Book Review: Augmented Vol. 1 co-edited by Keith Giles and Matthew J Distefano

 

Augmented Vol. 1 co-edited by Keith Giles and Matthew J Distefano

There are fewer and fewer homes for short science fiction these days. In the pulp era, there was an entire spinner rack at drug stores filled with magazines that contained short fiction. Sci-fi, weird tales, detective fiction, and westerns. An author could make a living doing this and normally they would have multiple pen names so they didn’t flood the market. I admit most of the time I don’t write or bother submitting my short fiction because I find the process a pain. I generally wait until I am invited. This was a collection I have invited the folks at Quoir Keith Giles and Matthew J Distefano.

While attempting to diversify their books Keith invited me first to write a forward for PKD stories in the pipeline, then a story for this collection, and ultimately a novel People’s Park! Out in April. So just to be fair I have a story in here called “Happy, Happy, Click, Click.” I normally don’t review books I am in but I was planning on doing a podcast about the book so I had to read it.

I am happy to say this is a great collection, every story brings something to the table. A couple of them were a little short for me but like the best anthologies, many styles and voices were represented. The best stories in a collection will inspire a little healthy jealousy. For me, that story was "Urgent Care" by Andrew Turck. This story is worth the whole shebang. A wild adventure story with smart and sometimes funny world-building that has multiple social/political themes woven into a fast-paced story. Our point of view character Santiago needs health care, but he can’t afford to be treated by the automated ambulances called Millipedes. The story is mostly a chase and the narrative cuts between Santigo and the woman overseeing the dispatch. Amazing stuff. As good or better than most of what I read in high-class speculative magazines I subscribe to.

Also one of my favorites of the collection came from Ukrainian author Vialcheslav Lazurin whose story “Keep your Voices Low,” balanced a great setting and ideas for a short and powerful tale.  It was also nice to read some good Science Fiction from Tessa B. Dick (Phil’s last wife) and co-editor Keith Giles who I know from PKD circles. Giles is mostly a non-fiction writer so it is awesome to see him stretch his wings in SF.      

This is a great collection and worth your time. Look forward to a podcast about it soon.