I cut my reader's teeth on short fiction when I was a kid. I developed a liking for Isaac Asimov, Michael Moorcock, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Heinlein through short stories or novels of a considerably shorter length than most of the weighty tomes of today's SF scene. So the thought of a collection of short stories was enticing and the propect of trying out some new authors quite appealing.

And thankfully this faith was rewarded. What we have here is a mixed collection of SF, Fantasy and Alternative short stories with some of the editorials from the Quantum Muse site thrown in as a bonus. And the stories are of considerable interest. We have 15 tales that exhibit real freshness and originality, stories that do not necessarily conform to some of the typical best-seller ideas but are a genuine joy to read. Even when dealing with fantasy settings the stories manage to portay more than enough richness to allow you access to the world, proving that there is a place for short fantasy tales just as there is for epic series.

I just hope that the character of Agnar in 'Ravenclaw and the Incomplete Wizard' features in other stories, or if not will soon.

Pick up a copy of this anthology, treat yourself to the stories and give your SF/fantasy reading brain a decent tonic - this should wake it up!

I think it is far to say that Quantum Musings was at a certain disadvantage when I decided to read/review it. Basically I have never been a fan of short stories...until now that is. I picked this up with the thought that it would be ideal to read during a recent flight to Lyons - I certainly didn't intend to read it in one sitting, but that is what happened.

I found the sheer variety of writing style and theme completely addictive! The stories vary in length from a quick paragraph to several pages and are truly original, covering SF, Fantasy and Alternative themes.

I intially thought I'd miss the lengthy descriptions found in my favourite fantasy works but I was wrong. The pace at which I was pulled through the tales was breathtaking. I was actually disappointed when I cam e to the end of the book. Since starting the Eternal Night we have received a number of requests from authors and editors to review books. This has been a totally unexpected but wonderful side effect. We have been granted the opportunity to read stories that were previously unknown to us and, so far, this has been a wholly pleasurable experience. Quantum Musings is no exception.

I'll be honest, if I had seen it on the shelf in a bookstore I would probably have put it back as "I don't like short stories". I am so glad I was given this opportunity. I don't think I will be quite so reticent when presented with a collection of short stories in the future.