Avenir Eclectia, Vol. 1 (Volume 1) Paperback – October 1, 2012

Avenir Eclectia Volume 1 edited by Grace Bridges and Travis PerryFor those who enjoy a good science fiction read I highly recommend this book. Within its pages you will discover a world so unique that it will totally surprise you.Avenir, a spaceship and a mobile colony, is filled with descendants of people from earth. Here they live out their lives above the wasted planet, Eclectia. From the rich who live in the upper rings of the space station to the orphans who scrape out a life on the lower levels, Avenir's diverse population will keep you entertained and wondering what and who will appear next.Dreamers are the Founders descended from the original crew of Avenir. Enclosed in sensory tanks they wield the highest power on Avenir. Are they real or a fantasy? A rich businessman is about to find out for one of the Dreamers is dying. John Milton has been asked to take her place. He hesitates only briefly before agreeing to the offer. His life will not be the same.An orphan named Cara desires to learn how to fly a spaceship so she can have a better life than stealing food in the lower levels of Avenir. She finds a young man who agrees to teach her and two of her friends to fly his ship. The three orphans are overjoyed and eager to learn.The criminals on Avenir are dealt with swiftly; a life as a servant cyborg or life as a bug hunter on Eclectia are a couple of possibilities for punishment. Neither are good choices.Eclectia is inhabited by those humans who have no choice but to do their best to eke out an existence in the harshest of elements: wind storms, cold weather, earthquakes, giant bugs, and a limited amount of plant life, but exist, they do.There are unusual creatures in the oceans of Eclectia that are telepathic. They are known as "angels". Don't mess with them.Watch out for spiders. They love to eat humans!Above this world orbit two broken remains of Eclectia's moon. They are known as Sheba and Quatermain. What good are they? The smugglers and the Enforcers know.There are many facets to Avenir Eclectia. Several authors have contributed to the history of Avenir Eclectia. One needs to read this book then check out the Avenir Eclectia website, [...], for the continuing saga of this most unique and bizarre world.

I bought this because I've liked other books by a couple of the authors and was pleasantly surprised to find my young son picked it up and also liked it. He's all ready to create something like Avenir Eclectia in his Minecraft world. The micro fiction melds together so well, it's easy for him to flow between the stories and even skip around a bit and still feel like he's getting a good sense of that place and its characters. The world creation aspect is really fun for him.

I've been hooked on this online multi-writer project for some time. The paperback allows me to settle in with my favorite characters and story threads without booting up and going online. Books without batteries...who'da thunk it? Some writers in this compilation exhibit more ability than others, but all the storylines are compelling. Classic sci-fi- kinda retro- lotsa fun.Hoping Ms. Bridges' project lives long and prospers.

I really enjoyed this book, very engaging and full in interesting stories. As with any collection of stories, there were some stories I liked better then others. Travis Parry and H.A. Titus were my favorite authors. Fred Warren was my least favorite and I even skipped some of them because they were to bizarre for my taste.Many of the characters appear in more then one story and over the course of the book, you get to know them and the culture of Avenir Eclectia.I loved the style of this book. I don't think I have ever read short stories so well put together or cohesive. The well built culture that is so different then our own pulls all the stories together and makes you want more. The faith elements in many of the stories were so wonderful to see in a genre that has it so rarelyAs I said, there were a few bizarre stories, and telepathic communication is used some (though not between humans). Creatures that are called angles (or demons if bad) can be a bit weird but didn't keep me from liking most of the stories about them.I recommend this to Sci-Fi lovers, or those interested in learning how good, multi-authored micro-fiction is done

-- Review is for the paperback copy --I picked up my copy of this book at a recent convention because I was fascinated by the concept of a world created to be shared. Each story in this collection is very short (between 1 to 3 pages), which is totally different to my norm - I'm more of a novel person. I discovered that I love this kind of flash fiction. I can devour a few stories then go off and do something else, but the world and its characters are still there in the back of my mind, enticing me to come back and read more.This collection has been well edited, with characters returning again and again to help orient you in the discovery of the fantastic world these authors have created. I reached the end feeling satisfied and at the same time eager to spend more time with this world and these characters. I'll definitely be checking out their website (apparently new stories are posted every few days).

Avenir Eclectica is a collection of short fiction that gels together into an incredibly appealing story of survival on and around a whole new world. Some talented writing from an assortment of fantastic New Zealand authors makes this a must-have for any fans of science fiction and deep space tales. For those of you who aren't sure about buying 'flash fiction', the collection is carefully edited to inspire you to keep reading from one short piece to the next, creating the feeling that this is a full length novel, rather than a collection of stories. I was completely engaged while reading it, couldn't put it down and now I want more!