The Cosmic Balance (i.e. my ego) is Maintained!!

Reviews are starting to come in for the The Clockwork Jungle Book, Shimmer magazine's 11th issue, an issue of steampunk-toned, anthropomorphic fables. The issue has 172 pages of stories, included among them my own "And How His Audit Stands."

Of which Sam Tomaino, of SFRevu, says:

...makes for a fine story and a truly imaginative one.

But contrast this with Lois Tilton over at The Internet Review of Science Fiction, who writes:

Here, the animal aspect is downplayed to insignificance, despite aphorisms from a fable scattered through the text; the punchline of this, annoyingly, doesn't come at the conclusion as a punchline should, and the actual concluding moral is moralistic.

So, one up, one down. Thus, the cosmic balance is maintained. The universe is safe--for the time being!

(Although I could see a case for Rich Horton's listing of my name under "other good work came from" sufficient praise to start tipping the scales towards megalomania... mwa ha ha...)

In all seriousness, the 18 other contributors are the real reason to check out this issue. Last Short Story writes, "This entire anthology is full of beautiful, fascinating stories. ....the tone was consistent and the stories engaging and well written. Definitely grab a copy! "