The Terralight Collection by Pamela Jeffs
I would like to thank the author for a copy of this collection in exchange for fair and honest review
Publisher – Four Ink Press
Published – Out Now
Price - £10.99 paperback £2.14 Kindle eBook
From alien deserts to dystopian jungles, these tales engage the imagination. Here, Van Helsing and William H. Bonney A.K.A Billy the Kid join forces to fight evil. A motley crew of mutants takes on alien invaders. A dying planet raises a ghost army to defend itself and a rusted dragon needs help to fly again.
Sit down and get comfortable. The Terralight Collection, featuring ten strange science fiction and weird western tales by speculative fiction author Pamela Jeffs, is not for the faint of heart.
One of the reasons I enjoy the short story is that as each tends to be its own enclosed world anything can happen. The joy of that is you can be surprised and that feeling of wrong footed is an art. Some call this the twist and the problem with that is you’re looking for the story to do a sharp 180 degree turn but in reality, the better description is the reveal. The puzzle box shows you its secret, but a good reveal is one you can look back on and say ‘Damn I should have spotted that!’. Pamela Jeffs does this brilliantly many times in The Terralight Collection a very fine set of short stories crossing all the genres and entertained me greatly.
Among the stories I enjoyed were
Six Gun Reckoning – This weird wild west story is absolutely fascinating and it’s a world and character you just wish you get more of. Abraham Van Helsing is revealed to be a woman hiding to help avenge her murdered family and her years take her to the wilds of America where a small town is suffering murders of young children. It’s a chef’s kiss of writing and when you see all the strands come together it’s magnificent.
Mirrorverse – Humanity and earth are gone, and the last astronaut is trapped in a spaceship filled with recording of our homeworld. Then the spaceship starts to crack open in space. This is a smart tale of acceptance and change. Inventive and the idea of holographic worlds within mirrors is fascinating
In Opposition to the Foe – Another excellent story of our world being invaded by aliens, changed beyond recognition and a lone survivor and their sibling turned into a griffin are trying to find a way out. It’s an impressive way to deliver an epic SF storyline in miniature and it delivers a fascinating battle for survival and trust.
Three Door Saloon – A demon in the future owns a bar and those desperate for wishes must choose one of three doors to enter. One sends you to hell; one leads to cryofreeze and the last grants a wish. A gunslinger has lost two of his family, so he is desperate for the family plan to identify the right door to work. But can you trust a demon. Loved the futuristic rewriting of such a tale with moments of creepiness and some epic scenes set I hell. One of my favourites.
Terralight – Planets occasionally get armies of ghosts preventing their colonisation so skilled priestesses/warriors are sent through space to stop them. This tale delivers battles against ghosts; hi technology and the realisation you may be on the wrong side into a delicious finale to the collection.
This covers only half of a great short fiction collection. Fun, surprising even to my old eyes and shows a writer who loves the genres and is not afraid to pay with them to make even better stories. I am very impressed, and this is an author to keep an eye out for. Highly recommended!
