Nickolas Sharps

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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.

☆☆☆☆✬… (meer)