Review: they are one of a few small groups left of their proud and beautiful race. They were hunted for food by an ...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 30, 2014
A small group of mer people living on land, they are one of a few small groups left of their proud and beautiful race. They were hunted for food by an alien race similar to them, called the Sprats. Thala is living in conclave manor with an uncle she can't get along with, and longs for change. Anything different than being stuck inside never going anywhere. Her small pod is visited by a rival pod on the pretense of an arrangement she has no say in. When two of the guests leave in the middle of the night for a mission unknown to any of the adults, she follows. There is no way she is going to let them go when she knows she can help. When they find themselves in deep water, they get help from a source they never imagined getting help from.This is a dark story, with a message about how we can make assumptions about the others we encounter when we don't take the time to learn. I was left wishing that I had a full length book. I loved the world the Mer people and would like to read more about it. Though the change from first person to third person kept bringing me out of the story. I would have preferred if it was all third person or all first person and just had two first person POVs.A dystopian world that is ruled by a giant corporation that keeps everyone inside the fence. Doze is a troublemaker with a mouth on him, I loved that he wasn't one dimensional and underneath it all he cared in his own way.  This story is about being trapped in the only reality you know and deciding to live in the reality that you choose. Doze and a small group, including his two sisters decide to escape and stand up to the corporation.This story started out a little slow for such a short story but it quickly built up steam.An intergalactic survival game of survival. All species of the universe have their teens gather to fight for their survival. Somewhat a hunger games style, though still very different. They fight each other, their environmental challenges and deadly creatures. I really enjoyed this story, it will have you on the edge of your seat wondering who will come out on top of this futuristic gladiator style contest.Peach has been traveling through space for 260 years. On their way to a planet very similar to earth, they end up off course. In space one degree off course can be very very very big. Peach meets a new friend, Araxi, though Araxi is not on the ship with her. Their communication is through online messages. When supplies start to run low and all hell starts to break lose, these messages prove to be important for more then just Peach and Araxi. These messages promise hope to everyone on board Peach's ship. I loved this story. The characters were great, the situation and environment the story was set in.I really liked this collection of stories, they were all so different from what I usually find. I would love to see each of these stories be a full novel. I think they each have what it takes and I don't think it would be difficult. They all have the elements needed. This is a great collection of sifi and fantasy stories. This book might be YA, but I think readers of all ages would really enjoy these stories. The only real negative thing about this is that even with a common theme, "conclave," I felt like they didn't really mesh well together, maybe it was the order they were in but I found it hard to transition from one to the next.