At times, Burdick’s creative ideas fall short of their potential. In “Discoveries at River View,” a palaeontologists discovers a dinosaur skeleton with far-reaching implications for human history, but the story ends before the gravity of such a discovery can be explored. Similarly, both “Reincarnated,” in which a group of babies born with the same birthmark on the same day are targeted by an Indian far-right nationalist organization, and “Bottom Dwellers,” a story about powerful creatures lurking in the deep sea, build up suspense but don’t deliver a matching payoff.
Burdick makes an effort to give his stories global scope, but some of his descriptions of “primitive” people and dwellings can be jarring. An Indian-American doctor defends British colonizers who “saved” India’s past from plunder, a line of editorializing that’s never integrated into the story. However, there is a freshness to Burdick’s prose, and he breathes new life into familiar tropes. Burdick is at his best in the intricate final story, “Sanctuary,” in which a group of Army personnel have a life-changing encounter with an alien god living among the Inuit. This venture into the realm of the strange showcases Burdick’s potential.
Takeaway: Seasoned readers of classic, adventurous speculative fiction will enjoy diving into Burdick’s strange spaces.
Great for fans of Harlan Ellison’s Shatterday, Richard Matheson’s The Best of Richard Matheson.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: -
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: A
“An amazing blend of science-fiction, fantasy and reality. This book consists of seven spellbinding novellas, each with a satisfying ending, yet they all have the potential to be continued. Every novella offers something intriguing to keep the readers hooked. There are supernatural beings, magical powers, UFOs, aliens, and monsters to lure the readers to keep turning the pages. There is also a touch of suspense and mystery to add a dramatic effect to these tales. The characterizations are also uniformly very impressive. The book as a whole is enthralling. That is why I am wholeheartedly giving it 4 out of 4 stars. And the book is professionally edited. I would recommend this book to fantasy and sci-fi readers and to people who like to read a blend of reality and fantasy.” Online Book Club, Aniza Butt, reviewer
The book has secured representation by Darren Stuart, president of Stuart Management Media in the UK. Netflix is currently considering two of the novellas for TV series acquisition (pilot scripts and bibles have been written).
