea
Oh my gosh, I don't usually like ghost stories but THIS ONE. It's so good guys.

The Tomb of the Ophidian Scepter by Michael Dolan
This felt so much like Indiana Jones and I'm not complaining a speck. Absolutely great.

One Shot by Zachary Holbrook
YES. THIS STORY. GOOD. READ IT.

The Devil Went Down to Costco Stephanie Scissom
I can't even begin to describe this story. It's just fantastic and I honest to goodness want this to be developed into a TV show. It's that wonderful.

Life Lessons From Grandpa by DiAnn Mills
I don't really have anything to say about this story. It's just really sweet and powerful and you should just read it for yourself.

At Your Service by Christine Smith
I'm always shocked at all of my writing buddies' talents, and Christine's story is no exception. This story is hilarious. It's clever. It's got Christine's signature style. And I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

Salvage and Reclamation by Abigail Falanga
THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE A FULL STORY. I keep saying that for every story BUT SERIOUSLY. This was would be such a cool story.

It's Going to Be Okay by Teddi Deppner
It is so amazing to me that these authors can put so much emotion into so few words. This story is fantastic. And TIME TRAVEL. YES PLEASE.

An Undeserved Chance by Justin Mynheir
THIS DESERVES TO HAVE A FULL STORY. There. That's all that needs to be said. Also read it.

Words by Katherine Vinson
This is a really great concept for a sci-fi story. I love it. AND THAT ENDING. AGH, so good.

Rendering by L.G. McCary
This somehow manages to be both uplifting and also terrifying at the same time and I applaud the author for confusing my emotions. Thank you for that.

Recluse by Lauren H. Salisbury
I need this to be a full story. Just. Please. This has so much potential. PLEASE.

A Symphony of Words by Kerry Nietz
This SO SWEET. The backdrop of outer space and robots coupled with an inspiring story is perfection.

And that's all of my favorites. But, of course, you should really read the whole thing, because there are so many more fantastical stories than I flailed about. I highly recommend this anthology if you're a fan of any kind of sci-fi or fantasy.
5/5.
Profile Image for Rachel.
Author 15 books45 followers
September 5, 2019
4.5 Star

Being an editor for Havok, I'm a bit biased. I had read many of the stories on the website as they released so I mostly just caught up on the ones I missed and the exclusives to the anthology. It has stories that will make you laugh to ones that will make you cry. It's immersive yet each story is short enough that it can be read in just a few minutes if you want to read something but don't have time to get very involved. My favorites are... too many to list here. But I have 11 favorites out of 48 and many more than that are well written and note worthy. There were some stories that I loved from the website that didn't make it into the anthology but I am happy to own and be a part of this collection and I can't wait for the next one. A great anthology to have around to pick up and read at any time.
Profile Image for Beka.
Author 40 books115 followers
May 10, 2020
SO MANY FUN STORIES.

I can’t get “Ghost of the Golf Course” out of my head—the narrative voice, the twists—the kind of story I love to read and want to write.

Now I’m inspired to work on my ghostly retelling of the Tantalus myth set on a spaceship.
Author 25 books13 followers
August 27, 2019
Rebirth is a compilation of flash fiction (primarily) of fantasy and science fiction. On a scale of 1 to 10 as an average for all forty-eight, I would rate this about a seven. I believe a reader of sci-fi and fantasy is going to enjoy a large majority of these stories.
In my opinion, the best stories are J. L. Knight’s "If These Walls Could Talk" (a fantastic blend of language, atmosphere, and voice), Katherine Vinson’s "Words" (fascinating and well-executed), and Lila Kims’ "Every Drop of Soul" (with its clever set-up). Each of these entries has a unique concept and narrative. Of all the stories, Kristiana Y. Sfirlea’s "Ghost of the Golf Course" is my personal favorite with its near-perfect mix of humor and horror.
I’m sure readers will eat this anthology up, and for my friends who tell me “they can’t read anymore because they can’t focus,” I plan to hand them this book. A great series of short fiction, "Rebirth" will have you reading late into the night.
Profile Image for Erudessa Gentian.
Author 10 books18 followers
April 28, 2020
I now love anthologies, thanks to this book!
As with all collections of stories, I didn't love all of them. But honestly, I don't really remember which ones, because the stories I did love overshadowed the rest.
All of the stories are 1,000 words or less, which makes it a perfect travel book! I read most of it on a plane flight, and for once didn't mind the interruptions natural to any trip, because I almost never had to stop in the middle of a chapter or story arc.
Profile Image for Katie Robles.
Author 6 books15 followers
April 30, 2020
Fun, short stories that are great when I don't have a lot of time, but I really want a good story. Imaginative and wonderful.
Profile Image for L.G..
Author 4 books32 followers
April 2, 2020
Obviously, my favorite is "Rendering." ;) I truly love that story, and I hope others do, too. It rattled around in my brain for ten years before I put it on paper!

My favorites:
"Life Cycle 63"- I cried a tiny bit. Beautifully written. Poignant and powerful.
"The Pet Rock Named Dave"- So. Hilarious. I don't know where this idea came from, but I laughed out loud.
"Run"- So upsetting but amazing. This story made my stomach clench the whole time I was reading!
"If These Walls Could Talk"- Love it. I love a good creepy story, and this was fabulous.
"Ghost of the Golf Course"- This is the kind of ghost I would end up being. Haha!
"Baubles and Beads"- *just terrified screaming*
Profile Image for Karen Grunst.
Author 3 books33 followers
December 3, 2022
This collection is perfect for when you have a short amount of time to read and don't want to get sucked into a full length novel. With Havok the quality of the spec fiction stories will be solid and some will be absolutely stellar.
Profile Image for Deena Peterson.
1,197 reviews3 followers
August 22, 2019
O enjoyed the majority of the stories, and there are a lot to choose from!
Profile Image for Gretchen.
Author 10 books27 followers
May 15, 2023
Debut of a Name Reborn

I’m a longtime fan of the Havok website, but I had yet to read the anthologies.
I fixed that and have several seasons to read!
There are some great stories.
Rebirth reimagined: Comedy, horror, tragedy, and poignant.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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