What do you think?
Rate this book
Echoes of the Future
As the publisher, Noble Romance, has gone out of business, this anthology is no longer available, however the individual authors may re-release the stories singly.
Strange alien customs. The lonely echoes in the corridor of a space station suspended in the vacuum of space, while, on earth, human cultures change and adapt to new threats and challenges.
"Burn" which featured in the first edition is out of contract and has been removed from circulation.
Conduit by Kate Cotoner
Ismail and his ex-husband Toki are divided by class and circumstance. Toki is a cybernetic upgrade human and part of the city elite, while Ismail is a baseline human and a cop. Their brief marriage failed when Toki walked out, but now he's back, asking for Ismail's help against Hanuman, a malicious cyber-intelligence who plans to poison the water supply of all baseline humans in the city. Now Ismail and Toki must find the underground reservoir targeted by Hanuman before time runs out for them both.
Rescue Me by Jude Mason
Assigned to guard Leetchi Ambassador Dar and his family, Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself inexplicably drawn to Jad, the diplomat's son. The tall, slender Leetchi turns out to be as gay as Patch and steals his heart. When Jad is kidnapped, Patch goes undercover to find and rescue him. The rescue takes him to the underbelly of the space port city and a whore house where slaves are bought and sold at will. Finding Jad proves easier than he'd hoped, but the rescue takes an insane twist when their escape attempt is thwarted by the one person they knew was on their side.
Reversal by A. B. Gayle
Sebastian is bored. He has another five years of lone duty supervising his family's robots on their space station. The last thing he wants to do is the housework. For Christmas, his mother sends him a Domestic Darling cyborg. True to form, she purchases a factory second and sends one that doesn't quite fit the bill. Instead of being a pert blond with big tits and a cute ass like in the advertisement, this one is six foot tall and built like a Greek god, a very virile Greek God. In an attempt to improve its functioning, Sebastian uses some of his brilliant programming skills. The resulting changes ensure Sebastian will never be bored again.
Strange alien customs. The lonely echoes in the corridor of a space station suspended in the vacuum of space, while, on earth, human cultures change and adapt to new threats and challenges.
"Burn" which featured in the first edition is out of contract and has been removed from circulation.
Conduit by Kate Cotoner
Ismail and his ex-husband Toki are divided by class and circumstance. Toki is a cybernetic upgrade human and part of the city elite, while Ismail is a baseline human and a cop. Their brief marriage failed when Toki walked out, but now he's back, asking for Ismail's help against Hanuman, a malicious cyber-intelligence who plans to poison the water supply of all baseline humans in the city. Now Ismail and Toki must find the underground reservoir targeted by Hanuman before time runs out for them both.
Rescue Me by Jude Mason
Assigned to guard Leetchi Ambassador Dar and his family, Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself inexplicably drawn to Jad, the diplomat's son. The tall, slender Leetchi turns out to be as gay as Patch and steals his heart. When Jad is kidnapped, Patch goes undercover to find and rescue him. The rescue takes him to the underbelly of the space port city and a whore house where slaves are bought and sold at will. Finding Jad proves easier than he'd hoped, but the rescue takes an insane twist when their escape attempt is thwarted by the one person they knew was on their side.
Reversal by A. B. Gayle
Sebastian is bored. He has another five years of lone duty supervising his family's robots on their space station. The last thing he wants to do is the housework. For Christmas, his mother sends him a Domestic Darling cyborg. True to form, she purchases a factory second and sends one that doesn't quite fit the bill. Instead of being a pert blond with big tits and a cute ass like in the advertisement, this one is six foot tall and built like a Greek god, a very virile Greek God. In an attempt to improve its functioning, Sebastian uses some of his brilliant programming skills. The resulting changes ensure Sebastian will never be bored again.
92 pages, ebook
First published March 8, 2010
3 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
A.B. Gayle
20 books191 followersUnlike many authors, I haven't been writing stories all my life. I've been too busy living life.
My travels took me from the fjords of Norway to the southern tip of New Zealand. In between, I've worked in so many different towns I've lost count. I've shoveled cow shit, mustered sheep, been polite to customers, traded insults with politicians and need to be forgiven on occasions when I get confused as to who needs what where. Now that I'm settled in Sydney, Australia, my real-life experiences can morph with my fertile imagination and create fiction which I hope readers will enjoy.
My philosophy on posting reviews is to recommend books I like which I think other people may not read and state why I like them. These are only the tip of the iceberg of books I read. If I do post a negative review, it's because there is some craft aspect (usually) that, to me, prevents the book from reaching its full potential. Books I straight out don't like or don't finish, don't even get a mention, as they may be someone else's cup of tea.
My travels took me from the fjords of Norway to the southern tip of New Zealand. In between, I've worked in so many different towns I've lost count. I've shoveled cow shit, mustered sheep, been polite to customers, traded insults with politicians and need to be forgiven on occasions when I get confused as to who needs what where. Now that I'm settled in Sydney, Australia, my real-life experiences can morph with my fertile imagination and create fiction which I hope readers will enjoy.
My philosophy on posting reviews is to recommend books I like which I think other people may not read and state why I like them. These are only the tip of the iceberg of books I read. If I do post a negative review, it's because there is some craft aspect (usually) that, to me, prevents the book from reaching its full potential. Books I straight out don't like or don't finish, don't even get a mention, as they may be someone else's cup of tea.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Read
June 12, 2013"Burn" is out of contract and no longer available. The story should re-appear in an expanded version somewhen in 2014 (from Riptide).
Read
March 19, 2010Intro
I was send this book a few days ago to review on the blog, I wont lie and say it would have been something I would have rushed out to buy, because I wouldn’t have.
I am not sure what made me decide to read it ahead of a whole pile of other books that I have in the queue, but I did and I was so impressed by it that I immediately send off a few emails to all the authors asking them if they wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me.
Let me be clear right from the outset, if you are looking for a book with characters that exploded over the pages or humour or any of the stereotypical romance theme – this is not the book for you. ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is about concept, that little gem of an idea that all these four authors brought to life made of it what they will.
And they all certainly did bring something special to this anthology.
All of the stories are about what the (possible) future might be, whether it’s alien, advance tech, creation or even mixing the core element of human and tech – ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is something to get the juices flowing and if you like sci-fi or off world plotline or even if you don't, this will make you want to go looking and explore what else is out there.
One thing I must mention is that I thought all the stories were well suited to the title and it was a tightly managed set of books.
BURN
BURN starts off this anthology and it was a great opening story. Within these few pages Voinov manages to capture murder, mystery and mayhem and that was not even touching the futuristic concept that the book is all about.
Chris is a SAD fighter drone pilot, and the beauty of Chris is that he is human plus a little bit of a twiks (alot of twik to be honest). Chris is cutting edge as the blurb says and all is well in his world until he has an accident on the job (greatly condensing here).
Following his accident Chris makes the decision to take time off and sort himself out. Barely off base he meets Cyril, someone he thinks is a colleague and someone he is very much attracted to. They end up spending the night together but morning does not bring the morning after thrill that it should – it leaves Chris under the microscope and with more questions than answer.
The blurb does a good round up of the book – so I can’t go any further without spoiling it for future readers.
What I loved about BURN is that little buzz that it left me with, I immediately wanted to know more about the technology, my thought process was all over the place – because the concept of what Chris is was possible, it had a logic to it that I could see it happening and in some way agreeing with.
BURN is not big on angst, there was not time for that – but the author I thought gave enough detail of the time, the very matter of fact ways of the people involved and mostly invested alot of time in describing the technology that is Chris and Cyril.
There was smut involved, the author didn’t leave that out but not the soft words and gentle touches sort of scene. This was slam again the door and as rough as they could get sort of action and I wanted more.
CONDUIT
Ismail is old school cop through and through and a base line human – the lowest form of human/cybernetic there is. Ismail has lived, and he has loved and none of those two things has been the pinnacle of his life so far – well maybe the love – but his feet are firmly placed on the ground.
When he is send to investigate a matter of grave importance, the last person he expects to see is his ex-husband - Toki. Toki comes bearing bad news and as it stands only Ismail can help, not only him but the entire city from this threat.
Ismail is not the kind of guy who rolls over, accepts and serves – nope. Ismail is all about protect and serve – yes, but he is also attitude and Dirty Harry code of ethics all rolled into one, so some surprises were in store for Toki.
Toki is not the same man that left Ismail years ago – he looks just about the same and his very strict oriental manner is still as rigid as it as always been but yet there are some immediate differences that Ismail can’t get his mind around.
Both men need to work together to catch this cyber criminal, but with Ismail protective instinct kicking in as well as their old attraction flaring its head – things were bound to go wrong and as smart as Ismail may be he may have just handed the criminal the one thing he needs to carry out his plan – Toki’s body.
I love CONDUIT – not only was the concept one that works for me but it had all the stereotypical things that I like in a book, Ms. Cotoner however not only made it better but much, much more intriguing…
There’s the old school cop who just refuse to give up or conform, but smart enough to get out of life what he can to survive.
The class structure is excellently detailed – (Glad to know “the us and them factor” will never die out)
Pride and attitude was all over the place in CONDUIT – loved it, both men made me smile at some of the things they got up to.
There was smut, and I quite like the few emotional scenes that the author intertwined into the plot.
This concept worked for me because of the backdrop to this book – The rain slick streets, the rotting museum that is hardly ever used – but the trek from the plusher part of the city to what can only be classed at the slum was well worth the journey and made the book for me.
RESCUE ME
Being dragged through the streets on a leash no less and unsure of what the next few minute or even the few hours will hold for him is where Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself.
Patch is in the land of the Leetchi looking for his last assignment, Jad, a diplomat’s son. The latest information that is known of his where’s about is within his sights. The whorehouse that Jad is being held in, is not the stuff of overstuffed chairs and seedy old men smoking cigars.
The slaves – because they are slave when they get put into the cells are used and abused and when things get too close for comfort they might just get sold on to some other Alien race needing a sex slave. Patch was in a race against time and he knows that every bit of info he can absorb will come in handy whenever he gets his chance to escape.
Patch does find Jad and a sort of reunion takes but what follows next surprised even me…. But one thing is sure Patch will get Jad out, because he cannot live without him.
Ms. Mason contribution is the only one that feels familiar to me – in that I am used to reading about difference races in romance, she however builds a whole little set up around the Leetchi, and the trade that they have build up.
Holding the best till last is one of the cool things about reading one of Ms. Mason’s books – and she did not let me down. Not only was the ending surprising but it was coming from so far left field and I love it and wanted more.
What however I really love about this book is it’s edginess – Something's do remain the same in RESCUE ME, the need to protect and serve and of course follow through, but when alien with there own code of conduct and morals get stirred into the mix any game is to be expected and that is what Ms. Mason has put together with RESCUE ME. Well done.
REVERSAL
REVERSAL starts with Sebastian, the latest son to take up his position on the space station that his family has own since forever into his first year of a six years stay and he is bored... As bored as he is however housework is not his forte and as such his mother decides to send him a Domestic Darling cyborg, to do the cleaning up around the station.
From the moment he spoke to his mother about this gift he had reservation and opening the pack only re-enforce that more, because instead of a cute little woman what Sebastian got is a well built, very developed male cyborg with all the right bits attached…
Sebastian is not too put out however because he has never been into the whole little woman scene anyway, so looking at a well built guy is not too much of a hardship, even if he was a cyborg.
Sebastian is not satisfied with the original programming of the cyborg and as such he sets about to stamp a personality on Cedric, yes – Darling has been rechristened Cedric. Not only has Sebastian given Cedric a new chipboard – but Sebastian and Cedric has more in common that Sebastian mamma even knows.
I really love this story – not that it was a better concept than the other stories – it was just the ickness of it, the braveness of this concept and more over the fact that Ms. Gayle sold me this set up – Cedric took on a life of his own and Sebastian was such an enthusiastic player who within these few pages went through a dramatic change that really made this a story worth reading.
The simplicity of REVERSAL is another positive of this story for me - it wasn’t a dramatic tale, there was no bells nor whistles, no hoop to jump through- it just was and it worked.
Need to hear a new author’s voice as well as try something different - ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is the book to try.
The other books will be updated as the week progresses....
I was send this book a few days ago to review on the blog, I wont lie and say it would have been something I would have rushed out to buy, because I wouldn’t have.
I am not sure what made me decide to read it ahead of a whole pile of other books that I have in the queue, but I did and I was so impressed by it that I immediately send off a few emails to all the authors asking them if they wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me.
Let me be clear right from the outset, if you are looking for a book with characters that exploded over the pages or humour or any of the stereotypical romance theme – this is not the book for you. ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is about concept, that little gem of an idea that all these four authors brought to life made of it what they will.
And they all certainly did bring something special to this anthology.
All of the stories are about what the (possible) future might be, whether it’s alien, advance tech, creation or even mixing the core element of human and tech – ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is something to get the juices flowing and if you like sci-fi or off world plotline or even if you don't, this will make you want to go looking and explore what else is out there.
One thing I must mention is that I thought all the stories were well suited to the title and it was a tightly managed set of books.
BURN
BURN starts off this anthology and it was a great opening story. Within these few pages Voinov manages to capture murder, mystery and mayhem and that was not even touching the futuristic concept that the book is all about.
Chris is a SAD fighter drone pilot, and the beauty of Chris is that he is human plus a little bit of a twiks (alot of twik to be honest). Chris is cutting edge as the blurb says and all is well in his world until he has an accident on the job (greatly condensing here).
Following his accident Chris makes the decision to take time off and sort himself out. Barely off base he meets Cyril, someone he thinks is a colleague and someone he is very much attracted to. They end up spending the night together but morning does not bring the morning after thrill that it should – it leaves Chris under the microscope and with more questions than answer.
The blurb does a good round up of the book – so I can’t go any further without spoiling it for future readers.
What I loved about BURN is that little buzz that it left me with, I immediately wanted to know more about the technology, my thought process was all over the place – because the concept of what Chris is was possible, it had a logic to it that I could see it happening and in some way agreeing with.
BURN is not big on angst, there was not time for that – but the author I thought gave enough detail of the time, the very matter of fact ways of the people involved and mostly invested alot of time in describing the technology that is Chris and Cyril.
There was smut involved, the author didn’t leave that out but not the soft words and gentle touches sort of scene. This was slam again the door and as rough as they could get sort of action and I wanted more.
CONDUIT
Ismail is old school cop through and through and a base line human – the lowest form of human/cybernetic there is. Ismail has lived, and he has loved and none of those two things has been the pinnacle of his life so far – well maybe the love – but his feet are firmly placed on the ground.
When he is send to investigate a matter of grave importance, the last person he expects to see is his ex-husband - Toki. Toki comes bearing bad news and as it stands only Ismail can help, not only him but the entire city from this threat.
Ismail is not the kind of guy who rolls over, accepts and serves – nope. Ismail is all about protect and serve – yes, but he is also attitude and Dirty Harry code of ethics all rolled into one, so some surprises were in store for Toki.
Toki is not the same man that left Ismail years ago – he looks just about the same and his very strict oriental manner is still as rigid as it as always been but yet there are some immediate differences that Ismail can’t get his mind around.
Both men need to work together to catch this cyber criminal, but with Ismail protective instinct kicking in as well as their old attraction flaring its head – things were bound to go wrong and as smart as Ismail may be he may have just handed the criminal the one thing he needs to carry out his plan – Toki’s body.
I love CONDUIT – not only was the concept one that works for me but it had all the stereotypical things that I like in a book, Ms. Cotoner however not only made it better but much, much more intriguing…
There’s the old school cop who just refuse to give up or conform, but smart enough to get out of life what he can to survive.
The class structure is excellently detailed – (Glad to know “the us and them factor” will never die out)
Pride and attitude was all over the place in CONDUIT – loved it, both men made me smile at some of the things they got up to.
There was smut, and I quite like the few emotional scenes that the author intertwined into the plot.
This concept worked for me because of the backdrop to this book – The rain slick streets, the rotting museum that is hardly ever used – but the trek from the plusher part of the city to what can only be classed at the slum was well worth the journey and made the book for me.
RESCUE ME
Being dragged through the streets on a leash no less and unsure of what the next few minute or even the few hours will hold for him is where Lieutenant Thomas Patch finds himself.
Patch is in the land of the Leetchi looking for his last assignment, Jad, a diplomat’s son. The latest information that is known of his where’s about is within his sights. The whorehouse that Jad is being held in, is not the stuff of overstuffed chairs and seedy old men smoking cigars.
The slaves – because they are slave when they get put into the cells are used and abused and when things get too close for comfort they might just get sold on to some other Alien race needing a sex slave. Patch was in a race against time and he knows that every bit of info he can absorb will come in handy whenever he gets his chance to escape.
Patch does find Jad and a sort of reunion takes but what follows next surprised even me…. But one thing is sure Patch will get Jad out, because he cannot live without him.
Ms. Mason contribution is the only one that feels familiar to me – in that I am used to reading about difference races in romance, she however builds a whole little set up around the Leetchi, and the trade that they have build up.
Holding the best till last is one of the cool things about reading one of Ms. Mason’s books – and she did not let me down. Not only was the ending surprising but it was coming from so far left field and I love it and wanted more.
What however I really love about this book is it’s edginess – Something's do remain the same in RESCUE ME, the need to protect and serve and of course follow through, but when alien with there own code of conduct and morals get stirred into the mix any game is to be expected and that is what Ms. Mason has put together with RESCUE ME. Well done.
REVERSAL
REVERSAL starts with Sebastian, the latest son to take up his position on the space station that his family has own since forever into his first year of a six years stay and he is bored... As bored as he is however housework is not his forte and as such his mother decides to send him a Domestic Darling cyborg, to do the cleaning up around the station.
From the moment he spoke to his mother about this gift he had reservation and opening the pack only re-enforce that more, because instead of a cute little woman what Sebastian got is a well built, very developed male cyborg with all the right bits attached…
Sebastian is not too put out however because he has never been into the whole little woman scene anyway, so looking at a well built guy is not too much of a hardship, even if he was a cyborg.
Sebastian is not satisfied with the original programming of the cyborg and as such he sets about to stamp a personality on Cedric, yes – Darling has been rechristened Cedric. Not only has Sebastian given Cedric a new chipboard – but Sebastian and Cedric has more in common that Sebastian mamma even knows.
I really love this story – not that it was a better concept than the other stories – it was just the ickness of it, the braveness of this concept and more over the fact that Ms. Gayle sold me this set up – Cedric took on a life of his own and Sebastian was such an enthusiastic player who within these few pages went through a dramatic change that really made this a story worth reading.
The simplicity of REVERSAL is another positive of this story for me - it wasn’t a dramatic tale, there was no bells nor whistles, no hoop to jump through- it just was and it worked.
Need to hear a new author’s voice as well as try something different - ECHOES OF THE FUTURE is the book to try.
The other books will be updated as the week progresses....
March 16, 2010
BURN by Aleksandr Voinov/ REVERSAL by A B Gayle
BURN: This story is fun with cutting edge technology. It opens with a interview of the lead character, Chris, that immediately plugs you into his head. Which as it turns out is the whole point of this ride. It has intrique, hot sex & a mysterious man that rocks Chris's world. I enjoyed the excitement & high tech world that was created here. As usual, Mr. Voinov leaves me wanting more, but it doesn't take away from the BURN. 4 stars - Enjoy
REVERSAL: EROTIC & ROBOTIC!! I really liked this story. It was humorous and sexy, with a twist. The concept grabbed me right off and I didn't put it down til I finished. It was just a lot of fun! It left me smiling and happy.
BURN: This story is fun with cutting edge technology. It opens with a interview of the lead character, Chris, that immediately plugs you into his head. Which as it turns out is the whole point of this ride. It has intrique, hot sex & a mysterious man that rocks Chris's world. I enjoyed the excitement & high tech world that was created here. As usual, Mr. Voinov leaves me wanting more, but it doesn't take away from the BURN. 4 stars - Enjoy
REVERSAL: EROTIC & ROBOTIC!! I really liked this story. It was humorous and sexy, with a twist. The concept grabbed me right off and I didn't put it down til I finished. It was just a lot of fun! It left me smiling and happy.
Read
July 12, 2010OK. Maybe I shouldn't rate a book with my own story in with five stars. But hey, if the author can't rate it that high why would anyone bother to read it????
LOL. Grins. Blushes and ducks for cover.
To me the other stories warrant this book being given a great rating. Thanks to Alex Voinov for inviting me to come on board. "Reversal" will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first story I had published.
LOL. Grins. Blushes and ducks for cover.
To me the other stories warrant this book being given a great rating. Thanks to Alex Voinov for inviting me to come on board. "Reversal" will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first story I had published.
March 16, 2010
A very lovely collection of quality futuristic m/m stories, running the gamut.
Each story in this anthology is worth reading, but by far my favorite was A.B. Gayle's contribution, the final story. I loved the way she made me frown, cant my head at the screen, and laugh, over and over again. For a short piece, it was extremely well crafted.
Each story in this anthology is worth reading, but by far my favorite was A.B. Gayle's contribution, the final story. I loved the way she made me frown, cant my head at the screen, and laugh, over and over again. For a short piece, it was extremely well crafted.
December 28, 2010
Some very excellent reads in this collection
August 6, 2011
5 stars for Reversal by A. B. Gayle
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews