Hey my humans. I’ve just finished reading the second in a series of ace short stories I bought on the ‘ZON, for only a $DOLLAR$ (Value! Cha-ching! Oh, and I didn’t know it was going to be a series when I read the first one, so that’s a surprise sequel! Double cha-ching!) and I would like to share my recommendation.

The author is a guy called Ernie Luis, with a blog you can read, because it uses letters and words and all of your favorite punctuation.

Here’s the amazon link, and here’s the Goodreads review (followed by a short bit about International Women’s Day, which is a GOOD THING):

Backwards by Ernie Luis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just like the preceding short-story, Alternate, it’s centered around the struggles of a time-travelling assassin, tasked with preserving the proper order of things by eliminating rogue time-travellers. He’s in a bad way, only able to function while drunk, and this day at the office brings him face-to-face with the reason why:

He goes through the time-portal to catch a rogue employee, and ends up back on the street where his daughter died. On the exact day. Only minutes before it happens…

I’d give this short story four and a half stars, but apparently that isn’t an option. I flipping loved it, right up until it ended.

HOW COULD IT END? THAT ISN’T THE END? WHERE’S THE REST OF IT GARRDRAMMIT? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a satisfying tale, especially if you know-what’s-what from reading Alternate beforehand, but it ends on such a cliff-hanger I’d auction a kidney to know what’s next. Not my kidney, but a very nice one all the same.

The scope has expanded drastically from Alternate. Here we’re seeing more characters, and a plot much bigger than one man’s chance to change a tragic past. Now we’re talking fate-of-the-world. Every character has gusto, and nuance, and they grab you by the feels. Enough said

View all my reviews

Okay, that’s it from me. Go read the short! Best twenty minutes of your day, I promise (unless you have hanky-panky or a terrific sandwich, in which case HIGH FIVE!)

Oh, by the way – Happy International Women’s Day! Dudes, let the women in your life be heard. Ladies, we think you’re rad. On a related note I’m thinking of buying my infant daughter a statue of Diana (okay, so technically it’s a 1/6 scale Wonder Woman figurine), as a kind of room-guardian / mascot. Thoughts?

Best regards,

D.R.Sylvester