cover image In Harm’s Way

In Harm’s Way

Edited by Mike McPhail. eSpec, $14.95 trade paper (206p) ISBN 978-1-942990-19-2

This impressive anthology of 12 military science fiction stories pairs suspense with heart, showcasing oppressive regimes, deeds of heroism in the wake of alien invasions, and the depths of limitless, unknown space. Brenda Cooper’s “Children of the Last Battle” is a heartrending story of one woman’s attempts to keep a group of children safe, even as their enemies from another world close in around them. David Sherman’s “Contained Vacuum” follows a ship’s crew as they explore an abandoned space-going vessel and find that it has been swarmed by enemy aliens. James Chambers’s “A Beach on Nellus” tells of a government agent’s mission to obliterate a prisoner on a distant planet who holds the fate of two worlds in her hands. These tales are meticulously detailed and sometimes blur together in their thematic similarities, evoking a constant sense of urgency and desperation in high-stakes situations. Readers of military science fiction will appreciate the authors’ inventiveness as they make old tropes new again. (Oct.)