First Lines: Clockwork Phoenix 4

Don’t ask me why, but I helped Kickstarting Clockwork Phoenix 4, the fourth in a series of anthologies that showcase offbeat, interstitial, groundbreaking short stories and novelettes, that tell a story that must be strikingly original both in the tale itself and how it’s told.

Shira Lipkin’s “Happy Hour at The Tooth and Claw” was the first story that really stood out. It’s about a witch meddling with other people’s business, and a werewolf and vampire falling in love, which shouldn’t work, but does because They both love 80s music and broken-in leather and each other, and you’d be surprised how far that’ll get you. You really would.

But the one that really got me was “The History of Soul 2065” by Barbara Krasnoff. It’s a really simple story: we see a group of people gather to celebrate a Passover seder. And every ten years, we get an update. Sure, meanwhile, you get the sense that something big happened, but it’s really just about the characters and what happens to them. It had me in tears at the end.

Looking back on all four volumes, I would say that I definitely got my money’s worth. Four volumes of off-beat Science Fiction/Fantasy, with some pretty terrific tales among them.

Book read
Clockwork Phoenix 4 (edited by Mike Allen)
First line
Welcome to the book Kickstarter built, the fourth volume of Clockwork Phoenix. (from Introduction, by Mike Allen)