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Weird World War #1
Weird World War III
TALES OF THE WAR THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
What if the United States had gone to war with the Soviet Union? What if these rival superpowers had fought on land, sea, air, and the astral plane? What if the Soviets and Americans had struggled for dominion across parallel dimensions or on the surface of the moon? How would the world have changed? What wonders would have been unveiled? What terrors would have haunted mankind from those dark and dismal dimensions?
Come closer, peer through a glass darkly, and discover the horrifying alternative visions of World War III from some of today’s greatest minds in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Includes new stories by David Drake, Brad R. Torgersen, Mike Resnick, Sarah A. Hoyt, and many more!
What if the United States had gone to war with the Soviet Union? What if these rival superpowers had fought on land, sea, air, and the astral plane? What if the Soviets and Americans had struggled for dominion across parallel dimensions or on the surface of the moon? How would the world have changed? What wonders would have been unveiled? What terrors would have haunted mankind from those dark and dismal dimensions?
Come closer, peer through a glass darkly, and discover the horrifying alternative visions of World War III from some of today’s greatest minds in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Includes new stories by David Drake, Brad R. Torgersen, Mike Resnick, Sarah A. Hoyt, and many more!
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2020
About the author
Sean Patrick Hazlett
52 books22 followersSean is a technology and finance professional working in Silicon Valley. He writes horror and science fiction as well as nonfiction. He is a recent second place winner of the Writers of the Future Contest. He has published over a hundred research reports on clean energy, semiconductors, and enterprise software including Wall Street's first comprehensive market analysis of opportunities in the smart grid, which was cited twice in The Economist (See "Making Every Drop Count" and "Smart Grids: Wiser Wires"). His fiction has appeared in Writers of the Future, Grimdark Magazine, Abyss & Apex, Sci Phi Journal, Fictionvale Magazine, Plasma Frequency Magazine, Kasma SF, The Colored Lens, NewMyths.com, and Mad Scientist Journal, among others.
Before becoming working in finance and technology, Sean was a research associate at the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project where he worked on energy security issues that included the United States-India Strategic Partnership and policy options for confronting Iran's nuclear program. He won the 2006 Policy Analysis Exercise Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for his work on policy solutions to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Sean also spent time at Booz Allen Hamilton as an intelligence analyst focusing on strategic war games and simulations for the Pentagon. Before graduate school, Sean was a cavalry officer in the United States Army where he trained American forces for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at the National Training Center.
Sean holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and bachelor's degrees in History and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Before becoming working in finance and technology, Sean was a research associate at the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project where he worked on energy security issues that included the United States-India Strategic Partnership and policy options for confronting Iran's nuclear program. He won the 2006 Policy Analysis Exercise Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for his work on policy solutions to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Sean also spent time at Booz Allen Hamilton as an intelligence analyst focusing on strategic war games and simulations for the Pentagon. Before graduate school, Sean was a cavalry officer in the United States Army where he trained American forces for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at the National Training Center.
Sean holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and bachelor's degrees in History and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 21, 2021
As the title promises, this is an anthology of stories that speculate on the details of a third world war with the addition of science fiction, fantasy, or horror variables. They're set in a pleasant range of times from the recent past to the near future, with alternate histories and traditional horrors and future scenarios all represented. I enjoyed the odd Kevin Andrew Murphy story, the short and amusing Mike Resnick, and the ones by Erica L. Satifka, Eric James Stone, John Langan, and the bleak David Drake story the most.
December 4, 2023
Nice collection up military themed short stories. Nice read. Recommended
December 26, 2020
A bland collection.
The description of this anthology sounded interesting enough, but the stories were all pretty forgettable. I'm normally a fan of military scifi but this collection left me unimpressed.
The description of this anthology sounded interesting enough, but the stories were all pretty forgettable. I'm normally a fan of military scifi but this collection left me unimpressed.
December 1, 2020
The title fits! This is a collection of a Weird War III stories (well most of them are). You have Russian shamans trying to sneak demons into the US of A during a hot Vietnam War. There is weirdness in the deep where the underwater cables seem to be alive and attacking divers trying to tap them. There is Lovecraftian monsters that come out to play. And then there is time travel to stop assassination of top leaders that gets out of hand. But my favorite tale is "Anastasia's Egg" by Kevin Andrew Murphy where a ancient wizard manages to stop global warming and maybe get his true love at last! Overall, a very interesting collection of stories by a wide variety of authors. Glad I read this! And listening to the Baen Free Radio Episode on this title first did not spoil things at all.
May 26, 2021
Weird World War III edited by Sean Patrick Hazlet
This is a book of short stories featuring many SciFi writers you are familiar with from their own books. Weird World War III edited by Sean Patrick Hazlet
Contributors:
David Drake
Brian Trent
Mike Resnick
Erica Satifka
Brad R. Torgersen
Kevin Andrew Murphy
Dr. Xander Lostetter and Marina J. Lostetter
Martin L. Shoemaker
Sarah A. Hoyt
Deborah A. Wolf
Stephen Lawson
Ville Meriläinen
Peter J. Wacks and Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Alex Shvartsman
C.L. Kagmi
Nick Mamatas
T.C. McCarthy
Eric James Stone
John Langan
Overall the stories are depressing. Don’t read this if you are already down. They are interesting, like the lobster story but the description is haunted tales of the future.
I’m not a fan of short stories and this book didn’t change my mind.
This is a book of short stories featuring many SciFi writers you are familiar with from their own books. Weird World War III edited by Sean Patrick Hazlet
Contributors:
David Drake
Brian Trent
Mike Resnick
Erica Satifka
Brad R. Torgersen
Kevin Andrew Murphy
Dr. Xander Lostetter and Marina J. Lostetter
Martin L. Shoemaker
Sarah A. Hoyt
Deborah A. Wolf
Stephen Lawson
Ville Meriläinen
Peter J. Wacks and Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Alex Shvartsman
C.L. Kagmi
Nick Mamatas
T.C. McCarthy
Eric James Stone
John Langan
Overall the stories are depressing. Don’t read this if you are already down. They are interesting, like the lobster story but the description is haunted tales of the future.
I’m not a fan of short stories and this book didn’t change my mind.
December 6, 2020
Anthologies that are based on an idea of the editor sometime work out (like Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions), but many more work out like this one. Hazlett wanted to have his authors write about strange occurrences that brought on WW3 during the time of the Cold War.
They could have been brought on by the Cuban Missile Crisis where the Soviet Union didn't back down, or the US accusing Russia of having been involved in the assassination of JFK. Many dealt with encounters with aliens who backed on side or the other or just attacked the whole of humanity.
Like a horse designed by a committee (called a camel), sometimes you get good and sometimes you get bad, and sometimes you get confused. Well that's what we have here except it's weird. But that just one man's opinion.
They could have been brought on by the Cuban Missile Crisis where the Soviet Union didn't back down, or the US accusing Russia of having been involved in the assassination of JFK. Many dealt with encounters with aliens who backed on side or the other or just attacked the whole of humanity.
Like a horse designed by a committee (called a camel), sometimes you get good and sometimes you get bad, and sometimes you get confused. Well that's what we have here except it's weird. But that just one man's opinion.
October 13, 2020
Lots of fun. More horror than I expected. Good writing and a good selection of stories.
November 1, 2020
A slightly expanded version is posted on my blog, Papa Pat Rambles, but I don't want to link to it. I just don't, that's why! I've also submitted a review to Amazon.
Preliminary Comments. Gentle Reader, if I told you of my disaffection for horror in terms adequate for my innermost feelings, you might just call for the white-coated gents with butterfly nets to take me away; thus do I foam at the mouth, raging at the impropriety of such abominations, solely designed to terrify.
It extends beyond horror: I don’t like getting scared, period. As a 4-5 year old, I used to hide behind the couch when Roy Rogers would walk into the cabin , because I KNEW the bad guy was hiding behind the door, and was going to jump out on him.
This was NOT helped by my new step-father’s (expletive deleted)love of grabbing me by the shoulder at the climactic moment, and making me jump.
You might wonder, then, how it is that I am reviewing “Weird World War III,” given that these stories are, to say the least, non-standard. It’s a fair question.
First, I admit to some inconsistency in my views. I’m a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies, even though my gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant, foxy, praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, steadfastly refuses to watch “Pulp Fiction” with me; something about Samuel L Jackson and cheeseburgers.
What I’d LIKE to say my criterion for acceptance is this: Science is not Horror.
Even there, I draw lines. I have never seen ANY of the “Alien” movies, deriving all of my knowledge from cut scenes and memes, such as “Nuke them from orbit; it’s the only way to be sure.”
In the end, if you wish to make a deep criticism of my tastes, I can only say this: do not expect consistency from someone who often fails to discriminate between the functions of the dletew key and the bckspace key.
The Stories.
THE PRICE by David Drake. Whether you are of the opinion that David Drake invented the field of military science fiction, or merely that he took it from tiny crumbs to a smorgasbord, it can’t be disputed that his works give voice to the difficulties of coming home. It is well enough, that this story is about a particularly difficult home coming: Ab, the older brother, welcomes Jesse, the younger, back into the family residence, after a particularly horrible mission. Maybe some people come back home as the same people who left; you couldn’t prove it by me.
SHADOW ROOK RED by Brian Trent. Concept: new tech allows passage between locations on Earth, which are linked to specific locations on an alternate world; except what is sea level here might correspond to a mountain top there, or worse. The Soviet Union has weaponized it, with success. An essential researcher goes missing.
THE THIRD WORLD WAR by Mike Resnick. What is an appropriate response by a super-power, when a MILPOS country starts acting like a bully? Take “The Mouse That Roared,” rotate it 90 degrees, and you will get close.
WHERE YOU LEAD, I WILL FOLLOW: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DENVER INCIDENT by Erica L. Satifka. I can’t remember the name of the online craze of a few years ago; lots of folks were trying to find treasure points, or something like that. Some people were so focused on the search that they ran into other people, lamp posts, traffic. That really happened; so, this story isn’t really far-fetched. And THAT’S what makes it a spine-shiver. BRRRR.
ALL QUIET ON THE PHANTOM FRONT by Brad R. Torgersen. Torgersen is a stupid name. There isn’t a spell-checker program on the planet, except maybe in some place populated solely by Viking descendants, where it won’t cause a red line to appear on the page, and that’s Not Nice. It’s a good thing that he has SUCH a deft hand at combining AMAZING truths of humanity to make phenomenal stories. For example: she isn’t what they think she is, but she pretends to be so they will leave her alone; he thinks the entire process is an abomination, but participates because he cares for the troops. Torgersen invented a brand new take on the BEM a few years back, but it’s the humanity in his writing that makes it shine. I love the guy.
ANASTASIA’S EGG by Kevin Andrew Murphy. Ouch. They have turducken somethings for sale at my local grocery store, but I’ve never had one. This story both uses things inside other things as a plot point, it IS a thing inside other things. Romanov princesses, ancient djinns, and a mechanical bucking bronco. It might help if you took notes.
TAP, TAP, TAPPING IN THE DEEP by Dr. Xander Lostetter and Marina J. Lostetter. Are the technical aspects of submarines and deep dives accurate? I have not a clue. My son-in-law was a squid, but he took care of the reactor, so I’m not sure enough of his expertise to delay the review long enough to get a verdict from him. I suspect, anyway, that it’s all completely realistic; it certainly READS that way. Stealth, spies, monsters and aliens, lies and loss, and: “The truth is, I love you...”
THE OUROBOROS ARRANGEMENT by Martin L. Shoemaker. A trope in cheap stories goes like this: “Yes, it’s crazy, but it just might be crazy enough to work!” It makes for amusing action sequences, but none of the craziness would actually last past preparation for Step One. On the other hand: what if you found yourself at the end of Step Fifty? All of them were crazy, and all of them had worked?
LAST CHANCE by Sarah A. Hoyt. I absolutely, positively deny that anyone can write a classic set-up for a slasher film, have it turn out to be something else, and get away with it. It simply cannot be done. Except: Sarah A Hoyt did it. Right here. In this story. It’s as if someone decided to give Hoyt the most impossible story-writing task EVER: “write your way out of THIS one, Beautiful But Evil Space Princess! Moose and Squirrel cannot save you now!” Listen: gentleman feels a compulsion to drive to a distant location. His car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and his phone doesn’t work. He is greeted by a Strange But Congenial Stranger! Even I, who refuse any interaction with horror, know how THIS is going to end up! Except, no. Because Science. Good grief, woman, can NOTHING stop you?
ODERZHIMOST’ by Deborah A. Wolf. Yes, she gives the translation in the text; it means “obsession.” Yes, science, but more besides; this is also an eternal pain that comes from love betrayed (the obsession part!) The creepy old legend of the abandoned love who drowns herself (or hangs herself, in some versions) and then takes revenge on foolish passers-by.
NO PLAN SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT by Stephen Lawson POW! There might NOT be a completely new idea in this story, but WOW! The way he puts the parts together is terrific! Where did the Soviets get the advanced technology? How did they move so fast? Alien crash? But wait: even OUR primitive craft have rescue beacons! So, yes, science, but also Mongo, who, before he NEEDS a candygram, goes for a run, bringing along a nasty, nasty captain. Just for company, you know.
THE SCHOLOMANCE by Ville Meriläinen. Not explained in the text, but readily available for discovery to anyone with a connection to the internet, the Scholomance was a mythical black magic school in Transylvania. We are introduced to this school in 1777, under the rule of Catherine the Great, and then we have brief glimpses under regime changes in 1817, 1918, and 1977. Mostly, the problems are the same as in any school: kids running in the halls, keeping order. That sort of thing. And maybe one other.
IT’S A MUD, MUD WORLD by Peter J. Wacks and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. This story is set in 1985. Gentle reader, I’ve been wading through these stories, without considering whether the background will be comprehensible to chronologically-deficient individuals. If you haven't seen the movie “War Games,” I believe it’s on Netflix. Go watch it, if you want to really understand this story. Also, there is quite a bit of computer code that might obscure; it purports to be code which permitted access to computer bulletin boards of the day. (I used a program that came with my 300 baud modem.) MUD is referenced, but not defined in the story. I believe it’s an acronym for Multi User Domain, or Multi User Dungeon, perhaps even Multi User Dialup; at any rate, it describes the way people talked to each other with computers prior to sometime in the 1990s.
A THING WORTH A DAMN by Alex Shvartsman. In this timeline, Kennedy wasn’t assassinated in Dallas, and somehow he managed to bankrupt the country in competition with the Soviets in the Space Race. California and Utah seceded; Cali goes socialist, and falls under the influence of the Soviet Union. (No word on Utah.) Nothing works, except the famine. A Soviet officer is tasked with securing a scientist who tried to escape California, and get him to Cuba for processing.
EVANGELINE by C.L. Kagmi Evangeline has some ability to interact with the dead. The story seemed a bit short on explanations to me, but for some reason she is notifying people whether or not their sons/lovers/brothers/whatever are alive in Vietnam. She’s kidnapped by government agents, who want her to ...do something.
BLEAK NIGHT AT BAD ROCK by Nick Mamatas. “Cold War” makes a convenient name, to cover all the organized violence done during a certain time. You can decide for yourself whether the efforts were to make the world safe for democracy, or to enable peaceful coexistence. Certainly, the US and the USSR were not the only countries impacted by the Cold War. Beyond that, this story addresses the impact of belief.
ZIP GHOST by T.C. McCarthy. Alternate realities/multiple dimensions can make you crazy. Don’t worry, though, we have something for that. Here, take this peyote. And here’s an injection to give you syphilis. That combination should work pretty well. Now, go blow stuff up, and try not to die.
DENIABILITY by Eric James Stone. We start with the idea that Kennedy’s assassination was ordered by Khrushchev, and that the Warren Commission report was just to calm people in the US down. Then, postulate a person with the ability to kill people remotely. Feel like implementing a revenge program? It cascades. It ALWAYS cascades. One of the best features of this story was the way that lead characters used language to appear to say one thing, while meaning something else entirely.
SECOND FRONT by John Langan. You ain’t gonna BELIEVE this, but: both the US and the USSR built secret bases on the moon, without each other knowing! Truly, I loved the part of the story where the reasoning behind keeping the US base a secret for was revealed through, at least, four different Presidential administrations. We could have stopped there, but I suppose we did have to have an invasion by intelligent lobsters at some point in the book.
A Final Note. Mike Resnick crossed over earlier this year. He wrote one of the stories in this volume; he wrote a LOT of stories. He won awards. I hope he made a bunch of money, but I have no idea about that. Regardless:
“Mike always made a point of giving back to the science fiction and fantasy community by taking new writers and editors under his wing.” (Sean Patrick Hazlett. Weird World War III (Kindle Locations 88-89). Baen. Kindle Edition. )
Peace be on your household.
Preliminary Comments. Gentle Reader, if I told you of my disaffection for horror in terms adequate for my innermost feelings, you might just call for the white-coated gents with butterfly nets to take me away; thus do I foam at the mouth, raging at the impropriety of such abominations, solely designed to terrify.
It extends beyond horror: I don’t like getting scared, period. As a 4-5 year old, I used to hide behind the couch when Roy Rogers would walk into the cabin , because I KNEW the bad guy was hiding behind the door, and was going to jump out on him.
This was NOT helped by my new step-father’s (expletive deleted)love of grabbing me by the shoulder at the climactic moment, and making me jump.
You might wonder, then, how it is that I am reviewing “Weird World War III,” given that these stories are, to say the least, non-standard. It’s a fair question.
First, I admit to some inconsistency in my views. I’m a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies, even though my gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant, foxy, praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, steadfastly refuses to watch “Pulp Fiction” with me; something about Samuel L Jackson and cheeseburgers.
What I’d LIKE to say my criterion for acceptance is this: Science is not Horror.
Even there, I draw lines. I have never seen ANY of the “Alien” movies, deriving all of my knowledge from cut scenes and memes, such as “Nuke them from orbit; it’s the only way to be sure.”
In the end, if you wish to make a deep criticism of my tastes, I can only say this: do not expect consistency from someone who often fails to discriminate between the functions of the dletew key and the bckspace key.
The Stories.
THE PRICE by David Drake. Whether you are of the opinion that David Drake invented the field of military science fiction, or merely that he took it from tiny crumbs to a smorgasbord, it can’t be disputed that his works give voice to the difficulties of coming home. It is well enough, that this story is about a particularly difficult home coming: Ab, the older brother, welcomes Jesse, the younger, back into the family residence, after a particularly horrible mission. Maybe some people come back home as the same people who left; you couldn’t prove it by me.
SHADOW ROOK RED by Brian Trent. Concept: new tech allows passage between locations on Earth, which are linked to specific locations on an alternate world; except what is sea level here might correspond to a mountain top there, or worse. The Soviet Union has weaponized it, with success. An essential researcher goes missing.
THE THIRD WORLD WAR by Mike Resnick. What is an appropriate response by a super-power, when a MILPOS country starts acting like a bully? Take “The Mouse That Roared,” rotate it 90 degrees, and you will get close.
WHERE YOU LEAD, I WILL FOLLOW: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DENVER INCIDENT by Erica L. Satifka. I can’t remember the name of the online craze of a few years ago; lots of folks were trying to find treasure points, or something like that. Some people were so focused on the search that they ran into other people, lamp posts, traffic. That really happened; so, this story isn’t really far-fetched. And THAT’S what makes it a spine-shiver. BRRRR.
ALL QUIET ON THE PHANTOM FRONT by Brad R. Torgersen. Torgersen is a stupid name. There isn’t a spell-checker program on the planet, except maybe in some place populated solely by Viking descendants, where it won’t cause a red line to appear on the page, and that’s Not Nice. It’s a good thing that he has SUCH a deft hand at combining AMAZING truths of humanity to make phenomenal stories. For example: she isn’t what they think she is, but she pretends to be so they will leave her alone; he thinks the entire process is an abomination, but participates because he cares for the troops. Torgersen invented a brand new take on the BEM a few years back, but it’s the humanity in his writing that makes it shine. I love the guy.
ANASTASIA’S EGG by Kevin Andrew Murphy. Ouch. They have turducken somethings for sale at my local grocery store, but I’ve never had one. This story both uses things inside other things as a plot point, it IS a thing inside other things. Romanov princesses, ancient djinns, and a mechanical bucking bronco. It might help if you took notes.
TAP, TAP, TAPPING IN THE DEEP by Dr. Xander Lostetter and Marina J. Lostetter. Are the technical aspects of submarines and deep dives accurate? I have not a clue. My son-in-law was a squid, but he took care of the reactor, so I’m not sure enough of his expertise to delay the review long enough to get a verdict from him. I suspect, anyway, that it’s all completely realistic; it certainly READS that way. Stealth, spies, monsters and aliens, lies and loss, and: “The truth is, I love you...”
THE OUROBOROS ARRANGEMENT by Martin L. Shoemaker. A trope in cheap stories goes like this: “Yes, it’s crazy, but it just might be crazy enough to work!” It makes for amusing action sequences, but none of the craziness would actually last past preparation for Step One. On the other hand: what if you found yourself at the end of Step Fifty? All of them were crazy, and all of them had worked?
LAST CHANCE by Sarah A. Hoyt. I absolutely, positively deny that anyone can write a classic set-up for a slasher film, have it turn out to be something else, and get away with it. It simply cannot be done. Except: Sarah A Hoyt did it. Right here. In this story. It’s as if someone decided to give Hoyt the most impossible story-writing task EVER: “write your way out of THIS one, Beautiful But Evil Space Princess! Moose and Squirrel cannot save you now!” Listen: gentleman feels a compulsion to drive to a distant location. His car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and his phone doesn’t work. He is greeted by a Strange But Congenial Stranger! Even I, who refuse any interaction with horror, know how THIS is going to end up! Except, no. Because Science. Good grief, woman, can NOTHING stop you?
ODERZHIMOST’ by Deborah A. Wolf. Yes, she gives the translation in the text; it means “obsession.” Yes, science, but more besides; this is also an eternal pain that comes from love betrayed (the obsession part!) The creepy old legend of the abandoned love who drowns herself (or hangs herself, in some versions) and then takes revenge on foolish passers-by.
NO PLAN SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT by Stephen Lawson POW! There might NOT be a completely new idea in this story, but WOW! The way he puts the parts together is terrific! Where did the Soviets get the advanced technology? How did they move so fast? Alien crash? But wait: even OUR primitive craft have rescue beacons! So, yes, science, but also Mongo, who, before he NEEDS a candygram, goes for a run, bringing along a nasty, nasty captain. Just for company, you know.
THE SCHOLOMANCE by Ville Meriläinen. Not explained in the text, but readily available for discovery to anyone with a connection to the internet, the Scholomance was a mythical black magic school in Transylvania. We are introduced to this school in 1777, under the rule of Catherine the Great, and then we have brief glimpses under regime changes in 1817, 1918, and 1977. Mostly, the problems are the same as in any school: kids running in the halls, keeping order. That sort of thing. And maybe one other.
IT’S A MUD, MUD WORLD by Peter J. Wacks and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. This story is set in 1985. Gentle reader, I’ve been wading through these stories, without considering whether the background will be comprehensible to chronologically-deficient individuals. If you haven't seen the movie “War Games,” I believe it’s on Netflix. Go watch it, if you want to really understand this story. Also, there is quite a bit of computer code that might obscure; it purports to be code which permitted access to computer bulletin boards of the day. (I used a program that came with my 300 baud modem.) MUD is referenced, but not defined in the story. I believe it’s an acronym for Multi User Domain, or Multi User Dungeon, perhaps even Multi User Dialup; at any rate, it describes the way people talked to each other with computers prior to sometime in the 1990s.
A THING WORTH A DAMN by Alex Shvartsman. In this timeline, Kennedy wasn’t assassinated in Dallas, and somehow he managed to bankrupt the country in competition with the Soviets in the Space Race. California and Utah seceded; Cali goes socialist, and falls under the influence of the Soviet Union. (No word on Utah.) Nothing works, except the famine. A Soviet officer is tasked with securing a scientist who tried to escape California, and get him to Cuba for processing.
EVANGELINE by C.L. Kagmi Evangeline has some ability to interact with the dead. The story seemed a bit short on explanations to me, but for some reason she is notifying people whether or not their sons/lovers/brothers/whatever are alive in Vietnam. She’s kidnapped by government agents, who want her to ...do something.
BLEAK NIGHT AT BAD ROCK by Nick Mamatas. “Cold War” makes a convenient name, to cover all the organized violence done during a certain time. You can decide for yourself whether the efforts were to make the world safe for democracy, or to enable peaceful coexistence. Certainly, the US and the USSR were not the only countries impacted by the Cold War. Beyond that, this story addresses the impact of belief.
ZIP GHOST by T.C. McCarthy. Alternate realities/multiple dimensions can make you crazy. Don’t worry, though, we have something for that. Here, take this peyote. And here’s an injection to give you syphilis. That combination should work pretty well. Now, go blow stuff up, and try not to die.
DENIABILITY by Eric James Stone. We start with the idea that Kennedy’s assassination was ordered by Khrushchev, and that the Warren Commission report was just to calm people in the US down. Then, postulate a person with the ability to kill people remotely. Feel like implementing a revenge program? It cascades. It ALWAYS cascades. One of the best features of this story was the way that lead characters used language to appear to say one thing, while meaning something else entirely.
SECOND FRONT by John Langan. You ain’t gonna BELIEVE this, but: both the US and the USSR built secret bases on the moon, without each other knowing! Truly, I loved the part of the story where the reasoning behind keeping the US base a secret for was revealed through, at least, four different Presidential administrations. We could have stopped there, but I suppose we did have to have an invasion by intelligent lobsters at some point in the book.
A Final Note. Mike Resnick crossed over earlier this year. He wrote one of the stories in this volume; he wrote a LOT of stories. He won awards. I hope he made a bunch of money, but I have no idea about that. Regardless:
“Mike always made a point of giving back to the science fiction and fantasy community by taking new writers and editors under his wing.” (Sean Patrick Hazlett. Weird World War III (Kindle Locations 88-89). Baen. Kindle Edition. )
Peace be on your household.
March 20, 2022
Anthologies always seem to be very hit or miss, and this one was much more "miss" with me. The premise was interesting, "Weird" World War III, but by the 4th or 5th entry I felt like I was reading another variation of the same story over and over again. Without giving too much away that theme was "psychic warfare". With the entirety of the Cold War to use, it seems like 80% of the author's all focused on this one aspect of it, which makes for a long read when you are constantly going "Oh, another spin on psychic warfare..."
Outside of 2, maybe 3 stories, I had to force myself to slog through the rest of them, hoping that the "next" story would be better.
I'd recommend picking this one up at the library. It's definitely not worth buying new, and even used bookstore price is honestly too much, in my opinion.
Outside of 2, maybe 3 stories, I had to force myself to slog through the rest of them, hoping that the "next" story would be better.
I'd recommend picking this one up at the library. It's definitely not worth buying new, and even used bookstore price is honestly too much, in my opinion.
November 5, 2021
Interesting Mix
Some stories warrant 5 stars, others only one. For an omnibus of stories from different authors this was not bad.
Some stories warrant 5 stars, others only one. For an omnibus of stories from different authors this was not bad.
January 6, 2022
Enjoyed all but the last story. A good variety, with more than one quite amusing one.
April 18, 2022
There are some stories in this anthology that are five stars, and some that are two. It's not so much inconsistent as it is just a difficult subject to make a real masterpiece out of--weird scenarios for WWIII are fun and interesting, but with it comes the risk of tackiness here and there. That being said, they were all enjoyable. Entertainment is the point of literature, and this book is definitely entertaining.
Special shoutout to "The Ouroboros Arrangement" by Martin L. Shoemaker, "Zip Ghost" by T.C. McCarthy, and "Second Front" by John Langan. There were a few others I truly enjoyed as well, and the thing they had in common was that they brought me back to some of classic science fiction of the '60s-'80s, when there were plots that were weird for the sake of weird without having to push some asinine philosophical message not suited to either the format or the writer. Good stuff indeed.
Special shoutout to "The Ouroboros Arrangement" by Martin L. Shoemaker, "Zip Ghost" by T.C. McCarthy, and "Second Front" by John Langan. There were a few others I truly enjoyed as well, and the thing they had in common was that they brought me back to some of classic science fiction of the '60s-'80s, when there were plots that were weird for the sake of weird without having to push some asinine philosophical message not suited to either the format or the writer. Good stuff indeed.
June 26, 2024
I'm very much of fan of weird fiction as well as alternate history, so finding this anthology was (I hoped) a treat as the premise reminded me of Charles Stross's "A Colder War"—which I consider to be top form weird Cold War fiction—and I wasn't disappointed. Sure, a few of the stories weren't as strong as the majority, but it was still a good gathering of tales bookended by stories from David Drake and John Langan. In the last tale by Langan, you can't go wrong, especially if you're a Lovecraft fan, with HPL's Migos cast in a unique Cold War setting. If you like the weird as well as alternate tales of the Cold War, this is a good choice. Enjoy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
More at my blog: https://tinyurl.com/43u6vscu.
More at my blog: https://tinyurl.com/43u6vscu.
May 15, 2023
This one was a bit more meh than most anthologies I've read. You go into these expecting more misses than hits but hope that the hits hit hard. I found a lot of these to be a bit more on the dumb/ implausible side even taking into account the premise of the anthology.
Honestly feels like most of these needed another dozen or so pages to really flesh out the world a bit and not feel so rushed. I'll probably check out the others in this series at some point though
Honestly feels like most of these needed another dozen or so pages to really flesh out the world a bit and not feel so rushed. I'll probably check out the others in this series at some point though
April 10, 2023
Most of the stories in the TOC failed to step beyond banality, a few didn't even get that far, and one was actually toxic, because hey, pandering to lowest common denominator. Even John Langan's tale, while good, felt like he'd underexerted himself for this particular market.
August 6, 2023
I enjoyed the variety of stories in this book. In particular:
The Price by David Drake
Bleak Night at Bad Rock by Nick Mamatas
Shadow Rook Red by Brian Trent
The Ouroboros Arrangement by Martin L. Shoemaker
Zip Ghost by T.C. McCarthy
Deniability by Eric James Stone
The Price by David Drake
Bleak Night at Bad Rock by Nick Mamatas
Shadow Rook Red by Brian Trent
The Ouroboros Arrangement by Martin L. Shoemaker
Zip Ghost by T.C. McCarthy
Deniability by Eric James Stone
January 26, 2021
Twenty years on from the events in Tyger Burning, where the alien Sommen first conquered Earth and then abandoned it with a hundred-year treaty that required humans to stay out of Sommen space but allowed, even encouraged, humans to prepare for war against the invaders. For the Sommen, war isn't about territory, it's a desperate search for a race that they can't beat, and humanity shows the potential to be what they're looking for. To the Sommen, war is a religious crusade, but not one based on faith alone, because their priests pass down more than scripture, they pass down memories. While on Earth, they tore down the human religions, all except for one sect whose hidden texts told a truth they already knew.
Two half-siblings, Sai and Win, have been born to take the fight to the Sommen, modified in different ways by Fleet weapons programs. Win will become something inhuman, his body wasting away as his brain incorporates Sommen's brain structures, while Sai will use her human gifts to explore the paths the Sommen have opened. Both are sent to uncover the secrets of the Sommen homeworld, which the aliens appear to have fled from, and each is charged with the destruction of the other.
The real question they need to answer is who their enemy really is?
There are resonances here to Ender's Game, both in Sai and Win's father, a Burmese warrior, and in the hidden agenda of the aliens. There's an echo of Star Wars here as well, as the two siblings are initially unaware of each other, but don't count on a happy family reunion.
Two half-siblings, Sai and Win, have been born to take the fight to the Sommen, modified in different ways by Fleet weapons programs. Win will become something inhuman, his body wasting away as his brain incorporates Sommen's brain structures, while Sai will use her human gifts to explore the paths the Sommen have opened. Both are sent to uncover the secrets of the Sommen homeworld, which the aliens appear to have fled from, and each is charged with the destruction of the other.
The real question they need to answer is who their enemy really is?
There are resonances here to Ender's Game, both in Sai and Win's father, a Burmese warrior, and in the hidden agenda of the aliens. There's an echo of Star Wars here as well, as the two siblings are initially unaware of each other, but don't count on a happy family reunion.
September 6, 2022
The cover blurb isn't exactly accurate, since the girl in question never touches down on the planet in question, and indeed, winds up running away from said planet after the mission fails due to other enemies that are only tangentially related to the main ones she undertook the mission for in the first place, but despite that little hiccup, the story is pretty decent, and I'll likely keep the series in mind when I run across more books in the series.
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