Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology

by Tammy Blackwell

[inlibrisveritas]

Take Me To Your Reader is an anthology put together in honor of the 2014 UtopYA convention. The theme of the convention and the anthology being aliens and outerspace. I read this before my trip and I’m glad I did, because I found new authors just in time to have a chat with them and download a few of their books onto my kindle.

The Divided – Amy Bartol

This was really interesting! I loved the unique feel of the aliens involved and how there was an easy to understand complexity to their nature. It’s definitely one of those stories you wish had a series to go along with it. I did have a bit of trouble taking the proper nouns seriously though. This is also the longest story in the book.

Monsters of Earth – Tammy Blackwell

This one took a more contemporary feel while maintaining the alien theme. It’s actually incredibly sad and heartwarming, but it’s also rather short. I liked the idea of the ‘alien’ species traveling to other worlds to help eradicate monsters, whatever they might be.

The House on Maple Street – Amanda Havard

The House on Maple Street is an incredibly fun story with bizarre aliens and a brainwashed town. While I wasn’t fond of one of the side characters I found myself enjoying every bit of this one. It also had me craving hot fudge sundaes and Blizzards from DQ.

The Force – Heather Hildenbrand

The Force is part sci-fi coming of age and part Hangover! A group of guys (aliens of course) come to Earth for a week and after a wild night they find themselves in quite the mess with only hours before they their shuttle arrives. It’s a really fun story with a touch of cute romance.

Ultra-Con – Tiffany King

This is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I didn’t really connect with the main character, which is unfortunate since the whole thing takes place at a geeky convention. It’s like Body Snatchers meet Comic Con, and while it was a fun read I just didn’t find myself too interested in it.

Snow Globe – C.A. Kunz

I loved this one! It’s a really sweet and heartwarming read, that made me smile.

The Black Stone Heir – Sarah M. Ross

This was another really interesting one. There was a lot of cool ideas packed into a short story and I really wish there had been more. I loved the aliens and the dual POVs. I definitely want to read more from this author.

The Ascendant by Raine Thomas

This one sort of confused me a bit. I wanted to understand the “whys” and “hows” more but with the story being so short I never got that chance. The whole premise of the story is really awesome, but I wanted to know more about the main character and her guardian.



Overall it was a great collection that really put me in the mood for an equally great convention! I definitely recommend grabbing this one if you get the chance.