Review: Bite Sized Fiction by Robbie Sheerin

 

Genre: Short Story Collection

Description:

“This collection features five sci-fi stories, from cops hunting humanoid robots in Blade Runners 2039, to the shocking truth behind the Titanic in Ships Colliding in the Night. In Defrosting H.G. Wells, the legendary author is thrust 200 years into the future, awakening on a human-colonized planet—and questioning what became of Earth and its inhabitants.

The other five tales explore the intricacies of the human mind and heart: aging parents, childhood trauma, and mental health. A daughter is haunted by her controlling mother in Just Ignore Me. In The Incredible Broken Mind, a retired naval officer recalls the Black Plague with incredible detail, but not everything is what it appears. Concerns and Sandcastles captures a child's quiet worry about his parents’ love, while What Dangers Lay Beyond That Barrier of Mahogany Wood delves into the isolated world of a man battling agoraphobia. Award-winning writer Robbie Sheerin weaves humor, pathos, and surprise into every story—each one a twist-filled journey through imagination and emotion.”

Author:

“Robbie Sheerin is an award-winning Scottish author who lives in the USA. He has been published in various journals and online platforms. He is a quality manager and lives with his wife and crazy dog in the Boston area. He has one daughter. He can be found on his website Robbiesheerinwriter.”

Appraisal:

This small collection of short stories was a fun read. The mix of sci-fi and more general fiction was a nice mix. But what really stood out for me was how the author found a way to end many of the stories in a way that surprised me, yet felt like the correct ending, even if I didn’t see it coming. The “bite sized” stories are a nice change of pace to read in between a couple long novels that are my normal reading diet.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

A few more proofing misses than I’d like to see in a book this size, but not quite enough to impact my overall rating.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 14-15,000 words