Dark Quest LLC

So It Begins: Book Two of the Defending The Future Series

Edited by  Mike McPhail

Reviewed By  Stephen Bierce, IPMS# 35922

MSRP: $14.95 ISBN: 978-0-979601-5-0 Website: www.darkquestbooks.com So It Begins continues the military science-fiction anthology series started with Breach The Hull, which was published two years ago. This volume contains a dozen quick-read short stories -- the majority of which pack surprising masses of literary firepower. There are in-your-face urban skirmishes, high-octane bug hunts, and star system-spanning fleet actions. And it’s not just action…there is also a satisfying level of characterization in several of the stories as well. Some of these stories I would characterize as science-horror (in the vein of, for example, Terminator or Aliens or Predator). The stories I think would most interest us scale model builders would be Chuck E. Gannon’s To Spec (about an unplanned "test exercise" for a weapon built for extravehicular activity combat), Jeffrey Lyman’s Gunnery Sergeant (involving a crewman on a space gunship during an interstellar war), and Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s First Line (on a bomb-disposal robot whose "AI" isn’t all that artificial). Scattered throughout are scenes that could easily inspire figure vignettes and dioramas. You’ll snicker, you’ll cringe, you’ll dodge shrapnel -- you will even hum the closing theme song! Recommended, as a source for inspiration and as something for a quick read while travelling or awaiting judgment at model shows. Thanks to Danielle Ackley-McPhail at Dark Quest LLC for my review copy.