Monday, November 29, 2021

Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters ☆☆☆☆✬

 

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Title: Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters
Series: Kaiju Rising #1
Editor: Tim Marquitz
Rating: ½ of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy Short Story Collection
Pages: 444
Words: 161.5K





Synopsis:


Table of Contents


Foreword – Jeremy Robinson


Big Ben and the End of the Pier Show – James Lovegrove


The Conversion – David Annandale


Day of the Demigods – Peter Stenson


The Lighthouse Keeper of Kurohaka Island – Kane Gilmour


Occupied – Natania Barron


One Last Round – Nathan Black


The Serpent’s Heart – Howard Andrew Jones


Monstruo – Mike MacLean


The Behemoth – Jonathan Wood


The Greatest Hunger – Jaym Gates


Heartland – Shane Berryhill


Devil’s Cap Brawl – Edward M. Erdelac


Shaktarra – Sean Sherman


Of the Earth, of the Sky, of the Sea – Patrick M. Tracy and Paul Genesse


The Flight of the Red Monsters – Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam


Operation Starfish – Peter Rawlik


With Bright Shining Faces – J.C. Koch


The Banner of the Bent Cross – Peter Clines


Fall of Babylon – James Maxey


Dead Man’s Bones – Josh Reynolds


Stormrise – Erin Hoffman


Big Dog – Timothy W. Long


The Great Sea Beast – Larry Correia


Animikii vs. Mishipeshu – C.L. Werner


The Turn of the Card – James Swallow


About the Authors/Artists


Acknowledgments




My Thoughts:


I picked up this collection on the strength of Correia's name being prominent on the cover I saw. Unfortunately, for me, it was a story he had included in his first Target Rich Environment collection, so I had already read it.


Josh Reynold's story was about the Royal Occultist, so that was a nice little visit and reinforced my decision to read more in that universe should Reynold ever be able to release more.


Sadly, those 2 were really the only bright spots. Most of the other stories were either Cli-Fi, Angst-ridden or so full of hatred for Humanity that I had to wonder why the authors hadn't killed themselves in protest of being human. So this was definitely on the path to 2stars. Some of the stories had Buddhist monks, Japanese nuns, Islamic warriors and one and all, they respected the environment, respected women and were paragons of virtue, which I have to admit, didn't even fly across my radar in any way.


Then I read stories like “Conversion” and “Fall of Babylon” and this completely entered into Blasphemy territory. They didn't make me angry or upset, I just sighed and shook my head. It was evident that the authors despised Christianity, not just didn't believe it and that showed through like a drop of blood on a white canvas.


So between the religious hypocrisy and the blasphemy, this is getting the rare ½ star. Last time that happened was with Torchship Captain. Not good company to be in.


As I was writing this review, I realized that the editor's name sounded familiar. If I had paid more attention and realized Tim Marquitz was involved with this project, I never would have touched this with a 10foot pole. Certainly explains the blasphemy and religious hypocrisy.


☆☆☆☆✬


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