Bio: Eugen M. Bacon, MSc, studied at the University of Greenwich, UK and graduated with distinction. She now lives in Australia. A Computer Science graduate mentally re-engineered into creative writing, she is the author of several published books and award-winning short stories that touch anything under the sun. Sex, murder, drugs, humour, fear, love... Her model writer is Toni Morrison. Eugen also reviews fiction for Readers Review, and is scheduled to assume an editing role for an upcoming anthology series in the UK.

I have never devoured with such interest something so morbid. Sadist Kress has a quest for the exotic pet. Nothing cute; anything that maims or maws another life form will do. Jala Wo, an alien being, introduces him to Sandkings. Creatures that build living castles and fight vicious wars. But that is not enough. Twisted Kress dictates combat upon his pets, introducing larger and more dangerous assailants into the red glow of the terranium. Demonic conflict grows feverish, malevolent, cannibalistic... Tension holds from start to finish. George R. R. Martin is an oddity, a master at this.

George R. R. Martin's unfailing talent to create sinister and suspense in something squat and sharp once again prevails. Protagonist Holt is trapped in The Stone City, a shipless, inescapable barren land rife with peril. And not the Dan'lai, Cedrans, ul-mennaleiths or what-nots will engineer his freedom...

Babel Interface is as liberal as it is cryptic; plenty in it to hold interest. I am keen to read more of Sheila Finch.

Difficult not to smile with Stephen Rogers in the heart of a mystery. This tale is natural enough to linger.

"A hush settles over the land. Time seems to slow, and for the briefest of moments, you behold the beauty of twilight." Mysterious bubbles float into a simmering pot. A mesmeric foreword from Sheri L. McGathy affirms what I already know: I love her writing. There is always a magical quality, something insightful, an exquisite element almost literary. Her tales are well thought, finely told, wonderfully readable, and are sometimes almost calming. Where Lies Beauty questions beauty, confronts perfection. Tanner and her brother, Conn, are Seekers. Faylon is a New Worlder who will pay anything in gold to go in a treacherous journey beyond the Divide. Only Seekers can guide him into ruins of the ancient mages, into the cursed forest of Sha-da-nay, The City of light. Parallels: superb characterization opens the reader to the magnificence of slave Manny whose scars much remind Tanner of her own gruesome past, but whose pure eyes carry greater youth than dawn. Sheri L. McGathy draws a clear yet intricate world, one so full of myths, its very land breathes. Shannah Biondine's Mourn a Moonreft Sky skilfully paints a voyage bursting with mystery in the core of a medieval world. A slain wizard, a stolen Umbra Amulate, a Glacian quest. Zavend, a rare Waniand scholar, travels far. He seeks the assistance of amorous Capt Praxis, a female of hidden thoughts. But she is also a skilled rider of griffons, terrible beasts. Only first they have to catch one such creature before the pursuit can begin. Jeanine Berry's The Well of Forever holds definite darkness inside beauty. Caireya is a slave and a seer in an ancient palace, a fortress that has survived the Cataclysm. Caireya's powers allow her the ability to unearth things. Younger sister, Eronne, has a healing gift. But, since the vanishing of the great sorcerer, Lohar, the two females are towed onto an expedition to Maricor by their master, Demor. His greed will not sleep until his hands clasp a magical wand with legendary powers. Through spell, he manages to weave a shell of the great mage, a grand find. But the simulacrum has powers of its own, and in the wrong hands... Jeanne Allen's Viking imaginings beget The Treasure of Arvalis, a historical romance full of action. Temple priestess, Eirena, is not spared visions that hold much foreboding. When these visions come true, and the land of Ignatia is tossed into a horrific fate, Eirena must convert a barbarian, a warrior of intrinsic savagery, into a liberator of the people. Twilight Crossings II is a remarkable novel. It carries individual tales so full of charm; four astonishing novellas as much filled with adventure as enchantment.

It is remarkable how epublishing resurrects stories. Tales one would otherwise never have seen or touched become accessible at the tick of a button. 'War of the Roses' is short, clever, reserved with words, humorous even. Blissfully bopping to a song on the radio, the narrator is thrust at a scene of an accident, and feels powerless, almost silly as a result. The garbling blood-soaked victim does not ease the situation. A malicious rivalry unfolds. Looking for a light mystery with a dollop of humour? A sample of Stephen D. Rogers' wit? Here's your anecdote.

What if chain reaction deviates or implements a crucial historical outcome? 'Small Moments in Time' is an exceptionally drawn time travel story. The narrator has travelled to the past with intention to export extinct wheat grain into the future but is caught in the mundane existence of there and then 1918 Kansas. A strange jumper, however, catapults into the same time loop, and unwittingly tosses the chronicler into a plague zone. Deadly Spanish influenza. John G. Hemry's story holds ample suspense to effectively carry it through. A grand finale sets the little gray cells to task. This commendation is way overdue. 'Small Moments in Time' is a brilliant read.

A common ingredient of magic binds this cocktail of new talent consolidated by author Lazette Gifford. A fiery she-were transforms at whim from beast to naked woman, thus spicing Darwin A. Garrison's 'Hell Forge' where succubae creatures Hob and monstrous hellspawn unleash carnage. A mortal on the throes of death alters a frost dragon's karma in Cheryl Peugh's 'The North Watch'. Kate Paulk introduces a telepathic chimera that accompanies a lone female, raises, in consequence, the wrath of a lecherous Elder, and pilots odyssey to the heart of Eilithia where royal siblings have suddenly vanished. A mountain dwarf is the protagonist besotted with a miller's daughter in Deborah Millitello's story. A human child pursues her quest to become a dragon rider in Fred S. Dubson's tale. Sarah A. Hoyt takes us to Beijing where a foreigner couples with a mystic fox. Soldiers, dragons, hunters and butchery; Marilyn Peake's 'Dragon Fire' is, from the word go, a survival chronicle not for the fainthearted. Betrayal, sorcery, and a man turns into a musical statue full of much yenning in Lee Barwood's 'The Minstrel'. Carol Hightshoe visits the medieval legend of Merlin and the Sword in a new light. To clinch the fantasy ride of knights, fiends and what else, Lazette Gifford sprinkles a touch of the Nile into the pot of enchantment. Do you dare?

George R. R. Martin's description of Sharra is a love song best read with a goblet of wine. First published in 1976, 'The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr' is an epic, a mystical tale full of much yearning. It begins in a valley caught in twilight when Sharri slips from one world, wounded and blood-stained. She kneels by a rocky stream where murky green water runs swift; crawls to an exhausted sleep under a dour tree. Here, in a land of suncycles, a wistful man of charcoal hair--a king, a god with a fog voice whose music is an infinity of beauty and mournful mists of a faraway horizon that shimmers and colours air--carries her to his castle where the lives of two people: one imprisoned in a world, the other a wanderer between worlds--indelibly touch. The writing is vivid as night, its clarity sharp and honest. I have a foible of steering clear of rave reviews, five star ratings and media hype; sometimes gems hide in the unnoticed. Classed as fantasy, this story of immense wealth is bound to slip the majority of mainstream lovers who would, otherwise, have clawed for it on knees and tears. If any one such reader stumbles upon this review, race. Race hard for this eShort.

Science fiction or fantasy, this snow mountain tale builds suspense well. Joe Walker, a Mojave Indian, trails a killer: his mother. An ageless woman who speaks to Coyote spirits and the Winterman. Or rather--used to speak to wind and seasons. They do not listen to her any more. Joe and his mother have one thing in common: they flee the white man's curse. Deathwitch has a gift. She saves people, cupping them to her with death. Seeing only destruction, Joe seeks to end her carnage. But, in a space between winters, the population of the valley does not understand Joe's outrage, his intent. Left half-dead, he glimpses the Deathwitch in a dark wilderness, and fails to destroy the blinding power in her gaze. A tight ending unveils a new commonality between two grappling spirits. 'Deathwitch' is a powerful initiation to Stephen Popkes. A fascinating read for lovers of good writing.

I read this story--my first Marion Zimmer Bradley--out of intrigue. Zimmer Bradley's work is quickly snapped within milliseconds of release on Fictionwise to quickly top the charts. Humans and aliens on starships are exhausted subjects--but not in 1956. Ah! Marion Zimmer Bradley is an artist who wrote well way before her time. This probably explains the current appeal of her stories still. 'Death Between the Stars' is a compelling tale of human nature when faced with something different or perplexing. The writing is deliberate and refined; the alien with a ghastly telepathic touch utterly plausible even to the hardest cynic. Me. The writer's grip of Sci-Fi is startling. Characters and their dialogue perfectly paint scenes--humanoid or other--that culminate almost shockingly into an astonishing twist. To the Science Fiction die-hards, lovers of Darrell Bain, George R. R. Martin and the like, Zimmer Bradley will not disappoint. Try her Darkover series (jointly written with Elisabeth Waters).

An incredible story. Controversial. But, oh. How well written!

Astara journeys through a sea of ice, pelted with incessant beads of snow, her effort to repeal the folly of a young Winter King. 'The Birth of Spring' reminds me in more ways than one of the enchantment of George R. R. Martin. It is a tale that much 'wishes told', one that unfurls the realms of Faery swathed in a smog of time. Sheri L. McGathy is a fine story teller. Her writing cannot be rushed. So curl up in a warm blanket, clasp a cup of tea and succumb to the magical veil of fantasy.

The writing is effortless as always, and just as darkly charming. Roger Lassiter's Helma is unspoilt by indulgence but will not close down her persistence in feral habits, even as calamity looms.

Michael Spence's 'One Drink Before You Go' is an ancient tale as current in appeal as it is age-old. Another gem from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Worlds.

Lawrence M. Schoen's 'The Sky's The Limit' is a splendid short story. Impressive characterization, fine tension and laissez-faire humour; one heck of a poker game.

Chemical augmentation of thoughts. A collective consciousness of six on a mission. When a river of frost piles like cotton, the challenge proves deadly. Paul Melko writes with fine authority. 'Strength Alone' is a literary work that is taut, well-paced and almost reminiscent of David Barr Kirtley's 'Veil of Ignorance'.

Lights, camera, action! And a political tale unfolds. A pacing choral director, a rearranged choir formation, boyhood tomfoolery, and confusion spreads into the future. One long last laugh.

Twisted Tails is a delightfully perverse anthology from a charming cast of fellow suspects including EPPIE finalist and twice winner of Dream Realm Awards, Steve Lazarowitz. J, a gravely mental astronomer, and Peter Prellwitz, another several time EPPIE finalist, join the motley mob to weave warped tales well spiced and brilliant. Personal favorites emerge from Jeremy Davis, Biff Mitchell and... Ahem, not me! J has outclassed the bar in this compilation. Purely a collector's treasure.

One boy communes with a creature from outer space. When kinship and obligation bonds of his immediate universe are threatened, Kim goes to extreme defence parameters to protect his unborn sibling. He sets to hire an assassin. One alien, an Antalou, responds to his quest and, in so doing, secures an indissoluble bond.

Another fine piece of exemplary writing by Robert Reed. Quick dialogue promptly moves the story along, of Kala and her near defunct family. A camping trip couldn't go far wrong - or right. Kala slowly begins to discover her true calling in a world where abductions are rife, New Fathers carting half-willing or outright reluctant brides into alien biospheres, alternate Earths, for natural selection and procreation. As Kala begins to question diversity against equilibrium of the current ecosystem, a brand new chain of events brings about yet another quantum into the conundrum.

Jude is youthful, and he is powerless to husband his inclinations. A trade outside the Quarter, temping as a 'stevedore', unloading starships as they come and go, does not much wise him up about the 'Sculpted', or does it? The phenomenon of Geoff, an information retrieval cyborg, reveals to Jude more truth about himself than he is set to assimilate. Caught in a dilemma of transfiguration, Jude must now pick ignorance or enlightenment, whatsoever the cost.

Cynic, almost humorous, Eight Episodes is a beautiful encapsulation of alien invasion in obscure episodes of a televised series: Invasion of a Small World. With characters as unambitious as they are dreary, nothing climbs out of something, unti something overhauls the nothing, and suddenly, the world is alert.

What if a chief priest beyond all lands commanded a library of worlds? An archetypal puppet master communicates on whim to and through mock-ups, intelligent penchants of his. To those creations trapped in protocol of being: that which is to be done has already been done, and tested. Benjamin Rosenbaum writes here a clever piece.

Reviewing science fiction without mention of Mike Resnick is an abomination. 'Bwana' is a magnet that could be curriculum. The spirit of Africa touches my blood, and Mr. Resnick's tale resonates. Sharp and witty, it delightfully encapsulates a Kikuyu Utopia. Not from the eye of a mzungu, a white devil, but from one who has felt her wind, smelled her mud, breathed her people, cracked her reeds underfoot, witnessed the glint of a new spear and listened to the river's heartbeat. Ngai is a god, cunning and great. Mundumugu is a witch doctor who casts bones on dirt to read prophesy. But neither Ngai nor mundumugu wish to act upon present mayhem, as fisi, the man-eating hyenas, maul and chomp Kikuyu boys in the fields. Death chants blacken the village sky. Sons of Kirinyaga, together with Koinnage, their paramount chief, finally reject the witchdoctor's counsel and seek their own solution -- an arrogant hunter from Earth. Anyone who enjoys this story would find irresistible the entire Kirinyaga series, and most of Mike Resnick.