Name: Love & Rockets
Author: Anthology
Publisher: DAW
Number of Pages: 320
Source: Sent to me by Anita Ensal, one of the authors
I admit that I was a little hesitant to read this because the only sci fi romance books I've successfully been able to read are Gini Koch's Kitty Kat Series (Touched by an Alien and Alien Tango) and Wanderlust by Ann Agguire. There are about fifteen short stories in this anthology, and I have to admit they have been the perfect length for someone new to the genre. The only problem I've found with them is that some of them are just too short! With most of them only being 10 pages in length, by the time I found myself getting into the stories they were over. Of the fifteen, I've read about half. Here are my favorites:
Second Shift by By Brenda Cooper-This is about a women who works second shift for a rocket company that sends astronauts on journeys they might not return from. They hire people to talk to the astronauts while they make their journey. Kami has broken one of the major rules-she's fallen in love with the astronaut she talks to, knowing she might not see him again. I was amazed at all the emotion I felt reading this super short story. It was just heartbreaking and warming all at the same time.
Wanted by Anita Ensel-This is Gini Koch's other alias, so it should come as no surprise that this was my favorite of the stories I read! It's the story about a girl who is rescued by a mining ship and falls in love with it's cankerous owner, who is trying to find out who she is on the run from and what she's done. The ending will surprise you-it did me. It's very different from the Alien series, but I liked it all the same!
Gateway Night by Nina Kirki Hoffman-This one surprised me the most. It's about a women who works on a space station and it's her first time off of her world. There were so many different types of aliens in this book, that it surprised me at how I found myself wanting to know more.
The Women Who Ate Stone Squid by Jay Lake-I had the hardest time with this story, mainly because it was just so different then what I normally read. It's about an astronaut who goes to a world looking for life that is non human and is surprised by what she's found. It's very outside the box, and I'm still thinking about it all these days later.
I can't wait to read the other stories in the book. I've enjoyed this book mainly because it's a genre I normally don't read and was surprised that I liked it. These aren't you typical romances, and are more on the sci fi side of things, but they have made me think that I might actually be able to read a sci fi book one of these days!
