Book Review – Silence and Starsong Magazine – Spring 2023, Volume 1 Number 1 Edited by Joseph Knowles

For a deeper discussion and review of each of these stories, I had the privilege of discussing them on the great Katie Roome’s YouTube channel – Periapsis Press.

Like with all anthologies there are some you’re going to like and some you’re not. What I appreciate about the work here is that the editor along with the authors are understanding a world in which the modern wasteland of of sci-fi is offering little of value and the types of stories offered in this anthology series by indie authors are able to author readers heroes to root for, tropes to respect, and a world created that is taken seriously. Without spoiling much or going too far into the details of what each is about the follow are my assessment:

– A Matter of Honor by Jason McCuiston – a haunted house story during the Middle Ages with men of different religions of the Christian variety from opposing armies must rely on each other to escape. There is some good church history and military history here. Characters are quickly established and done so very, very well. The ideas of honor and glory ring out among the benefits of friendship and brotherhood. A good ending to be had as well.

– A Wanderer of Ur by Gaston Nerval – a good setting and character. Really enjoy settings pre-Flood or post-Flood immediate as there is a lot you can do there. What’s weak here is the story after the set up happens too quickly and is ends without enough to make me care. I would like to see more here but there is not enough here for me to demand it or search it out.

– Archangel by Frederick Gero Heimbach – oh boy. This was THE best story out of all of them. The story of demon indwelt nukes on a Russian submarine where priests are needed to make sure nothing happens as a way to have the biggest threat against the United States is the story. Ya know what? You have me. You have me by the toes or the ears or whatever part needs me to listen to this story. It starts off perfectly and draws you in. The amount of buildup and exposition are done so well in the small space of this short story. Putting the story into Russian military setting adds a mind picture even more clear of greys and bleak and dread. The madness writing for the characters reminded me quite a bit of Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth and I must Scream”. A great ending as well. I don’t usually call for short stories to be made into their own thing but if this story came out in a 7 book series – I’m buying the hard covers on day 1.

– The Two Godly Fishmongers: A Tale of Strange Providences by Kevin White – This was my second favorite story and involves a couple of simple characters in the colonial days who find themselves accidentally abducted by an alien. This is a lovely story where the lesson doesn’t get lost in the sci-fi and the sci-fi doesn’t get lost in the lesson. The ideas of brotherly love, repentance, and the universal nature of God and His providence (even among those among the stars) offered up a great story here.

– Free Lunch by S. Kirk Pierzchala – This was fine and fun. A vacationing family who stumbles upon the house they think they rented find a meal set up so they partake – all except skeptical Sally, the daughter. The trickster reveals and the biggest problem I have here is that I need to understand about why or how Sally knows what happens when the reveal is done. That would have put this into the great stories in the collection.

– Have Ye Offered Unto Me by Zachary Grafman – a very rushed story that didn’t really explain what’s going on with the characters and if some more details could be added to the demonic aspect of academia this could have been a good story with a fun ending.

– The Gamer by Nathan Karnes – a meta-lit-RPG-esk that’s kind of ho-hum because there’s not much of an establishment of either where we are at or the stakes of what’s happening.

– The Secret of Phelim Darke by S. Kirk Pierzchala – I’m kind of torn on this because the twist at the end was good but if the story before it happens doesn’t really make the twist make that much sense. The perfect love of a woman’s life goes missing and she is forlorn – until he returns and reveals what he was up to. If a few more aspects to our female character would have been inserted that made the twist happen more logically, I would have really enjoyed this.

– The Shadow of the Stain by Patrick Lauser – this story about two sisters and witchcraft and revenge just did not leave any impact on me.

– Hidden Empire by T.R. Alexander – Could you even believe a story about the government being taken over by demons? There’s a lot to like here in this story. The letter writing style is a bit of an odd choice rather then just telling the story. After the turning point of the story it would have been nice to reveal a little bit more behind the curtain. However, overall, this was a good story.

I really appreciated editor Knowles note at the end (although it should have been at the beginning). I will be checking out his other collections in this series and back any others he puts out.